Four new faces have joined the Sydney Swans AFLW team this evening following the 2024 Telstra AFLW Draft held at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne.
West Australian Zipporah Fish, QBE Sydney Swans Academy athlete Amelia Martin, Geelong VFL and AFL Sydney (East Coast Eagles) player Caitlin Reid and Sarah Steele-Park from North Adelaide have all found a spot on the Swans list ahead of the 2025 season.
18-year old Fish joins the club from East Fremantle and was taken with pick 5 to kick off the evening. The explosive midfielder has turned heads in her draft year, known for her blistering pace after having only picked up the game just four years prior. Her story is remarkable one, having grown up in Newman, a town in the Pilbara, approximately 13 hours northeast of Perth.
Fish played some exciting football at the National Championships for Western Australia, averaging 20.3 disposals to win All Australian honours for the second consecutive year. At a senior level for East Fremantle in the WAFLW, the 2024 Marsh AFL National Academy participant averaged 24.6 disposals, 4.6 tackles, four clearances and kicked eight goals across 13 matches.
The Swans next three picks of the evening came later in the draft, the first in Round 4, with the club selecting a familiar face with pick 56, QBE Sydney Swans Academy forward Amelia Martin.
Martin, who hails from Wollongong, produced a consistent top-age season, representing the QBE Swans Academy at Coates Talent League Girls level, then also earned selection for the Allies at the national championships. Martin played all three games for the Allies, averaging seven disposals and laying 2.3 tackles per match.
The Swans next selection was mature-aged ruck Caitlin Reid who joined the club from the Geelong VFL side but has already made the move to the harbour city and worked on her craft in the AFL Sydney competition for the East Coast Eagles.
The 27-year old, 185cm ruck's follow-up work and her defensive pressure are key characteristics of her game. Reid lays a lot of tackles for a ruck and is not afraid to get her hands dirty at ground level.
The Swans final selection of the night was another mature-age pick and also a familiar face in Sarah Steele-Park.
Steele-Park joins Sydney from North Adelaide in the SANFL but has spent time at the Swans as a train-on player and was also the team's runner in season 2024.
The tall-defender brings plenty of experience from playing in various leagues across the country. She had a dominant season with the Roosters in the SANFL in 2024 with her strength and one-on-one ability the standouts of her game.
Sydney Swans coach Scott Gowans said:
"We just wanted to be able to get the best talent we possibly could through the door and then we had a period late in the draft, where we were able to also fill some needs. It was really successful and we're very happy with where we are.
"[The players are] in a period now where they're on a break.... May is when the proper pre-season will start so we're really looking forward to getting going in this early part of the year and then building into a nice pre-season again and see how we go."
The 2024 Telstra AFLW Draft is the first fully national draft for the women's league with all nominees available to be selected by any of the 18 clubs - regardless of their home state.
The draft followed a busy trade period for the club with the recruitment of five fresh faces including North Melbourne's Lulu Pullar and QBE Sydney Swans Academy graduate Imogen Brown.
