“I’ve said it to him at every training, I’ve been saying ‘Burkey, watch out mate. I’m coming for your role, give me 10 years'”.

She may joke about a takeover, but Western Bulldogs AFLW star Gabby Newton is making her way up the footballing ladder. Having undergone a dual shoulder reconstruction in late-2021, the 20-year-old missed the entire 2022 season. Still, she was still determined to get something out of the year.

Looking for an opportunity “to get better in some way”, the 2019 Northern Knights premiership captain returned to her home region in an assistant coaching role. Linking with good friend Nat Grindal, the current Knights talent operations lead, Newton was encouraged to come down and have a go, but instantly knew it was where she needed to be.

“I didn’t want to take this amount of time off and not really be doing anything,” Newton told Rookie Me Central. “I really want to develop my IQ for the game. I had never considered coaching but then I heard that there were some development spots up at the Knights. I’m good friends with Nat Grindal and she just said ‘why don’t you come have a go and see how it is’ and as soon as I got there I was just like ‘I just want to stay involved in this’.

“It was so good for me to just feel so positively about footy, because it was obviously heart-breaking to be around the Bulldogs because I couldn’t play. To just feel so welcomed and like I could learn so much, I guess that swayed me to really commit. Luckily an assistant coaching role opened up and I could interview for it, and got it.”

So, what has Newton learned? How has she gotten better?

“It’s hard to pin-point it down to one thing,” she said. “I think it’s just becoming a bit more holistic in my approach to footy, realising that there’s so many layers that go into getting out on the field. I think I just came to appreciate that more as a coach.

“Genuinely, every single player is so valuable in the team, even if they’re not picked every single week because you need all of them pushing each other at training and trying to get better, uniting as that team. I think it’s just given me a bigger appreciation for everything that goes into a footy program and probably will just make me a bit more grateful going back into playing.”

While she is yet to roll out any go-to sayings or cliches, Newton’s newly formed coaching philosophy revolves around “two-way” communication between player and mentor. Having leant on the likes of Nathan Burke, Rebecca Privitelli, and Marcus Abney-Hastings throughout her own playing journey, Newton knows what she needs in a coach and has sought to emulate that herself.

“I think the thing I appreciate as a player is when it’s a more interactive experience,” Newton said. “I don’t know how it is for them when they’re out on the field, I need to ask. I need as much input from the players as they do from me. It’s very much (reciprocal), I take a lot from them and consider a lot because that’s what I love in a coach – when you feel really listened to and heard.

“My first coach at the Knights was Bec Privitelli. I know how it felt to really admire someone and just take what she experienced and learn, to watch her play her footy and know that one day that could be me. I hope that I can be that for the girls. Bec always just supported me, even when she wasn’t coaching us at the Knights, so if I can do the same I’ll be pretty happy that’s for sure.”

Having skippered a bunch of current Knights in 2019, the experience of coming back to them in a different type of mentoring role made it all the less “weird”. Newton, like any self-aware coach, even has a couple of coach’s pets in Tarrah Delgado and 2022 captain Jessica Nursey.

The on-field results may not have been in the same ballpark as when Newton was a budding number one pick, but the opportunity has her wanting more. That, and her tongue-in-cheek takeover of Nathan Burke’s role may hinge on her playing return over the next year. Newton says she has experienced a couple of “complications”, but is set on being “ready to go” for preseason.

“I’m just looking forward to getting my shoulders right, getting my body right and feeling confident in my footy again,” she said. “I’m hoping to have a really great preseason with the girls and hopefully get ready for what shapes up to be a really big AFLW season.”