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Former AFL coach Danielle Laidley is interested in a coaching return, but in the AFLW, rather than in the men\u2019s competition.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would love to coach again, at what level [I don\u2019t know], certainly not the men\u2019s,\u201d Laidley told this masthead. \u201c[But] the women\u2019s \u2013 or even local footy.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Danielle Laidley at Melbourne\u2019s ACMI ahead of the premiere screening of Revealed – Danielle Laidley: Two Tribes, a documentary about her life.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Penny Stephens<\/cite><\/p>\n Laidley coached 149 AFL games at North Melbourne between 2003 and 2009 \u2013 including to a preliminary final in 2007 \u2013 followed by stints in the coaching groups at Port Adelaide, St Kilda and Carlton between 2010 and 2015. Her first coaching role was under Mick Malthouse as an assistant coach at Collingwood, which included the 2002 grand final loss.<\/p>\n Laidley has been tight-lipped on what\u2019s next for her, career-wise, while her memoir Don\u2019t Look Away,<\/i> published last year, and the documentary, Revealed \u2013 <\/em>Danielle Laidley: Two Tribes<\/em> give an insight into the person she is.<\/p>\n While the Stan production <\/em>was in the works, Laidley was unable to discuss it publicly due to contract obligations. But now she\u2019s ready to explore her next chapter.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve always thought 2024 would be \u2018OK, so, what are we going to do? Who are we going to align ourselves with? What do I really want to do?\u2019,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n She\u2019s a self-confessed AFLW tragic, admitting to watching every game. She hopes her \u201cgreat mate Darren Crocker is the next premiership coach at the Kangaroos\u201d. Laidley has been a supporter from the start and used to take her son, Kane, to games.<\/p>\n \u201cI love the rawness of the girls and that\u2019s what attracted me to it initially \u2026 they\u2019ll just be head-first into everything, they\u2019ll be a contest, and in the men\u2019s there might have been some argy-bargy, in the girls, they\u2019re just helping each other get up and off they go again. It\u2019s still super competitive,\u201d said Laidley.<\/p>\n Laidley with the now-retired Jack Ziebell, a player Laidley recruited when North Melbourne coach.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Courtesy of The North Melbourne Kangaroos<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s brilliant, it really is. And we won\u2019t get the full dividends until the very, very young girls who started playing when they were six or seven in structured football clubs and coaching development [enter the competition], and that is still probably maybe eight years away. But you\u2019re going to see some girls come through who are absolutely amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n In May 2020, Laidley was arrested by Victoria Police for stalking an ex-partner and drug possession and put in a holding cell. There, photos were leaked of Laidley dressed as a woman in a wig and make-up, outing her in a brutal and public fashion that gave her no control of the story spun around her.<\/p>\n Revealed – Danielle Laidley: Two Tribes documentary. Credit: Stan<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Stan<\/cite><\/p>\n It\u2019s in part why she wanted to be involved in the documentary, which explores her past life in intimate detail, including having to hide her true self while in the AFL spotlight and the unrelenting gender dysphoria that lead to serious substance abuse and suicide attempts.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re going to see some girls come through who are absolutely amazing\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhen it became very public, the narrative was not very kind and being outed like I was, and pretty much my family was…you know, we had no control over the narrative. And I suppose what we wanted to do in our own way through the book and now the movie is tell the true story,\u201d said Laidley.<\/p>\n \u201cEdited but unedited. The good, the bad and the indifferent.\u201d<\/p>\n Laidley admits to wanting to take back control of her story, but that\u2019s not the only reason she continues to open herself up. There\u2019s a desire there to help others who relate to her experience, in whatever way that may be: gender dysphoria, mental health issues, disease addition, or living a life in secret.<\/p>\n \u201cWith the transgender community, I\u2019m still learning, myself,\u201d she admits, acknowledging she\u2019s had a wealth of support \u2013 including from her AFL football \u201ctribe\u201d, from CEO Gillon McLachlan down to players she coached \u2013 that many others don\u2019t get.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m so very grateful for that,\u201d she said. \u201cSo, if I can help the transgender community by breaking down barriers and for the next generation who are coming through, to live a much simpler, inclusive and being accepted life, that\u2019s what I\u2019ll do.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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