STATE league star Natalie Wood has been appointed an assistant coach of Geelong's AFLW team for 2019.
Wood is leaving her career as a secondary school teacher to pursue coaching full-time and will work both at AFLW and VFLW levels for the Cats.
She will become Geelong's VFLW coach in 2019 and also work in the club's Next Generation Academy program.
Wood played 190 games for the Darebin Falcons and Melbourne University in the VFLW in a 16-year playing career.
She played for the Western Bulldogs in AFL women's series exhibition matches in 2013-14, was a three-time All Australian before retiring in 2014, and an assistant coach with Vic Country in this year's NAB AFL Women's Under-18 Championships.
Wood, who started with the Cats in 2016 as a part-time assistant coach of the VFLW side that made its competition debut in 2017, said she was looking forward to moving to a full-time role.
"There's a lot of transferable skills not only from the teaching and learning aspect, but from the leadership aspect, the curriculum is just different," Wood said, when comparing teaching and football.
The decision to leave teaching was not an easy one for Wood, but the opportunity to coach at the highest level was too good to pass up.
"I went through a few pros and cons. When you break it down and think about the fact someone is prepared to offer you a full-time job in women's footy, it's a no-brainer."
The Cats also signed three players, taking their AFLW list to 16 ahead of the NAB AFL Women's Draft on October 23.
Forwards Mia-Rae Clifford and Hayley Trevean have been given a second chance on an AFLW list.
Clifford, 31, played every game in Melbourne's first season before being delisted and has kicked 14 goals from 14 games for Geelong's VFLW side this year.
Trevean, 30, played one game for Carlton in the first AFLW season and has played for Geelong's VFLW team for two years.
Hannah Burchell rounds out the signings. The outside midfielder has played all 28 games for Geelong's VFLW side over the past two seasons.
Geelong's VFLW team begins its finals campaign on Sunday at North Port Oval. The Cats finished the home and away season in fourth spot and will play the Northern Territory Thunder in an elimination final.
Meanwhile, Richmond's VFLW captain Jess Kennedy has won the club's inaugural best and fairest award.
Kennedy polled 49 votes and edged out defender Jacqui Graham by just one vote.
The Tigers midfielder played four games in the 2017 AFLW season for Carlton after signing as a free agent.
Prior to her stint with the Blues, Kennedy won two premierships with the Bendigo Thunder in the Northern Football League.
North Melbourne, which will also make its AFLW debut in 2019, has bolstered its off-field team, appointing ex-Western Bulldogs player Lauren Morecroft (as AFLW/VFLW assistant coach), former Carlton AFLW assistant coach Jackson Kornberg (football performance coach), ex-Western Bulldogs AFLW leadership and development coach (player development coordinator), former Richmond staffer Kate Gordes (performance psychologist), and Melissa Haberfield (support physiotherapist).
