The Sydney Swans have made four changes to their team for their first trip to Adelaide to take on Port Adelaide on Saturday afternoon in Round 4 action.
Number one draft pick Montana Ham returns to the team after recovering from a knee strain sustained in Round 1 and Sarah Ford, Sarah Skinner and Jaide Anthony come into the team for the match at Alberton Oval.
Cynthia Hamilton (concussion protocols), Kate Reynolds (omitted) , Eliza Vale (omitted) and Tiarne Cavanagh (omitted) are out of the team who were defeated by the GIANTS last week.
The Swans will blood another debutant with 18-year old Jaide Anthony set to make her first AFLW appearance after recovering from a thigh injury which left her sidelined for the opening three games.
A proud Palawa woman, Anthony is one of two Indigenous players in the team (alongside Aliesha Newman) and will get the chance to run out in the Swans Marn Grook guernsey, with the match against Port Adelaide the second week of the AFL's Indigenous Round matches.
Anthony joined the Swans from the Dandenong Stingrays where she has been on the cusp of AFLW selection for a couple of years. An exciting mid-sized utility player, she’s proven tough to beat in one-on-one contests and coach Scott Gowans is looking forward to having her in his side.
"Jade is a crafty forward that can also play back, she is a very good user of the ball that has a footy side-step that fans will grow to love," Gowans said.
Despite the Swans not yet registering a win in the opening three rounds, Gowans has been pleased to see progression in the group from week to week but is keen to see where his side is at against the Power who also joined the competition this season.
"I think this week will be our first indication against another expansion side so hopefully we can take the game on and not fall into the trap of worrying about losing," Gowans said.
"If we keep the right mindset, we will get a really good indication of where we are at against a side that has had equal opportunity to us in terms of pre-season time."
The match gets underway at 12.40pm local time (1.10pm AEST) and will be broadcast live on Fox Footy, Kayo and 7Mate in NSW and South Australia
Sydney Swans vs Port Adelaide
INS: Montana Ham, Jaide Anthony*, Sarah Ford, Sarah Skinner
OUTS: Tiarne Cavanagh (omitted), Kate Reynolds (omitted) Cynthia Hamilton (injured/concussion protocols), Eliza Vale (omitted)
B: Brenna Tarrant, Jaide Anthony*
HB: Molly Eastman, Lexi Hamilton, Ella Heads
C: Lisa Steane, Lauren Szigeti, Sofia Hurley
HF: Aliesha Newman, Rebecca Privitelli, Brooke Lochland
F: Montana Ham, Ally Morphett
Foll: Bella Smith, Paige Sheppard, Sarah Ford
Int: Gen Lawson Tavan, Bridie Kennedy, Alana Woodward, Sarah Dargan, Sarah Skinner
Emg: Kate Reynolds, Kiara Beesley, Zoe Hurrell
Catch up with the latest on the AFLW competition, the build of our team and get to know some of the key figures in the FIRST ever Sydney Swans AFLW side thanks to our new podcast Talking AFLW, brought to you by Bing Lee. Listen here.
