Dani Laidley brutally snubbed again as Western Bulldogs unveil Tamara Hyett as coach
The former North Melbourne head coach has missed out on the Western Bulldogs AFLW job.
Dani Laidley's coaching comeback has hit another snag after being beaten out by Tamara Hyett for the Western Bulldogs AFLW coaching job. The former North Melbourne mentor has been looking to get back into coaching since November when she set her sights on becoming the West Eagles head coach.
That role, however, went to Melbourne Demons legend Daisy Pearce, so the former Kangaroos premiership player threw her hat in the ring to lead the Western Bulldogs. But Laidley lost out in the final stages to Hyett, meaning she will have to wait a little longer for her return to the top flight. Laidley hasn't held a coaching job at a club since she left her assistant role at Carlton in 2015.
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Hyett will become the fifth woman to lead an AFLW side for the upcoming season after the Bulldogs were impressed with her work coaching the Sandringham Dragons in the Coates Talent League Girls competition. She has worked previously as an assistant coach with Melbourne in 2022 and beat out both Laidley and inaugural premiership coach Paul Groves to the job.
The former pro golfer, arrived late to football, playing her first VFLW game for the St Kilda Sharks at the age of 35 before transitioning into an assistant coach at the club. She then took the role of midfield development coach at Melbourne ahead of the 2021 season before moving on to take charge of the backline. She ended up parting ways with the Demons at the end of 2023.
Dani Laidley's desire to return to coaching
In November Laidley told SEN that she is eager to return to coaching after the release of her documentary series 'Danielle Laidley: Tro Tribes'. Laidley flagged the West Coast role in November as of utmost interest but has since moved on to other potential coaching opportunities.
"We've been waiting until the documentary came out because I was contracted for that," she said in November. "It's been a passion of mine and I've sort of been ready for about 12 months and even actually for this AFLW season, I was asked to do a coaching role at one of the Melbourne teams. But I couldn't because I was contracted for the doco. People have connected the dots, West Coast have got a position available and yes, I want to coach again.
"But let's not put the cart before the horse. It's very easy to as I say, connect those dots. But it’s true (my ambition to return) it's been a few years now in the making. West Coast is the only club at the moment that don’t have a coach for their women's team. There may be some other clubs in Melbourne as well who make a decision not to go with their coach. It sounds like a good fit. But there could be some other things happening down the track. I'm just being prepared for any scenario."
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