Swans go down to Saints in AFLW debut, Essendon beats Hawthorn at Docklands

Jessica Wuetschner, Sophie Alexander and Stephanie Cain hug and smile

St Kilda has denied Sydney a fairytale AFLW debut as Kate Shierlaw booted four goals to set up a 29-point victory in front of a fervent crowd at North Sydney Oval.

Key points:

  • The Swans are one of four teams making their AFLW debut this season
  • Rebecca Privitelli kicked the Swans’ first AFLW goal
  • Georgia Patrikios had a match-high 17 disposals for the Saints

The inaugural Swans rode a wave of emotion and effort to outplay the Saints for much of the opening term but the visitors impressed after the first change to triumph 8.8 (56) to 4.3 (27).

The Swans’ loss could come at a further cost as number one draft pick Montana Ham went to ground and immediately clutched at her knee in the dying stages of the final term and had to be helped from the field.

With the scores tight in the second term, Shierlaw kicked two goals in as many minutes to open up a 21-point lead that the Saints never looked like giving up despite it being a memorable occasion for the Swans in front of 8,264 spectators.

Author: Ivan Robinson