Sydney Swans midfielder Laura Gardiner was the lone Swan to poll votes from the coaches in Round 5.

Gardiner recorded a game-high 29 disposals and ten tackles in the Swans' 26-point loss to Collingwood.

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Meet Laura Gardiner - The Engine Room

Meet Laura Gardiner, Sydney Swans midfielder and ‘The Engine Room’. In our fourth and final episode of our AFLW mini-series, presented by IVE Group, we meet Laura who talks about her relentless work rate, record-breaking disposals, and how she brings consistency to the midfield. The Sydney Swans and IVE Group worked together last season, with IVE assisting with signage and fan engagement activities. We’ve expanded the partnership in 2025 to grow the AFLW audience through a content series aimed at profiling our athletes.

The midfielder has now moved into 14th place on the AFLCA AFLW Champion Player of the Year leaderboard, two votes behind forward Chloe Molloy.

The Sharp EIT Solutions AFLCA AFLW Champion Player of the Year is an award voted by the AFLW senior coaches on a 5,4,3,2,1 basis after each home and away game, acknowledging outstanding effort to an individual player in a season.

View the leaderboard here.

Votes Player (CLUB)

10 Brittany Bonnici COLL
6 Kalinda Howarth COLL
5 Ashley Centra COLL
4 Laura Gardiner SYD
3 Imogen Barnett COLL
2 Lily-Rose Williamson COLL