Round 1 Preview v Subiaco

SWAN Districts has been at the forefront of the growth of female football and it's only fitting the Black Ducks are part of the launch of inaugural WAFL Women's competition this Sunday against Subiaco at Steel Blue Oval.

Swan Districts has provided the benchmark for female football in Western Australia for sometime now including winning four recent WA Women's Football League premierships, and it was only in 2017 that they won the league, reserves and Youth Girls premierships all in the same season.

So when the new WAFLW competition was being launched for 2019 it was only fitting that Swan Districts would be one of the five clubs now involved.

Now it's time for Round 1 this Sunday and Swan Districts will be hosting Subiaco at Steel Blue Oval with league action beginning at 2.45pm. It will be live streamed on www.wafl.com.au.

DONNELLAN PUMPED TO COACH SWANS IN WAFLW

The day at Steel Blue Oval will also feature Swan Districts' Youth Girls and reserves teams being in action, with their seasons having already got underway.

Swan Districts' reserves have won two of their opening three matches of the season leading into their clash on Sunday with Subiaco, beginning at 12.45pm.

And in the Rogers Cup Youth Girls action, Swan Districts will also host Subiaco at Steel Blue Oval from 10am on Sunday. Swans' Youth Girls team has opened the season with a win, a loss and a draw over the first three matches.

It's an exciting new era with the beginning of the WAFLW competition starting with the two matches on Saturday afternoon, with Claremont having the bye first up.

The league will see the teams have 16 players on the field at any one time with five on the interchange while playing 18-minute quarters with no time-on.

There will be 15 rounds in the inaugural season with each team playing one another three times and having three byes before a three-week finals series will conclude with the Grand Final held on the weekend of WAFL preliminary final on September 14 or 15, and broadcast live on Channel 7.

Subiaco played off in the Grand Final at league level in the WAWFL competition last year and look to have a strong line-up once more in 2019, but so do Swan Districts as a traditional powerhouse of female football in WA.

Another AFLW star from Fremantle is Ashley Sharp. The lightning quick forward won't be playing for Swan Districts on Sunday, but will be into the team soon and is looking forward to seeing how the Black Ducks shape up to start the new competition against Subiaco.

"We've obviously been looked at as one of the benchmarks WAFL clubs that everyone wants to play like, so that's what we are looking to bring into this new competition as well," Sharp said.

"We want to be seen as the benchmark that everyone can strive towards. But the other clubs are looking strong too and like East Fremantle who came out and won the premiership last year. 

"It's a new competition and you don’t know what's going to happen. The standard will lift to another level and all the young girls are now old enough to play league footy having come through the ranks and we are going to have to play against them."

OPTUS WAFLW ROUND 1 
SWAN DISTRICTS v SUBIACO – STEEL BLUE OVAL, SUNDAY 2.45PM

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