In the first edition of AFLW Coaches' Corner, Tom Hunter provides Richmond Media with an insight into the impressive development of cross-code rookie and utility Gabrielle Seymour.

03:32

Coaches' Corner: Gabrielle Seymour

Tom Hunter and Grace Kalac discuss the development of utility player, Gabby Seymour.

First impressions

"We loved Gabby the first time we saw her at her talent ID day towards the back end of 2018. What stood out for us then was her ability to compete, ball on the ground, ball in the air, she just wills herself at every contest. For someone with her volleyball background wth no contact, she really thrives at the contest."

Pre-season focus

"Because she’s so new to the game, we focused on getting more exposure of football into her. A full pre-season of football, having three or four nights during the week, built that up. Again, we just love her ability to compete. She wants to learn, she wants to get better and that's all you can ask from a player."

AFLW Round 1 performance

"For us, she performed at the level and that’s all we ask. She looked right at home, especially in the defensive 50 when the ball was coming in a fair bit. (She had an) ability to compete, she held her nerve really well, took some really strong marks and defended really well. In the ruck, she gave us a good contest around the ground. It will come with time, she played through the VFLW against some really quality rucks there and she's coming against some really strong talent in the ruck at AFLW level so we envisage that she'll continue to get better in that area."

Her strong aerial ability from her past as as Australian volleyball representative

"In the air, she’s fantastic. She’s got a really strong, powerful base. She impacts in the air whether it be spoiling or marking and she's done a lot of work over the pre-season with Sam Shaw, our defensive coach, and previously with Jacob Thompson through the ruck and midfield. She’s going to continue to get better as the season rolls on."

05:13

AFLW R1: Match highlights

The Tigers and Blues clash in Round 1 of the AFLW

Her impressive 2019 VFLW season

"From six games, she found herself on an AFLW list and we’re really grateful to have Gabby as part of our program. The more football she plays, the better she's going to be and we're really happy with how she's coming along."

Her composure in big games

"She hasn’t played much footy, so the crowds that she has played in front of have, at times, been quite large, such as the VFLW elimination final and Round 1 in the AFLW. She looks calm, she knows what she needs to do and she knows what her strengths are."