The Swan Districts WAFLW 2021 Round 3 Wrap-Up

Round 3 saw all three Swan Districts women’s sides head to Mandurah to take on a confident Peel outfit.

Not only had the Thunder won each of their games in the round prior, their League and Rogers Cup sides were also sitting unbeaten atop the WAFLW ladder.

Peel had even more to play for on Saturday afternoon, with the games being dedicated in honour of young fan Madi Molloy, who sadly lost her life in 2016 to a battle with brain cancer.

Check out the breakdown for each game below…

WAFLW Rogers Cup

After coming off a belting last weekend, the young Swans came into this game with passion and purpose. Their pressure around the contest was outstanding in the first, shell-shocking their opponents and unlucky to only be taking a 1 point lead into quarter time.

The home side settled in the second, kicking back to back goals to open the quarter. A huge hit in a marking contest by Tyla Fitzgerald saw her rebound the ball down the ground to Kyra Daltyn, who in turn kicked the Swans only goal for the term.

The young black and whites came out firing in the third. Their tackle pressure lifted to another level, holding Peel to just one scoring shot while adding another major through Jorjina Kean.

Although the Rogers Cup girls played their hearts out in the fourth, the humidity and physicality of the game proved too much, with the scoreboard not accurately reflecting their efforts and competitiveness showed throughout the entire game, going down; PT 10.5 (65) to SD 2.5 (17).

Although the best on ground awards could have been given to any one of the 23 Swans players, it was Tyla Fitzgerald and Tahlia Lough who received the honours for their exceptional efforts on the day.

WAFLW Development

The Swan Districts Development side came into their Round 3 clash against Peel Thunder ready to eliminate two major blemishes from season 2020:

1. Win more games than last season (1 win total in 2020), and
2. Score more than last season (135 total points).

Chanel Jetta came out looking to make an instant impact from the first bounce, with strong tackling pressure and ball movement early. Her efforts resulting in the first goal of the game to Kloe Taylor in just over one minute of play. Hayley Cole added the Swans second with an incredible drop punt from the tightest of angles, with Ally Elward putting one through shortly after. The pressure applied around the ground saw the black and whites not only take a three goal lead into the first break, but score more total points (141) than they had for the entire 2020 season.

The onslaught continued in the second, with veteran Fiona Boucher opening the scoring early in the quarter. A tight battle ensued before the Swans found the goals through Kloe Taylor for her second of the day. Boucher turned back time to also add her second to the scoreboard, with a fancy sidestep turning her opponent inside out just before the half time siren, taking a 38 point buffer into the main break.

If there were two words that could be used to sum up the third quarter for both teams, it would be ‘defensive pressure’. In a physical battle that saw each team struggle to score, it was the Swans that eventually broke the drought through a Sophie De Gasperis goal.

With the three quarter time message urging the black and whites to close the game out with 10 goals, Boucher added her third for the day, with Emily Hocking's first goal coming just one minute later, for an impressive PT 1.2 (8) to SD 9.11 (65) victory.

Chanel Jetta was voted as best on ground by the coaches.

WAFLW League

Coming up against last season’s Premiers for Madi’s match on Peels home turf, our League Swans women knew that their opponents would be putting everything on the line to take the victory.

With both teams undefeated heading into the match, a win would see the victorious team claim outright first place on the 2021 WAFLW ladder.

The speed and physicality was intense from the first tap, with high pressure tackling coming from both sides. Young up and comer Tara Stribley was sidelined early after an arm injury saw her come off the ground, with a medical assessment ruling her out for the rest of the game. It took nine minutes for either team to score their first goal, with Mikayla Morrison sending it through in her comeback game from an appendectomy. Moments later, Peel responded with a goal of their own before Morrison put through her second to give her side a narrow 3-point lead going into the first break.

High pressure football from both teams continued in the second, again taking nine minutes to register a major. As the quarter ticked on, Sarah Lakay took a strong pack mark to not only put her team back in front, but to register her first goal in League football. Only 2 points separated the teams heading into the main break.

Morrison’s domination continued after halftime, kicking her third after a strong pack mark. Moments later saw the ball bombed deep into the black and whites attack, with Lakay juggling a mark above her head in the goal square to kick her second of the day. Peel continued to fight back after each Swans goal, closing the gap every time the game looked as though it may blow out. Sarah Wielstra put a scare through the Swans camp halfway through the third, slow to get up from the centre circle after going down heavily during a ball up. Slowly getting to her feet, she made the switch up forward with Lakay, an inspired moved that paid dividends immediately. She took a high flying one-on-one mark to put through her first for the season, and took a diving mark just minutes later to add her second for the day. With a 15 point lead going into the final term, Coach Adam Dancey stressed to his team the importance of lifting their game to another level for the final 18 minutes of the day.

The coach spoke, and his players listened. The Swans rebounded strongly from defence into offence, running the ball the length of the field with precision on a number of occasions. Nyra Anderson registered her first of the afternoon after some good body work saw her get her opponent under the ball, and running in to an open goal. Having kicked five straight behinds to start the season, Taylah Edwards put through her first League goal to extend the black ducks lead. A soccer goal in traffic to Morrison saw the umpires eat valuable time off the clock as they deliberated as to if it was touched off the boot, before awarding her with her fourth of the day. The Swans were too good on the day knocking off last season’s Premiers: PT 5.8 (38) to SD 10.6 (66).

In an incredible show of strength, Caitlyn Appleford returned to the field after coming to the bench, suspecting she sprained her wrist in a contest. Later that night she found out that she had played the entire last quarter with a broken wrist.

Wielstra’s efforts in the ruck and up forward saw her awarded with the player of the game votes, with Aimee Ralph coming a close second.

Round 4, 2021

The away games continue for our Swan Districts women, as they head to Shark Park to take on last season’s grand finalists, East Fremantle.

Sunday 13^th March 2021

Rogers Cup         10:20am

Development    12:05pm

League                 2pm