WHEN Sam Wright played for North Melbourne, he'd tell the kids at school clinics that anyone could play top-flight footy.

Now in his first year coaching Collingwood in the NAB AFLW competition, he knows that well-meaning sentiment wasn't true.

"I do remember, quite clearly, going to clinics all the time as an AFL player and you'd sit in front of a classroom full of kids," Wright said.

"You'd say, 'you work hard enough, you can play AFL'. But it simply wasn't true at that time. All the girls in the room couldn't actually play [at the top level]. 

"I think what I'm really proud of now is you have a club event, and there's all these little girls, little kids, who can actually play at the highest level. I'm really proud about that, and I'm really proud that the League is really trying to develop AFLW and we're trying to lead the way as the Collingwood Football Club, in that space."

Wright's AFL career ended in 2019 at the age of 29 after being stymied by serious foot and ankle injuries, following 136 games over 11 years.

At one point, he turned to a physiotherapist at the Australian Ballet in his quest to further his rehabilitation, and upon retirement, took up a job with the company working in the welfare area.

"I played over a decade at North Melbourne. Really proud of my time there, more from the friendships and relationships that I built and the connectiveness to the club. I think it's been super important to me," Wright said.

"I was really keen after I finished at North Melbourne to move away from football, had a couple of opportunities to stay in football, and wanted to learn and develop myself, particularly in developing high-performing athletes. 

"Moving away from skill acquisition that I knew, kicks, marks and handballs, and more into holistic development of athletes. I spent time at the Australian Ballet, I spent time at Cricket Victoria and I think the pull of football was just too great for me – the win-loss, the competitiveness. 

"Developing the game I love, I think, has drawn me back in particular to AFLW, just the growth in the game. The growth in players, it's a steep growth, and I want to be part of that."

Wright returned to the Roos – "I felt like I owed them" – and took up a job as an assistant coach with the women's program. He quickly developed a reputation as a smart operator who developed good connections with his charges.

Now with a grounding at one of the stronger women's football programs in the country under his belt, he's entrusted with taking Collingwood back up the ladder.

"We're not shying away from wanting to play finals and wanting to play in the last game of the year, for sure," he said.

"For us, we're really process-driven, and a part of that was a lot of turnover within the club. All new assistant coaches, medical staff, performance staff, to really try and align our program to give our players the best opportunity to learn the new system and to perform on game day. 

"I think for us (on-field) it starts with defence, having a really rock-solid foundation of what it looks like, and (that) the intent needed to play in our side is really clear to the players. From there, trying to get a bit more excitement and pace on that ball movement, moving forward."

Wright was one of the driving forces behind embedding some of the team's leaders into the club's men's program for a week each, with Brit Bonnici, Tarni White, Jordy Allen and Bri Davey all taking up the opportunity to shadow Craig McRae's program, whether that involved meetings, training or recovery sessions.

"There are so many elements that us as a collective wanted to push this pre-season, and one of them was the alignment with the men's program. To have Tarni and Brit, Jordy Allen was in there as well, immerse themselves in that program, they've just learnt so much," Wright said.

"They've learnt what it takes to be a high-performing athlete, come back with fresh ideas into our program to really try and drive our focuses moving forward. 

"One thing I will say is they've driven this themselves, as well. That's what we're trying to do, is to provide them with a safe environment where they feel like they can immerse themselves in the men's program. We've had nothing but support from the men."

With a new gameplan in development, a fresh senior coach and a near-completely turned over coaching panel – as well as inclusions like Kalinda Howarth, Mikayla Hyde and draftees Lucy Cronin, Georgia Clark and Amber Schutte – what will Collingwood look like in 2024?

"It's the golden question, isn't it. You're going to see a really clear brand of how we play," Wright said.

"Our hope as coaching staff is when you come to watch Collingwood AFLW, it's really clear on what it takes to play in our side, and that's the fundamentals of defence, the fundamentals of effort, care for your teammates, and from there, we can play the game with a bit of excitement. 

"Be really daring and bold with our ball movement, and encourage our natural flair. Some of these players coming through the draft are really exciting, and we want to showcase that. We want to grow the game of AFLW."