WALKING down the stairs and through the sliding glass door into the Holden Centre – Collingwood's training and administration facility – you're immediately struck by the realisation that this isn't your average football club.

The unusually shaped building above is the Glasshouse, a large entertaining space for functions. There's also a medium-sized auditorium which wouldn't look out of place in a newly opened university building.

A maze of corridors leads to coaches and support staff offices, a player lounge and kitchen, all built around a centrally located pool, gym and indoor court.

This is Collingwood Football Club, one of the biggest sporting clubs in the country. In the last few years, it's undergone a transformation. What was once a club with two teams – an AFL and VFL side – has now become a club with six. And all four new teams are female.

An AFL Women's, VFLW and two netball sides have been created in the last two years, changing the dynamic of the club.

The Magpies have won 15 VFL/AFL premierships, have a membership base in excess of 75,000, and a fan base of seemingly hundreds of thousands across the land.

They're everywhere and they're passionate and proud. Talkback radio, message boards, every form of social media imaginable. Failure isn't tolerated, even for a new side.

This two-part piece will take you behind the scenes of what it's like for 30 young women – Collingwood's AFLW team – to be given the opportunity to play for such a massive club.

To go from training on suburban grounds to the lush green Olympic Park Oval opposite the MCG. To pull on the black and white stripes.

Some are yet to make their debut, having joined the club in October. Others are into their second season, fitter, wiser, with a better idea of what's required to succeed.

The two pieces will also take you into the coaches' box during a practice match, as the Collingwood coaching staff, led by Wayne Siekman, ready themselves for the 2018 NAB AFLW season, which starts on Friday night, when the Pies take on Carlton at Ikon Park.

Last year, the team finished fifth. That's not good enough for a club like Collingwood.

This year, the Magpies have unfinished business.

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Side-by-side, play-by-play

Collingwood president Eddie McGuire stands on a small stage, surveying the room at the Magpies' AFL Women's team season launch.

"Think about what you're going to do when that ball is bounced, and you look up and see a navy blue jumper. You run right through them from the first bounce, and you drive them into the dirt until the very end," a revved-up McGuire says at the function, held in the River Room in Crown in Melbourne in late January.

"You remember 126 years of what we do when we take on Carlton. There are no prisoners, there are no regrets, there are no tomorrows, we go flat out at them.

"When we fix them up this week in round one, we sing this!" McGuire finishes with a flourish.

Twenty-eight Magpies in club polo tops (Jess Cameron was in Canberra playing cricket and Darcy Guttridge was recovering from surgery), some wearing newly presented jumpers over the top of the shirts, are in a tight circle. In a larger, looser circle around them are family, friends and supporters.

As one, they bellow the familiar tune.

In the music-only interlude between verses in the recording of the song, McGuire started directing the players to visualise round one.

But the players had other ideas.

"All right, opening bounce, what do we do? Get it in your mind, what are you going to do when the ball comes your way?" he asked.

Ruck Emma King, a laconic figure around the club who towers over most teammates, unexpectedly jumps into the circle and taps an imaginary ball. She nearly takes out Collingwood media staff member Glen Moriarty, who's filming the event, in the process.

Laughter fills the room as McGuire picks up on King's train of thought.

"Quick, who roves?"

Recruit Jaimee Lambert jumps into circle and tucks an imaginary ball under her arm, before firing off a quick handball to former Hockeyroo Georgie Parker.

Parker dishes the "ball" off to her right, landing in the hands of fellow midfielder Christina Bernardi.

"Who kicks it long?" McGuire asks, as Bernardi mimes slamming the ball on to her boot.

"Where's Mo? Mo?"

Moana Hope steps forward, kicks across her body and finishes with a dab celebration, just in time for the singing of the song to recommence on the recording.

Jaimee Lambert and Georgie Parker exchange handpasses during a training drill. Picture: AFL Photos





A case of the 2017 blues

A fifth-place finish was not expected when Jasmine Garner kicked the first goal in AFLW history against Carlton in round one at Ikon Park last year.

'Mo-mania' had taken over in the lead-up to that match, on the back of Moana Hope's five goals in the AFL women's football exhibition match between Melbourne and Western Bulldogs in September 2016.

Collingwood had drafted Steph Chiocci, captain of that Bulldogs exhibition team, and respected veteran defender Meg Hutchins was signed as both a player and the team's footy operations manager.

Vic Metro youth girls' coach Wayne Siekman, fresh off two national titles in three years, was to lead the Magpies in their inaugural year.

He was not shying away from the club's expectations.

"Our plan from day one is to make the Grand Final. You can't win a premiership unless you make the Grand Final, so we're planning to play in eight weeks' time," he said told the Herald Sun at the start of last season.

"That's the goal of this club and the players and the coaching staff. There's no point hiding from that – the other seven teams are probably saying the same thing."

But after Garner's historic opening goal, the Magpies failed to register another major for the rest of the match, going down by 35 points.

Collingwood couldn't knock off the top teams, scoring three wins over the Western Bulldogs, Fremantle and Greater Western Sydney, which all finished below them.

Collingwood's joy in the 2017 NAB AFL Women's opener was shortlived. Picture: AFL Photos

That's footy

On Thursday, January 18, a day before a practice match against Melbourne, Darcy Guttridge is busy applying sunscreen before going out to train in 40-degree heat. On her right arm is a fresh tattoo, an addition since she took part in October's NAB AFLW Combine in Melbourne when she had not turned 18.

"I got the tattoo a week before the first half of pre-season ended in December," Guttridge says.

"It's got a bit of a meaning, but nothing too out there. The deer represents gentleness and being alert. It's just a bit of a reminder."

The 18-year-old has had her fair share of accolades in her short junior career, including captaining Vic Country and being named skipper of the under-18 All Australian team, but AFLW is the big time.

"I've just been absorbing the professional environment and all the facilities Collingwood has to offer is just an upside. I definitely can't complain," she said.

"When I came here, I would get completely lost. My first thought was, 'Am I ever going to find my way around the place?'"

Sitting on a wooden bench with her back to the 25-metre pool, Guttridge gestures to the maze of grey carpeted corridors that extend to her right into the bowels of the Holden Centre, housing coaches' offices and meeting spaces.

Collingwood's training facility is bang in the middle of the old Olympic Park precinct in Melbourne. The swimming pool for the 1956 Olympic Games used to be here, and the old stands are still in place, surrounding the multipurpose court, gym and recovery pool. The coaches' offices are, in fact, under the stands.

The walls are adorned with large, framed photos of successful Collingwood teams of the past. The four-peat 'Machine' players (1927-1930) feature heavily, serious men frowning into the camera. But it's a changing place with the addition of an AFLW, VFLW and two netball teams over the past two years.

Before the practice match, Guttridge was eager to just play some footy.

"Once that practice match against Melbourne is over, it'll be round one and I'll be feeling everything – nervousness, excitement."

Darcy Guttridge is all smiles at training in December. Picture: AFL Photos





But Guttridge won't be playing in round one. Or round two. Or perhaps any game this season.

With just minutes left in the practice match, and a seemingly vacant forward 50 in front of her, she dodged around one Melbourne defender, but her momentum carried her straight into the tackle of another.

The umpire paid a free kick for a high tackle, but it was immediately obvious something was seriously wrong.

The silence of the couple of thousand-strong crowd was contrasted by Guttridge's audible pain, the teen swearing and yelling as she was assisted from the ground by trainers, cradling her arm in her jumper.

Later that night, after Meg Hutchins had taken Guttridge's free kick and calmly slotted the winning goal, the team sat on the floor of Collingwood's gym, wincing as they peeled off strapping tape, swapping war stories from the game.

"Girls, just before you go to recovery, 'Gutters' has a broken collarbone. An ambulance is here and she's going to go to hospital," footy operations manager Mathew James said.

"You can check in with her if you like before you hop in the pool. Remember, 'Hutch' may have kicked the goal, but 'Gutters' set it up."

There's now some hope Guttridge may make it back at the end of the season. In considerable pain in the immediate aftermath, she was administered two "green whistles".

The pain-relieving device contains methoxyflurane, which is fast-acting and non-addictive, but can leave the patient feeling a little, well, groggy.

Guttridge, whose howls of pain had filled the corridors of the Holden Centre just minutes earlier, burst into her best rendition of the Collingwood theme song when visited by teammates after the second dose.

One of her best mates, rookie Holly Whitford, had been in tears talking to Siekman after the match.

Oddly enough, the fierce and focused Whitford, who went after the Melbourne player who tackled Guttridge, may be the one promoted to take her spot while her mate's out injured.

Whitford has impressed many with her maturity and how comfortable she is speaking up among the older players.

"We have to respect our teammates enough to critique them on the field," she said at Thursday night's midfield meeting.

The future of Collingwood's AFLW team is in good hands.

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Nothing stays the same

Former AFL umpire Mathew James, who was the team's runner in 2017, has replaced Meg Hutchins as footy operations manager, leaving the savvy veteran – who has more than 200 games and a league best and fairest under her belt playing for the Eastern Devils in the VFLW – to fully focus on playing.

James umpired 206 AFL games, including the 2001, 2002 and 2004 grand finals, before retiring due to a persistent calf injury in 2010.

The 43-year-old is well-liked around the club. He mans the bench during matches, passing on messages from the coaches' box.

He jokes with Jess Duffin that the green fireworks exploding over the nearby MCG from a Melbourne Stars BBL match was down to her "finally activating [her] glute muscles".

"Managing 30 girls can be a challenge at times. They're all individuals with their own circumstances," James said.

"Chloe Molloy works in a café (in Parkdale in Melbourne's south-east) and has to get up at 4.30 in the morning; some nights she wouldn't get to sleep till 12am.

"But they've all taken it upon themselves this season to work really hard away from the club and look after their own nutrition. They've got a better understanding of what's expected.

"Someone like Cecilia McIntosh, who's 37, has lifted her training standards."

There has been a complete turnover of the assistant coaching ranks since last year, with Brendon Major, Nikki Harwood and Harmit Singh making way for Daniel Harford, Collingwood AFL player Lynden Dunn, Matthew Jones and Chloe McMillan.

Harford, the senior assistant, may be better known these days for his media work but he has an impressive playing and coaching career.

The 40-year-old played 153 games for Hawthorn from 1995-2003 and added another nine games in his final season in 2004 playing for Carlton.

He led Eastern Football League powerhouse Balwyn (based in Melbourne's east) to two premierships and has also coached St Kevin's to a premiership in the Premier B division of the Victorian Amateur Football Association competition in metropolitan Melbourne.

"Matt James sent me a Facebook message while I was on holiday in Vietnam, asking if I'd like to catch up for a coffee," Harford said.

"I asked what it was about, and he said it was an assistant coaching role with Collingwood's AFLW team.

"I hadn't coached women before, but I'm absolutely loving it. They're so eager to learn, and Wayne and Matt have done a great job setting up the program."

Daniel Harford roars encouragement at the Magpies during a training drill. Picture: AFL Photos





With a maximum of just 15 hours of official training at the club a week during pre-season, players have access to two apps to continue their development at home.

The Collingwood app has all the information they need ahead of training – a rough breakdown of the evening, complete with meetings, drills and appointments.

Match information (e.g. be at the airport at 9am on Friday 16th) is also included well in advance, important for the vast majority of the list who are juggling playing with work and study.

Players fill in a survey every morning about their sleep, mood, any soreness and wellbeing, so doctors know who they need to see before the girls start arriving at 5pm.

A second app, Huddle, contains training and match vision, complete with coaches' comments. With players such as Georgie Parker and Eliza Hynes recent converts to the game, the ability to go over vision away from the club is important.

No more sneaking around

Ash Brazill is in her "absolute element".

While playing for West Coast Fever in the national netball league, the former Australian netballer used to play footy under the noses of her coaches, going to the extent of registering under a false name.

She's so talented, in 2012 she won the Fever's best and fairest and the WAWFL's rookie of the year playing for East Fremantle.

"I nearly lost my contract over that one," said Brazill, who will miss the first few AFLW games with hamstring tightness.

"Sue Gaudion, who's a netball commentator, was actually presenting the WAWFL awards. They read out my real name and my stomach sank. She was just shaking her head at me."

In 2015, Brazill played for Swan Districts once her Fever season had ended and was preparing to play in the Grand Final when she was called up to the Australian netball team the night before the match.

Now playing wing defence for Collingwood's netball team in the national Super Netball competition, Brazill's only chance in the NAB AFLW Draft lay with the Pies. It would allow her to continue playing both sports, especially as the netball season does not start till April.

So, there was considerable relief when 28-year-old was drafted with pick 34 in October last year, Collingwood's last selection.

Brazill has a unique training program. Unable to take part in Friday's netball testing due to the football practice match, she did it on Tuesday instead, then completed a full running session for footy later that night.

The one exception to her football teammates' training was Brazill did a different weights session to the rest.

First-year players Holly Whitford and Darcy Guttridge (pre-broken collarbone) watched with incredulity as she completed box jump after box jump (a standing jump onto a high surface, which requires great power), then scurried to emulate their teammate, 10 years their senior, after she had moved on.

"I did it! Did you write that down?" Guttridge said, while standing on top of the foam blocks, arms raised in triumph, making sure her feat had been observed.

Dealing with the Melbourne heat

It was 38 degrees at 7pm when the Magpies took to the track two weeks before round one, but Meg Hutchins was, as always, matter-of-fact.

"We have to play in it, so we may as well train in it," she said.

Coach Wayne Siekman said it was a perfect opportunity to practice for matches in Perth (round two against Fremantle) and Alice Springs (round four against Melbourne).

Heat or no heat, VFLW coach and former Magpie Penny Cula-Reid was missing playing.

"There's part of me that's a bit annoyed I didn't get my name on my locker or on the back of my warm-up t-shirt, like the girls have this year," Cula-Reid said, her eyes on the drill unfolding in front of her.

She, along with two other girls, took AFL Victoria (then Football Victoria) to court back in 2003 in a bid to continue being able to play football with boys. It was a big news story at the time. The age limit was lifted from 12 to 14, and it paved the way for the creation of a youth girls' competition, bridging the gap between juniors and seniors.

Now moving to the next stage of her football career, coaching, Cula-Reid is still giving back.

"I don't care about the heat, I'd still love to be out there, but it is what it is. This is the best way I can help develop the game, so this is what I'll do."

Coach Wayne Siekman instructs his players between training drills. Picture: AFL Photos





Back to school

Over the road from the Holden Centre on Tuesday, January 16, cheers ring out from Hisense Arena as Aussie Alex De Minaur continues his first-round battle against Tomas Berdych at the Australian Open.

A few fans have wandered over from the tennis to watch training, pushing attendance from the usual four rusted-on fans to somewhere around 20.

"Bit of a crowd tonight," 18-year-old forward Sarah Dargan says to no one in particular, so excited she runs off and forgets her GPS tracker, the plastic monitoring device that sits inside the back of a player's jumper.

Earlier that night, the forward group had sat in a quick meeting.



Assistant coach Matthew Jones, a teacher outside of football, was bouncing on the balls of his feet in a small classroom decked out with black chairs and white tables; unremarkable in any setting but Collingwood.

"Don't stress about the answers," Jones said, as 11 players furrowed brows, tapped pens, giggled and above all, frantically scribbled answers on paper.

"I just want to know what you don't know. There's no point going over stuff everyone's clear on."

Suddenly, an interruption, similar to one found in any classroom around the country. Meg Hutchins, who after years of playing defence has made the move forward this season, had caught Dargan peeping over her shoulder.

"Don't copy my answers! If you do, you'll be wrong," Hutchins said, mock-seriously, slamming her arm down across her page.

Dargan, 17 years younger than Hutchins, just grinned.

Read Inside The Magpies' Nest – part two: Tough love from footy's family