A facility expansion and Essendon’s push for a 2022 AFLW licence are some of the key reasons why new VFLW Bombers forwards coach Gavin Urquhart is excited for next year and beyond.
A 41-game player for North Melbourne, Urquhart is a boom recruit for Essendon’s VFLW program, holding the mantle of being the only coaching panel member with AFL playing experience.
Next year will mark Urquhart’s first season of coaching women’s football after spending time with community football outfit Riddle Bombers as a player and part-time coach.
The 32-year-old is poised to work with Brendan Major, who will again lead the VFLW Bombers as head coach for a third season.
Bernard Shepheard (midfield coach) and Brett Pollard (defence coach) will also remain, with Jarrad Campbell and Chloe Laan to continue as development coaches.
The Bombers have lost assistant coach Wayne Schultz, who has joined Carlton as its AFLW acquisition and skills coach after eight years at Essendon, while Natasha Hardy has joined North Melbourne as its AFLW head of development.
With the 2021 pre-season well underway, Uquhart says he can’t wait to utilise the club’s soon-to-be completed facilities which will give the VFLW and potential AFLW sides a competitive edge.
“The facilities (at the NEC Hangar) are A standard,” Urquhart said.
“Everything’s here at your fingertips to make yourself better not only as a player, but a person as well.
“You have all the resources, everyone’s on board, and everyone’s moving in the same direction.
“I think that’s what the club is getting towards now – all on the same page and moving in the direction, not only in women’s footy but men’s footy as well.
“Once we intertwine them a bit more with the women’s complex nearly finished, I think it’s going to be one of the best, if not the best, facilities in Melbourne.”
The dedicated women’s footy facilities, expected to be completed in late January next year, are part of the $21 million stage two development of the NEC Hangar.
They’ll include two changerooms, an auditorium, medical rooms and amenities which supports Essendon’s vision, stated earlier this year, of holding an AFLW licence by 2022.
While he’s only been at the club for a short time, Urquhart says the outstanding infrastructure paired with the Bombers’ clear passion for women’s football will hold the club in good stead.
“If we get that opportunity and the (AFLW) licence is provided, I think the club has set their (women’s) program up to succeed in the next step up,” Urquhart said.
“There’s no sub-par people, everyone’s moving in the same direction and pushing the program to be the best it can be, but also evolve it and not get complacent.”
Two aspects which Urquhart is excited about is the relationship he’s starting to build with head coach Major and the talent of the entire playing group.
Urquhart admires the way Major can mix coaching with personal relationships, and he’s also excited by the development of a side which managed to grow in a heavily impacted year.
“In my first conversation with Major, we just got along really well,” Urquhart said.
“We have banter, but when it’s time to work you work and you do it to the best of your ability. He has that balance of when you can muck around, but when it’s time to go you’re switched on.
“The progress the girls have made since 2018 (inaugural season) and the way they’ve come back in shape for pre-season especially with the circumstances that we’ve been in, the sky’s the limit.
“We can guide them, but now they’re taking the next step of taking control and ownership of it as well. At the end of the day, it’s going to be driven by the players and the opportunities are there.”
The 2021 VFLW season is expected to begin in late February, with the 2020 season having been wiped out due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
