NOT many people can claim their first match as a senior coach was a grand final.
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But North Wagga's seven-point loss to Charles Sturt University in last year's AFL Southern NSW Women's grand final means Brayden Skeers has "fire in the belly" after taking the role full time.
Skeers, part of the Saints' drought-breaking premiership in 2019, had been assisting predecessor Nathan Dowdle and his partner Kelsey Leaver plays for the team.
Dowdle's move to Darwin means he has a chance to help the Saints try and go one better this year.
"Nathan wasn't available for the grand final so I got to coach the girls that day, that was a baptism of fire," he said.
"But it gave me the hunger, I guess, to see them progress to a grand final but go down. It fuelled the fire and gave me the motivation to keep the girls ticking along.
"Nathan was really big on the girls getting a lot of enjoyment out of it, but also trying to improve their footy and build a really strong culture around it.
"The way women's footy is progressing is really positive, and I'd love to be a part of that going forward because I can see it developing rapidly.
"The introduction of new teams has shaken it up quite substantially."
Skeers has wasted little time cracking the whip, assembling the squad for an 8am Sunday training run over the weekend as they look to take advantage of a limited build up to the season opener against East Wagga Kooringal at Gumly Oval next Friday night.
"With such a short time to train we've decided to do a couple of weekend sessions, which gives the players a chance to bond as well," he said.
"It's part of what I'm trying to establish and build on is that club culture."
The Saints have welcome back ruckman-forward Jordan Barrett, the competition's best and fairest in 2020, after she didn't play last year, but have lost dominant siblings Megan and Ruby Porter.
They have been placed in the theoretically tougher conference, which features more established teams, and Skeers said it will be interesting to see how his new brigade fare.
"We have a lot of new players who haven't played before so that's a new challenge and we're looking forward to them taking the field," he said.
"I've been super excited about how well they've adapted to the style of game we want to play, an we've got senior girls who have a played a lot helping them out.
"We're one of the more established clubs, but we're almost starting afresh with the new girls we've got and we'll give it our best crack."
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