‘They’ve got work to do’: Swans’ AFLW coach Scott Gowans backs Sydney to have success before GWS Giants
If GWS needed any more motivation for this weekend’s Sydney Derby, Swans coach Scott Gowans has delivered after claiming the Giants are the worst of the inaugural AFLW clubs.
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Swans AFLW coach Scott Gowans has lit a fuse before this weekend’s Sydney Derby, claiming the Giants are the worst foundation club in the league.
He also claimed that the Swans are in a stronger position to achieve success in the competition as the two teams prepare to open their seasons on Sunday at North Sydney Oval.
“It’s really important for us to realise that we’re not coming up against a side that’s performed really well,” Gowans said.
“And it’s no disrespect to them, but they’re probably the least-performing side out of the inaugural clubs.
“They’ve got a bit of work to do with that, and that’s fine. We think we’ll get there quicker than them.”
The Giants were one of the first eight clubs to be granted entry into AFLW having taken the leap to join the competition in the inaugural season.
At the time, the Swans chose not to apply for entry in the early seasons with a lack of facilities to accommodate both their men’s and women’s teams given as the main reason.
It was a similar story at the Giants, but they chose to bid anyway – operating much of their women’s footy program out of demountables through the first years to ensure they had a presence in the competition.
Gowans also claimed that because the Giants have had three coaches across their eight seasons, the cross-town rivals are at a very similar stage of development.
“They’ve got some interesting stats when you look at their profile,” he said. “They’ve had three coaches since their inauguration. They’ve played 56 or 57 games of football … it’s about 18 games per coach.
“So, they’ve got a bit of work to do. Everyone looks at us and our processes and strategy and culture, but that’s also on them.
“We go into the game thinking they haven’t got theirs right either. We know that we’re on the right path.”
The explosive comments came on a day when tensions were already high. Both clubs were training at North Sydney Oval on Wednesday morning, however, the Giants had to hold their press conference outside the ground because the Swans would not let them into the venue early.
Giants captain Alicia Eva ensured she threw her support behind the team and second-year coach Cam Bernasconi ahead of Sunday’s clash.
“We’ve had girls that have been on our list from day one,” Eva said.
“We’ve had Alyce Parker, who’s been here for the past five years. The skill sets that she picks up from Alan McConnell are complemented by the skills she picks up from Cam Bernasconi.
“The beauty of having multiple coaches working with a team is that you get coaches looking through a different lens … I don’t see a turnover of coaches as bringing us back to a certain starting point. I see it as a great benefit to us.”
The Giants have also been able to keep their core squad together for season eight and they’re backing the development of their young players over needing high-profile recruits.
“I think that’s something that we’re really proud of,” Eva said.
“For our list to stay relatively the same, even with the implementation of 10 new teams since day one … it’s a testament to the coaches and staff here. It’s a culture they all want to be in.
“Last year we started with high energy and a different game plan. By round two, we lost eight of our starting 16. So, we had to shuffle the decks a bit, but we didn’t go away from the game plan. That meant it was high-risk, high-reward footy.
“We certainly feel like we’re in a much stronger position.”
For Bernasconi, the fact his side is more focused on the footy at hand than concentrating on their rivals suggests they’re ready for round one.
“They’re strong comments,” he said. “I’m just really focused on what we do.
“We’ve got lots of belief in where we’re going. I think we’ve got the youngest list in the AFLW at the moment, but we’ve kept a lot of experience as well.
“We believe we’re in a really good position to improve and absolutely get back into playing at the top end of the year in finals.”
The Swans are still searching for their first AFLW win after losing all 10 games in season seven. However, there is confidence in the camp that they get over the line against the Giants.
Gowans insists he is more focused on ensuring win two comes as soon as possible and believes an aggressive on-field strategy will give them the best chance of surging up the ladder.
“It’s all been pretty much about offence [this pre-season],” Gowans said.
“Yep, we’ve got to have team defence. But we want to score, we want to take the game on.
“It’ll be an exciting brand of football and I think that’s a big difference as well. Our ball movement has been holding up really well.”
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