Ahead of his third AFLW season with the Sydney Swans, senior coach Scott Gowans appeared in a press conference on Tuesday, August 27, to discuss Round 1.

Scroll below to find out what he had to say on Collingwood, harnessing last year's success and the return of Hayley Bullas and Maddy Collier. 

On opening the season against Collingwood

“We’re very fortunate to have this game, and there was a lot of hard work by a lot of people to get it. The fan engagement last year was very good, and I think that all builds into building a really good product - bring your family along and have a look. Hopefully on field, we've put in performances last year that was an exciting brand of footy that we play, and that all contributes as well, so it's really important that we put on a good show on Friday night.”

On the rivalry

“I think a lot of the players know each other, and obviously I come from Collingwood as well, and there's a lot of healthy rivalry there. It's a mutual respect, but I very much want to win it.”

On Collingwood going into the season

“I watched their practice match. It was very wet over in Fremantle and we got a good look at them in the VFLW as well, which was nice.

"Very contested. They move the ball quite well when they get the opportunity to. I think Sam Wright will be a great coach. I worked with him at North Melbourne. They've got a good coaching crew this year and I wish them all the best - but just not this week.”

On contested ball work

“We've trained it, put a lot of time into it. It's one of those things. It's a development piece for us. We've been big on it over pre-season and haven't quite got it right for a while. It's just starting to come to fruition now where we're able to win those, particularly post-clearance contests, and then move the ball our way. I don't expect it to come and be a strength of ours early on, but it's something we're going to work really hard on. We know that we're one of the better sides at moving the ball when we get the opportunity to.”

On improvement over the last two seasons

“You can definitely tell with the data that we keep from an athletic point of view and then also the numbers we keep for our training. We compare a lot to last season and go back and watch training sessions from last season and you can noticeably see the difference.

“Hopefully the competition has improved as well, so that's what makes it exciting for the whole product to go up as well. But I think we've definitely improved. It's just now putting it all together under the pressure of the lights and the cameras.”

On Ally Morphett

“She’ll be a test for Round 1. She's improved out of sight over the last fortnight, which is great. Match committee's tomorrow so we'll be able to assess that, get the information from medical. It's just now getting the load back into her…”

On team selection

“You have a line-up ready, but to be honest with you, there's not one player on the list that isn't selectable, and that's a great thing. We haven't had that in the past. I've felt that depth has been one of our Achilles heels, and this year I think we've got the depth, which is great going into the condensed part of the fixture as well. So, I feel as though it could go either way with a couple of players.

“It'll come down to opposition analysis next. We'll dive into that and come up with a way that we want to beat Collingwood, and from there we'll take that into match committee and then pick the side to do that.”

On Maddy Collier and Hayley Bullas returning from ACL injuries

“Maddy and Hayley have done a pair of work, and both have trained really well. We didn't make a big fuss when they first came back and started playing and got through the scrimmage and the practice match as well, so that's really exciting for them, and I think they'll feature heavily this year.”

On the new smart ball technology

“It’s great for footy. I think anything that adds to the product of AFLW is great, and I'm all for it. I think it's a matter of using the technology properly now to advance both the players and the game itself, and if it makes it a better spectacle, then I think we've got to support it.”

On the condensed fixture

“If you asked any of the players, they'd rather play than train. So, I just think it adds to the fixture, and what it also does is your strategy around your program. So we've prepared for it and got plans around it as well"

On the bringing last year’s success and energy into 2024

“We decided to break this season, including the preseason, into little blocks and we used the learnings we got out of last year, a little bit of the momentum as well, and took that into our preseason. We've got our first little block starting for in-season, if you like, and that's all we'll focus on. That’s a really important focus for us, that we're not looking too far ahead, we don't talk about finals or grand finals, we just focus on what's in front of us.”

Tickets for Round 1 against Collingwood are on sale now! Join us at North Sydney Oval THIS FRIDAY night and kick off your weekend in style. Tickets are just $15 and juniors under 18 go FREE!*