First Semi-Final WAFLW Preview

Swan Districts is back in the WAFLW finals and returns to a ground they know all about winning at when taking on West Perth in Sunday's first semi-final at Pentanet Stadium.

Swans made sure of a spot in the WAFLW finals for 2024 by winning the last two games and that included a win just two weeks ago against the Falcons also at the same Joondalup venue that Sunday's first semi-final will be taking place at.

Swan Districts ended the home and away season in fourth position with an 8-6 record ahead of taking on a West Perth team who qualified for the finals in the WAFLW for the first time with a 9-5 record.

Swans now take on the Falcons having won five of the six meetings between the two teams and never lost to them at Pentanet Stadium.

The winner of the first semi-final now on Sunday will advance to a preliminary final next week against the loser of the second semi-final match up between East Fremantle and Claremont. Meanwhile, the loser's season will be over.

The two teams have played one another six times over three WAFLW seasons now with Swans winning five of those six encounters.

West Perth only joined the WAFLW competition in 2022 with Swans winning the first four clashes in dominant fashion with an average winning margin of 60.8 points, but it has been a dramatically improved Falcons team in 2024.

That included West Perth beating Swans for the first ever time back in Round 8 with the 57-point victory at Steel Blue Oval.

However, Swan Districts did hit back just two weeks ago with the 21-point win against West Perth also at Pentanet Stadium so it's a happy hunting ground for the black-and-whites upon the return there this Sunday.

In that win two weeks ago for Swans, Taylah Edwards and Sienna Gerardi kicked two goals apiece while Lily Paterson gathered 21 possessions, Kayley King 17, Carys D'Addario 17, Isabella Edgley 16, Hope Ugle-Hayward 15 and Emma Humphries 15.

From the Swan Districts team that beat Peel by 59 points last week to close the home and away season, there is just the one change with Naomi Baker returning to the side for Swans and Sienna Pollard going out.

West Perth lost last week to Subiaco and from that team, the Falcons have added Taylor Drummond, Dakoda Hallam, Nadia Parora, Mia Russo and Matilda Bain to their extended squad.

The only out at this stage for West Perth from that team that lost to the Lions is Tahlee McVee.

Exciting 18-year-old Swan Districts on-baller Lily Paterson is confident in what her team is capable of coming into the finals.

"To be honest I think we're feeling pretty good as a group. We've obviously had quite a few players go out over the second half of the year, which is not good especially coming into finals," Paterson said.

"But all the players we've still got are playing well and we've got good smarts, good skills and I really think we can do it. At the same time, West Perth could be the hardest team to play against so it's not going to be easy and we'll see how this weekend goes."

Meanwhile, the Swan Districts Rogers Cup team is also taking part in a first semi-final at Pentanet Stadium on Sunday. The game will begin against Subiaco at 9am to get the huge day of football at Joondalup underway.

Swans ended the Rogers Cup season in fourth position with an 8-6 record including a 15-point win last Saturday against Peel Thunder to guarantee a finals position.

They now take on a Subiaco team in the first semi-final who finished in third position with a 9-5 record.

The two teams only played one another once during the season with that meeting not coming until Round 11 with Swan Districts scoring the 10-point victory at Sullivan Logistics Stadium.

The winner of the first semi-final will take on the loser of the second semi-final later in the day between West Perth and East Fremantle while the season will be over for the losing team.