Dani Laidley comes clean on speculation she’s about to make a stunning return to coaching at the top level of footy

Former North Melbourne coach Dani Laidley is looking forward to a game-changing return to coaching after confirming interest in the vacant West Coast AFLW senior role.

Laidley, 56, revealed she spoke to Eagles players at Mineral Resources Park on Wednesday as part of the build-up to the AFLW Pride Round this weekend.

It comes after the Eagles parted ways with senior coach Michael Prior last week following a disappointing 2-6 start to the season, with interim coach Rohan McHugh taking the reins for the final two games.

Laidley, who splits her time between Melbourne and Perth, said she was prepared for “any scenario” of returning to coaching with an AFLW team.

The Kangaroos premiership player also confirmed in 1996 that she would not pursue a coaching return to the men’s game.

It comes after the Eagles parted ways with senior coach Michael Prior last week following a disappointing 2-6 start to the season (Laidley, is pictured with partner Donna Leckie)

‘(My partner) Donna and I have been really thinking about what our future holds, and because it’s a passion of mine I’ve been ready for it for about twelve months and even this AFLW season I was asked to do a to do a coaching role with one of the teams in Melbourne, but that couldn’t be done because I was contracted to do the doco,” Laidley told SEN on Thursday.

“People have been connecting the dots – well, West Coast has a position available.

‘Yes, I want to coach again, but let’s not put the cart before the horse. It’s very easy to connect those dots, but it’s true.

“It’s been in the works for a few years now, and like I said, West Coast is the only club at the moment that doesn’t have a coach for their women’s team, and maybe they’ll go with the interim coach, who knows? ‘

Laidley said she had missed the “cut and grit” of a role in football, but was confident her eight-year absence from football did not mean she would be too out of touch with modern coaching trends.

After coaching North Melbourne from 2003 to 2009, Laidley spent the next six seasons in assistant coaching roles at Port Adelaide, St Kilda and Carlton before leaving the Blues in 2015.

“I’m just prepared, if you will, for any scenario. “I have missed the power and strength of weekly performance,” she said.

‘In business you don’t have those profits and losses every week.

Laidley coached the Kangaroos men’s team at Arden St from 2003 to 2009 – he also won a premiership with the club as a player in 1996

‘I miss that fierce competition. Coaching is coaching. The game has changed – (but) it hasn’t changed that much, and it tends to go in circles.

“I feel like I have all those skills… and I think I have a really good understanding from watching a lot of AFLW.”

Laidley said she had a “great morning” speaking to the Eagles players ahead of their Pride Round match against Adelaide on Sunday.

“(Wednesday session) was organized many months ago. It’s a great round across the board in AFLW this weekend, and a good friend of mine organized me to go down and talk to the girls about Pride Round and my journey,” she said.

‘A piece about being your authentic self, about acceptance, about inclusivity, so that’s what it was about. It was actually very good.’