Swans Fans Turn Up For AFLW Anyway — And That’s The Whole Point

It’s been a heavy week to be a Swans person, no doubt about it. But you wouldn’t have known it walking up to the SCG for that historic double-header, because the joint was absolutely humming and half the crowd told anyone with a microphone the same thing: they were there mainly to support the AFLW girls.

That line stuck with me. Mainly to support AFLW. Not despite the scandal, not to make a statement about it, just… because the footy was on and it mattered to them. As a Queenslander who’s watched our own AFLW crowds grow from a few thousand die-hards to genuine standalone events, that hits different. It’s proof the competition has built something that stands on its own two feet now, no matter what’s happening in the boardroom or the headlines around it.

The scandal isn’t going anywhere, but neither is the footy

I’m not going to pretend the off-field stuff doesn’t exist or wade into details that are still being worked through by the people whose job it actually is to work through them. That’s not my lane and honestly it shouldn’t be anyone’s lane until the proper process plays out. What I can talk about is what happens when a fanbase is given a genuinely rough week and still chooses to rock up in numbers for the women’s team.

It says something pretty legit about where AFLW sits in the footy ecosystem now. A few years back you’d have worried a week like that might smash attendance, that people would just stay home and doomscroll instead. Instead the Swans faithful used the SCG as a bit of an escape valve, a place to go feel normal again and watch some ripper footy. No notes on that instinct, honestly. Footy has always been that for people.

A double-header that deserved better timing but got the crowd anyway

Historic double-headers at the SCG don’t come around every week, and this one had all the ingredients to be a proper occasion regardless of the news cycle around it. Big crowd, big ground, two codes of the game on show back to back. The AFLW girls have been building towards moments like this for seasons now — bigger venues, better slots, crowds that actually reflect the quality of footy being played.

From a competition-growth point of view this is exactly the kind of fixture the AFL needs more of, and I’ll bang this drum every single week if I have to. Stand-alone SCG venues, double-headers that give the women’s game genuine billing rather than a curtain-raiser vibe, and crowds that turn up because they actually want to watch good footy, not just because the men’s side is on after. The fact this crowd showed up anyway, scandal and all, tells you the appetite is real and not just tied to convenience.

What it means for AFLW’s standing in a footy-mad city

Sydney’s always been described as a market you need to convert, a rugby league town that footy has to fight for. Days like this chip away at that old narrative bit by bit. When fans are willing to turn out for the women’s program during arguably the most chaotic week the club’s had in ages, that’s not a市 market being converted through gimmicks or freebies, that’s genuine attachment forming to the players and the product.

I reckon there’s a lesson in there for every club, my beloved Lions included. Brisbane’s AFLW crowds have grown year on year because the connection to the players is real up here — people know their names, follow their form, rock up regardless of what else is going on at the club. Sydney’s fans showing the same instinct under way worse circumstances than we’ve ever had to deal with says the same culture is taking root at the SCG too.

Give the players their due

Spare a thought too for the AFLW playing group themselves, who had to go out and perform in front of a home crowd while their entire club was under the pump for reasons that had nothing to do with them. That’s not an easy ask for anyone, let alone athletes who are still fighting for the resourcing, respect and permanent contracts that would let them treat this as their full-time job rather than something squeezed in around work and study.

Credit to them for fronting up and giving the fans who turned out something worth cheering for. That’s the real story buried under all the noise this week — a group of players doing their job professionally while everything swirled around them, and a fanbase that decided to reward that professionalism with numbers through the gate rather than staying home.

• A packed SCG crowd turned out for the AFLW fixture despite a turbulent week for the club
• Fans widely cited wanting to support the women’s program as their main motivation
• The historic double-header format is exactly the kind of scheduling AFLW needs more of
• Sydney’s growing AFLW attachment mirrors patterns seen in other developing markets like Queensland

The takeaway for the rest of the competition

If there’s a broader point here for every club and every fan reading this, it’s that the women’s competition has earned a level of independent loyalty that doesn’t rise and fall with whatever else is happening at head office. That’s a genuinely big deal for a competition that’s still fighting for equal billing, equal pay and equal respect across the board.

Scandals come and go, and the people whose job it is to sort through this one will sort through it properly and fairly, as they should. But the image of a packed SCG turning out mainly for the AFLW girls during the toughest week of the year is the kind of thing that should get flagged at every club marketing meeting from here to Perth. Build the connection to the players, back the fixture properly, and fans will turn up even when everything else around the club is falling apart.

That’s the whole game plan right there, and Sydney just proved it works.