Trew embracing everything in return to Swans

Before Zane Trew made an outstanding WAFL debut with Swan Districts to live out a childhood dream on Saturday, he had a terrific time at Youth Week in Karratha as part of the Swans Social Impact team.

The work that the Swans Impact Team continues to do is having a significant influence in communities like Karratha and Roebourne in the north of Western Australia, and Trew’s return to Swan Districts has included being part of that on top of what he brings on the football field.

Youth Week in the City of Karratha took place from April 10-17 with a focus on free events and workshops for young people aged 10 to 17. Not only was sport involved which Swan Districts part of, but also music, art, gaming and just a chance to spend time with friends and family.

It was all about a week-long celebration of creativity, culture and connection with Trew on board as part of the team representing the Swan Districts Football Club and part of the Swans Impact Team.

In his first year out of the AFL system after his time at the West Coast Eagles, Trew enjoyed the experience of being out there in both Karratha and Roebourne to connect with the local communities.

“Youth Week was great up in Karratha, Jimmy Westbrook who runs the Swans Social Impact team up there did an unbelievable job at setting up the week for us and the kids,” Trew said.

“There was lots of fun activities and we obviously ran a football station which the kids loved and really bought in to what we were doing which made it enjoyable for everyone.

“We even went out to Roebourne which is a 30 minute drive out of Karratha and had some fun with the Indigenous kids out there, we had an Artist and a DJ come out and show the kids some new skills which everyone really enjoyed and had a go at.

“Hopefully I get the opportunity to go back up next time, it’s such a great week and was a lot of fun.”

Trew also overcame a lower leg injury to play his first game of the season with Swan Districts and to make his debut for the club given he was drafted to the Eagles straight out of the colts at Swans back in 2020.

It had been a frustrating opening three rounds of the season being on the sidelines, but Trew was outstanding in his WAFL debut with Swan Districts despite the heartbreaking loss to Peel Thunder with 24 possessions, five tackles and a goal.

“I’m not a great watcher of footy especially when things weren’t going our way in the first few rounds, all I wanted to do was be out there helping the team,” he said.

“But being back on the weekend and making my debut for the club was something that was super special for me.

“Being a lifelong Swans fan and player through the ranks as a kid it was such a good feeling to pull on the jumper for the first time and hopefully many more for years to come.”

Coming off the West Coast list after playing 13 AFL games and 44 in the WAFL with the Eagles, Trew was up and about over the pre-season having come back to Swan Districts before a hiccup with the lower leg injury a couple of weeks out from Round 1.

While that was frustrating, he just focused on putting all the work in to get back as soon as he could which he was able to do on Saturday in the home game against Peel.

“I had a lower leg injury that put me out of action for about six to seven weeks so Saturday was my first proper hit out since the early intra club games,” Trew said.

“It’s always frustrating missing games through injury but that’s all a part of it and I’ve gotten good at controlling what I can and what goes with it, I knew when I came back to playing game time I’d be physically and mentally ready to go from the work I put in over my time in rehab.”

Now that Trew is back out on the field with Swan Districts, the focus is on breaking through for that first win of the season which he hopes will come this Saturday at home to East Fremantle to try and build some momentum heading into the State game break.

“Looking forward to continue building form as a team and individually this week against East Fremantle, we have been there abouts over the last two weeks and we know our best footy is good enough,” Trew said.

“If we start well and play a more consistent game this weekend we will see better results in the coming weeks which I’m excited about.”