Sydney midfield gun Montana Ham says the Swans are drawing on their own Western Bulldogs premiership star for inspiration as they prepare for an AFLW elimination final against the Dogs.
After finishing sixth under new coach Colin O’Riordan, Sydney will begin their second women’s finals campaign by hosting the Bulldogs at Henson Park on Sunday.
It’s an ambitious premiership bid that will set a new precedent if completed, given that no side that has finished outside the top four has won an AFLW premiership since the competition scrapped the conference system in 2021.
While the gap between the 'have' and 'have nots' has slightly closed in the women’s competition, back-to-back premiers North Melbourne are largely expected to reach the grand final again against second-placed Geelong or Melbourne.
Finals history is much the same in the men’s competition, with only the Western Bulldogs (eighth, 2016) and Brisbane Lions (fifth, 2024) to have won a premiership from outside the top four.
It’s only natural then that the Swans have turned to assistant coach and 2016 premiership midfielder Lachie Hunter.
"We've been able to chat to some people around the club about that underdog mentality and that question about how we approach a final knowing that we're probably not the touted playing side to win," Ham told AAP.
"The beauty of that is that the pressure lies on them to uphold kind of those predictions and there is no pressure on us.
"We've got Lachie Hunter in our coaching staff, who played when the Dogs won their premiership. They were eighth on the ladder and they came from that underdog mentality.
"It’s having that mindset of 'Why can't it be us?', just because everyone has put their tippings on these teams."
Earning the club's first AFLW home final, Ham says the Swans are seeking redemption for a round-four shellacking at the hands of the Bulldogs.
With Rylie Wilcox causing chaos in the midfield, the Dogs soared to a 27-point win after taking out a lop-sided contested possession and clearance battle.
"Round four for us definitely wasn't a game that we were super proud of," Ham said.
"We know that leading into finals, it's going to be a heated contest and we see this as our chance of redemption.
"Like, we're not the same team we were in round four. We've evolved and we've learnt a lot from that.
"This is our chance to show the league and the Dogs that that wasn't a style of footy that we were particularly proud of and that we're capable of much more."
