Bailey Dale and Erin Meade at the Brownlow Medal at Crown Palladium, September 23, 2024. Picture: Getty Images

THEY’RE “the glue” between the Western Bulldogs men’s and women’s football programs.

Erin Meade is the newly appointed development coach for the Western Bulldogs’ AFLW team, while her fiancé, Bailey Dale, is the star half-back flanker for the club’s men’s squad.

Meade was an inaugural player for Williamstown’s VFLW squad and was on the Seagulls’ list for seven seasons, captaining the side for three of them.

Last year was her final season on the list, where she ran the team’s development arm, and she has since moved into the development coaching role at the Dogs.

Dale – in his 11th year at the Kennel – is part of the furniture at Whitten Oval, and the couple got engaged at the end of last year.

“Footy has always been an ever-constant for us. We’ve been together for over a decade and both have been playing footy in that time, which is pretty cool,” Meade says.

“It’s pretty cool to be able to get an insight from the men’s program and the way they play. Now being here, I get to see behind the scenes a little bit more, so I have a greater understanding of what that program goes through. 

“Vice versa, it’s pretty cool for him to get an insight into the W program.

“Being here and having that connection, I suppose as a personal level, but also professional now – if I can be the glue between both programs and making sure we have the best one-club approach here, that’d be something I’m really proud of.

“Between Bailey and I, our aim is to make sure it’s the most cohesive club in both programs, that the women are supporting the men, and the men are supporting the women.

“Some people might think it’s pretty hard, because then we [might not be able to] escape footy. But in fact it kind of works well in that we know each other’s boundaries.

“I do offer him a bit of coaching here and there, I do help him with his game plan and review most weekends,” she adds with a grin.

The pair don’t live and breathe football 24/7, nor are they in each other’s pockets.

Meade is primarily at the club one day a week, and home – despite also living with Dale’s young teammates Jed Busslinger and Buku Khamis – is a relatively footy-free zone.

The quartet all take turns cooking, with the others on dishes duty, and takeaway is on the menu when Khamis has dinner at his family home on Wednesday nights.

“At the moment, obviously it’s a bit up and down with the other two at different points (of their careers), which can be challenging. But once you get home, it’s a pretty relaxed environment,” Dale says.

Bailey Dale during the round 17 match between North Melbourne and Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium, July 3, 2025. During: AFL Photos

“We don’t talk a whole lot of footy, but every now and then we chat about what’s going right, what’s going wrong, and how we can help each other. But once you get home, you sort of want to leave most of it at the club and come home and just relax and chill out.”

Meade’s development work is primarily with the backline – working with new assistant coach Callum Brown, the former Collingwood midfielder – and she also serves as match-day runner, with a little bit of footy ops work with Alannah Berns on the side.

“I probably recognised that I’d lost the love of playing a little bit. I love to help others or young people. I’m a teacher by trade, so education is something I’m very passionate about,” she says of the end of her own playing days.

“‘Willy’ (Williamstown) gave me the opportunity in my last year to also head up the development there, so not only playing, but getting to work with the first and second-year players in the program. I loved it. I loved still having that team element and being able to sink my teeth into footy, but not have that element of playing or the anxieties that come with that.” 

Erin Meade during the VFLW Semi Final between Williamstown and North Melbourne at DSV Stadium, July 7, 2024. Picture: AFL Photos

The pair are able to bounce off each other, and the double football element means each has an intrinsic understanding of just what the other is going through.

“Every now and then we do cross paths. Sometimes we’re in the gym, and she’ll be doing her property stuff, or going through edits with some of the girls that might be in early to do warm up before training,” Dale says. 

“It’s not a great deal, but when we get home, we debrief about our days and what we did. It’s always nice that she’s in the same environment, which is obviously a great one to be in at the moment.

“With football, it’s a week-to-week thing. Sometimes you win and can be a bit flat, or win and you’re up and about, but then you lose the next week you’re a bit flat.

“So to have her around the club and ride that rollercoaster with myself and the other boys that live with us, it’s nice when you can come home and she gets the vibe.”