The Giants have turned to a Canberra product to be their new AFLW coach.
Cameron Bernasconi will switch over from being Greater Western Sydney’s Academy head coach to succeed Alan McConnell and become the third coach of the women’s team after Tim Schmidt was the first.
The 29-year-old plans to embrace the NSW and ACT talent coming through the ranks that he has helped nurture.
Bernasconi also played for the Giants’ then-TAC Cup side in 2010 and went on to have a successful NEAFL career.
“I’m super excited. I was involved in that inaugural year and I’m really looking forward to seeing how much the program’s grown and come along,” he told News Corp.
“I went into the hub (with the team) last year and thoroughly enjoyed it.
“It’s such a high-performance program now and the development and the growth of the players is something that really interests me, so I’m rapt.”
Bernasconi has steadily built his off-field resume since being appointed as the talent and coaching manager for the ACT and southern NSW in 2014.
Among the players he previously coached are current Giants Alyce Parker, Georgia Garnett and Brodee Mowbray, so the chance to work with them in a professional environment was a major appeal of the job.
“I know there is local talent in our backyard and there are certainly players coming through the Giants Academy who I’ve certainly got an eye on to get onto the list and further develop,” Bernasconi said.
“Having homegrown talent is the goal essentially. You see Tom Green in the AFL system and Alyce Parker in the female system come through the NSW talent pool.
“That’s something I’ll be really passionate about.”
GWS finished a couple of wins outside the finals last season but Bernasconi is confident his team can improve again, even if ex-Western Bulldogs recruit Izzy Huntington won’t play this coming season.
“It’s an expansion year, so there’s going to be a lot of change in the competition but I look at the Giants’ list and think there’s some really top-end talent,” he said.
“I’m really excited to nurture that talent in this group and I’m a pretty competitive person, so I’m certainly optimistic they’ll have a strong year.”
Bernasconi enters the role with a well-established relationship with the club’s head of women’s football, Briana Harvey, who endorsed their “very strong internal candidate” after a national search.
“His philosophy on the direction he would like to take the program is completely aligned to ours and he is the best person for the job,” Harvey said.
“It’s a really exciting time for the competition and we lookxjmtzyw forward to seeing where Cam can take our program.”
