The Sydney Swans have been accused of poaching talent from the GWS Giants with the two teams dealt contrasting cards in the early rounds of the AFLW.
The Giants are on the bottom of the ladder without a win after four games, while the Swans are so far undefeated and are third on the ladder.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: How Sydney Swans’ AFLW rise has cost the Giants.
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Sydney is a relative newcomer to the competition, only joining in 2022 (when they finished last and did not win a game). The Giants are a foundation club, featuring in the inaugural eight-team competition of 2017.
But Channel 7 AFLW expert Kate McCarthy is uncomfortable with how the Swans have been able to build their list.
“Do you think (Sydney’s success this year) has been largely to the detriment of the GWS Giants? Because I do,” McCarthy asked journalist Riley Beveridge on Channel 7’s Talking W.
“Yeah, I do as well. (The Giants) came into the competition initially as a foundation club with state-based drafts,” Beveridge began.
With McCarthy quick to emphasise that GWS were keen on the league from the start.
“They wanted in. They wanted in on AFLW. The Sydney Swans were reluctant to start with,” McCarthy insisted.
Beveridge continued: “And then the Swans come in and get all of these concessions.
“They get the ability to sign Lucy McEvoy and Chloe Molloy without having to pay anything from a trade perspective for them.
“Not only that, Cynthia Hamilton was a Giants Academy player (but) in her draft the Swans — due to being a new club — had access to the first five New South Wales-based players in that draft so they took Cynthia Hamilton off them.
“They then took Ally Morphett — who was another Giants Academy player (and) had already spent a year at the Giants — but because she was out of contract and there was only one-year contracts for draftees at that point, they took her for nothing as well.
“I think there should have been a rule there where the Giants Academy players were protected and the players who were already at the Giants were protected as well from being able to go to the Swans where they didn’t have to move state, they didn’t have to move home, they could stay where they were.”
Beveridge said it was his belief that “all of those things have just compounded the issues at the Giants” in the early part of this season.
McCarthy said she was uneasy about the whole situation.
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“Doesn’t sit super well with me, though, that a club that came in to the competition from day one, wanted to be a part of the AFLW, has been basically (had) a lot of their talent taken away from them, from a team that has come in in the last expansion but didn’t see the future of AFLW,” McCarthy said.
Of course, Sydney have not done anything outside of the rules.
And the suggestion that the club did not see the future in the AFLW might be a little unfair.
The Swans have previously stated that there were several reasons why they waited before applying for an AFLW licence, and that included training areas, facilities, a lack of space, and administration.
Over the years the club has regularly raised the issue of a lack of AFL grounds at their disposal in Sydney.
McCarthy did praise the Swans, however, and said their football program was in excellent shape.
“This is not a flash in the pan, this is something (that is built for) sustained success,” she said while pointing out that they had the second youngest squad in the competition heading into the season.
While McCarthy said North Melbourne were still the deserved favourites, she believed the Swans could make a mark in the finals.
“You see what (coach) Scott Gowans has got them doing as well, I just think ... they’ve got a long time to be at the top the Sydney Swans.”
Sydney have so far beaten Richmond, Gold Coast, Geelong and Fremantle this year.
The Suns, the Cats and Dockers are all on one win for the season, while the Tigers are still winless.
Some fans suggested the Swans were being overrated and they should only be assessed once they have mixed it with the competition’s best.
As well as Sydney, reigning premier North Melbourne, Melbourne, and Hawthorn are all undefeated this year, while West Coast and Essendon have just one loss to their name.
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