“When it rains, it pours.”
There’s a lot happening in the life of 32-year-old Tom Wilson – a name that has ever-increasing importance and recognition within the four walls of the AIA Vitality Centre.
Things started in December when he got engaged to long-time partner Ruby, while the pair welcomed twin girls Harriet and Romy into the world just last month in a special time for the now family of four.
He’s been a Collingwood VFL player for 18 months – making the switch at the start of 2023 after 140 games with the Northern Bullants/Blues – but there’s a new reason why he’s one of the most recognised figures within the Club.
And that’s because the school teacher of seven years made a career switch earlier this year, joining Collingwood’s AFLW program as Head of Development and Midfield Assistant Coach.
So now, after only ever coming up against the black and white in his more than a decade of time spent within the football system as an opponent, he gets to live and breathe the Collingwood way of life every single day.
“It’s unique, isn’t it,” Wilson said of being a coach at the same Club he also plays football for.
“There’s a lot happening and when it rains it pours. Life’s pretty good at the moment.
“Someone’s looking over me, so I’m just really grateful for the opportunities that I’ve been afforded.
“I’m really grateful for what I do have in my personal life and the people that I’ve got in my personal life and I’m equally as pleased and grateful for the people that I get to stand alongside at work and have daily conversations with.”
When he made that move just a little south from Preston to Olympic Boulevard last year, never did he think it would lead to a career change too.
However, he’s always harboured a passion for education and learning through his expertise as a teacher, and coaching has long been on his radar.
“For the last seven years I’ve been a teacher, so coaching or that education side has been a passion of mine,” Wilson said.
“I clearly didn’t know that coming across as a Collingwood VFL player and doing a development role within the VFL program would lead to this opportunity, but I’m very grateful that it has.
“For me, I just wanted to try and make every post winner and try and maximise the great people and the resources around me to try and show them ‘you’ve got me, I’m stepping into your environment and I want to give back to the environment’.”
So here, Wilson sits in the midst of AFLW pre-season, ready to embark on a journey as a key cog in the Pies’ new era of its program under Head Coach Sam Wright.
But as he alludes to, things didn’t happen overnight.
Growing up in Melbourne’s Eastern suburbs, Wilson’s earliest memories of football date back to before he even started school and are inherently family orientated.
“I’m an Eastern suburbs boy, grew up there and still live out that way about 30 minutes from Melbourne,” he said.
“I got into footy at the age of five playing for my junior club North Ringwood.
“Me and one of my mates at the time started when we were five and we both played 50 games in Under 9s, both played 100 games, and then in Under 16s we both played 150, so it was pretty cool.
“I was part of a pretty successful junior team. My dad was a coach in my early days and he was extremely passionate about it, so that’s probably where the love of footy stemmed from.”
Fast forward to 2024 where Wilson sits on 164 VFL games at the time of writing, and the midfielder has likely played close to 350 games of football in his life to date.
And the majority of them have been of quality too, with Wilson a star for the Eastern Ranges during his late teenage years in the then TAC Cup.
While he’s unsure how close he was to getting drafted to the AFL, football for Wilson has always been about playing at the absolute highest level.
“How long’s a piece of string? I’d like to think at some stage there may have been a possibility, but the answer to that is I never really know,” Wilson said when reflecting on his draft year.
“I think that’s probably been more the point, I’ve always wanted to play at the highest possible level I could, for as long as I could.
“I’ve really enjoyed playing VFL. It’s been really fun, but it’s been challenging along the way also through evolving and trying to problem solve and trying to get the best out of myself.
“From a football point of view, it has been really rewarding and then by circumstances, the people that you meet along the way, that’s been equally as important.”