The Swan Districts WAFLW 2021 Round 2 Wrap-Up

Round 2 saw all three of our women’s teams playing away from home. The Swan Districts League side travelled to Fremantle for a Sunday morning game, while the Development and Rogers Cup girls headed to Joondalup on Sunday afternoon.

Having spent the week analysing their opponents’ strengths, the Swans women’s sides went into each game confident they knew what was needed to get the win.

Check out the breakdown of each game below…

WAFLW Rogers Cup

It was a tough day for the Rogers Cup girls at Provident Financial Oval. Holding their West Perth counterparts to just 15 points at quarter time, the young black and whites were right in the game heading into the quarter time.

The Falcons continued to hold the Swans scoreless in the second quarter, taking a 38 point buffer into half time.

It took until the third quarter for the Swans to hit the scoreboard, with Kyra Daltyn putting it through the big sticks for the only major of the day. An impressive nine goal haul from West Perth in second half saw them take the victory WP 14.12 (96) to SD 1.0 (6).

Tahlia Lough was voted as best on ground, with Jorjina Kean, Ivy Harding, Kyah Chirichilli and Abbygail Bushby also showing great promise throughout the day.

WAFLW Development

The Swans Development side met a strong West Perth team twice in 2020, losing by a combined total of 86 points across the two games.

After taking a three point lead into the final term last weekend against the 2020 WAFLW Reserves Premiers, the Swans Development side took great confidence into this game, ready to show last season’s preliminary finalists that they are ready to get back onto the winners column.

The Swans came out with a real sense of passion and unity early, holding the home side scoreless in the first quarter, while taking a 21 point lead into the first break.

A 4-goals-to-1 second quarter saw the black ducks extend their lead to seven goals at the main break, with West Perth lucky the lead wasn’t larger due to the Swans inaccuracy in front of goals.

Holding their opponents to just a single point for the entire second half, West Perth were lucky the lead didn’t blow out even more, with the Swans inaccuracy in front of goals stopping them from reaching their highest score since 2018 to seal the victory; WP 1.1 (7) to SD 10.13 (73).

Impressively, after just two games, the Swan Districts Development side need to kick just 2 more goals in Round 3 to equal their total points scored from their entire 2020 campaign.

Fiona Boucher picked up where she left off from last season, booting 3 goals. Sophie Sambell, who has spent the preseason and opening game in defence, pushed forward to kick 2 goals, while Shanelle McSwain, Alexandra Elward, Jacinta Anderson, Kayla May and Emily Stott all slotted one each.

Stephanie Ball received best on ground honours, with Renee Holwill, Hannah Corney, Fiona Boucher and Emily Hocking also receiving affirmation from the coaches.  

WAFLW League

With South Fremantle’s League side falling just three points short of Subiaco last weekend, it is fair to say that Swan Districts head coach, Adam Dancey, could have had a few nerves coming into Round 2 against the Bulldogs.

Luckily for him, the nerves wouldn’t last long, with his side looking fit and ready to play from the opening bounce.

Newest Docker, Mikayla Hyde, opened the scoring for the black ducks, kicking a beautiful right-foot snap from deep in the forward pocket. Basketball prodigy, Sarah Lakay, showed why she will soon become one of the most powerful forwards in the competition, exciting fans and team mates alike by taking a strong pack mark against a host of opposition defenders. With seconds remaining in the opening term, a one on one contest deep inside the Swans forward 50m saw Nyra Anderson bring the ball to ground, tackle her opponent and link up with an impressive give-and-go with Lakay, to walk into an open goal just before the siren sounded.

Happy with his team’s efforts throughout the first quarter, Dancey made it very clear to his players that their attack on the ball and composure under pressure were the key focuses heading into the second term.

After kicking two goals on debut last weekend, Bella Edgley started the second quarter showing why she is an important part of the new look Swans forward line, taking a pack mark and converting truly from 30 metres out. The Swans continued to keep the ball in their forward half, with inaccuracy the only thing stopping them from taking a bigger lead into the main break.

It was Dana East who joined the goal scorers list after half time, kicking her first goal in senior footy just 8mins into the third quarter. Two minutes later she threw the ball onto her boot in traffic, and watched it as it rolled through for her second of the day. South Fremantle’s only score of the game came in style, rebounding across the entire ground from the Swans goal square.

Leading into the final term, Dancey emphasised the challenge he had issued to his team prior to the game… Kick 10 goals. As the forward pressure continued to mount for the Bulldogs defenders, Anderson snapped her second after collecting the ground ball from the left forward pocket. A few minutes later, Edgley took advantage of the 20 metres of open space between her and the goals, bouncing through her second from a tight angle. Anderson added her third to the Swans tally, after marking strongly against two South Fremantle defenders; helping her side take the; SF 1.0 (6) to SD 8.11 (59) win.

Taylah Edwards worked hard across the forward line, but was unable to kick her first League goal, converting four behinds.

Second-gamer, Dana East, received the best on ground votes from the coaches, with Aimee Ralph, Jess Cox, Sarah Wielstra and Bella Edgley also impressing on the day.

Round 3, 2021

This Saturday sees all three women’s sides travel to Mandurah to take on last season’s League Premiers, Peel Thunder, at David Grays Arena.

Saturday 6^th March 2021

Rogers Cup         1:20pm

Development    3:05pm

League                 5pm