LAUREN Arnell has become the first retired AFLW player to be appointed an AFLW senior coach, successfully winning the role at Port Adelaide.

Arnell was Carlton's inaugural captain, leading the side in 2017, before reigniting her career with Brisbane, retiring a premiership player in 2021 with a total of 36 games to her name.

Lauren Arnell prepares to lead out the Blues for the first ever AFLW game in 2017. Picture: Michael Willson, AFL Photos

Current Collingwood coach Steve Symonds had also been linked to the job; the former Norwood SANFLW coach is a South Australian whose family still live in Adelaide while he's in Melbourne for six-month stints.

The 35-year-old Arnell had a distinguished playing career with Darebin prior to the commencement of the NAB AFLW competition.

Retiring Lions Lauren Arnell and Emma Zielke are chaired off after the Grand Final win. Picture: Getty Images

She has a PE teaching background and has been working as an Academy coach at the Lions for the past 18 months, and has also worked with NAB League side Calder Cannons.

Arnell's appointment means three of the 18 coaches for the new AFLW season are women (along with Hawthorn's Bec Goddard and Essendon's Natalie Wood), and she will become the fifth woman ever to lead an AFLW side (following Goddard, Wood, Michelle Cowan at Fremantle and Peta Searle at St Kilda).

"It is a privilege to be appointed Port Adelaide’s inaugural AFLW coach and an opportunity I am very much looking forward to," Arnell said.

"The history of success at Port Adelaide and the expectations that come with this are not lost on me. It’s what has drawn me to this club. I want be part of something great and I can already see we are building something special within our AFLW program.

"I look forward to working with Juliet Haslam, Rachael Sporn and Naomi Maidment to develop a program that guides and mentors the next generation of AFLW talent.

"I’m also excited by the Club’s progressive, bold vision, including the transformation of the Alberton Oval precinct and the role that our AFLW program will play in shaping the Port Adelaide Football Club of the future.

"Our female athletes will enjoy world class training facilities and will provide future generations of young girls and women a pathway to represent Port Adelaide on the national stage.

"To be the first AFLW coach in a club that is more than 150 years old is truly humbling and I can’t wait for our team to write their own chapter in Port Adelaide’s rich history of success."

More to come