Collingwood is pleased to welcome Steph Binder to its AFLW coaching panel for the upcoming season.  

Binder, who will serve as a Development Coach, arrives at the Pies following two seasons as Head Coach of North Melbourne’s VFLW program.

The former Southern Saints VFLW player has previously served as an Assistant Coach with both Vic Country U19 and the Dandenong Stingrays’ U19 Girls sides.

With Binder previously taking part in the Club’s Coaching Acceleration Program (“CAP”), Collingwood has also welcomed three new members into the CAP for the 2023 AFLW season.

Collingwood VFLW captain Caitlin Bunker as well as Pies’ VFLW coaches Colin Wallington and Cahlia Haslam will all join the program.

Bunker has served as the Club’s VFLW captain since 2020, while Haslam is a former Pies VFLW player who currently serves as a Development Coach with the VFLW squad.

Wallington joined the Pies’ VFLW program this season serving as the forward line coach.

He previously served four seasons as Senior Coach of Diamond Creek’s Division One women’s side in the Northern Football League (“NFNL”) where he led the team to a maiden premiership earlier this year.

Collingwood’s CAP has a focus on investing in upcoming female coaching talent and provides development in AFL and AFLW high performance programs.

The program has seen success in providing a pathway for the development of female coaches such as Martha Cantwell who has since gone on to be appointed head coach of the Sandringham Dragons.

Another applicant of the program, Chloe McMillan is the Club’s VFLW Head Coach and is also a member of the AFL Women’s Coaching Acceleration Program serving as a Development Coach with the Club’s AFL program.

Collingwood AFLW Head Coach Steve Symonds said the Club’s CAP program is an important initiative.  

“The CAP provides a great pathway for coaches, particularly females, to be exposed to coaching at the elite level and in a high-performance environment,” Symonds said.

“As members of our VFLW program, Caitlin, Cahlia and Colin are familiar faces around our Club and this is a great opportunity for them to continue to focus on their coaching development as a member of our AFLW program.

“Whilst the CAP has a particular focus on the development of female coaches, we also want to support up and coming male coaches like Colin in their development.

“We’re also pleased to welcome back Steph who completed our CAP in 2021.

“She’s got a lot to offer our program and we look forward to this next chapter of her coaching journey with us.”