Swans to play in Coffs for a third time

COFFS Harbour will host its third ever AFLW match later this year.

The City’s long association with the Sydney Swans continues when they take on the St Kilda Saints at the C.ex Coffs International Stadium on Saturday, 29 August.

The Round 3 fixture is part of Indigenous Round, and pits two evenly matched sides based on the 2025 ladder, with the Saints having finished seventh and the Swans ninth.

The Swans are yet to win in Coffs Harbour, having lost to the Richmond Tigers in 2024, and to the Essendon Bombers last year.

City of Coffs Harbour Mayor Nikki Williams was looking forward to hosting the Swans for a third time.

“It will be great to welcome the Swannies back to town for an everything-matters game for competition points,” she said.

“The Swans were in Coffs this week for a preseason camp, and the work they do in the community here is a big bonus of our relationship.”

City Events, Sports and Cultural Services Group Leader Sharon McDougall said the links between the AFLW Swans and Coffs Harbour had continued to strengthen over the past four years.

“Initially it was an outreach preseason camp and in 2024 and ’25 we hosted the regular season clashes at the stadium, so we’re delighted to see them bring elite level footy back here in 26,” she said.

Sydney Swans AFLW player and new recruit Taylor Smith said it was nice to return to a place she had gotten to know previously.

“I used to have a four-wheel drive with a rooftop and I would come down to Woolgoolga and Coffs and do a bit of camping,” she said.

“So for me, it’s really nice to come back here because I know the place and I’ve spent a lot of time here and to now make that part of what we do as a club is really, really special and we got to hear a bit of history about the boys doing it 20 years ago and things like that.”

By Aiden BURGESS