Women’s Season Review – Co-captain Demi Liddle

Demi Liddle has already set her sights on the 2026 WAFL Women’s season after a 2025 campaign where she successfully returned from an ACL injury and did an admirable job as co-captain on a Swan Districts team so close to a premiership.

The respect that Liddle is held in by the playing and coaching groups at Swan Districts was highlighted by her being reappointed co-captain for the 2025 season alongside Eliza Gelmi despite still working her way back from a knee reconstruction.

Liddle ruptured her ACL back in Round 8 of last season against West Perth but worked diligently on her rehab following the surgery and was able to make her WAFL Women’s return in Round 4 of 2025 against Peel Thunder, ironically her former team.

From there, Liddle settled right back into her role in the Swan Districts’ back-line and played a key part in them reaching the grand final, and then losing a heart stopper by one solitary point to Claremont.

Reflecting on that grand final heartbreak now and Liddle has no doubt it will only spur on all those returning players in 2026.

“It was a tough loss. And in reflecting on it now I can say I still looking back and think about how close we were,” Liddle said.

“When it’s that close all of the little moments that may have not quite gone our way make a difference. I do believe though that it has really driven a hunger in the group that we can get one better.

“The things we have learnt from hard fought wins and close games will only improve our group in the future. It’s never easy losing a grand final but I believe you can truly learn so much from it.”

The longer the season went the better Swan Districts did continue to get in the first campaign under new coach Jason Burton as they won the last five games of the home and away season, and then beat West Perth and Subiaco to reach the grand final.

While it’s never easy to digest a one-point grand final loss, Liddle feels nothing but pride for what everyone produced in the program to help them get so close to glory.

“I am so incredibly proud of the season that our team as had. How could you not?,” Liddle said.

“We set our goals early in preseason, we worked very hard as a group and we achieved what we set out to do.

“I am proud of everyone involved, yes the playing group but our coaching team as well. It was Jason’s first year as head coach and he led the program very well.”

While Claremont and Subiaco were the dominant two teams for the first half of the WAFL Women’s season in 2025, in the back end it was Swan Districts who were perhaps the best performed side having won seven straight matches to reach the grand final.

Liddle couldn’t have been happier with how the group came together and now knowing how young the majority of the squad is, she can’t help but be excited for what 2026 should look like.

“I believe we will take many learnings and experiences from this year and grow more next year and the years to come. It’s an exciting group to be a part of,” Liddle added.

“I think it was a mixture of a belief that we had built in ourselves that we could actually do it and get to the end.

“Plus a conversation we all had around resilience and how to stay strong for each other when things got tough. We really focused in on what each of our strengths were and backing each other into them.”

It was always going to be a learning and challenging year in 2025 for Liddle as she juggled making her return from the knee injury and trying to recapture her game conditioning and form while also remaining a leader of an increasingly young group.

In the end, she was happy enough with her performances on the field and is looking forward to a full season in 2026, but she learned more than ever from her time sidelined about her leadership.

“Coming back from my ACL injury this year has had its challenges with a modified preseason and not being able to get a lot of game play in before the season started,” Liddle said.

“So it was a little up and down for me in turns of playing. However, I’m looking forward to getting a full preseason under my belt and hitting next season determined.

“In terms of leadership, I feel this year I learnt a lot, not being out on the field as much meant I had to change the way I led the group.

“I am also incredibly lucky to have my co-captain, Eliza, who was able to support me through that. I do believe the challenges it gave me has definitely given me things to work on going forward to be a more versatile leader.”