WAFLW & Rogers Cup Grand Finals Preview

It’s a monster day at Fremantle Community Bank Oval on Sunday with both Swan Districts teams taking part in the WAFL Women’s and Rogers Cup Grand Finals for 2026 against East Fremantle.

It was a huge day at Steel Blue Oval two weeks ago Swan Districts when they hosted both second semi-finals with the WAFLW team managing to beat Claremont and the Rogers Cup outfit beating East Fremantle.

That saw them lock in their places in the Grand Finals this Sunday and they awaited their opponents to be decided in last week’s preliminary finals.

Now as it turns out it is the same opponent in both Grand Finals for Swan Districts playing East Fremantle this Sunday firstly in the Rogers Cup that gets underway at 11:20am followed by the WAFLW decider that starts at 2:05pm.

Swan Districts and East Fremantle will meet in a WAFLW Grand Final for the first time since 2019 when the Sharks prevailed on that occasion at Lathlain’s Mineral Resources Park.

East Fremantle have made three Grand Finals since then for a premiership triumph in 2023 while Sunday’s game will be a third Grand Final since for Swan Districts following losses in 2021 to Peel Thunder and then last year by a solitary point to Claremont.

Swan Districts are now attempting to win a first premiership still since the competition officially reverted to being the WAFLW and a first flag overall since going back-to-back in 2016 and 2017.

On the back of last year’s stunning run to the Grand Final and falling one-point short against Claremont, Swan Districts have had a standout 2026 finishing the home and away season in top spot a game and percentage clear with a 14-2 record.

They then beat the Tigers by a point in the second semi-final to advance to the Grand Final while East Fremantle finished the home and away season in third position at 10-6.

The Sharks then won a thrilling derby in the first semi-final before then beating Claremont in remarkable scenes in extra time by six points at Revo Fitness Stadium to advance to the Grand Final.

Swan Districts WAFLW coach Jason Burton likes the way it’s panned out that the Swans and Sharks are facing off in both Grand Finals on Sunday.

“I like it and I think it’s pretty cool that the supporters of both teams can get there and make it a big day,” Burton told 91.3 SportFM.

“Given it’s down Fremantle way as well, we’re expecting there’ll be a lot of East Fremantle support there and it’s quite a distance from Bassendean, but hopefully our supporters travel and having both teams in it will certainly help that.

“But I think it’s testament from the women’s side of it to the programs that are run and we’re closely aligned with our Rogers Cup group and it’s one program at Swans, and everything we do is the same with the same standards and everything.

“I think East Fremantle are similar with that and it pays off that both teams are into the Grand Final.”

Burton acknowledges the differences now in the preparation for Swan Districts opposed to last year, but can’t fault anything that his group have done all of 2026.

“It’s a bit different and obviously last year we sort of came from a bit deeper and further back, and were riding a wave of momentum whereas we’ve now spent the last 12 months knowing what we’re capable of,” Burton said.

“The planning this time has been a bit calmer I suppose and less hectic after we’ve had the week off which changes things as well so we think we’re pretty well set and ready to go.”

As for taking on East Fremantle in Sunday’s Grand Final, Burton knows that they are going to come out with momentum behind them so it’s important for Swan Districts to try and withstand that and pick up the pace as early as possible.

“They’ve had a terrific run and that’s across the year as well, it was the second time they’ve beaten Claremont this year and it certainly has some similarities to how we got there last year,” Burton said.

“They’re going to come pretty hard with that and their pressure was enormous against Claremont, and that’s sort of what got the game on their terms last week so we’ve gotta prepare for that.

“Obviously us having the week off we’ll need to adjust pretty quickly to the intensity of the game and we know it’s going to be hot pretty early, and that’s how they’ll come and try to attack us.

“We’ll just need to be good enough to absorb that and then try to get the game on our terms and influence how it’s played.”