Ins and outs at Swan Districts for 2024

Change is a reality in between any WAFL season but excitement is building at Swan Districts for 2024 on the back of new additions that include two reigning state league fairest and best winners, and some exciting new and returning talent.

No stone is being left unturned at Swan Districts to make the 2024 season a successful one given how competitive the team was able to be in 2023 despite a frustrating string of tight losses early, and then a horror run with injury.

That will mean that players like Will Collins, Seb Bright, Brandon Erceg and Brad Lynch, will be almost like new recruits given the significant periods they missed in 2023, but then there are plenty of new and exciting faces jumping on board at Swans as well.

The new recruits include the return of Jake Pasini after four years from Port Adelaide while reigning fairest and best winners at their respective SANFL and VFL clubs, Nik Rokahr and Jye Chalcraft, bring immediate quality to the midfield at Swan Districts.

Tom Panuccio and Mitch Roche are two more Victorian recruits on board as well while Leigh Kohlmann makes his return and Bryce Watson is also back after playing two league games at Swan Districts back in 2022.

Pasini was initially drafted from Swan Districts to Port Adelaide and now the key defender will make his return home for the 2024 WAFL season to add further size, quality and experience to the back-line group.

The 22-year-old is excited to be coming home after a rollercoaster ride over the four years in Adelaide that included a knee reconstruction.

"I reckon coming back home to Perth was an easy decision," Pasini said.

"I've lived at home for four years and I feel like it's definitely taught me a lot and I've definitely grown from that, but coming back to Swan Districts was a bit more of a tough decision. 

"Pretty much every WAFL club hit me up but Swannies is always my home and I was pretty comfortable coming back to the team and the boys, and the coaching staff and everyone at the club. That definitely made that decision easy and I'm looking forward to coming back."

Rokahr joins Swan Districts as a prized recruit having grown up in the country Victorian town of Shepparton before playing in a Northern Territory Football League premiership at Southern Districts, playing in the VFL at Geelong and spending the last four years in the SANFL.

With Norwood, Rokahr cemented himself as one of the best midfielders in the competition winning two fairest and best awards, winning a premiership, and playing for South Australia, and now he can't wait for his next move.

"I'm obviously learning as we go and I've got a lot to learn, but in my brief experiences in talks to Smarty and Andrew, and what they've educated me in, obviously it's a proud club and a big club with a big fan base," Rokahr said. 

"That's something that I'm really excited about getting to play in front of and their last premiership in 2010 so it's been a couple of years in between drinks but looking at their last couple of years, and they've been teasing distance from having a go at finals. 

"I think if they had a little bit of luck earlier on they could have got there this year so with another good pre-season and a couple less injuries, then we can be well and truly up there next year so that's exciting."

Chalcraft joins Swan Districts fresh off winning the past two fairest and best awards in the VFL with Geelong so the gun midfielder is another player excited for his new start with the black-and-whites.

"I'm very excited and I reckon this could be the best midfield group that I've played with just looking at the names and what I've learned about them," Chalcraft said.

"That did definitely play a big part in me signing seeing the calibre of players that the Swannies have and I feel like we can all come as one and try to win a flag.

"That's the ultimate goal and having a good midfield core is always a good place to start because you can usually go pretty far in finals if you do have that good midfield."

Panuccio is another player familiar to both Chalcraft and Rokahr, and also with his former Geelong VFL captain Jackon McLachlan. 

Having grown up in Euroa and playing at the Murray Bushrangers, he has played the past two seasons with Geelong's VFL team and now can't wait for his next step.

"It's very exciting and I would never have thought footy could take me to the other side of the country," Panuccio said.

"I thought I'd also be Victorian and playing a lot of VFL footy, but you can never tell what's going to happen in the future. 

"With an opportunity like this, I thought it would be good to take the chance and see if I could go a bit further in footy, which is the exciting thing. I never thought I'd be over there that's for sure, but I can't wait."

Meanwhile, Kohlmann is making his return to Swan Districts with the 31-year-old key forward to add some important size and experience up front for the black-and-whites.

He did kick 21 goals in 14 games back in 2019 for Swan Districts, and then 17 in eight games in 2020, so is a proven goalkicker at WAFL level and now will be a welcome addition again in 2024.

Another player returning to Swan Districts is Bryce Watson with the Gingin product starting his career at Swans in the colts before breaking through to make his league debut in 2022, and now the 20-year-old will be looking to build on that further in 2024.

It's never a one way street in any off-season at a WAFL club and Swan Districts does have some departures to confirm from the end of the 2023 season.

Sam Fisher departs Swan Districts after four seasons which saw the prime on-baller rack up 47 matches including a stunning first season in 2020 that saw him win the Sandover Medal.

Chris Jones is another player who will be returning home to Victoria in 2024 after being co-captain alongside Brandon Erceg in 2023. He started out as a terrific key defender with his intercept marking a standout in his first season in 2021.

He was moved forward in 2022 and went on to kick 52 goals across the past two seasons but due to family reasons he will returning home to Victoria.

Tobe Watson is a Swan Districts product through and through who has played some tremendous football at the club since leaving Fremantle, but he will be moving with partner Anthea to Victoria in 2024 and playing in the VFL at Port Melbourne.

Jesse Palmer came to Swan Districts on the back of his time in the AFL at Port Adelaide and has kicked 85 goals in his 51 games over the past three seasons, but he too will be heading home in 2024.

Ryan Kemp has played some handy football as a hard running half-forward the past two seasons with Swan Districts as well but he has moved to Adelaide to be with his partner.

SWAN DISTRICTS UPDATE FOR 2024

Ins – Jake Pasini, Nik Rokahr, Jye Chalcraft, Leigh Kohlmann, Bryce Watson, Tom Panuccio, Mitch Roche.

Outs – Tobe Watson, Chris Jones, Sam Fisher, Ryan Kemp, Jesse Palmer, Lawson Humphries (drafted), Riley Hardeman (drafted).