Sydney Swans AFLW assistant coach Tanya Hetherington previews our huge clash against Essendon at our home away from home, Coffs Harbour, on Saturday.

A big win against West Coast on the weekend, what was the most pleasing part of the game?

It was great to get the win in a high pressure game. The most pleasing aspect was the ability to be patient and trust that over 4 quarters we could get the job done. 

We’ve been hit with a few injuries, with Chloe being ruled out of the rest of the season and Cynthia going down in the game on Saturday, what’s the mentality like amongst the group in terms of filling that role?

It’s really disappointing when you get injuries to key players and in the case of Chloe and Cynthia and more recently Sof, the girls have a great squad mentality to be able to step up and play any role that is asked of them and we saw that on the weekend. 

It’s must win this weekend against Essendon to keep our finals hopes alive, how do you think the players will deal with that pressure?

Given we have been in that position twice this season and got the job done, and more recently in the final game of 2023, the group is in a great position to be able to deal with that pressure and execute our game plan to get the job done.

We head down to Coffs Harbour on Friday, what’s the best thing about playing in Coffs and the support we get from the locals?

We love playing in Coffs! It’s a big ground which we love but we have gone down there for our pre season camp so there is a big sense of familiarity to the ground and the area and we can’t wait to play in such a big game in front of our local fans!