Inaugural West Coast Eagle Emma Swanson will hit a historic club milestone on Sunday when she becomes the first Eagle to play 75 AFLW games in the blue and gold.

Swanson joined the Eagles from GWS ahead of the 2020 AFLW season and was named the team’s inaugural captain, leading the team for six seasons before handing the reigns to Bella Lewis and Charlie Thomas ahead of the 2025 season.

“It’s pretty special, I’m not really a reflective person but we watched a little (highlights) video in the team meeting today which caught me a bit off guard, but it is pretty cool,” Swanson said.

“I grew up not thinking this was possible, to play 75 games for one of the biggest footy clubs, and a powerhouse here in the west.

“Sometimes I feel like I’ve played more than 75 games, and the competition has come such a long way over that time and I’m super proud to have been a part of it.”

The midfielder-turned-defender has been a pillar of leadership, experience and consistency, winning back-to-back Club Champion awards in season six and season seven (2022) and setting the standard for her teammates both on and off the field.

“I think I’ve seen three or four iterations of the program and the team here, and in the last three or four years we’ve had this core group of girls that have stuck together and we’ve built around that which has been really good,” Swanson said.

“It’s also cool to see the past players (being around the program), we’ve had a lot, but it’s a real sweet spot now where they are just so excited for us as a group.

“A lot of the foundations of our culture were built from that first team and the connections we all had, so I’m happy to see it all unfold.”

Swanson and her partner Andrea welcomed baby Joey in 2025, and she has inspirationally been juggling motherhood, football and a full-time job with the Department of Fire and Emergency Services.

“I’ve maintained another career outside of football for the past six years,” Swanson said.

“I get to this point each year and ask myself how I’m going to make this work, and somehow, we keep making it work, with a nearly two-year-old at home, and a partner who allows to me to do two full-time jobs, that have been my dreams since I was a kid.

“It gets challenging, but I love that this competition has become so professional that we can choose this (football) as a career.”

Senior coach Daisy Pearce, who played against Swanson on a number of occasions throughout her career, expressed her gratitude and admiration for the support and leadership that Swanson offered in her transition into the coaching role.

“It was an interesting dynamic coming into the club because ‘Swanny’ is one of the few players I did play against for a long time, not just at AFLW level, but in the state system and the exhibition games,” Pearce said.

“She felt like a peer, which has been really important for me as a developing coach, when I got here I had never coached before.

“People like ‘Swanny’ and ‘Hooks’ (Dana Hooker) were so important for me as a developing coach and I really clung on to them when I was working myself out, and I’m super grateful.

“It’s awesome to see her continued joy for the game, someone who works as hard as she does, super tough, sets the standards, and her ability to show the younger players how to enjoy the game and be able to relate to them and have fun with them is super important, and she has led the way with that.”