On Monday night, we welcomed three QBE Sydney Swans Academy athletes to the club at the 2025 AFLW Draft.

Sydney picked Alex Neyland with their first selection, after matching Collingwood’s bid at pick six, Madeleine Quinn after matching Brisbane’s bid at pick 18 and selected Molly Thomas at pick 47.

Speaking to Sydney Swans Media at the end of the night, AFLW List Manager Phoebe Carter said she was thrilled to officially welcome the trio to the club.

“We're really happy to be able to bring Aly, Maddie and Molly into the team, obviously three Academy girls, so we're stoked,” Carter said.

“And to have three Academy girls as well in the first round with Kiera (Yerbury) to the Giants, we're so happy for the Academy.”

The club has watched all three players journeys closely through their time in the club’s academy and Carter said they would all be assets to the team.

“Aly's a tall athletic player, she can play across multiple lines, we don't even know where we're going to play her but really excited to see what she can do,” Carter said.

“Molly's a smooth moving left footer, plays through the midfield, can play off half back, really good ball user. So again, we're really excited to see her come in and make an impact.

“Maddie's obviously a ruck, but we also see her as an extra midfielder, she's so good at ground level and, again, a really good ball user like the others so she can bring so much more than just rucking to the team.”

Alongside, the three players selected by the Swans, QBE Sydney Swans Academy member Kiera Yerberry was drafted to GWS at pick three.

“We're so happy for Kiera that she gets an opportunity at the Giants and we're looking forward to following her journey,” Carter said.

“It just speaks huge volumes to the amount of work that everyone's put into the Academy on the ground.

“Like I said, to have four players drafted from the Girls' Academy, which wasn't even around 10 years ago, is a huge testament to their hard work.”