GEELONG was the only team to take points away from North Melbourne last year, and also defeated Grand Finalist Brisbane, but failed to make finals.

Close losses to Melbourne (two points), Richmond (seven) and Adelaide (four) ultimately cost the Cats a top-eight spot, having made a preliminary final last year.

"Last year, we were so close on so many games. It was to the point of points against the top teams. When we think about that, we know we're there," new head of AFLW Dominique Condo told AFL.com.au.

"From our coaching philosophy and the amazing work Dan (Lowther, coach) does and leads in that space, it's not as though we need to reinvent things or are miles off the mark, so we'll back in what we do.

"It's getting back to our connection on the field, it's getting back to our role clarity and really working this pre-season and making sure everyone knows their role, how to execute that role and backing themselves in. 

"I think there's a little bit of having that confidence that they can really shine in those moments. I think it's a bit of that off-field mental focus, to really make sure we're executing in those really close games, and they're able to back themselves in."

Condo has been appointed into the newly revamped head Geelong AFLW role after the departure of Brett Johnson, who held a dual role across the men's and women's programs.

It's a coming-home moment for Condo, who has a PhD in nutrition science and initially started at Geelong in 2015 as a performance dietician, before adding in the AFLW player development manager job when the Cats joined the competition in 2019.

She has spent the past four years at Richmond as performance science and nutrition manager, and also had her first baby just three months ago.

"I knew I wanted to move direction within sport for a while, I've been in high performance for a while and I've loved it, but when I think about where my strengths are, it's the people side of what I do," Condo said.

"From an opportunity perspective, and where I could really grow in that space, it's probably in the sports management rather than high performance. It's a big leap to make, especially when I'm not a player myself or coming from a sports management background. 

"I thought how can I upskill myself in that space, so just started to do more observational work, at the Tiges as well, getting my head around the programs. I started my MBA, to get some management experience behind me. I've had amazing relationships with the Cats and the leadership at the Cats, even since I've been gone. 

"When this role came up, they knew where my interests lay, and the timing sort of lined up. Could have been slightly better (with the baby), but here we are."

Condo has seen the evolution of AFLW first hand through her nutrition lens, and has refined her work with players over the years as the demands of the competition has evolved.

"The way we talk to AFLW players now – we talk to them from a high-performance perspective as elite athletes. The loads are higher, because they're training during the day and it's more professional (program)," she said.

"We talk more about the nitty gritty of sports nutrition and science, those one-percenters versus getting the basics right. Don't get me wrong, there's still an element of teaching when our new players come in, but we started from thinking about it as a community sports team, and the athletes aren't where they are now. 

"Now, you're working in that top percent as how can you get anything extra out of them, by looking at the off-field stuff, which is where nutrition comes in. In a roundabout way, of course programs and coaches have their way of doing things, but they all have similar loads (across the competition) so it's the other stuff that makes that difference, the off-field stuff I find fascinating."

Fourteen of the 18 "heads of women's football" roles (or equivalents) are now held by women, a number that has steadily increased over the past few years. 

"Things have changed a lot, which is great to see. I look at our program in particular, and we've had a lot of staff changes this season. My role, we've got Tennille (Cuttiford), she's our high-performance manager, (former player) Renee Garing is back as our PDM, we've got Elise Coventry as one of our assistant coaches, and I think we're seeing this more and more across the league," Condo said.

"I believe we've got the skillset to do it; it's just about having the opportunities. I'm passionate about the women's league and women's sport. We've come a long way, we're celebrating the 10th season this year, but there's so far to go. Being in this role has really opened my eyes to that as well. 

"We do still have a while to go, and that's OK and exciting, we can't expect to be – we should never compare ourselves to the men anyway, because we're different people and different sorts of athletes. We can't expect to be there overnight. 

"I hope that over the next decade, with the opportunities in the women's program, that translates into the men's program. I think we're starting to see some of it, but it'd be fantastic to have more women in men's programs too, in big leadership roles. I think the women's program gives us that exposure."