Sure, there are the players, coaches and the all-important supporters, but there’s someone behind the scenes pulling all of the elements together to ensure a smooth ride from the first bounce to the final siren.
Next time you’re at the MCG look across to the team benches. Nestled between the interchange players and team physios, you could spot Tess McManus.
An AFL match manager, McManus is the main point of contact for clubs and venues on match day, overseeing everything from ground and interchange markings to the turnstiles and air conditioning in the players’ rooms.
A football follower all her life, McManus developed early aspirations of working at the AFL.
“I did an AFL traineeship in ’97 at the Port Adelaide footy club, in the Victorian office and was there for three years. Then the job came up at the AFL and I’ve been there ever since – just over nine years,” she says.
There are plenty of women in the AFL’s football operations department, and ground operations are the domain of McManus and her boss, Jill Lindsay, who started as a general dogsbody at the VFL almost 40 years ago.
Last year Lindsay made history by becoming the League’s first female operations manager when she stepped in temporarily for Adrian Anderson.
“Jill’s my mentor and I’ve followed in her footsteps, so (being a woman) has never been an issue for me,” McManus says.
A footy nut, McManus ventured into playing a few years ago during her mid-20s but hung up the boots after a short-lived career with the Coburg Bulldogs.
“I lasted one game,” she recalls. “After being flattened by what felt like a freight train, I got up, walked off and didn’t play again!”
She is a passionate Geelong supporter, but says there is a vast difference between attending a game as a fan compared to in a working capacity.
“You’ve just got to switch off, become an AFL person. But it’s different when I’m in the crowd watching,” she says.
The role does have its moments – McManus was on the ground during the infamous ‘siren-gate’ incident in Tasmania in 2006 – but overall, McManus says the main challenge is making sure everything goes to plan on the day.
The best part of the job?
“Just getting to watch football all the time and seeing different games. Being a woman in football, it’s a good experience sitting on the bench. A lot of people would love to do it, I think.”
