JUST IN: After his biggest moment as head coach of the Cats, all the Cats AFLW team has finally confirm as…..

Lowther getting ready for his biggest moment as head coach of the Cats

Dan Lowther has guided the Cats AFLW team to their second straight finals series and a second home final at GMHBA Stadium in just his third season in charge.

The Cats had only won one of their previous three seasons in the league and were coming off a losing season of nine games in 2021 when they took over the top position at the start of 2022.

Beginning in 2022, Lowther had an instant good influence. He brought several reforms to the program in his first season, and by season seven, the Cats had achieved significant progress.

Geelong went on to finish season seven in fifth spot on the ladder, winning seven of their ten games before falling short in a nail biting elimination final against North Melbourne.

Dan Lowther talked about the Cats journey under his leadership on SEN this week, stating how keeping one eye on the future was crucial to the team’s success.

“It has a been a strategic approach since I came in,” Lowther told SEN.

“We could see the way the AFLW competition was rapidly improving, so we had to make sure that we got ahead of the curve.

“We made some changes to our strength and conditioning space, we invested heavily in coaching around that and developed a running program to make sure we could negate injuries seen around the competition.

“Then on field we wanted to bring players onto our list that could support the growth of the game in a fundamental space.

“Those were two of the key areas where we made some huge changes, we have made 21 changes to our list over the past three seasons so it has been a big difference.”

Lowther spent a number of years in a variety of roles with Geelong’s VFL and AFL programs, before taking over the top job as the AFLW head coach in 2022.

This weekend will present the Cats their best opportunity to win a game in the post season, taking on Essendon in front of their home crowd at GMHBA Stadium.

Lowther mentioned how important this Sunday will be not just for the players, but for the Cats AFLW program as they look to take the next step in their development.

“It is a huge moment, absolutely huge,” Lowther said.

“To have the men’s success last year flow into our program, making our first finals series in the current competition format, and then for us to make another finals series is exceptional.

“We had an amazing crowd last week, close to 4,000 in the stands and it sounds more like 20,000 with the hype and the noise they make.

“It does drive the girls further, so to have another large crowd this weekend would certainly help to push the team against Essendon.

“Just to play in the post season again against a team in their first final, it will be a ripper of a day and I can’t wait for it.”