Adam Kingsley has ridden the wave of the orange tsunami with the first-year coach recognised as the 2023 Monjon Allan Jeans Senior Coach of the Year for a superb season in charge at the GIANTS.

After a 16^th place finish in 2022 and with a team in transformation, Kingsley led the GIANTS to a preliminary finals berth where they came up agonisingly short to Collingwood by one-point at the weekend.

The former Richmond assistant was awarded 263 votes from his peers, which saw him edge out Grand Final combatants Collingwood’s Craig McRae (197) and Chris Fagan (164). The votes take into consideration performance up to and including the preliminary final, with available resources, player talent and team management all part of the voting criteria.

Appointed to the role in August last year, Kingsley’s influence was central to the GIANTS surfing their way up the ladder.

Kingsley’s success also came after a challenging start where the team found itself on the wrong side of the ledger at 4-7 and in 15^thplace on the ladder at the halfway mark of the season.

The award named in honour of coaching legend Allan Jeans was presented to Kingsley by AFL Hall of Fame inductee and his former coach Mark Williams via Zoom.

"It’s a tremendous honour to receive this award, particularly given it’s an award voted on by the other coaches," Kingsley said.

"I’m grateful for the support I’ve received this season from the club and our players but also a whole new coaching group and I’m exceptionally proud of the way we’ve come together to build a whole new program.

“While still disappointed by the result on Friday night, in time I think we’ll look back on this season with a great amount of pride, particularly in the growth of our group.

"I’m determined to continue to learn and grow and, along with our great group of assistant coaches, am excited by what we can achieve together into the future.”

AFL Coaches Association CEO Alistair Nicholson congratulated Kingsley on his first season in the top job.

“Adam has shown a tremendous ability to inspire and lead his side in his first season in the role and he thoroughly deserves to be voted by his coaching peers as the 2023 Monjon Allan Jeans Senior Coach of the Year,” Nicholson said. 

“We all saw last Friday night the improvement the GIANTS have made in such a short amount of time and Adam deserves a ton of credit for the way he has applied himself and organised his team to again be one of the most dangerous up and coming sides in the AFL competition.”

“Congratulations Adam, what an honour to be recognised by your peers in this way, and well done to the assistant and development coaches and those around and above him at the GIANTS.”