‘We want analysis’: Swans co-captain Chloe Molloy on why the AFLW needs more footy-related criticism

Sydney Swans co-captain Chloe Molloy has opened up about the real reason she left Collingwood – and why she wants ‘more analysis’ of matches.

Although she is one of the AFLW’s star players, Chloe Molloy doesn’t believe her own hype. “I’m just some tomboy from Whittlesea,” the Sydney Swans co-captain says, referencing the Victorian town where she grew up.

“I don’t see myself in that sort of light.”

That self-described “tomboy”, who used to run around kicking a football in her Collingwood jumper, has come a long way.

Within six years, she has won the AFLW Rising Star Award, been named All-Australian three times, and won a Collingwood Best and Fairest. But Molloy sees those achievements as just the beginning.

“This year,” she tells Stellar, “I’ve shifted my mindset to what makes an athlete great.

Picture: Christopher Ferguson for Stellar

“Serena Williams, Cristiano Ronaldo, Tom Brady – what are they doing that I’m not? I know it’s on a very different scale, but for me [I’ve got] footy talent, footy IQ, and strength and fitness are two things any athlete can always work on – so what else can I do? My plan is to start dragging more people along with me and paving the way. I had that done for me, so now it’s my turn to do it for others.”

Having started her career as the No. 3 pick in the 2017 AFLW draft, Molloy went on to play five seasons with the Magpies in Melbourne before taking a leap and reuniting with one of her junior coaches, Scott Gowans, who is now the AFLW senior coach for the Swans in Sydney. That’s where being part of something bigger comes in.

“Sport has the power to change things, and as athletes we’re blessed with a platform to influence,” she says.

‘I could have a Collingwood legacy, or I could have an AFLW legacy.’ Picture: Christopher Ferguson for Stellar

“You learn that pretty quickly by how recognisable you become when you play a good game – all of a sudden, more people want to know what you’re doing. And it’s not in a bad way. They just become more invested.

“I’m a Collingwood supporter, so I was living my childhood dream playing for the club I grew up supporting. I had my very own Pies guernsey after wearing one as a little girl. But being involved in more conversations about where we want the game to go, I thought, I’ve got a really good opportunity to impact and assist a program in Sydney that struggled in its first season.

“I could have a Collingwood legacy, or I could have an AFLW legacy – as the one who wasn’t scared to move and change to get outside of my comfort zone.”

In action for the Sydney Swans. Picture: Getty Images

Chloe Molloy, centre, has opened up about her private life – and the real reason she left Collingwood, in a new interview with Stellar. Picture: Getty Images

Speaking to Stellar, Gowans describes 25-year-old Molloy as a great leader.

“On the field she’s a momentum changer, she can turn a game,” he says. “In those pressure moments, she maintains composure.

“Chloe often speaks about wanting to leave a legacy, and she’s aware that it’s not just something you do when you’re finished. It’s measured constantly in how you hold yourself, how you perform, how you lead.”

After signing with Sydney, Molloy had to adapt to a life away from Melbourne. She’s no longer a one-hour drive from her mum, and her biggest supporters are a plane trip away.

Still, she says the NSW capital suits her. Since moving, she has spent her downtime at the beach and become a self-confessed foodie.

The new commute is also a breeze, at just a nine-minute drive between the Swans’ headquarters at Moore Park and the Waterloo home she shares with her roommate, Greater Western Sydney Giants forward Aliesha Newman.

While Molloy has settled into life in Sydney, there’s another place that also has her heart. At the time of her interview with Stellar, she was in Queensland visiting her girlfriend Jade Ellenger, who plays for the Brisbane Lions AFLW team.

‘A momentum changer.’ Picture: Phil Hillyard

They’ve been dating for just four months but have “been in each other’s lives for about two years,” Molloy explains.

“Timing never really worked out for us. [With] distance, our worlds never aligned until probably the back end of last year. She actually asked me on a date and I said ‘no’ because I’m committed to Sydney; I don’t have the time. To her credit, she pushed hard and said ‘I want to make this work.’ I was like, ‘You know what? I’ve waited so many years for this, let’s give it a go.’”

The effort has been more than worth it, despite its complexities. “It’s hard when you have sh*t days,” Molloy admits.

“You want to run to your support person, the one who sees you at your worst, and we don’t have that luxury. But in saying that, we’re both living this passion of ours. One of the most beautiful things is we’re massive supporters of each other.

“She’s doing her [master of nursing] and football, and I wouldn’t want her to be anywhere else but Brisbane because of the connections she’s made there and how influential she is to that football club.

Chloe Molloy features in Stellar’s Women In Sort issue. Picture: Christopher Ferguson for Stellar

“She’s required in Queensland and I’m required in Sydney, and that’s OK because we’re doing what we love and we know we’re going to be there for each other at the end of the day, no matter whether it’s through the phone or if I can physically hug her.”

With the AFLW about to enter its ninth season, Molloy wants to see the game and its players move into a new phase by levelling up and accepting a wider spectrum of feedback from fans and commentators alike.

“The game needs to be criticised now, and by that I mean team performances and individual players. We want analysis,” she explains.

“I definitely think that’s the next step. You want the footy fans sitting at home analysing and agreeing and disagreeing with what the experts are saying. Players aren’t going to have an issue with it because it’s elite sport.

“If you don’t like it, don’t do it. I’m getting paid to play football and this is what comes with it.”

When it comes to being one of the faces of Sydney’s AFLW scene, Molloy takes her role very seriously.

“When I first got to Sydney, I was talking to an elderly couple who had been Swans members for 30-plus years but didn’t sign up to the women’s team because ‘girls don’t play football’,” she recalls. “They said, ‘Don’t you get hurt?’

“Now we’re pen pals, and they just signed up to be platinum AFLW members,” she adds.

“So we’re changing generations, we’re changing perceptions.”

The 2024 AFLW season starts August 30. Read the full interview and see the shoot with Chloe Molloy inside Stellar. For more from Stellar, click here.