Stephen Symonds
Years Coached: 2017 - 2019
Womens Premierships: 2017
Symonds was the inaugural coach of senior women’s football program at Norwood. Appointed in October 2016 to take charge in the first SANFLW season in 2017, Symonds had an enormous task to literally bring together a group of women’s footballers and shape them into an elite team, as well as to integrate the new women’s program into the football club itself which had nearly 140 years of men’s football history.
Describing himself as a “culture-based coach’, there is no doubt that Symonds leveraged this and did so very successfully. Not only did he win the first SANFLW premiership (replicating the efforts of the men in their first season in 1878), he set the cultural tone of the team in such a significant way that it remains evident today. One of his key cultural pillars was that the team and the club were ‘family’ – and that prevailing ethos remains evident to this day notwithstanding that four more coaches have since followed Symonds.
The embryonic years of the SANFLW competition brought with it many challenges. After winning the premiership in the first season, the competition expanded from four to six clubs and the SANFL imposed an ‘equalisation draft’. Norwood and the other three foundation SANFLW clubs were required to concede players to the incoming clubs in Sturt and South. Norwood lost a number of its premiership and inaugural players in the process, including the Maple twins to Sturt and Lucy Northcott and Nicky Nield (nee Gore) to South, whilst Kristi Harvey joined North Adelaide. The process was repeated again after 2018 to enable the next two clubs (Central District and Woodville-West Torrens) to commence in 2019. Amidst all of this, Symonds took the team to a second grand final in 2018, and a minor premiership and a preliminary final in 2019.
Symonds’ success on and off the field was impressive enough for Collingwood to come knocking, and Symonds was appointed as Head Coach of their AFLW team in mid-2019 at the end of the SANFLW season. At the time his appointment was announced, Symonds said “from day one we wanted to build a sound culture and that’s what we were able to achieve so that’s probably my proudest moment so far.” And that legacy still remains today.
Chris Brown, December 2024
Coaching Records:
Overall Results 2017-2019
Coached 26 minor round games; 18 wins and 8 losses
Coached 5 finals; 2 wins and 3 losses
Coached 2 Grand Finals; 1 win (2017) and 1 loss (2018)
Total: Coached 33 games; 21 wins and 12 losses
End of minor round placings: 2017 (2nd), 2018 (3rd) and 2019 (Minor Premiers)
End of season placings: 2017 (1st), 2018 (2nd) and 2019 (3rd)
2017 Results:
Coached 6 minor round games; 4 wins and 2 losses
Coached 1 Final (Grand Final) – 1 win
(Inaugural) Premiership Coach
Finished the minor round in 2nd place; finished the season as Premiers.
2017 Coaching Staff and Volunteers:
League Coach: Steve Symonds
Assistant Coach: Shane Ruxton (Midfield)
Assistant Coach: Michelle O’Brien (Forwards)
Assistant Coach: Tess Baxter (Defence)
Fitness Coach: Steve Symonds
Runner: Anthony Howie
Team Manager: Sarah Thompson
Football Director: Mark Ross
Head Trainer: Denis Sella-Gianot
Doctor: Dr Andrew McDonald
Physiotherapist: Alice Molyneux
2018 Results:
Coached 10 minor round games; 5 wins and 5 losses
Coached 2 Finals; 1 win and 1 loss
Coached 1 Grand Final; Runner Up (losing to South Adelaide by 5 points)
Finished the minor round in 3rd place; finished the season as runner up.
2018 Coaching Staff and Volunteers:
League Coach: Steve Symonds
Assistant Coach: Michelle O'Brien
Assistant Coach: Tim McMahon
Assistant Coach: Guy Ridgeway
Assistant Coach: Tess Baxter
Fitness Coach: Steve Symonds
Runner: Anthony Howie
Team Manager: Sarah Thompson
Football Director: Mark Ross
Head Trainer: Steve Fendt
Doctors: Dr Andrew McDonald
Dr S. Vanlint &
Dr R. Hoffmann
Physiotherapists: Tom Moore
Jack Derrick
2019 Results:
Coached 10 minor round games; 9 wins and 1 loss
Coached 2 Finals; 0 wins and 2 losses
Finished the minor round as Minor Premiers; finished the season in 3rd place.
2019 Coaching Staff and Volunteers:
League Coach: Steve Symonds
Assistant Coach: Brendan O’Donnell
Assistant Coach: Tim McMahon
Assistant Coach: Mathew Creeper
Fitness Coach: Luke Hibberd
Runner: James Boden
Team Manager: Sarah Thompson
Football Director: Mark Ross
Head Trainer: Denis Sella-Gianot
Doctor: Dr Andrew McDonald
Physiotherapist: Emma Gericke
Coaching Background:
1998 – 2008 Head Coach – Roxby Districts FC, Plympton FC, Lobethal FC
2008 – 2015 League Senior Assistant & Reserves Head Coach – West Adelaide, Glenelg FC, Sturt FC
2010 – 2011 AFLNT Regional Development Manager
2011 East Timor Mens Head Coach
2016 – 2017 Rostrevor College 1st 18 – Head Coach
2017 – 2019 Norwood FC – Womens Head coach
2019 – 2023 Collingwood FC Head Coach
Chris Brown, January 2025