THE Carlton Football Club has finalised its AFLW coaching group ahead of season seven.

Matthew Skubis joins the Game Changers as forwards coach and comes to the Club with an extensive coaching and football background.

He was a senior assistant coach for the Darebin Falcons from 2019–2020 before moving to Queensland for the 2021 season.

He took up various coaching roles in Queensland including assistant and development coach for the Brisbane Lions Academy, senior assistant coach for the Sherwood Magpies and assistant coach for the Yeronga Devils.

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Skubis has returned home to Victoria and taken the reins of the Game Changers’ forward line from Kade Simpson, who has been promoted to Carlton Head of AFLW Development.

Another new addition to the coaching group is Aasta O’Connor who joins as a development coach.

O’Connor won four premierships with the Darebin Falcons before being signed to the Western Bulldogs AFLW side where she was part of the 2018 premiership.

In 2019 she moved to Geelong, where she played a further 20 games before retiring and focusing on a move into the coaching space.

As well as being manager of the AFL Women’s Academy from 2018–2019, she was Senior Coach for the PEGS Senior Girls side and assistant coach for the St Bernards A Grade Men’s side before accepting the role of development coach at Carlton.

Daniel Harford remains as Senior Coach, closely supported by Kade Simpson in the new role of Head of AFLW Development.

As announced last month, Nicole Callinan takes over the backline coaching role, Wayne Schultz moves into the role of midfield coach, Shaun Hampson remains ruck and development coach, while Nic Newman will stay with the side as a development coach when his AFL schedule allows.

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Carlton General Manager of Women’s Football Brett Munro is extremely pleased with the level of football expertise being brought into the program.

“We could not be happier with the talent we’ve been able to attract to our coaching group heading into season seven,” Munro said.

“Matthew and Aasta are settling in well at IKON Park, joining Nicole Callinan as our three fresh faces among a host of returning coaches.

“The level of experience each individual brings to the group will only enhance the professional program we provide at Carlton, and to have two premiership-winning AFLW players in our coaching ranks is a huge boost for our program.

“We’ve also invested into our development by moving Kade Simpson into the newly created role of Head of AFLW Development which is a huge benefit not only to our new players coming into the fold, but established players looking to hone their skills and continuously improve their craft.

“We believe we have some of the best people in the industry filling these roles which will be a huge asset to our players and enable us to put our best foot forward heading into season seven.”

AFLW season seven coaching group

AFLW Senior Coach                           Daniel Harford
Head of AFLW Development               Kade Simpson
Forwards coach                                Matthew Skubis
Midfield coach                                  Wayne Schultz
Backline coach                                  Nicole Callinan
Ruck and development coach             Shaun Hampson
Development coach                          Aasta O’Connor
Development coach                          Nic Newman