COACH of the club’s women’s team for the past two years, Michelle Cowan has spent this week in Melbourne working within the coaching team as they prepare for Saturday’s match against Hawthorn.

Flying into Melbourne on Sunday, the West Australian has immersed herself in the football department in the wake of a disappointing loss to Brisbane.

With a lengthy player review taking place over her first two days at the club, Cowan said the experience was in stark contrast to her last stint at the club, which came off the back of the Demons’ win over Richmond in round nine.

“It was probably an extreme review just coming off that loss so to experience that has been great for me, to see that side of things,” Cowan said.

“It was some honest reviews and I’m really looking forward to see how the boys wear that and how they take that into Saturday’s game, most importantly.

“There’s nothing they can do about that loss on the weekend, it’s what they do this Saturday that means the most.”

Having worked closely with George Stone and Ben Mathews through the week, Cowan has been well and truly in the thick of things as she prepares to take on a role within the midfield coaching group on Saturday.

Maintaining the same schedule as the coaching staff, she has been a part of review and team selection meetings, along with holding responsibilities at training.

“The great thing about this experience is it’s not just ‘sit back and observe’, it’s actually hands on and getting involved with the program – which is what I’m loving about it and it’s what I’ve been wanting to do my whole life really,” Cowan said.

“So to get an opportunity to do that and be hands-on involved, it’s been pretty special – I’m happy to speak up in meetings [and] I’m happy to get involved in training as I was today (Thursday).

“I identified … with a couple of players, areas they needed to work on with their game, so I was really happy just to take them aside and work on that with them.”

With her two weeks at the club building upon her work with the women’s team, Cowan said the experience had reinforced her belief she was “on the right path” as a coach.

While currently based in Western Australia as an assistant coach at WAFL side South Fremantle, Cowan acknowledged the difficulties of breaking into the AFL industry in a two-team town, with a move to Victoria potentially a necessary part of achieving her dream.

“When you come over to Victoria there’s greater career opportunities, so it would be smart to be over in Melbourne to pursue my passion,” Cowan said.

“But you know, my passion is with Melbourne Football Club so I’d love to pursue it right here.”