{"id":865307,"date":"2026-08-23T08:16:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-23T08:16:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/865307\/"},"modified":"2026-08-23T08:16:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T08:16:12","slug":"sydney-swans-aflw-captain-says-support-just-unbelievable-as-crowd-record-smashed-in-emotional-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/865307\/","title":{"rendered":"Sydney Swans AFLW captain says support ‘just unbelievable’ as crowd record smashed in emotional week"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sydney AFLW captain Lucy McEvoy wasn’t sure what to expect for her side when they ran out for the first instalment of a historic double-header at the SCG.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Swans dominated headlines across the country all week, filling both front and back pages of every newspaper, for a scandal that called the club’s culture into question.<\/p>\n

Swans fans descend on SCG amid club scandal<\/a><\/p>\n

Sydney Swans fans react to an emotional week, where a scandal continues to engulf the club, as they prepare to watch a historic double header at the SCG.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What the women’s team got was an outpouring of support which broke the side’s attendance record with 16,672 fans filling the stands to watch them play.<\/p>\n

That is more than double the previous club record of 8,264.<\/p>\n

“It’s amazing. We weren’t sure what we were going to expect this week, but to see the support that we’ve received today is just unbelievable,” McEvoy told Fox Footy after the game.<\/p>\n

“The members and fans are so tight and they know that we’re united as a club and we’re better than what we were at the start of the week.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Swans doubled its crowd attendance record. (Getty: Cameron Spencer)<\/p>\n

“I’m just so grateful to have the support that we had today and the girls were able to turn it on.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We had a few nervous girls, that’s for sure, but we absolutely turned it on.”<\/p>\n

The scenes were particularly celebratory on the ground post-siren, after Sydney beat Essendon by 24 points.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was just the second time the women have played on the SCG for premiership points and the first in a double billing with the men’s.<\/p>\n

Loading Instagram content<\/p>\n

Before locking in to warm up, star men’s players Errol Gulden and captain Callum Mills got around the women’s players.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gulden was also seen going up to the crowd giving the fans a big thank you for turning out in droves.<\/p>\n

Some of those fans left before the men’s game, as a boycott had been suggested in the days before the match as a scandal continues to engulf the club.<\/p>\n

It’s unclear how many fans left in protest to the scandal, but a steady stream was seen leaving.<\/p>\n

\"Ally<\/p>\n

Swans players spent time with fans after the game. (Getty: Cameron Spencer)<\/p>\n

Five players \u2014 Isaac Heeney, Nick Blakey, Chad Warner, Riley Bice and James Jordon \u2014 have been stood down by the Swans for breaching the club’s standards<\/a> on drinking and staying out late following last Sunday’s win over Essendon in Melbourne.<\/p>\n

Police from Victoria’s sexual crimes squad are separately investigating a report of sexual assault, which the ABC understands centres on a player allegedly touching a woman without her consent.<\/p>\n

Police have not made any arrests or laid charges.<\/p>\n

\"Swans<\/p>\n

Swans fans cheer from the stands. (Getty: Darrian Traynor\/AFL Photos)<\/p>\n

Lulu Clarke, who has been a Sydney Swans fan for as long as she can remember, was one of the fans who walked out.<\/p>\n

Ms Clarke had bought a ticket to the men’s game, unaware the women were also playing, but once the news broke of the incident she knew she would not be staying for both games.<\/p>\n

“Of late, I’ve definitely drifted apart from the Swans and the AFL industry as a whole,” Ms Clarke said.<\/p>\n

“I decided that I’m absolutely not going to the men’s game, even if those five players were still stood down. There’s no way I could just show up and watch it. It just didn’t sit right with me.”<\/p>\n

Former Matilda Sarah Walsh also left the stadium after the women’s game, saying it had been a “tough week”, but stressed she was not boycotting the men’s team.<\/p>\n

“It’s not a new story but I have a five-year-old daughter who I brought here today to support the women’s team,” Ms Walsh said.<\/p>\n

“I think you can have a club and not expect someone to be a fan of both teams.<\/p>\n

“I think that’s the nuance of sport, don’t expect Socceroos fans to be Matildas fans \u2026 We’ve got a long way to go in society. I don’t think this is a Sydney Swans issue at all \u2026 it’s a societal issue and we all need to do better.”<\/p>\n

\"Swans<\/p>\n

Swans fans Kayley and Georgia went to the SCG to support the AFLW side. (ABC)<\/p>\n

Swans fans Kayley and Georgia told ABC News they were there to support the women and will likely just watch a bit of the men’s game.<\/p>\n

“It’s very disappointing from the men’s team \u2026 I feel like we were very disappointed in everything that happened,” Georgia said.<\/p>\n

Kayley said the situation was upsetting.<\/p>\n

“We’ve been supporting the Swans since we were kids as well. So, it was just shocking,” she said.<\/p>\n

“We never thought that any players from this team could do something like this. It was really upsetting.”<\/p>\n

Many fans held signs during the game along the lines of “I’m here for AFLW”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sydney AFLW captain Lucy McEvoy wasn’t sure what to expect for her side when they ran out for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":865308,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[25912,147308,64,63,44,434034,434035,434033],"class_list":["post-865307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-aflw","tag-aflw-sydney-swans","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news","tag-swans-aflw","tag-sydney-essendon-aflw","tag-sydney-swans-double-header"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=865307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865307\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/865308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=865307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=865307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=865307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}