Nine seasons into the AFLW and the GIANTS have already developed a self-fulfilling prophecy.

In 2017, ahead of the league’s first season, AFL Sydney Women’s Premier Division was still in its infancy. Though a women’s competition first established in 2000, was close to two decades old, two of the five inaugural clubs had already folded.

With no pipeline to an elite game, the competition was a melting pot of social players and cross-code athletes playing their second sport or staying fit in the off-season.

Fearsome and competitive, but significantly less elite than the topflight women’s competitions in other states.

The GIANTS drafted 11 players out of the SWAFL for the 2017 season and inaugural captain Bec Beeson recalled an intent need for the local girls to prove their nettle at every game and session.

Captain Amanda Farrugia, herself a Western Sydney local, bore a significant brunt of this emotional weight.

“The Sydney girls were the battlers,” Farrugia says.

“We were the ones who had to dig in because we felt like it was a perception, but also a reality that we were coming from behind.

“We hadn’t had any investment in our football programs, except for a few NSW versus SA representative games.

“We were literally coming from our community clubs onto a national stage.”

By 2020, just three community football seasons after the GIANTS first took to the National League, the landscape had shifted drastically.

Western Sydney was represented by eight teams and was already home to several GIANTS of the future.

Georgia Garnett delivered ten best player performances from ten matches at the East Coast Eagles, Caitlin Fletcher was in the eyeline of Macquarie University, though still a St Ives Junior at the time and the Parramatta Goannas were building a powerhouse for women’s football.

Though she hadn’t touched a Sherrin yet, GIANTS AFLW newcomer Sophie Kavanagh would use the Parramatta pipeline to springboard herself into the elite game.

“I only started playing about three years ago,” Kavanagh says.

“I’d played one game for school and thought it was incredibly fun, but athletics was my priority at the time, so I didn’t think much of it.

“Then I went to watch a friend play, and I couldn’t help myself.

“I started for Macquarie, played for the joint club with Parramatta and then played for Parramatta.

“I became a train-on for the GIANTS in that second year.

“It was like all my sports came together, from high jump, running, all I had to do was kick, handball and tackle but I learned pretty quick, I had to.

“Training for a team sport, compared to an individual sport is so much better, there’s still accountability but it’s as a unit, so I just loved that learning.”

Kavanagh regrets that a lack of visibility to the game had hindered earlier access to it, admitting she’d never watched a game of Aussie Rules until a friend invited her down to sit sideline one weekend.

“We were an NRL family, and still to this day are,” Kavanagh says.

“I struggle to get AFL on the TV. I had no background in AFL, which made it hard given I didn’t have a sense for the game.”

Yet Kavanagh enjoyed the experience familiar to so many who first come into the footy fold, an overwhelming sense of togetherness and community.

“The footy community as a whole is like no other.” Kavanagh says.

“Everyone is so welcoming. I compare it to touch footy or athletics and there’s this feeling in those sports that everyone is there for themselves and want to be their best but I’ve found, no matter what team I’ve gone into with AFL, be it Parramatta Div. Three or North Melbourne AFLW last season, everyone wants to help you get better.

“Everyone has this drive to make each other and their club better as a whole.”

It’s a mantra driving her to debut this season, personal and club betterment, while wearing the badge of where she comes from on her chest.

“Getting picked up by North was pretty cool but being selected by the GIANTS and being able to play footy from home and represent Sydney and Greater Western Sydney is amazing,” Kavanagh says.

“It’s pretty crazy, I don’t know how I learned it all in this time, and I’m still learning, but to be here is incredible.

“I can’t wait to pull the jersey on.”

In 2025, eight years after the GIANTS first season, the Sydney Women AFL Competition boasts more than 40 teams across four divisions, with 10 licenses for clubs contesting the Premier division.

It’s a period of growth that Amanda Farrugia has barely given herself a moment to reflect on, as she still pulls on the boots in that competition each Saturday, now playing at Sydney University.

“I’m probably still selfish in that I just want to keep playing footy for as long as I can and be good for as long as I can, and I don’t often sit back and reflect on the early days and where we are now and the evolution of Sydney AFL,” Farrugia says.

“But Sydney AFL has come a really long way in a pretty short space of time.”

The inaugural was retired from the AFLW and back playing in Parramatta’s Premier Division team when Kavanagh made the switch to Aussie rules.

“She’s a proper, elite athlete,” Farrugia says of Kavanagh.

“To be drafted now means you’re good at footy, there’s no two ways about it,”

“They should walk around knowing that this is their space, their home ground, they’re pushing for success, and it was completely different in those early years where there was this doubt and a feeling of need to meet expectations.

“These girls have muscle tone, can jump high and can catch and kick with more accuracy than we ever could.

“It’s great to see the evolution of this game in that regard.”

The GIANTS historic 10th season of AFLW is kicking off this August, and we don’t want you to miss a moment! 

This year, we're turning up the value with ‘10 Seasons, 10 Perks’ - featuring 10 member exclusive benefits that deliver real value and elevate your season. 

in 2025, we will be interesting an AFLW member of the week! Each week throughout the home and away season a member will be drawn to enjoy one of our inner sanctum experiences, from coffee with a player to behind-the-scenes captains run experiences, there is no better way to get insider access than as an AFLW member