The Western Bulldogs have signed Tamara Hyett as their new AFLW coach after former North Melbourne mentor Danny Ledley was passed over in the final stages of their search.
Hyett, who coached the Sandringham Dragons in the Coutts Talent League Girls competition and was a Premier League assistant coach with Melbourne in 2022, has secured her first senior role and will be the fifth woman at the helm of a team next season.
As well as Ledley, she has also been favored over inaugural premiership coach Paul Groves, who has thrown his hat in the ring to return to the AFLW after leaving the job in 2019.
Ledley confirmed her desire to return to coaching and expressed interest in the vacant position at West Coast in November.
“It's been a passion of mine and I've kind of been preparing for 12 months and actually until this AFLW season, I was asked to do a coaching role at one of the Melbourne teams,” she told SEN in November.
“But I couldn't because I had contracted[Daniel Ledley: A Documentary About Two Tribes].
“People have connected the dots, West Coast has a position available, and yeah, I want to coach again.”
A return to the top flight will have to wait for the former Kangaroos premiership player, who has not held a role at a club since leaving her assistant role at Carlton in 2015.
Hyett, a former professional golfer, was a late arrival to football and played her first VFLW match for the St Kilda Sharks aged 35 before becoming an assistant coach at the club.
She was brought to Melbourne ahead of the 2021 season to work as the midfield development coach before taking charge of the defensive line.
The Demons and Hyett parted ways at the end of 2023.
Bulldogs CEO Amit Bains said Hyett impressed the club by “clearly articulating her coaching philosophy” during the interview process.
“We are very excited to have someone of Tamara’s caliber join our club,” Baines said.
“Her unique blend of experience in both elite girls and elite women’s soccer lends itself to Tamara building a high-performance culture that develops and grows the exciting young players on our roster.
“We are delighted to make this appointment for our AFLW program as we strive to achieve consistent performance and sustained success on the field.”
Hiett said she is extremely proud to take on this role as a self-described “west suburbs girl.”
“It's a really proud moment – when I was driving here I was thinking about the last six years and being a girl from the western suburbs, I'm very proud,” she said.
“This is the foundation club that has been supporting women's football even before the AFLW. It's not lost on me how special it is.
“There's some really exciting talent here, which is really refreshing as well. I'm very excited about the current group.”
The Bulldogs are also looking for a head of women's football to oversee the program following a comprehensive review of the club's football department, which also led to the appointment of Matthew Egan as general manager of football operations.
Former AFLW coach, St Kilda great Nathan Burke, has been sacked following the Bulldogs' disappointing 1-9 campaign in 2023, which ended with the wooden spoon and a slew of player departures including former No. 1 pick Gabby Newton to Fremantle.
Originally published as AFLW 2024: Western Bulldogs to appoint Tamara Hyett as coach
