The Sydney Swans AFLW side to face the Brisbane Lions in the side’s official Practice Match on Saturday, August 2 at Brighton Homes Arena has been named, with Chloe Molloy set to feature.
Swans co-captain Chloe Molloy, will return for her first game in red and white since suffering an ACL injury in Round One of the 2024 season.
“We [the AFLW program] have been going through pre-season for a while now and we are very excited to play some opposition this weekend,” Molloy said on our club’s official podcast More than Footy, presented by Bing Lee.
“My body is feeling great and I have been controlling everything I can, being really diligent in the way I have been preparing not only for this week, but over the ten and a half months on the return from my knee injury, so I am feeling good and ready to go.
“I will play a half of footy this weekend,” Molloy added.
“I have been working with the medical staff and Scott Gowans to make sure I am in a comfortable position and ready to play against opposition. I couldn’t be more ready in terms of how long I have been rehabbing the knee for, but we are all really comfortable with my decision to play a half of football before I am up for selection in Round One.”
The naming of the star midfield-forward is a welcome return to the red and white line up that performed strongly in a 30-point victory over the GWS Giants in a pre-season match simulation last week.
Molloy joins a side that includes fan favourites Laura Gardiner, Bec Privitelli, Ally Morphett, Montana Ham and Sofia Hurley while new faces Jas Grierson, Zippy Fish, Amelia Martin, Darcy Moloney, Ash Van Loon and Caitlin Reid will be looking to continue to impress ahead of the season.
Assistant coach Tanya Hetherington said the match simulations are a good chance to try different combinations ahead of the season commencing in August.
"In these games you wanted to see as many players play as many positions as possible whilst getting a good team result, and I think we achieved that today," Hetherington said.
"I think it's just again building the connection with the group because you know we want to be versatile and I think we showed that today but we then want to start connecting no matter where we're playing, that the game still looks the same so I think we'll look at that next week."
The practice match will be the final chance for fans to get a glimpse of the team and its new recruits ahead of Round 1 against Richmond on Friday, August 15 at North Sydney Oval.
The match will be live streamed via sydneyswans.com.au – Follow along all the action or via the Sydney Swans AFLW social media pages.
Sydney Swans v Brisbane Lions – Practice Match
12:30pm Saturday, August 2 – Brighton Homes Arena
B: Mitchell, Tarrant
HB: Grierson, McEvoy, O'Sullivan
C: Fish, Ham, Kennedy
HF: Martin, McCarthy, Privitelli
F: Hauseggar, Molloy
R: L. Hamilton, Gardiner, Moloney
INT: Collier, Morphett, Cooper, Pullar, Davies, Hurley, Van Loon, Reid
EM: Grunden, Sargent-Wilson
