Mathew Creeper
Years Coached: 2021 - 22
Assistant League Coach - 2019
SANFLW Advertiser Team of the Year Coach - 2021
Mat Creeper was appointed as Norwood’s third women’s League Coach in September 2020, as the club, the league and the whole country was still doing its best to cope with Covid-19 and all of its disruption.
Creeper had previously served as an Assistant Coach for the team in 2019 under Steve Symonds, before being appointed an a Senior Assistant Coach for the Collingwood AFLW team in 2020. Prior to this, Creeper had coached over 300 games of football across the countryside, including in the Northern Territory and Queensland, and in elite state and academy programs.
At the time of his appointment as League Coach of the women’s team, Creeper said that “we want to be a team that’s high in reputation in terms of being strong at the football and highly contested. We want to play a brand of football that’s exciting and want to make the Norwood Football Club a place where girls want to come and play football.”
In his first season in 2021, Creeper and his team sailed through the minor round winning nine of their eleven games and sealing the minor premiership. However, the team lost both their finals and finished the season third overall. Creeper’s successes were highly regarded however, and he was named as the SANFLW “Coach of the Year” when the Advertiser Team of the Year was announced.
In 2022, the SANFL introduced the Development League for women – a reserves competition. After just five seasons, the competition had gone from four clubs to eight clubs from 2017-19 and then expanded further with this reserves program. The AFLW was also growing and expanding and relying on talent across the country to bolster its own stocks. The rapid growth of women’s football at amateur level was also continuing. And amidst all of these challenges, Norwood had its first stumble of sorts when it failed to make the finals for the first time. A home and away season of six wins and six losses saw Norwood finish 5th on percentage. Creeper’s tenure concluded at the end of the 2022 season, although he was contracted for season 2023.
Creeper coached CMS Crows Football Club in the Yorke Peninsula Football League, in 2023. A highly credentialed and experienced coach, Creeper’s impact at Norwood on and off the field during a period of rapid expansion of women’s football everywhere and in the aftermath of Covid, was commendable.
Chris Brown, December 2024
Coaching Records:
Overall Results 2021-22
Coached 23 minor round games; 15 wins and 8 losses
Coached 2 finals; 0 wins and 2 losses
Total: Coached 25 games; 15 wins and 10 losses
End of minor round placings: 2021 (Minor Premiers), 2022 (5th)
End of season placings: 2021 (3rd), 2022 (5th)
2021 Results:
Coached 11 minor round games; 9 wins and 2 losses
Coached 2 Finals – 1 losses
Finished the minor round as Minor Premiers; finished the season in 3rd place
2021 Coaching Staff and Volunteers:
League Coach: Mat Creeper
Assistant Coach: Brendan O’Donnell (Midfield)
Assistant Coach: Simon Butler (Forwards)
Assistant Coach: Gregg Dearman (Defence)
Assistant Coach: Tim McMahon (Opposition)
Support Coach: Bek McMahon
Fitness Coach: Taylah Jack
Runner: Taylah Jack
Team Manager: Ashleigh Young
Football Director: Rick Shrowder
Head Trainer: Denis Sella-Gianot
Doctor: Dr Andrew McDonald
Dr J. Mitchell
Physiotherapist: Emma Gericke
2022 Results:
Coached 12 minor round games; 6 wins and 6 losses
Finished the minor round in 5th place (out of finals); finished the season in 5th place
2022 Coaching Staff and Volunteers:
League Coach: Mat Creeper
Assistant Coach: Brendan O’Donnell (Bench Coach)
Assistant Coach: Shane Lynch (Forwards)
Assistant Coach: Gregg Dearman (Defence)
Assistant Coach: Brad Snell (Midfield)
Fitness Coach: Declan Kennedy
Runner: (Players)
Team Manager: Ashleigh Young
Football Director: Ashleigh Young
Head Trainer: Denis Sella-Gianot
Doctor: Dr Andrew McDonald
Dr J. Mitchell
Physiotherapist: Emma Gericke
Football Coaching and Administrative Experience:
Junior Coaching:
Under 17’s Rovers Football Club | Northern Territory // 1997
Overseeing all grades West Football Club | Northern Territory // 2015
NT Under 12’s Schoolboys Championships | Alice Springs // 2016
Alice Springs Under 18 Boys Representative Team | Alice Springs // 2016
Under 15 Boys West Football Club | Northern Territory // 2017
Assistant Coach | NT Thunder Under 16 Boys // 2017
Under 16 Boys Coach | Central Australian Football Academy (Redtails) // 2018
Assistant Coach | NT Thunder Under 16 Boys // 2018
Under 18’s Assistant Coach | Central Australian Football Academy (Redtails) // 2018
Assistant Coach | NT Thunder State Under 18 Girls // 2019
Assistant Coach | NT Thunder State Under 16 Boys // 2019
Under 16 Boys Coach | Central Australian Football Academy (Redtails) // 2019
Under 18 Girls Coach | Central Australian Football Academy (Pinktails) // 2019
Under 18 Girls Assistant Coach | Central Allies AFLW National Championships // 2019
Senior Coaching:
Accredited Level 3 AFL Coach
Leading High Performance Teams (Professional Development)
Reserves Men’s Assistant Coach (Premiers) | West Football Club // 2001
Reserves Men’s Coach (Runners Up) | West Football Club // 2002
Senior Men’s Assistant Coach (3rd) | Hermit Park Football Club // 2010
Senior Men’s Assistant Coach (Runners Up) | Hermit Park Football Club // 2011
Reserves Men’s Assistant Coach (Premiers) | Hermit Park Football Club // 2012
Reserves Men’s Assistant Coach (3rd) | Hermit Park Football Club // 2013
Senior Men’s Assistant Coach (Runners Up) | Hermit Park Football Club // 2013
Senior Men’s Coach (Runners Up) | Hermit Park Football Club // 2014
Overseeing all grades (Reserves Premiers – Seniors Runners Up) | West Football Club // 2015
Overseeing all grades (Reserves Runners Up) | West Football Club // 2016
Overseeing all grades | West Football Club // 2017
Senior Women’s Coach (4th) | West Football Club // 2017
Senior Women’s Coach (4th) | West Football Club // 2018
Senior Men’s Assistant Coach | Central Australian Football Academy (Redtails) // 2018
Senior Women’s Assistant Coach (3rd) | Norwood Football Club (SANFLW) // 2019
Senior Men’s Assistant Coach | Central Australia Football Academy (Redtails) // 2019
Senior Women’s Assistant Coach | Collingwood Football Club (AFLW) // 2020
Senior Women’s Coach (3rd) | Norwood Football Club (SANFLW) // 2021
Senior Women’s Coach (5th) | Norwood Football Club (SANFLW) // 2022
Senior Men’s Coach (5th) | CMS Crows Football Club (Yorke Peninsula Football League) // 2023
Administrative Experience:
Vice President | Hermit Park Football Club // 2009
President | West Football Club // 2015 – 2016
President/Treasurer | West Football Club // 2017
Treasurer | West Football Club // 2018
Chris Brown, January 2025