Southern Saints add Michelle Densley to 2022 coaching panel

26/10/2021

Former Seaford Tigerettes senior coach Michelle Densley has signed with the Southern Saints in 2022 as a senior assistant, bringing with her a wealth of knowledge and football experience.

Photo via Seaford FNC Twitter

In her playing days, Densley was a powerful defender turned forward who stunned the VFLW competition in 2013 whilst playing for St John’s Old Collegians, kicking 20 goals in a match against Hallam and topping the weekly goal-scoring table across the entire country.

When asked about this incredible feat, she laughed and added “At Seaford I tend to bring that up every time at training.”

Now in the next phase of her career off-field, she’s kicking goals as a coach and is preparing to make the transition from her former role as senior coach of the Seaford Tigerettes in the South Eastern Womens Football League to her new role as a Southern Saints mentor.

While she says it was “hard to leave (Seaford)” after two COVID-interrupted years in charge, she’s looking forward to the challenge that awaits her at the Saints.

“To be honest, I’m starting to get really excited and I couldn’t give up the opportunity to coach alongside Dale,” she said.

Densley’s ascent to the Southern Saints VFLW coaching ranks is a testament to the growth of women’s football, as she didn’t know how to get involved in the sport as a youngster.

“I grew up down in Gippsland and my brothers played football, everyone played football but I had no idea that there was the opportunity for women to play,” she said.

“Then I moved away from Gippsland in the early 2000s and started playing soccer for a few years, and I still didn’t know women could play.”

“Someone I ran into asked me if I played football and I said ‘no, I’m a female’, and they told me there was a (women’s) league affiliated with the Parkdale Football Club, so I went down to training in around 2006 and played there for a few years.”

Her career progressed rapidly from there, and a few years later she was playing for St John’s in the now-defunct VWFL competition.

Post-VWFL, she was a playing assistant coach in the Seaford Tigerettes Division One team, and quickly rose through the ranks to become senior coach a few years later.

“I’ve always been in a leadership role in every team I’ve been on, and from the word go at Seaford I took on a helping hand with the twos and also the ones unofficially,” she said.

“It was just a natural progression and I loved it.”

In 2021, Densley’s Seaford Tigerettes played 10 games and finished the year undefeated, winning 9 and drawing their Round 9 clash against the Eastern Devils.

This led to Densley receiving the 2021 SEWFL coach of the year award, an award she said she’s “honoured” to have.

“Obviously I’m proud of it, but the team I had this year were so experienced and half were ex-VFL or AFLW, so they really coached themselves this year. It was a really easy team to coach,” she said.

Heading into next year, Densley is looking forward to forming a strong partnership with Southern Saints coach Dale Robinson.

“I actually couldn’t think of anyone else to be coaching under and to learn from,” she said.

“We’re polar opposites in our personalities and probably the way we coach, and I think that’s perfect because we’ll see different things and bring different aspects to the game.”

She also said she was impressed by Robinson’s keen interest in local football, where she created a “positive link between the VFL and the local level.”

Robinson is excited to have Densley joining the Southern Saints coaching panel and says she has a “great capacity to grow.”

“Michelle’s got some great experience at the local level and she’s been involved in women’s football for many years, so she’s got a good background and I think she’ll step up to the VFL level really well,” she said.

A slight reshuffle will take place amongst the Southern Saints coaching panel to accommodate Densley, who takes over from Sam Calogero as forwards coach.

“I’ve moved Sam Calogero into the backline to give him more experience and Shane (Hamill) gets the chance to consolidate his first year with the mids, so Michelle will come in and be a strong addition to our forward line,” Robinson said.

The Southern Saints return for pre-season training on Thursday November 4 as they prepare for the 2022 VFLW season.

Written by Jack Bennett - Sandringham Football Club Media