The Sydney Swans have completed their AFLW pre-season campaign with a competitive match simulation against cross-town rivals GWS at Tramway Oval on Sunday going down by a single point.

Played across three 20-minute periods, the Swans made an impact early, with tall forward Caitlin Reid slotting the opening goal of the afternoon within the first few minutes.

In positive news for Sydney, Julie O'Sullivan returned to action for her first minutes since suffering an ACL injury last September. The versatile Irishwoman was pleased with both her comeback and the team's defensive efforts, which have been a key focus throughout the pre-season.

"We've been working on our Team Defence in coming forward the last few years," O'Sullivan said.

"Our offence has been second to none, but that's been our work on and to come back into the team and they've nailed it, probably our best performance of defence so far this year."

The match marked an important milestone in O'Sullivan's recovery journey, with the utility admitting she was relieved to finally be back on the field alongside her teammates.

"Pretty good, happy to be back, it's been a long time coming, but great to be back with the girls," O'Sullivan said.

"I'm pretty much a fan of hard work, so I didn't mind it too much, it gave me a good chance to focus on what I wanted to grow.

"I think the last few years I really focused on my game knowledge and learning the game, transitioning over from Gaelic footballm so it gave me a good chance to look back at my S&C, my strength, my running, and focus on that for a bit and put the football to the side and just get where I wanted to be with that and then come back fitter and stronger."

With the AFLW season now just two weeks away, O'Sullivan said the side was looking forward to seeing their hard work translate on August 16.

"We're so excited. We've got a good six-month block of training done there and new staff, Coach Colin in, it's been pretty good," O'Sullivan said.

"'m excited to see his emotional speeches he has pre-game. He did a couple of those for us a couple of years ago when he was in as a coach and I'm looking forward to those, I'm pretty excited for it to start now."

SYDNEY 5.4 (34)

GWS 5.5 (35)

Goals
Sydney: Caitlin Reid, Holly Cooper, Taylor Smith, Cynthia Hamilton

AFLW Round One
Adelaide Crows v Sydney Swans
12:05pm ACST - Sunday, August 16
Unley Oval

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