The Southport Sharks would like to thank Peter Doherty and Mal Smith, who have decided not to continue in their coaching roles for 2025.
Doherty, the Sharks’ QAFLW Senior Head Coach for the 2023 and 2024 seasons, has been a part of Southport’s senior women’s program since its inception in 2020.
He was an Assistant Coach from 2020 to 2022 and was promoted to the Head Coaching role when Ryan Davis stepped down from the role at the end of the 2022 QAFLW season.
In his time as an Assistant Coach, Southport won two QFAW Division 1 premierships, was promoted to QAFLW and made the QAFLW Grand Final.
Then, as Head Coach, he guided Southport to the minor premiership in 2023 and the club’s first-ever QAFLW Senior Premiership in 2024.
Earlier this week, he was also recognised as the 2024 QAFLW Coach of the Year.
Smith was the Sharks’ QAFLW Reserves Head Coach from 2022 to 2024 after joining the club in 2021 as the QFAW Division 1 Runner.
When Southport was promoted to the QAFLW in 2022, he became the club’s inaugural QAFLW Reserves Coach.
With Smith at the helm, the Reserves won the premiership in their first year in the competition and again in 2024.
Southport’s General Manager of Football Operations Jarrod Field, “We are sad to see Peter and Mal leave the club, but we understand that it is a significant commitment to be a coach in our QAFLW program and accept their decisions to step down from their roles after several years of tremendous service.”
“They will go down in history as our first-ever QAFLW Senior and QAFLW Reserves Premiership Coaches, which is a testament to their dedication to the establishment and growth of our senior women’s football program.”
“As much as they will be missed, we celebrate and thank them for their service to the club, and we wish them all the very best in their future endeavours.”