By Jazz Bennett
The Dandenong Stingrays are proud to welcome back Jordyn Allen to the girls’ program, coming on board as a specialist coach for season 2024.
Allen previously had a decorated playing career with the Stingrays, including serving as captain in both her bottom and top-age years, representing in the AFLW Academy, and making the All-Australian team following her performance with Vic Country in the under-18 National Championships. Her time playing with the Stingrays was capped off with her selection in the 2018 AFLW Draft, taken with pick 5 by Collingwood Football Club.
“I’ve always wanted to get back into the Stingrays program, but I just wasn’t really sure when or how,” Allen states.
“The program has changed an awful lot since I was there, like the personnel has completely changed.
“When I got the call [from head coach Josh Moore] it was initially a lot of excitement, and then probably a little bit of angst like ‘oh gosh, I don’t know if I can make it work’ (with her AFLW commitments), but then relief once I spoke to Moorey in a bit more detail going through what my role actually looks like.”
Allen, who was voted into the Collingwood AFLW’s leadership group in 2023, will work closely with our senior leadership group throughout the year.
“She’s going to be a bit of an all-rounder, she’ll obviously be out on the track helping the girls with some craft and fundamentals,” explained girls head coach Josh Moore.
“Off the track she’s going to work in pretty closely with our leadership group and be a mentor for those girls.
“We had really good leaders last year, and they did a great job – but I feel like this year we can sort of add to that with the development of our leadership group by having someone like Jordy as a mentor for them – I think that’ll really take their development to the next level.”
The development of leadership skills in player will help players grow off the field, especially as they aim for AFLW careers.
“Leadership roles can bring out the best in players, I think,” explains Allen.
“You’re definitely a lot more selfless; you’re spending a lot more time directing players and putting them into good positions and having a lot more conversation outside of training.
“We saw a couple of the young Hawks (AFLW) girls like Jas Fleming who was voted into the leadership group in her second year with the Hawks. So [leadership skills are] not something that necessarily goes away.”
Allen’s expertise in the AFLW landscape, paired with being someone who has also gone through an elite talent pathway program will particularly resonate with senior players who are entering their top age year.
“My top age year was one of the best years – but it very easily became overwhelming at times with school and with work and footy,” Allen recalls.
“This year there’s quite a lot of pressure and [the players] feel quite a bit of expectation – like [in] week 3 or 4 of preseason, they were already feeling the weight of the draft and everything.
“I’m going to really encourage the girls to have fun with it. When you’re having fun, you’re not thinking about the past or thinking too far ahead either.”
Allen is one of five past players to return to the Stingrays program in the last 12 months. Mackenzie Eardley (Hawthorn AFLW) and Charley Ryan (Richmond AFLW) returned in 2023 as development coaches, while this year we also welcome back Hayley Monk and Patrick Gerdan, who both finished their playing careers with the Stingrays in 2022 and will serve as a development coach and high performance intern respectively.
“Players wanting to come back and give back to the Stingrays program says a lot about our culture and the way that we do things,” Moore explains.
“I think when you talk about culture it’s what’s happened previously, like the coaches before me, and the coaches before [boys head coach Nick Cox] Coxy,
“They’ve all left a legacy that we’ve just carried on and continued to build the culture of the program.”
This was confirmed by Allen, who observed the culture during her first day back with the Stingrays.
“[The first day] was so much fun!” Allen exclaimed.
“You can see the family vibe of the team, especially from the girls who were in the program last year. It’s really carried on and I think it’s really infected the girls who were involved in the squad prior to Christmas.
“It just felt like one big happy family!”
Dandenong Southern Stingrays 