Since childhood, Jess Allan has loved to be in one particular spot on Anzac Day morning – her hometown of Beachport in South Australia’s south-east, where she can help out with the Dawn Service.
This year, however, the Crows’ 185cm AFLW ruck will commemorate Anzac Day more than 1000km away from her childhood town.
But while she might be a long way from home, she’ll be in exactly the right place: Duntroon, Canberra.
The AFLW footballer and Army Captain has spent the past fortnight in Canberra on a football training camp with the Australian Defence Force’s All Stars Women’s team.
The squad is preparing to face the ACT Women’s State team on Sunday in a curtain raiser to the GWS–North Melbourne match at Manuka Oval, meaning she will spend Anzac Day in the nation’s capital.
“Anzac Day is a day to remember the ultimate sacrifice of so many people who have served before us, so it's really cool for us to be able to commemorate it together as a team,” Allan says.
“Our ADF team has a diverse range of soldiers, sailors and aviators with a varied amount of experience and service history, so the day means something different to everyone.
“We'll attend a Dawn Service all together on Saturday morning at the Australian Defence Force Academy, run out for a Captain’s Run and then be able to spend the day together in Canberra.”
Allan, who is the younger sister of Crows Co-Captain Sarah, is now in her second year as the midfield coach for the ADF All Stars and says she’s been enjoying her role with the team.
“When I’m back home in Adelaide, my ability to get hands on with coaching is limited given I juggle footy with full time work in the off-season,” she says.
“So, for me to be able to come away on these trips, and have two weeks of full doses of coaching, is really cool.
“I really enjoy it, and now I'm also trying to get all my coaching courses done, and I’m very fortunate that at the Club, CJ (Crows assistant Courtney Cramey) always invites me whenever there are coaching seminars to jump in and get involved.
“So, who knows? Coaching might be a potential career option in the future post-Defence, but even if not, for now, I really enjoy it, especially coaching the Army and ADF girls, a lot of them are super talented, and they’re literally sponges with the amount of stuff they want to learn on and off the field.”
Allan made her AFLW debut with Adelaide in 2018 before spending three seasons playing for the Giants while she studied in the ADF in Canberra, returning to the Crows in 2023, where she has made a name for herself in ruck.
The 26-year-old has now played 58 career games, 44 of those for the Crows, while also rising to Captain as a Health Officer in the Australia Defence Force’s 3rd Health Battalion, where she works in the operations cell.
Allan said her stint of off-season coaching would benefit her heading into her eighth AFLW pre-season, which starts on May 11.
“For me personally, this experience, especially being a line coach, is honestly helping me grow my understanding of the game; it’s forcing me to not get sucked into focusing on minor skill errors and things like that, but instead having a deeper understanding of stoppage structures and movement,” she says.
“It’s really making me look at the game in a bigger picture.”
