As with any other activity involving fierce competition, AFL may often be all about the scores and high achievements we see in the stadium and on the screens. However, many important factors remain untouched as we forget what real success is built upon.
One such factor is the importance of the strategies coaches come up with. The better they can envision and develop these strategies, the better their teams will bring them to life on the field.
Australians appreciate strategic thinking in football, and they show this in various ways. Not only do fans engage in discussions about it, but they also look for strategic angles in other sports-related activities - be it physical sports or football-themed gaming. And indeed, look at the Australian gaming landscape and how it reflects our ideas about sports. One of the prominent digital platforms - Joe Fortune features a game called Football Glory, and when you read the description, it highlights the strategic aspect of football in a bonus system of the slot-style game. And maybe that's part of the glory that football has? You can imagine how significant strategic thinking is for football fans when they build any other game inspired by football around that very concept. In this article, we highlight three coaches whose strategic thinking has proven to be fruitful, so let's talk about the results of their smart coaching.
Adam Kingsley – GWS Giants
Adam Kingsley quickly made his mark on the Giants. After years as an assistant at Richmond, he joined GWS in 2023 and brought back their famous fast-paced “Orange Tsunami” style. He wants the team to play bold, aggressive footy, with exciting attacking moves and a defence that can quickly adapt. In action, this means a fast game focused on lots of handballs.
The results have been stunning and hard to ignore. In his first season, Kingsley took a bottom-four side and won 15 games, including two sudden-death finals. The Giants' once leaky defence became one of the AFL's stingiest, and their transition from defence to attack was “as good as any” in the league. They improved their scoring by 14 points per game while conceding seven fewer, a dramatic turnaround under his strategic leadership. Perhaps most impressively, GWS became the first team ever to win games at 11 different venues in a single season. No wonder his peers voted him Coach of the Year in 2023, even if media hype didn't quite reach the same volume.
Kingsley's impact goes beyond raw numbers. He has built a culture of confidence and accountability at GWS. From day one he preached attention to detail, famously having players wear full game guernseys at training to “train like we play”, and encouraged the team to embrace an attacking identity. “The ‘Orange Tsunami' is back… fans found it exciting, and the opposition probably found it a little intimidating,” Kingsley said, setting the tone for the bold style he expects.
Sam Mitchell – Hawthorn Hawks
As a player, Sam Mitchell was renowned for his footy IQ, and as a coach, he's proving to be just as astute. Mitchell took the reins of a rebuilding Hawthorn and, despite a low-profile start, has methodically crafted a new Hawks identity. Early on, he raised eyebrows with an overly aggressive game plan that some pundits thought the young Hawks weren't ready for.
In fact, Hawthorn in 2023 often tried to slice through the corridor at all costs – a daring strategy that backfired initially, leading to turnovers and critics calling it “arrogant”. But Mitchell was playing the long game. He stuck to his vision of a high-tempo, daring offence, knowing the growing pains would pay off once his raw squad adapted. Fast forward to 2024-25, and that faith has been rewarded. Hawthorn became arguably the
AFL's most improved team in 2024, turning a 0–5 start into a blistering run of 14 wins from the next 19 games and a finals berth. It was the Hawks' best season since 2018, capped by their first finals victory in eight years. Mitchell's young side went from wooden-spoon talk to a genuine finals threat virtually overnight. The media even began dubbing their brand of play “Hokball” – a brash, high-octane style where a team of “budding and brash” youngsters suddenly took the AFL “by storm”.
The Hawks embraced quick ball movement and fearless attack, but also shored up their defence as players matured into the system. By late 2024 the once turnover-prone team was far more composed, balancing that dare with better decision-making. And here is the result: a free-wheeling offence that won't fear anyone and a club buzzing with self-belief.
Scott Gowans – Sydney Swans
We cannot talk about sports without mentioning women and their impact on Australian sports news. So, in the AFLW arena, one of the shrewdest minds quietly at work is Scott Gowans of the Sydney Swans. Gowans isn't a marquee name but a journeyman coach who previously helped build North Melbourne's inaugural AFLW team and even stepped away from senior coaching for a time. But since taking charge of Sydney's fledgling AFLW side, he's orchestrated a dramatic transformation largely under the radar.
In 2022, the Swans didn't win a single game in their debut AFLW season. Just one year later, Gowans had them not only winning but contending in finals, thanks to a clear strategy and an empowered playing group.
Gowans' tactical blueprint with Sydney has centred on pressure and player autonomy. Defensively, his Swans developed a ferocious attack on the contest, exemplified by a game where they laid a staggering 105 tackles to smother a more fancied opponent. That hard-nosed pressure has become a calling card. But it's what happens next that makes Gowans' Swans so effective: upon winning the ball, they explode into attack with pace and width.
In that same elimination final win in 2023, Sydney not only out-tackled Gold Coast but then beat them on the outside, outrunning and out-possessing the Suns in open play. It's a potent one-two punch – intense defensive ferocity coupled with daring offence – and it powered a four-game winning streak that carried the Swans into a semi-final. For a team of many young and unheralded players, that speaks to top-notch coaching.
