McConnell, originally from Terang, started his football journey at Kolora before ascending to play for Footscray in the Victorian Football League through the early 1980s.

He later coached Fitzroy.

The 64-year-old is the Giants' longest-serving employee and has worked at Sydney Olympic Park since 2009.

In that time he has held a number of coaching roles within the Giants' AFL program before taking over as AFLW mentor in 2018. The club is now on the hunt for a new leader.

"It's time for me to take on the next challenge, which I'm looking forward to," he said.

"I leave the AFLW head coach role with a huge amount of pride, having learnt and experienced so much over the past five years.

"To have been a part of the formative years of the AFL Women's competition has been an absolute honour.

"It's been a privilege to lead this group of women - I've learned so much from them and about myself."

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Giants chief executive Dave Matthews thanked McConnell for his contribution to the program.

"Alan's impact on our AFLW program can't be overstated," he said.

"He has brought an extremely high level of expertise, experience and insight to our AFLW program and continued to set new standards.

"We're in discussions with Alan on what the next chapter looks like as a continuation of an already outstanding coaching career."

McConnell led the Giants to their inaugural finals appearance in 2020 and has steered the women's program through two COVID-affected seasons.

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