COLIN O'Riordan always knew he'd be a better coach than player. He just didn't think he would land an AFLW head coaching job by the age of 30.

Hailing from Tipperary in Ireland, he was rookie-listed by Sydney in 2015 and played 34 AFL games before being forced into retirement due to a chronic hip injury in 2022. His body simply couldn't keep up with his brain.

"I felt like I could see the game quite well, but at times my body just wouldn't allow me to do the stuff that I knew I had to do, but I never really leaned into that until I finished, and then I came back to that, I loved the development side of trying to get the best out of people, and obviously I'm pretty hungry for success," O'Riordan told AFL.com.au.

"I can see why people probably wouldn't have thought initially (that) I would have been wanting to coach, but I've always, in the back of my head, thought I would be a better coach than I was a player. And it's the best decision I've ever made.

"Did I think it would happen as quick as it has? Probably not, but once I got into it and doing it full-time, I absolutely loved it. Playing footy is the best thing you'll ever do in your life, in my opinion, but second to that is watching other people play and helping them in some way, or contributing to their success in some way is the most rewarding thing you'll ever do."

Roaming Sydney's Moore Park headquarters, O'Riordan is a jovial presence, bringing people into the fold and keen to engage those around him. It's a chat here, a joke there, but underneath it all bubbles a real intensity and drive to succeed.

Once on the track, that version of O'Riordan takes over. As he dons the headset and whistle, there is an expectation that those in the program – players and staff alike – lock in.

That's not a hard ask, though, as everyone is hellbent on the same goal.

The drive, and desperate want to learn displayed across Sydney's AFLW program drew him to the position when the role opened up late last year. He wasn't a stranger to the program, having spent two seasons with the side as its team defence coach in its first two seasons – including a finals appearance in 2023 – so the enthusiasm at the appointment flowed both ways.

"The main reason I wanted the job was because when I worked with them three years ago, I just thought they were the most engaged group of young women that I've seen, and it's so refreshing coming into a group where they just want to learn all the time and grow," O'Riordan said.

"It was the opportunity to work with like-minded people who were fantastic at what they do, but they also don't think they know everything, and it's a credit to the group. They've adapted such a growth mindset to how they do about their footy and life in general, and for me as a coach, you want to work with groups like that."

In the intervening years since leaving the program at the end of 2023, O'Riordan took charge of the club's boys academy program – his first taste of leading his own group.

A conversation with Sydney's head of footy Leon Cameron drove the shift, helping to create a coaching pathway through the club.

"I always wanted to coach, but I wasn't sure what it looked like for me. I had a really good chat with Leon Cameron three years ago and he said 'Mate, you've got to do your own team, it doesn't matter where, you've got to do your own team to figure out if that's what you want to do'," O'Riordan explained.

"The academy was a really good stepping stone for me to actually have my own team, have your own staff, support team, and then figure out if that's what you really want to do. So when the opportunity arose to do that, it was either a case for me to dive in with everything I have and I'm all in, or if I didn't like it, at least I know I've given it a crack."

Amidst his personable attitude, he loves a number and brings a business-minded approach to his coaching. SWOT analyses are mentioned more than once, and a desire to understand ages and average experiences of his list in comparison to the rest of the League.

His approach is based on asking questions of his players, and ensuring they understand the concepts he and his coaching panel are putting in place. Small groups, warm-up games, engaging the fun but then narrowing the focus.

And the players seem to be tapping in and enjoying the routine.

That's not to say there isn't an underlying feeling of imposter syndrome within O'Riordan, however. Much has been made of him becoming the first Irish head coach within the AFLW, and combined with his youth, he wasn't necessarily the obvious choice externally.

"At times you can have the imposter syndrome when you know you didn't grow up with the game and you start doubting yourself, and you get to that self-doubt, and you think 'Am I doing the right thing?' but to have the group back you in so much that you're making the right call, and then working alongside some people who've been involved in footy for so long," O'Riordan said.

Love for the club, and Australia has been embedded in O'Riordan. So much so, that he is now an Australian citizen. But that hasn't dimmed his passion for coaching Ireland in the upcoming representative game against Australia.

It will be his first time representing Ireland, after passing up the opportunity early in his AFL career, thinking that there would be further chances to pull on the emerald guernsey.

"I'm not a very emotional person, and my parents would say I'm not very affectionate or touchy-feely in many ways, but one thing I'm really passionate about, and I'm really proud about, is my upbringing and my heritage and where I come from," O'Riordan said.

"So just being given the opportunity to coach Ireland is something that is a huge privilege to me … in 2016, 2017, the international rules, I had the opportunity to play, and I picked pre-season in my first couple of years here instead because I felt I would have had another opportunity when I was a more established AFL player, and I'd give it a crack then.

"And it turned out that was canned after, and I never had the opportunity to play for my country, which I've probably lived with a bit of regret for that. So this is the second-best thing."

Now it's time for the rubber to hit the road. Everything is positive and hopeful, but how the group – and O'Riordan – hold up under pressure is the next big challenge.

"We haven't been tested," O'Riordan said with a knowing look.

"How do we respond under pressure? I think it's sometimes quite easy to lead when things are going well. It's obviously when the pressure comes, how can you lead then? So being conscious of that is really important, which I think we all are as a coaching group.

"We're in a good spot at the minute, but as you know, a week in footy's a long time."