Spaghetti bolognese, plenty of water and an early night.

That was just a small part of my preparation before every game.

For 20 years - half my life - most of my weekends revolved around football.

Weekdays were spent training with teammates who became lifelong friends, all of us working together to improve and become better as a collective.

When you retire, those things disappear overnight.

I lost my routine, my purpose and my community.

It was hard for me, like it is for most athletes.

Naturally when my playing days ended, friends and colleagues asked me if I was going to coach.

To be honest, I wasn't sure if coaching would suit my personality - I'm quiet and introverted.

But it felt like an itch I needed to scratch.

From day one, I realised coaching is a completely different challenge.

As a player, your focus is on yourself and what you can do to make the team better.

As a coach, your focus turns to everyone else and how you can help them improve.

Your knowledge of the game and what it takes to be an athlete is helpful, but from there, the similarities end.

Communication and relationships are key.

As a player I rarely spoke unless I felt it was needed.

As a coach, communication never stops. You're constantly speaking with individuals, small groups, and teams - each group requiring subtle variations to ensure your message gets across.

You look for different ways to make others tick, you challenge them, you encourage them.

You have to establish trust so you can tell them the good things and the bad.

Currently I coach at three different levels - at the Sandringham Dragons in the AFL's Talent League, at Hawthorn in the AFLW and I work with individuals who play community football.

As an assistant coach at Sandringham, I get to witness the best young talent in the country come of age.

These teenagers are stars, natural athletes who pick up the nuances of the game quickly and with ease.

I feel privileged to help guide them on their path to AFLW, VFLW or community football.

For the first time since 2023, I've returned to AFLW as a development coach at the Hawks.

Already in the two seasons since I retired, I have noticed the difference in the skills and strength of the players.

I love being in a high performance environment where the athletes are ruthlessly driven and determined to succeed.

I assist wherever I can, working with them on their strengths and weaknesses, as an extra set of hands to help them complete rep after rep.

In my one-on-one coaching, I've noticed more community players want someone to teach them skills and game sense.

With the AFLW now 10 years old, more and more women and girls are playing football and falling in love with the game.

Across all three levels, one thing remains the same.

I love helping people achieve their goals and be the best they can be.

There's nothing better than seeing someone's face light up when they finally master a skill they've been working on, or watching them execute on game day something they've practiced over and over at training.

Coaching has challenged me in ways that playing never did, and I'm loving learning how to become the best coach I can be.

It pushes me outside of my comfort zone and no two days are the same.

Most importantly, it has kept me connected to the environment I love.

Once more I'm part of a community, with a set routine and purpose, filling the gaps in my life from my playing days.

If you've ever thought about coaching, give it a go. You'll love it.