New Sydney Swans AFLW recruit Imogen Brown returned to familiar territory when she walked through the doors at Sydney Swans HQ late last year. 

A QBE Sydney Swans Academy athlete, Brown returned home via a trade at the end of last year, after she spent a season in Melbourne with the Richmond Tigers. 

The talented youngster joined her new teammates at the start of the year and had been participating in optional off-season training sessions.

As the AFLW off-season comes to a close and the players prepare to hit the ground running in the upcoming pre-season, a contingent of the squad, including Brown, will be in action at AAMI Stadium on Saturday.

Speaking to Sydney Swans Media, Brown said she was happy to be back where it all started.

"It's been really good, everyone has been very welcoming and I've definitely learned a lot from all of them already," Brown said.

"The whole playing group and staff have just been really supportive and made the transition really easy.

"It's nice to come home, I know heaps of girls from the academy, so it's good to come back here and I'm back living with family, so that's been really nice as well."

The 20-year-old said she had enjoyed getting stuck into some training before the pre-season officially kicks off in mid-May.

"We've been in the gym training and out on the oval doing some easy skills drills and working into the contact side of things," Brown said.

"I haven't played in any other the other practice games yet, just been training, so I'm excited to play against an AFLW opposition this weekend.

"This sort of training brings you way closer to your teammates, I already feel so much more connected to them, and it will be good to transfer all that we've learned in training to the game and see how everyone plays."

Brown said she was looking forward to running out in the Swans guernsey for the first time, this weekend.

"I'm playing on the wing this weekend, so just trying to work on wing patterns and supporting the back line and just being present and doing what I can do," Brown said.

"I think it'll be really beneficial, I think you get closer on away trips and just seeing how everything works, everything flows, I think I'll learn a lot.

"Over the past couple of months, I've been working on getting my skills better, improving my fitness, just learning how everything works here, and the game plan, most importantly."

Be sure to follow the Sydney Swans AFLW squad on socials to keep up with the action on Instagram, Facebook, X and TikTok. 

Official pre-season training is set to begin on Monday, May 19 ahead of the 2025 NAB AFLW season starting in August.