Work starts now after ticking off first goal

When Swan Districts made such a standout start to the 2026 WAFLW season, coach Jason Burton set the goal for the minor premiership and now that’s been achieved, the real work of the finals starts.

On the back of being so close to glory last year in the WAFLW competition with the one-point Grand Final loss to Claremont, Swan Districts have taken a step forward right across the board in 2026.

They went on to win the first six games of the season and then lost just one of the last nine games to end up with a 14-2 record to finish a game and percentage clear in top spot to secure the minor premiership.

That now means that Swan Districts will play host to Claremont in a Grand Final rematch doubling as a second semi-final this Sunday afternoon at Steel Blue Oval.

Swans coach Jason Burton couldn’t be happier with what his team has done throughout the season so far, but knows it counts for little now that the finals are about to start.

“We’re obviously pretty pleased that we managed to finish off the year and end up on top,” Burton told 91.3 SportFM.

“You always set yourselves goals and you sort of adjust them as you go, but that was one we locked in after a good start to the year that we wanted to finish on top. We’ve done that, but like we’ve said internally here, the hard work starts now.”

Spending more time playing together

While there has been some change in personnel at Swans this year including bringing in experience with Ash Sharp, Chloe Reilly and Jess Cox along with some teenage Rogers Cup talent, what Burton thinks has been key is the core group just playing more together.

“We always were excited that we were a young group and that just the more we played and the more games we got into the group of players who were 20, 21 years old and the more they did things together then the more maturity and composure they’d have under some pressure,” Burton said.

“So I think that’s been the thing for us is that we’re pretty satisfied with how our overall team performs and we’re not relying on individuals to have standout games. It’s just that we feel like whatever 21 we put out there are going to get a job done together.

“So I suppose we’ve added a little bit of maturity and experience as well with either our own players coming back like Ash Sharp or Jess Cox or someone like Chloe Reilly who came into us from East Fremantle with 80 games of experience.

“So we’ve got that little bit of different look to us now where last year was very much about riding a wave of excitement and enthusiasm, but this year we’ve tried to be a bit more composed with it. And to the girls’ credit, they work really hard and get a bit of clarity of what their role are and it’s paid off.”

Amazing season of Jaime Henry

While Burton takes pride in the contributions Swan Districts get right across the board from every player out on the field, it can’t be ignored what a remarkable individual season Jaime Henry has had in the midfield.

It could very well be the best season any player has had in the WAFLW competition so far and she will go into the Dhara Kerr Medal count as the raging favourite.

It might also be a surprise that no AFLW club as signed her yet, but should that happen it will be with Burton’s full blessing as he just marvels at the dedication and commitment she’s shown to now be setting the benchmark for the competition.

“We hope she gets that chance and as much as it might cost us if they were to call her today or tomorrow to ask her to come in, she’s got our full blessing and we would be excited for her,” Burton said.

“But the thing with Jaime is that she just works super hard and certainly there’s no one at our club that works harder, and I’d be surprised if anyone across the WAFLW or any other state league, is working as hard as Jaime.

“That’s what is paying off for her so she’s found a little bit more speed and agility that allows her to get to more contests, and win more possessions.

“Her hands are terrific and she knows and understands the game to know where to go to get it, but her running capacity has gone to another level.

“She was always very good as a midfielder, but the numbers we’re seeing this year is really good for the competition to set a new standard of what the physical demands are of the women’s game now.

“She’s certainly leading that and we’re really pleased that she’s playing and performing for us, and is a big part of what we’re doing.”

Wanting to be high-scoring team

On top of winning 14 of 16 games so far this WAFLW season, Swan Districts are the highest scoring team in the competition with 53.8 points a game.

They are also the best defensively conceding just 24.9 points, but it’s that attacking game that Burton wants his team to continue to embrace because of the weapons they have in the forward-line when the ball gets down there.

“We want to score and to do that we feel like we’ve got to go pretty quickly if we do win the ball, but it depends on who we play against,” Burton said.

“We need to make sure we get our hands on the ball first as a midfield group and Claremont this week are the highest possession team in the comp with a lot of handball.

“So we’ll have to work pretty hard to win the ball off them and then see if we can go the other way, but I think in terms of the end result having a forward-line that’s pretty dangerous is good for us.

“We’ve got Ash Sharp, Chloe Reilly, Taylah Edwards down there but also Summer Yarran is a real good competitor who can connect us so we back in that once we win possession, we’re good and we can go end to end, and score. But we need to make sure we do the hard work first.”

Women’s program in strong position

The Rogers Cup team has also had a standout season in 2026 for Swan Districts to finish in second position with a 14-2 record.

Then the bonus of the WAFLW team finishing on top and earning hosting rights for the second semi-final, the Rogers Cup then get a home game too on Sunday against East Fremantle with a spot in the Rogers Cup Grand Final up for grabs.

Burton takes great pride in how it’s one big women’s program at Swan Districts with a close connection between the WAFLW and Rogers Cup teams.

“The Rogers are going really well and I think with a strong League side, it filters down and we consider it one program out here at Swans,” Burton said.

“All the training and everything, we do together with the same plans and all that so there’s a genuine feeling that it’s one group just split age-wise.

“But this year I think we’ve had nine players that have played League and Rogers Cup games so being able to develop those players at even a senior level and then some of them are dropping back to the Rogers Cup to finish off their underage stuff is pretty exciting.

“The next few years we’ll have the depth coming through that are all talented and some of them hopefully go off to the AFL but whoever doesn’t get that chance, it’s a pretty good feeling around Swans.”