The Sydney Swans AFLW team’s pre-season training is in full swing. With an exciting lineup of games in the 2026 fixture, players are working hard in the gym and on the field.
And among them, a new face - Doreena Hansen.
Originally from Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory, Doreena Hansen is a Bidjara and Kalkadoon woman, a dedicated footy player and SANFLW and CAFLW premiership player. A participant in the Redtails Pinktails Right Tracks program, she is a bold attacking forward for the SANFLW side in South Adelaide, and has previously played alongside Sarah Steele-Park for North Adelaide, including in their premiership victory against Sturt in 2022.
Doreena was awarded a scholarship opportunity to train with the Sydney Swans AFLW team in their pre-season, participating in all aspects of team activities including training, gym sessions, conditioning and recovery as well as off-field player development. One of her goals is to make it to the AFLW, and having the opportunity to train with the Sydney Swans team at an elite level is a huge step towards this dream.
The scholarship is made possible by a not-for-profit founded by Sydney Swans AFLW player Lulu Pullar after spending an off-season working in Alice Springs in the emergency department.
"While I was out there, I was really fortunate enough to train with a local academy out there, they're called the Redtails Pinktails Right Tracks program," Pullar said.
"I was just training with them to essentially keep up to date with my skills and get some footy in, and I saw a real market and a need to create some sort of pathways for young, remote Centralians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous.”
Her journey with the Redtails Pinktails Right Tracks program inspired her to create the not-for-profit organisation DREAMD, with a purpose to provide resources, mentorship and opportunities to young women in Australia’s most marginalised communities.
Pullar spoke about the selection process and how Doreena set herself apart from others.
“Doreena has showed immense grit, she has trained consistently for a number of years. She’s grown a lot as a consequence of that,” Pullar said.
“She was selected … through her strong leadership and commitment”
AFLW Executive General Manager, Kate Mahony is a strong advocate for creating pathways for female players. She partnered with the DREAMD Academy to make this scholarship a reality.
“I think particularly these young women who don’t have the access to resources and to some of the opportunities that our athletes do, and kids living in cities do, for me it’s really important to show that we can provide someone with an experience that might inspire, empower, help them dream big.”
But football is only one piece of the puzzle. A foundational part of the vision of the DREAMD Academy is the idea that football can be a conduit for long-lasting community impact.
Reflecting on her week with the Swans and her experiences with the DREAMD Academy, Doreena emphasised the effects that happen outside of the game.
“Young Indigenous boys and girls, they can have such complex lives and have so much going against them,” she said.
“For me it was a lot outside of footy, and it wasn’t just footy that mattered, it was the everyday life stuff and the relationship building and skill building and being disciplined and building maturity around the stuff that’s important in life to learn as well as getting better at footy.”
While her week with the Swans has come to an end, Doreena returns home with first-hand experience training at the AFLW level. For Doreena, the week was about more than football. It was a chance to learn, grow and build connections – experiences she hopes will help her take the next step towards her AFLW dream.
