Dani Laidley

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dani Laidley
Personal information
Full name Dani Laidley
Date of birth (1967-03-27) 27 March 1967 (age 54)
Original team(s) West Perth (WAFL)
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1987–1992 West Coast 52 (11)
1993–1997 North Melbourne 99 0(4)
Total 151 (15)
Representative team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
1988, 1996 Western Australia Western Australia 2 (0)
Coaching career3
Years Club Games (W–L–D)
2003–2009 North Melbourne 149 (72–75–2)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1997.
2 State and international statistics correct as of 1996.
3 Coaching statistics correct as of 2010.
Career highlights
  • North Melbourne premiership player: 1996 AFL Grand Final
  • Western Australia state of origin representative 1996, 1998
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Dani Laidley (born Dean Laidley; March 27, 1967) is a former Australian rules football coach and player, who played for the West Coast Eagles and North Melbourne in the Australian Football League (AFL) from 1987 to 1997, including in North Melbourne's 1996 premiership team. Laidley was coach of North Melbourne from 2003 to 2009.

Assigned male at birth, Laidley played and coached in men's AFL. In November 2020, Laidley's lawyer said Laidley had undergone a gender transition to female and wished to be referred to as Ms Dani Laidley.[1]

Early life[]

Laidley grew up in Balga, Western Australia, a working-class northern suburb of Perth.[2]

Lightly built, Laidley first played senior football at the West Perth Football Club and was recruited to be part of the West Coast Eagles' inaugural VFL squad in 1987.

VFL/AFL playing career[]

Laidley's playing in the VFL/AFL occurred prior to Laidley's gender transition.

West Coast career (1987–1992)[]

Laidley's VFL debut was for the West Coast Eagles in Round 1, 1987 against Richmond at Subiaco Oval. As an aggressive half-back line player and known as "The Junkyard Dog", Laidley was known for being committed to the contest and to winning the ball. Suffering a major setback during the 1990 season when a knee reconstruction was required, Laidley found it hard to break back into the team, missing West Coast's 1992 premiership win.

North Melbourne playing career (1993–1997)[]

At the end of 1992 Laidley was traded to North Melbourne. A trademark of Laidley's play was the execution of the strategy of either kicking out or receiving uncontested a short kick-out to the back pocket, a strategy which was later widely adopted by other clubs.

Coaching career[]

Laidley's coaching in the AFL occurred prior to Laidley's gender transition.

Early career (1998–2002)[]

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

Laidley's first AFL coaching role was with Collingwood as an assistant coach under Mick Malthouse, where they were involved in the club's 2002 AFL Grand Final loss.

North Melbourne coaching career (2003–2009)[]

After the resignation of Denis Pagan as coach, Laidley was recruited as the new senior coach of the Kangaroos for the 2003 season. In Laidley's first two years, the team finished 10th. The Kangaroos made the finals for first time with Laidley as coach in the 2005 season but were beaten by Port Adelaide in an elimination final. In the 2006 season they regressed and finished 14th.

Laidley's ferocity as a player transferred into his coaching style. Laidley's teams were said to embody the "Shinboner Spirit" of determination and never giving up. Laidley was also seen, on occasion, to be aggressive toward the playing group.[2]

Laidley took North Melbourne to the finals for the second time in 2007 and at the end of 2007, Laidley's contract was due for renewal at the end of the season and the Melbourne Football Club made advances to secure Laidley as coach,[3] however Laidley's contract with North Melbourne was renewed for two years. Laidley 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 coach of North Melbourne on 16 June 2009, one round before what would have been the 150th game as coach.[4]

Port Adelaide career (2010–2011)[]

In September 2009, Laidley joined the coaching group at the Port Adelaide Football Club.

After one season as an assistant to Mark Williams and later Matthew Primus, Laidley announced a return to Melbourne in 2011 for family reasons but was available to work as an opposition scout and analysis based in Melbourne for the Power. However, on 27 October 2010, the Port Adelaide Football Club announced that Laidley would continue on as an assistant coach based four days in Adelaide and three days in Melbourne a week in the 2011 season. Laidley interviewed for the Essendon Football Club senior coach position when it was left vacant by the sacking of Matthew Knights but was unsuccessful.

St Kilda career (2011–2013)[]

In early November 2011, Laidley was announced as the new midfield coach of the St Kilda Football Club.[5] Of the move, St Kilda's head of football, Chris Pelchen, said of Laidley: "has a wealth of knowledge as a former player and coach in his own right. His experience will genuinely assist the development of the whole player list at the Saints."[5]

Carlton career (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[]

[6]
Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles
AFL playing statistics
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game) Votes
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
1987 West Coast 15 10 2 5 119 24 143 37 6 0.2 0.5 11.9 2.4 14.3 3.7 0.6 0
1988 West Coast 15 11 6 4 139 29 168 44 11 0.5 0.4 12.6 2.6 15.3 4.0 1.0 0
1989 West Coast 15 10 0 3 116 60 176 40 15 0.0 0.3 11.6 6.0 17.6 4.0 1.5 0
1990 West Coast 15 7 1 0 93 45 138 23 1 0.1 0.0 13.3 6.4 19.7 3.3 0.1 5
1991 West Coast 15 0 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
1992 West Coast 15 14 2 5 158 90 248 30 13 0.1 0.4 11.3 6.4 17.7 2.1 0.9 2
1993 North Melbourne 7 17 1 2 209 60 269 35 23 0.1 0.1 12.3 3.5 15.8 2.1 1.4 6
1994 North Melbourne 7 24 0 0 302 137 439 77 16 0.0 0.0 12.6 5.7 18.3 3.2 0.7 4
1995 North Melbourne 7 23 0 2 272 131 403 82 24 0.0 0.1 11.8 5.7 17.5 3.6 1.0 3
1996† North Melbourne 7 24 2 1 240 130 370 64 29 0.1 0.0 10.0 5.4 15.4 2.7 1.2 0
1997 North Melbourne 7 11 1 0 78 32 110 24 10 0.1 0.0 7.1 2.9 10.0 2.2 0.9 0
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[]

[7]
Legend
 W  Wins  L  Losses  D  Draws  W%  Winning percentage  LP  Ladder position  LT  League teams
Season Team Games W L D W % LP LT
2003 Kangaroos 22 11 10 1 52.3% 10 16
2004 Kangaroos 22 10 12 0 45.5% 10 16
2005 Kangaroos 23 13 10 0 56.5% 5 16
2006 Kangaroos 22 7 15 0 31.8% 14 16
2007 Kangaroos 25 15 10 0 60.0% 4 16
2008 North Melbourne 23 12 10 1 54.3% 7 16
2009* North Melbourne 12 4 8 0 33.3% 13 16
Career totals 149 72 75 2 49.0%

*Laidley resigned as coach in 2009. Darren Crocker coached the club for the remainder of the season.

Controversies[]

During a 2006 match against St Kilda, a Kangaroos supporter had a confrontation with Laidley during a period of 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 committed suicide that night, unrelated to the incident with Laidley.[8]

In 2007, former Kangaroos' star Wayne Carey criticised Laidley and argued that another former teammate, John Longmire, should become coach as Laidley's contract was due for renewal at the end of 2007.[9] After a forthright response by Laidley that referenced Carey's personal scandals, Carey responded by describing Laidley as arrogant.[citation needed]

In May 2020, Laidley was arrested and charged with one count of stalking. Laidley did not apply for bail.[10] Laidley was allegedly found with 0.43 grams of methamphetamine in her bra at the time of her arrest.[11] In November, Laidley was placed into a diversion program and given an "adjourned undertaking with no conviction recorded" on the stalking charge. A Victoria Police officer allegedly distributed photos taken of Laidley dressed as a woman while in custody, and in December was charged with unauthorised access and disclosure of police information as well as misconduct in public office.[12]

Personal life[]

Laidley commenced a gender transition in December 2019.[13]

References[]

  1. ^ Sweeney, Karen (11 November 2020). "Former North Melbourne coach's charge to be dropped with letter of thanks to police". 7NEWS.com.au. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Harms, John (2 August 2003). "The Laidley Spirit". The Age. Melbourne.
  3. ^ Denham, Greg (9 August 2007). "Laidley rejects Demons' advances". The Australian.
  4. ^ Paine, Chris (16 June 2009). "Laidley ends 'great journey' at North".
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b Brodie, Will (2 November 2011). "Saints nab Laidley". The Age. Melbourne.
  6. ^ Dani Laidley's player profile at AFL Tables
  7. ^ Dean Laidley's coaching profile at AFL Tables
  8. ^ Holroyd, Jane (30 May 2006). "Fan's death 'devastating': Laidley". The Age. Melbourne.
  9. ^ Timms, Daryl (16 March 2007). "Dump Laidley: Carey". The Advertiser.
  10. ^ "AFL 2020: Dean Laidley arrested, in police custody, charges, stalking, in court May 11, did not apply for bail". Fox Sports. 3 May 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  11. ^ "Dean Laidley allegedly found with meth during arrest". ESPN. 11 May 2020. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  12. ^ "Victorian police officer charged with distributing photos of former AFL coach Dani Laidley, taken while in custody". ABC News. 2 December 2020. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  13. ^ Moore, Georgie. "Former North coach Dani Laidley avoids conviction for stalking". afl.com.au. Retrieved 4 January 2021.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""