Collingwood to review AFLW program as coach Sam Wright leaves

Collingwood will conduct a strategic review of its AFLW program, and club president Barry Carp has admitted the club "hasn't got it right" in the women's competition. The review was announced in a club statement on 28 October, one day after Collingwood confirmed that AFLW coach Sam Wright will leave the club.

Carp said the board and executive take responsibility for the team's results. ABC News reported that the club will bring in an outside expert consultant to help with the review. That expert will work with Collingwood's AFLW sub-committee, a smaller group that reports to the board, on building long-term success for the women's program.

The results behind the decision are hard to ignore. Collingwood has won one game this season and sits second-last on the AFLW ladder, the table that ranks teams by wins and then by percentage, which compares points scored with points conceded. Across this season and the two before it, the club has won five games and lost 29.

Wright led the program for the past three seasons as senior coach. He will coach his final game for the club against Essendon at Windy Hill on Sunday, in Round 12. Essendon coach Natalie Wood will also coach her last game in that match, so the contest will carry a farewell feel for both benches.

Captain Ruby Schleicher is set to return home to Western Australia. The club's update also said three players recovering from knee reconstructions will travel to Dublin to see Dr Enda King for the next stage of their rehabilitation.

The club's last strong AFLW run came in 2020. That year Collingwood finished fourth in its conference with four wins and two losses, then lost a semi-final to North Melbourne.

For supporters, the coming weeks will bring two things to watch: who the club names to lead the program next, and what the outside consultant recommends. Neither has been announced. The Windy Hill game on Sunday is the next time the club's players and Wright take the field together.