Danielle May Laidley (born Dean James Laidley; 27 March 1967) is a former

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

coach and player, who played for the

West Coast Eagles The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 and first competed in 1987 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known ...

and

North Melbourne North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne Local government ar ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL) from 1987 to 1997, including in North Melbourne's 1996 premiership team, and was

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

of North Melbourne from 2003 to 2009. In May 2020, Laidley was

outed Outing is the act of disclosing an LGBTQ person's sexual orientation or gender identity without their consent. It is often done for political reasons, either to instrumentalize homophobia, biphobia, and/or transphobia in order to discredit politi ...

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

after a police officer leaked photographs of her in police custody.

Early life

Laidley was born on 27 March 1967 and grew up in Balga, Western Australia, a working-class northern suburb of

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

. Lightly built, Laidley first played senior football at the

West Perth Football Club The West Perth Football Club, nicknamed the Falcons, is an Australian rules football club located in Joondalup, Western Australia. West Perth competes in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW) and is the oldest exis ...

in the

West Australian Football League The West Australian Football League (WAFL "waffle" or "W-A-F-L") is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting f ...

, and was recruited to be part of the West Coast Eagles' inaugural VFL squad in 1987.

VFL/AFL playing career

West Coast Eagles (1987–1992)

Laidley made her VFL debut for the

in Round 1, 1987, against

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

Subiaco Oval Subiaco Oval (; nicknamed Subi) was a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia, located in the suburb of Subiaco, Western Australia, Subiaco. It was opened in 1908 and closed in 2017 after the completion of the new Perth Stadium in Burswood, ...

. As an aggressive half-back line player and known as "The Junkyard Dog", Laidley was known for her commitment to the contest and to winning the ball. Her career suffered a major setback during the 1990 season when she required a knee reconstruction and found it hard to break back into the team, missing West Coast's 1992 premiership win. Laidley played a total of 52 games and kicked 11 goals for West Coast Eagles from 1987 until 1992.

North Melbourne (1993–1997)

At the end of 1992, Laidley was traded to

. A trademark of her play was the execution of the strategy of either kicking out or receiving uncontested a short kick-out to the

back pocket Vulfpeck is an American funk/soul music, soul band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 2011. Founded by multi-instrumentalists Jack Stratton, Theo Katzman, Woody Goss, and bassist Joe Dart, the band has released four extended plays, six studio a ...

, a strategy which was later widely adopted by other clubs. Laidley was also part of the North Melbourne premiership side in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

. Laidley played a total of 99 games and kicked 4 goals for North Melbourne from 1993 until 1997.

Coaching career

Early career (1998–2002)

After retiring from the AFL, Laidley took up coaching, beginning with the Weston Creek team in the

AFL Canberra AFL Canberra is the name of the local governing body for and premier competition of Australian rules football in the Australian Capital Territory (and the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales). It acts as an umbrella to several competitions be ...

competition. Her first AFL coaching role was with Collingwood as an assistant coach under

Mick Malthouse Michael Raymond Malthouse (born 17 August 1953) is a former Australian rules footballer and coach, who played for the St Kilda Football Club and Richmond Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). After finishing his playing career, ...

, where she was involved in the club's

2002 AFL Grand Final The 2002 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Brisbane Lions and the Collingwood Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 28 September 2002. It was the 106th annual grand final of ...

loss.

North Melbourne (2003–2009)

After the resignation of Denis Pagan as senior coach, Laidley was recruited as the senior coach of the

Kangaroos Kangaroos are marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use, the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern grey ...

for the 2003 season. In her first two years, the team finished 10th. She coached the Kangaroos to the finals for her first time as coach in the 2005 season, but the club was defeated by Port Adelaide in an elimination final. In the 2006 season they regressed and finished 14th. Laidley's ferocity as a player transferred into her coaching style, with her team said to embody the "Shinboner Spirit" of determination and never giving up. She was also seen on occasion to be aggressive towards her playing group. During a 2006 match against St Kilda, a Kangaroos supporter had a confrontation with Laidley, with the team putting up consistently poor performances. The supporter twice made remarks to which Laidley responded with an honest summation "we are all hurting", later inviting the supporter to the club rooms to see how badly the players were feeling due to their onfield performance. The footage was captured on television and broadcast nationally. The supporter died by suicide later that night, unrelated to the incident with Laidley. Laidley took the Kangaroos to the finals for the second time in 2007. At the end of the year, her contract was due for renewal. Former Kangaroos star

Wayne Carey Wayne Francis Carey (born 27 May 1971) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the North Melbourne Football Club and Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A dual-premiership captain at North Melbourne ...

criticised Laidley and argued that another former teammate, John Longmire, should replace her. After a forthright response by Laidley that referenced Carey's personal scandals, Carey responded by describing her as arrogant and also called her aloof, saying she generally did not acknowledge her old teammates. Despite

Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons or colloquially the Dees, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier comp ...

making advances to secure her as coach, Laidley's contract with the Kanagaroos – now going by their former name, North Melbourne – was renewed for two years. She took North Melbourne to the finals again in 2008. After a mid-season review in 2009 and following a string of losses, Laidley resigned as senior coach of North Melbourne on 16 June 2009, one round before what would have been her 150th game as coach. Laidley was replaced by assistant coach

Darren Crocker Darren Crocker (born 26 March 1967) is a former Australian rules footballer who is currently the coach of the AFL Women's team. He formerly played for the North Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Playing career Cr ...

as caretaker senior coach of North Melbourne for the rest of the 2009 season.

Port Adelaide (2010–2011)

In September 2009, Laidley joined the coaching group at the

Port Adelaide Football Club Port Adelaide Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Alberton, South Australia, Alberton, South Australia. The club's senior men's team plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), where it is nicknamed the ...

. After one season as an assistant to Mark Williams and later Matthew Primus, Laidley announced that she would return to Melbourne in 2011 for family reasons, but said she was available to work as an opposition scout and analysis based in Melbourne for Port Adelaide. However, on 27 October 2010, Port Adelaide announced that she would continue on as an assistant coach based four days in Adelaide and three days in Melbourne a week in the 2011 season. She interviewed for the

Essendon Football Club The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers or colloquially the Dons, is a professional Australian rules football club that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the game's premier competition. The club was formed by the McCrac ...

senior coach position when it was left vacant by the sacking of

Matthew Knights Matthew Knights (born 5 October 1970) is an Australian rules football coach and former player who is currently serving as an assistant coach with the West Coast Eagles. Knights played in the midfield for the Richmond Football Club from 1988 t ...

but was unsuccessful.

St Kilda (2011–2013)

In early November 2011, Laidley was announced as the new midfield coach of the

St Kilda Football Club The St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed the Saints, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier league. The club's name originates fro ...

. Of the move, St Kilda's head of football, Chris Pelchen, said that Laidley "has a wealth of knowledge as a former player and coach in erown right. erexperience will genuinely assist the development of the whole player list at the Saints."

Carlton (2013–2015)

Laidley signed with Carlton as midfield assistant coach on 31 October 2013. With the appointment of Brendon Bolton in 2015, Laidley left Carlton.

Statistics

Playing statistics

, - , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 15 , , 10 , , 2 , , 5 , , 119 , , 24 , , 143 , , 37 , , 6 , , 0.2 , , 0.5 , , 11.9 , , 2.4 , , 14.3 , , 3.7 , , 0.6 , , 0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 15 , , 11 , , 6 , , 4 , , 139 , , 29 , , 168 , , 44 , , 11 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 12.6 , , 2.6 , , 15.3 , , 4.0 , , 1.0 , , 0 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 15 , , 10 , , 0 , , 3 , , 116 , , 60 , , 176 , , 40 , , 15 , , 0.0 , , 0.3 , , 11.6 , , 6.0 , , 17.6 , , 4.0 , , 1.5 , , 0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 15 , , 7 , , 1 , , 0 , , 93 , , 45 , , 138 , , 23 , , 1 , , 0.1 , , 0.0 , , 13.3 , , 6.4 , , 19.7 , , 3.3 , , 0.1 , , 5 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 15 , , 0 , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 15 , , 14 , , 2 , , 5 , , 158 , , 90 , , 248 , , 30 , , 13 , , 0.1 , , 0.4 , , 11.3 , , 6.4 , , 17.7 , , 2.1 , , 0.9 , , 2 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 17 , , 1 , , 2 , , 209 , , 60 , , 269 , , 35 , , 23 , , 0.1 , , 0.1 , , 12.3 , , 3.5 , , 15.8 , , 2.1 , , 1.4 , , 6 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 24 , , 0 , , 0 , , 302 , , 137 , , 439 , , 77 , , 16 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 12.6 , , 5.7 , , 18.3 , , 3.2 , , 0.7 , , 4 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 23 , , 0 , , 2 , , 272 , , 131 , , 403 , , 82 , , 24 , , 0.0 , , 0.1 , , 11.8 , , 5.7 , , 17.5 , , 3.6 , , 1.0 , , 3 , - , style="text-align:center;background:#afe6ba;",

† , style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 24 , , 2 , , 1 , , 240 , , 130 , , 370 , , 64 , , 29 , , 0.1 , , 0.0 , , 10.0 , , 5.4 , , 15.4 , , 2.7 , , 1.2 , , 0 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 11 , , 1 , , 0 , , 78 , , 32 , , 110 , , 24 , , 10 , , 0.1 , , 0.0 , , 7.1 , , 2.9 , , 10.0 , , 2.2 , , 0.9 , , 0 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 151 ! 15 ! 22 ! 1726 ! 738 ! 2464 ! 456 ! 148 ! 0.1 ! 0.1 ! 11.4 ! 4.9 ! 16.3 ! 3.0 ! 1.0 ! 20

Coaching statistics

, - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal" ,

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 22 , , 11 , , 10 , , 1 , , 52.3% , , 10 , , 16 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal" ,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 22 , , 10 , , 12 , , 0 , , 45.5% , , 10 , , 16 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal" ,

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 13 , , 10 , , 0 , , 56.5% , , 5 , , 16 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal" ,

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 22 , , 7 , , 15 , , 0 , , 31.8% , , 14 , , 16 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal" ,

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 25 , , 15 , , 10 , , 0 , , 60.0% , , 4 , , 16 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal" ,

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 12 , , 10 , , 1 , , 54.3% , , 7 , , 16 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal" ,

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 12 , , 4 , , 8 , , 0 , , 33.3% , , 13 , , 16 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=2, Career totals ! 149 ! 72 ! 75 ! 2 ! 49.0% ! colspan=2,

Personal life

Laidley underwent a

gender transition Gender transition is the process of affirming and expressing one's internal sense of gender, rather than the sex assigned to them at birth. It is a recommended course of treatment for individuals experiencing gender dysphoria, providing impro ...

from 2019, and changed her name to Danielle May Laidley. After an unauthorised outing by a police officer in May 2020, she was obliged to reveal this to the public. The outing occurred after Laidley was arrested and charged with one count of

stalking Stalking is unwanted and/or repeated surveillance or contact by an individual or group toward another person. Stalking behaviors are interrelated to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person or monitorin ...

. She did not apply for

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Court bail may be offered to secure the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when ...

. She was allegedly found with 0.43 grams of

methamphetamine Methamphetamine (contracted from ) is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational drug use, recreational or Performance-enhancing substance, performance-enhancing drug and less commonly as a secon ...

in her bra at the time of her arrest. A

Victoria Police Victoria Police is the primary law enforcement agency of the Australian States and territories of Australia, state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. It was formed in 1853 and currently operates under the ''Victoria Police Act 2013''. , Victor ...

officer distributed photos of Laidley in women's clothing taken while she was in custody. In December, the officer was charged with unauthorised access and disclosure of police information as well as misconduct in public office. Three other officers were accused of the same breach. In November 2020, Laidley was placed into a

diversion program A diversion program, also known as a pretrial diversion program or pretrial intervention program, in the criminal justice system is a form of pretrial sentencing that helps remedy the behavior leading to the arrest. Administered by the judicial ...

and given an "adjourned undertaking with no conviction recorded" on the stalking charge. Laidley was previously married to Joanna, with whom she has three children. She has since () reconciled with Donna Leckie, whom she had dated on-and-off prior to her marriage. In 2021 Laidley became involved with the

North Melbourne Football Club The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Kangaroos or colloquially the Roos, is a professional Australian rules football club. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AF ...

again, tossing the coin at the 2022 AFLW Pride Round game against the GWS Giants, and attending other club events with North Melbourne players and management. Her memoir, ''Don't Look Away'', co-written with Konrad Marshall, was released in August 2022. ''Danielle Laidley: Two Tribes'', a documentary about her life, premiered on Stan in September 2023.

Footnotes

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Laidley, Danielle West Coast Eagles players North Melbourne Football Club players North Melbourne Football Club premiership players North Melbourne Football Club coaches Western Australian State of Origin players West Perth Football Club players 1967 births Living people Australian rules footballers from Perth, Western Australia LGBTQ players of Australian rules football Transgender sportswomen Australian transgender women Australian transgender sportspeople VFL/AFL premiership players 21st-century Australian LGBTQ people Australian LGBTQ sportswomen 20th-century Australian sportswomen