COLLINGWOOD has shown faith in inaugural AFLW coach Wayne Siekman, signing him for the 2019 season.
The club had already lost senior assistant coach Daniel Harford and development coach Shannon McFerran to Carlton, meaning the signature of Siekman was highly important, especially coming into the trade and re-signing period.
"I feel very humbled and privileged to have the opportunity to work with Collingwood’s AFLW team for another year," Siekman said.
"Over the past two seasons, I have witnessed a lot of growth within the team and I am excited to see what we can achieve with another year under our belts.
"Our goal is to maintain sustained success, and if we can continue our development, I’m confident we will be able to achieve this goal."
Collingwood finished fifth of eight sides in 2017, and sixth this season, with a three-four win-loss record in both years.
Despite that one-spot drop down the ladder, the Magpies were widely regarded to have improved this year, which was reflected in their percentage increase from 85.5 to 110.6.
The club's performance and strategy manager Marcus Wagner said it was important to stick with Siekman, a former Vic Metro youth girls coach, as the competition undergoes an expansion period.
North Melbourne and Geelong join in 2019, with West Coast, Richmond, St Kilda and Gold Coast to join in 2020.
"We are pleased to have Wayne continue in his role as senior coach of our AFLW program and add to the body of work he and the team have put in throughout both seasons," Wagner said.
"Wayne has been here since the formation of the club’s AFLW team and as we enter a period of expansion, we’re pleased to have Wayne to help bring to life our strategy of developing a team built from the best young talent in the country."
Collingwood is expected to once again focus fairly heavily on the draft and play a relatively minor part in the upcoming trade period, which runs from May 23 to June 4 for the 2018 AFLW clubs.
Last year's draft netted them NAB AFLW Rising Star Chloe Molloy, Ash Brazill, Darcy Guttridge, Iilish Ross, Kristy Stratton and Sarah Dargan.
The club has already confirmed veteran defender Meg Hutchins will not receive a contract next season, while Jasmine Garner and Jess Duffin have signed with expansion club North Melbourne.
Midfielder Bree White has also retired.