Daisy Pearce is an AFL trailblazer.

One of the game's biggest icons had a glittering on-field career laced with various individual and team accolades, but now her next big challenge awaits.

Head coach of an AFLW side.

Pearce will lead West Coast in 2024 after landing the job late last year in what the Eagles described as "one of the biggest recruiting coups in history".

She becomes just the third former AFLW player to coach a team at the top level, following in the footsteps of Lauren Arnell (Port Adelaide) and Lisa Webb (Fremantle).

Pearce played 55 games throughout her career for Melbourne, having previously dominated in the VWFL for the Darebin Falcons.

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The Demons superstar won three club best and fairests, three All-Australian blazers and was voted the AFLPA's AFLW Best Captain on four occasions.

She got the fairytale finish she was after, leading her side to a drought-breaking premiership in her final game on the big stage.

Then there's her budding media career, which she will continue to forge while taking the reins of the Eagles side.

Pearce has been an integral part of Channel 7's match broadcasts in recent seasons as special comments and boundary rider, providing unique insights into the game.

She won the award for Best Opinion/Analysis – TV/Radio in 2021 and has become one of the most respected footy voices in the industry.

Pearce has taken on every challenge thrown her way and stepped up to the plate every single time.

But how will she fare in her new role at the Eagles?

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Pearce inherits a list that has struggled in recent seasons under former coach Michael Prior, but if anyone can oversee this side's rise up the ladder, it's Pearce.

While this will be Pearce's first role in the AFLW coaching ranks, she's certainly well equipped for the task at hand.

In 2022, Pearce completed her level three coaching accreditation course as a part of the AFL women's coaching academy and was mentored by former St Kilda AFLW coach Peta Searle.

More recently, she was working for Geelong's men's program in a development coaching role under coach Chris Scott, who is one of the most successful coaches in the current landscape.

Now it's Daisy's time.

The grandiose nature of the opportunity in front of her is not lost on the trailblazer.

"The coach I want to be means a lot of care and love and nurturing the 30 players that I've got," Pearce told AFL.com.au in an exclusive interview for Women's Coaching Month earlier in the year.

"It's not lost on me, the responsibility I have for their very short careers.

"I've always thought about how lucky I was that I got eight seasons of AFLW with a coach that I loved who, every week, I felt was challenging me to get better. I walk away with this amazing experience that's shaped my football career but also my life.

"Now I've got players that are relying on me to be that for them."

The impact that former coach Mick Stinear had on Pearce is profound.

"If I had one dollar for every time I thought, 'What would Mick do?' I'd be wealthy," Pearce said.

The women's game has come such a long way since it began.

"I could never have dreamed of this," Pearce admitted.

"I remember emailing all 18 clubs, or 16 at the time, to want to do work at the clubs and that kind of thing, and it never getting anywhere … and I guess you put it away for a little while because it doesn't seem possible, but then you just go about doing what you can do and taking the opportunities you can. And this is where we've ended up, so it's pretty exciting.

"There's a job in women's football that's big enough and meaningful enough to pick up my family and move to the other side of the country. It's like 'Wow, look how far the game's come'."

Pearce has tackled every opportunity she's had head on and there's no doubt she will do just the same as she takes the reins of a struggling Eagles outfit.

How the Eagles go in her first season in charge remains a mystery, but either way, this young side will be so much better off from growing under one of football's greatest minds.