Swans’ AFLW record crowd after Sydney player incident investigation, Bulldogs’ 2-0 start, Richmond Pick 1 Olivia Wolmarans, Adelaide vs West Coast crunch clash

From a record-breaking Swans crowd to a shock Bulldogs surge and an ominous 0-3 prospect for two heavyweights.

Fox Footy expert Chyloe Kurdas assesses the big AFLW talking points with foxfooty.com.au after two rounds.

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‘WHAT YOU DO NEXT’: SWANS CULTURE ON DISPLAY AS AFLW SIDE FINDS ‘SILVER LINING’

Many Swans figures last week urged fans to show up to the SCG on Sunday to support the club’s AFLW team in particular. It came after five Sydney AFL players were stood down for the rest of the season – separate to a Victoria Police investigation into an alleged sexual assault – that threatened to derail the club’s inaugural double-header at the SCG.

But the Swans’ pleas were heard and emphatically answered.

The crowd of 16,672 for the women’s match smashed the Swans’ previous AFLW crowd record of 8264 set at their very first game at North Sydney Oval in 2022.

“As awful as the week was, you can’t fast-track experience, you can’t orchestrate experiences like last week and having to play on the SCG in a double-header and represent everything that you’re supposed to stand for,” Kurdas told foxfooty.com.au.

“In some ways, I think the players that have gone through things in the past week – and it’s not over, there’s still more to go – and still showed up as they did in a unique bag of experience that other players across the competition are never going to have, you’d hope – there’s a silver lining in amongst all of that. There’s wisdom that they’ll get from the week they’ve had.”

The bond within the team was evident both during and after the game, while the fans’ strong affiliation with the side — evident for several years now — remains as strong as ever.

There were also touching scenes when star men’s players like Callum Mills and Errol Gulden, as well as club greats like Ryan O’Keefe and Michael O’Loughlin, embraced many of the AFLW players post-match.

“I don’t know how much of the past player element had been orchestrated previously,” Kurdas said. “It was a double-header for the club and it was the last home and away game of the season for the AFL team, so it was set up to celebrate everything that is the Swans and a really big day of celebration for their main partnership with QBE. So a lot of that was probably already in place.

“But I really love the fact that the male players of the past got down to the ground and got around the girls and then they supported the boys that had to play afterwards.

“You can have really awful experiences, you can make lots of mistakes. I think what really matters is what you do next – and that’s sometimes the biggest measure of your culture and your own personal character in times of crisis and adversity. The Swans culture that we all have admired from afar for a long time, I think we saw the fundamentals of that at play on Sunday.”

And those in attendance were treated to a great AFLW spectacle, with the Swans seeing off a brave and respectful Essendon to claim a 24-point win.

While crediting the Bombers’ energy and resilience, Kurdas said the Swans “approached the game with a great level of maturity and balance”.

“The way in which the Swans were able to really knuckle down when the Bombers started to get on top of them and actually have to come from behind to win the game – probably with really depleted energy, emotional and bandwidth levels – it gives you an indication of the calibre of people they’ve got in that program up there that they could respond in the way that they did,” she said.

“Some of their bigger name players really stood up. Lucy McEvoy was enormous, particularly when the game was on the line. They popped her into the middle and she played really a balanced and measured game. Chloe Molloy brought her brilliance at the right times. I think Ally Morphett, who’s back in a really good place, she was really dominant through the middle of the ground. The combination of Sofia Hurley and Laura Gardiner plus Zippy Fish coming off the backline – three fast, smart players that know how to find the footy and how to use it – were really dangerous. And then Montana Ham showed why she was No. 1 draft pick.

“(Former coach) Scott Gowans has done a mountain of work. He’s put in the foundational work, building games into young players, getting them to think like footballers and being really systematic in their approach.”

‘LOVE IT’: DOUBLE-HEADERS DELIVER FOR AFLW

There’s a positive early verdict on the AFL-AFLW double-header experiment.

Like last year, the first two rounds of the AFLW season coincided with the final two rounds of the home and away season.

This year, the league trialled four double-headers featuring men’s and women’s matches. Last week, North Melbourne and Geelong’s teams played each other at Marvel Stadium, before the Giants and Eagles’ sides all met at ENGIE Stadium. This past weekend, the AFLW Cats and Saints clashed at GMHBA Stadium ahead of the Cats-Tigers AFL match, before the Swans-Bombers and Swans-Kangaroos double at the SCG.

While it’s a small sample size, we like what we saw in 2026.

“Love it. I think it works, and I think there’s this idea with the AFLW, if M fans won’t come to the W – let’s take the W to the M fans,” Kurdas told foxfooty.com.au of the “organic crossover”.

“People don’t get there right on the first siren. They get there a bit early, get their beers, get their drinks to get their food, get their seats. And so if they catch a quarter or two of the women’s game before the men’s game – because that’s why they’re really there for – just that organic crossover, I think, will give them the exposure.

“They may not come early to every game … but next time they might turn it on the TV. So they might actually become W fans from their lounge rooms.

“Eventually, maybe they’ll get to games.

“They’re not going to come to the W as a stand-alone fixture. So just take the W fixture to them and then give them the opportunity to experience it.”

Kurdas said double-headers were a “great opportunity” for fans and players alike to have a “one-club mentality”.

But Kurdas said the timing of when the match ran was most important, suggesting playing the women’s match after the men’s game — which occurred at ENGIE Stadium nearly a fortnight ago — wasn’t the way forward.

“I don’t necessarily think the double-header where the women play after is going to hold,” she warned.

“We saw this many years ago when we played the under 18 national championships grand final over at West Lakes … thinking that people might stick around, and it just didn’t hold. You do need a space. You need some breathing air for the women to get out, get warmed up after the men’s game. It’s a bit uncertain about when the men’s game’s going to finish.

“Asking fans to stick around … It might be cold. It’s twilight, the sun’s going down.

“If they’re not a fan of the W game, they’re not going to do it.”

Heading into this season, only six AFL/AFLW double-headers had been played in the competition’s history.

But should the success roll on, AFL executive general manager Laura Kane says it could be here to stay.

“We’ll see what works best,” she said earlier this year on the double-header fixtures.

‘STARTING TO BELIEVE’: SHOCK DOGS RISER’S HUGE LEAP FUELLING SURPRISE 2-0 START

When foxfooty.com.ausurveyed the Fox Footy commentary team ahead of the AFLW season, there was a mixed verdict on the Western Bulldogs.

A couple tipped the Dogs to feature in finals, while others had them in wooden spoon contention.

Two rounds in and the Dogs are one of five undefeated teams in the competition.

Yes those wins came against a rebuilding Richmond and a young Suns outfit, but Kurdas was left buoyed by “the manner in which they’ve done it”, especially without the legendary Ellie Blackburn on the sidelines for the win over Richmond.

It’s a far more promising launching pad for the Dogs than two years ago, which was coach Tam Hyatt’s first season at the helm. Kurdas vividly remembers the Dogs’ 0.6 performance against Port Adelaide in Round 2 of 2024 at the MCG – it was the first game of a double-header featuring the Bulldogs-Hawks AFL elimination final – and how much the team has grown under Hyatt and AFLW program boss Patrice Berthold since.

“They’ve got some great people there who understand what’s required to be the best you can be at the top level and put in some really clear boundaries around what’s expected,” Kurdas said.

“They turned over a third of their list before Tam came in – including basically their whole forward line, so they had to learn how to score again. We go back to that game that was at the MCG where they went goalless … that was probably to be expected on a ground of that size and that group in its infancy with, essentially, no functional forward line with no experience.

“You look at that and what they’ve got now, what they’ve been able to build and the games they’ve put into some really good young players, there’s really growth from the Dogs. I’m really excited about them.”

Kurdas said the growth in co-captain Isabelle Pritchard’s game had been “phenomenal”, while ex-Magpie Mikala Cann was clearly “a really good in”.

But Kurdas said the emergence of Jess Fitzgerald in her seventh season at the club was a major difference. Fitzgerald, Pick 2 in the 2020 draft, has racked up 29 and 30 disposals — the two highest tallies of her career — in her first two games of the season.

“We’ve always thought that she’s all class, but she’s really fit and I think she’s starting to believe in the player that we all think she is,” Kurdas said.

“Without Ellie in that role, it gives her a bit more license to be present and own the space.

“They’ve just really shored up their midfield, which will stretch good opposition. They have the midfield depth now to be able to beat some better teams.”

‘A LOT OF SWAGGER’: NO. 1 PICK’S INSTANT IMPACT UNLOCKS TIGERS SHIFT

While it’s taken Fitzgerald some time to establish herself at the top level, Richmond’s No. 1 pick is in ominous touch.

Olivia Wolmarans, an athletic, competitive and versatile key forward, has already kicked four goals in her first two games – including three against the Bulldogs on the weekend – and ranks equal-third in the competition for marks taken.

“She’s stepped in like she’s been playing for forever there … I guess she has been,” Kurdas said of the young Tiger. “She’s been playing with the best adult women in WA since she was about 15.

“She hasn’t been overawed by the occasion. As someone who’s just walked in, she’s got a lot of swagger – and we saw that on draft night and in her highlights, she knows she’s a player.

“But I think what was really lovely after the Collingwood win, just a smile on her face and how much she relishes it and how passionate she is. You could tell that she’s just loving every single moment of it.”

Kurdas said the acquisition of Wolmarans would greatly benefit the likes of Gabby Seymour, Caitlin Greiser and Katie Brennan.

“Her work rate’s fantastic and she worked well with Seymour coming forward. It just gives Caitlin Greiser a bit of freedom as well because now the opposition has to cover those three – they’re very different forward players, but they’re all dangerous,” she said.

“That’s allowed Katie Brennan to play up on the wing. Her disposal by foot is fantastic, so her being able to distribute the ball to one of those three talls is probably more advantageous.

“The other thing is, Katie needs space. If she’s hemmed in deep forward, she doesn’t have a lot of space to really leverage that strength – her aerobic capacity is fantastic.

“For her body, it keeps her out of a lot of that contested work as well. So, that might extend her playing career a little bit.”

‘NEVER SAID THAT’: 0-3 LOOMS AS AFLW POWERHOUSE FACES SHOCK PROSPECT

It’s only Round 3, but in a 12-round season in an 18-team competition, you don’t want to be 0-3 by the end of it – especially if you entered the season with high expectations.

But that’s the prospect facing both Adelaide and West Coast ahead of their clash at Unley Oval on Saturday.

Three-time premiers Adelaide has endured hard-fought losses to fellow contenders Sydney and Carlton, while West Coast has suffered shock losses to the Giants and Suns to start its 2026 campaign.

It’s a massive changing of the guard at the Crows, in particular.

Not only has dual premiership coach Matthew Clarke stepped away — and been replaced by Ryan Davis — the Crows have lost a host of premiership players, including Anne Hatchard (traded to Gold Coast), Stevie-Lee Thompson (retired), the great Chelsea Randall (retired) and Rachelle Martin (delisted). Plus star goalkicker Danielle Ponter is inactive due to pregnancy, while losing young gun Zoe Prowse (traded to Essendon) leaves a hole in defence.

“They’ve come up against some good opposition early,” Kurdas said of the Crows.

“We know the way the Blues are playing their footy is really solid, so the Crows just couldn’t go with the fitness and pace of the Blues, who were just so consistent around the ground. The week before, it was similar against Sydney where they had the handy lead, really struggled in the second half and gave it up. Again, pace and fitness.

“You’d say there’s an opportunity for West Coast, but again they’ve looked a bit slower than they have previous seasons and maybe they ran out of legs (in their first two games). We know they’ve got a pretty hefty injury list – Jess Rentsch out is having a big impact on them.

“It’ll be really interesting to see where both of these teams are at. What we would’ve expected coming into the season, given what they’ve delivered in the most recent years, it’s probably a surprise that we’re talking about them both being 0-2.

“I think West Coast could absolutely win this – and I don’t think we’ve ever probably said that about West Coast if they were to play Adelaide in Adelaide.

“We know it’s the shorter season in the AFLW compared to the guys. So you don’t want to be going 0-3 if you’re one of these 0-2 teams.”