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In their second season in AFLW, it appears that all eyes are on the Sydney Swans as they prepare for their first finals appearance against the Gold Coast Suns.<\/p>\n
At the Swans\u2019 headquarters yesterday, new AFL CEO Andrew Dillon was an interested spectator as the club prepared for the elimination final.<\/p>\n
Sydney finished the regular AFLW season with the league\u2019s highest average home attendance of 4637, well ahead of their nearest rival Adelaide who averaged 4073 fans.<\/p>\n
The Swans have played their home games across two venues, North Sydney Oval and Henson Park, helping them to tap into two distinct markets that reflect the breadth of their fanbase in the city.<\/p>\n
There were 5722 fans who attended their final home fixture against Collingwood at Henson Park, which sits strongly against the league average of 2589 fans.<\/p>\n
The AFL\u2019s general manager of women\u2019s football and former Olympic swimmer Nicole Livingstone applauded the Swans\u2019 use of both grounds to drive crowds and attract new fans.<\/p>\n
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Laura Gardiner during the round nine AFLW match between Sydney and Collingwood at Henson Park.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cI think they\u2019ve both worked really well and I think they probably both present ever so slightly differently,\u201d Livingstone said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe still have families coming to both [venues], but I think the inner-city Henson Park crowd, they like an event, they like a day out they\u2019d like to be able to connect with their community as well.<\/p>\n \u201cI also think North Sydney people are getting more used to coming to women\u2019s sport and it\u2019s been a beautiful thing for us.<\/p>\n \u201cI think both of those venues have really enabled people to come and grab hold of AFLW, celebrate it and have a great day out.\u201d<\/p>\n Lisa Steane of the Swans with fans.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty<\/cite><\/p>\n This year has been quite the turnaround for the Swans who finished their first AFLW season winless and bottom of the ladder.<\/p>\n They booked their place in the finals with a thrilling victory in their final regular season game against Fremantle in Perth last Sunday, inspired by their captain Chloe Molloy, recruited from Collingwood at the start of the season on a multiyear deal.<\/p>\n Molloy leads a diverse group of players, including 2022 No.1 draft pick Montana Ham and a talented Irish trio, Paris McCarthy, Jennifer Higgins, and Julie O\u2019Sullivan.<\/p>\n The team is a blend of youthful energy and experienced AFLW campaigners like former GWS Giant Rebecca Privitelli.<\/p>\n Signing Molloy, one of the league\u2019s marquee players, was a sign of intent for the Swans, and the player herself has thrived in her new environment as a leader and admitted to being pleasantly surprised by the size of the Sydney crowds.<\/p>\n \u201cI did not expect it at all,\u201d Molloy said. \u201cEvery football club preaches that \u2018we\u2019ve got the best fan base\u2019, but then you come up here and we average the highest crowd attendances across all our games and I\u2019m like \u2018god, that\u2019s a flex\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cGrowing up, I never had the version of myself on the TV, I never saw girls playing footy on it. Now in Sydney, I\u2019ve got young boys coming up to me and they know nothing differently apart from girls playing football, and that\u2019s amazing.<\/p>\n \u201cThis team is incredible to be a part of and [coach] Scott Gowans is always saying that when you\u2019re 80 years old, sitting in your lounge chair, you\u2019ll be sitting there saying I used to sign little boys\u2019 and girls\u2019 footy cards once.<\/p>\n \u201cThese are the parts of my career that I will retell one day to my kids.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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