The Sydney Swans VFLW side will host the Casey Demons at Blacktown International Sports Park this Saturday, April 20 in Round Five of the Rebel VFLW competition.

Following dominant victories over the Western Bulldogs and North Melbourne over the past fortnight, Sydney Swans AFLW senior coach Scott Gowans has made three changes to his line up, with the goal of continuing to develop connections and integrate new players into the side.

"We've got a lot out of the competition so far," Gowans said.

"We've been able to try different things with our set-ups and some we'll think we'll take into the AFLW competition and others we'll park and say, well that didn't work."

"It's given us a really good look at integrating the new players into the side and just get a feel of where they're at and where we're at. It's been invaluable to be honest so we're very pleased with the opening fortnight so far."

AFLW listed players Ella Heads and Ruby Sargent-Wilson have been named in the side to feature for the first time this season, alongside Alana Woodward who returns for her second game of the competition. The trio return in place of Lara Hausegger, Imogen Brown and Holly Cooper. 

Gowans has been pleased with some of the newer faces to the red and white this season, calling out some of the players that have impressed over the opening fortnight.

"I think we've got a good small forward in Holly Cooper, she's done really well and then Kiara Hillier has shown us that with ball in hand, she can move the ball and distribute it really well," Gowans said.

"I really like Sarah Grunden's ability to hit targets under pressure and she's a classic example of what we want to get out of the VFLW competition. We're just not sure where she fits into the team just yet so we're trying her in a couple of different roles."

"Giselle Davies has played ruck, she's played back and played forward so we've tried her all over the field. We're going to settle her over the next few weeks but she's shown a lot as well."

"The other pleasing thing is that you throw in the train on players that we've had for a little while with our program, Abbey Martin, Brooke Bailey and Senna Gulden, and they have all shown that they're quite capable of the level of VFLW so it's been really good from that perspective," Gowans added.

Round Five - Sydney Swans v Casey Demons
Saturday, April 20 1:05pm
Blacktown International Sports Park

INS: Ella Heads, Ruby Sargent-Wilson, Alana Woodward
OUTS: Lara Hausegger, Imogen Brown, Holly Cooper

Sydney will feature in five rebel VFLW matches in 2024, playing against AFLW-aligned clubs from Rounds 3-7 of the competition. All matches in the 2024 rebel VFLW season will be live streamed free via the AFL website, AFL Live Official App and VFL App.

Sydney Swans VFLW fixture
R3 v Western Bulldogs, Whitten Oval, VIC - Saturday, April 6 1pm
R4 v North Melb, Henson Park - Saturday, April 13 1:05pm
R5 v Casey Demons, Blacktown International Sports Park- Saturday, April 20 1:05pm
R6 v Box Hill, Box Hill City Oval - Sunday, April 28 3:35pm
R7 v Collingwood, Tramway Oval - Saturday, May 4 12pm

The 2024 NAB AFLW Season will commence during the final week of August, with opening round set to coincide with the AFL season's pre-finals bye. The countdown to the side's official pre-season begins on Monday, June 3 but players have begun returning on their own accord to begin their preparations ahead of the 2024 season.

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