Lessons learned drive on Liddle and Swans

Swan Districts co-captain Demi Liddle had quite the journey to 100 games which only made the milestone all that sweeter but her focus is firmly on team success and having built that resilience as a group from going so close at the end of 2025.

Liddle began her career back in the previous WA Women’s Football League and now has continued the journey in the WAFL Women’s at Swan Districts having cemented herself as one of the best leaders and defenders in the competition.

Liddle started her career at Peel Thunder but she was always a promising basketball player and started playing in the then SBL (now NBL1 West) back in 2015 aged just 16 and spent four years with the South West Slammers.

But she ended up turning her focus to football and won two premierships with Peel in 2020 and 2021 which led into an AFLW opportunity where she played four matches in 2021.

She would end up joining Swan Districts in 2022 and despite rupturing her ACL along the way early in 2024 and returning in Round 4 last year, Liddle has cemented herself as a key part of the leadership with Swans and also a vital player on the field.

The journey to 100 games was a long one and has had plenty of ups and downs along the way, but it’s something that Liddle is rightfully proud to have now ticked off.

“It’s definitely been a long journey, about eight years to get here, with some interruptions along the way through AFL commitments and most recently an ACL injury,” Liddle said.

“But it’s honestly been such a fun ride. I’ve made incredible memories and met some amazing people, and my life would look very different without footy.

“To reach this milestone and celebrate it with such a special group at Swan Districts makes it even more meaningful. I felt very honoured.”

Winning makes it sweeter

Any player that will say that as nice as it is to reach any milestone, the game itself will only be worth remembering if it’s a winning experience.

Liddle was lucky enough to celebrate her 100th game with the thrilling win back in Round 4 against West Perth at Steel Blue Oval so she’ll have no trouble remembering it with great fondness.

“It was a tough game, West Perth really challenged us in that second half, so to be able to come away with the win definitely made the day that bit more special,” Liddle said.

“It was a great way to finish off the milestone.”

Strong start to the season

It has been a perfect start to the season so far for Swan Districts with the six wins against Claremont, South Fremantle, East Fremantle, West Perth, Perth and East Perth by an average of 30.2 points.

Liddle puts a lot of that down to a combination of the pain from last year’s grand final loss, the amount they learned from that experience and also just the sheer work they’ve put in to be ready to give themselves a chance to go one better now in 2026.

“I think it just comes down to the work everyone’s put in. There’s been no shortcuts across the whole group, players and coaches, everyone has put in a really strong pre-season,” Liddle said.

“We were so close last year, and we knew we had to improve if we wanted to get back there and go one better.

“We’ve taken a lot of learnings from last season and brought that into this year, but at the same time we know there’s still plenty we can improve on.”

Using last year’s loss as motivation

Losing a grand final by a point the way Swan Districts did to Claremont last year is never an easy thing to deal with, and there’s probably no one right way to try and move on from it.

Some teams might try and ignore it and never mention it and try to pretend it didn’t happen. But Swans instead have openly used it as a learning experience and for added motivation now coming into this season.

“We speak a lot about resilience and what that looks like both individually and as a team,” Liddle said.

“Losing a grand final by a point hurts, there’s no hiding that but we’ve used it as motivation rather than letting it hold us back.

“We’re really focused on building on what we created last year and continuing to grow. We are a different team this year as well, a few new faces and we have our eyes set on new goals.”

Balance of the squad

A big part of the way things are clicking this season with Swan Districts from Liddle’s point of view is how well balanced the group is.

There are co-captains with Liddle and Eliza Gelmi showing the way along with the return of former captain Jess Cox and then the experience with Ash Sharp, Emily McGuire, Taylah Edwards and Lauren Quaife.

There are then others breaking out to be in career-best form highlighted by Jaime Henry who should be leading Dhara Kerr Medal voting right now but also including the likes of Naomi Baker, Tamzyn Beros, Meg Carron and Luka Davis.

Chloe Reilly has then come across from East Fremantle and fit in seamlessly while Summer Yarran, Makaela Grau, Shaya Yarran, Keira Fawcett, Jemma Sly and Grace Hirst are all having important impacts as young players too.

It’s that whole mix that Liddle has no doubt is a big reason why they have started the 2026 season so well.

“I think the balance in the group is one of our real strengths,” Liddle said.

“We’ve got some exciting young players coming through, experienced players who bring leadership, and then the middle group who, we still see as young but have already built a lot of games together.

“Players like Tamzyn and Meg are great examples, still young but already quite experienced at this level, and really finding form.

“And yes Jamie, her form is incredible on field but what she brings as a role model of resilience and determination to the group is very special. When you’ve got that mix across all lines, it builds a really strong and connected team.”