Paul Groves is twenty four hours away from the biggest day of his coaching life.
From stints as an assistant coach in the TAC Cup, the VIC Metro youth girls team - which he lead to a premiership - and the Monash Blues in the VAFA, Groves now finds himself at the forefront of a revolution in women’s sport, leading the Western Bulldogs into the inaugural season the NAB AFL Women’s League.
Speaking to westernbulldogs.com.au, Groves said that the historic nature of the occasion isn’t lost on him or his players, but in the end, there’s a game of football to win.
“You do stop and pinch yourself a little bit that you’re creating this new team, this new competition, he said.
“It’s a big occasion for us, for the footy Club, for the competition in general, this first weekend.
“But, we’ve all got a job to do, and they’re just playing footy and they’re loving it and it’s full steam ahead.”
Groves was asked on radio this week how much of his coaching style has been influenced by Luke Beveridge, having played under the Bulldogs coach at St.Bedes/Mentone a decade ago.
In terms of game-style, ‘you have to cater to the group’, he said, but it’s a concept that’s equally as important off the field, especially so when leading a group of amateur footballers.
“How do you react when one of your players is visibly fatigued from work and you can see their concentration is impacted in team meetings, he asked in this week’s Inside Football magazine.
“Are you aware of their prior day going into this meeting?
“The overall lesson from my early coaching was to listen, ask pertinent questions and the use my players to guide my coaching.”
All of it will count for little though when the ball is bounced on Saturday night and the Dogs face off with the Dockers in the season opener at Victoria University Whitten Oval.
“They’re a really strong side, they’re probably the favourites to win the comp at the moment so we come in hunting them.
“We know they’re strong, we know they’ve been training really well, and Michelle (Cowan) is a super coach.”
But he will have one final bit of advice as the girls prepare to run into history this weekend: soak it up, but don’t lose focus.
“Take it all in, have a look at all the people that have come to support you, pinch yourself for that little moment, then nothing really changes - there’s still eight poles to kick the ball through.
“We go to our structures, we go to what we know well, we absorb the pressure and we play our game.”
