CHLOE Molloy's shock decision to leave Collingwood for the winless Sydney in March was about more than herself. 

A desire to help grow the AFLW was at the forefront of Molloy's mind when being courted by the Swans, not just at the talent pathway and visibility level, but also among the broader playing contingent. 

Walking the line between being aware of the position she holds in the game and therefore the impact she can have, and staying humble, the former No.3 draft pick sees her move as a chance to make positive change. 

"It's Sydney, you'll struggle to find a footy oval," Molloy told womens.afl. 

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"I kind of feel like I have a bit of pull in the AFLW space and I want to use my ability to be a role model in that space to help push football here. I don't know the impact that I will have, or if I'll have any, but hopefully… I can be somewhat of a pioneer for AFLW in Sydney." 

Once the decision had been made, Molloy wanted to be the first domino to fall when the Priority Signing Period opened earlier this year. 

"I wanted to get it done, wanted to show other players that were maybe considering coming up that it was OK to make that move," Molloy said. 

Across the course of the player movement period, the Swans were also able to sign former No.2 draft pick Lucy McEvoy from Carlton and hard-nosed midfielder Laura Gardiner from Geelong. 

Aided by the longest player contract signed in AFLW history to date – one of a handful of concessions made for the Swans – the five-year deal Molloy agreed to is one that benefits both player and club. 

A chance for her to settle, with a guaranteed income and security, was hugely appealing, and something that does not exist elsewhere in the AFLW space, with player contracts not able to exceed two years.  

But it was also a chance to show faith and commitment to her new team.  

"For me personally, I know what I'm doing. I know the income that I'm going to have for four or five years… it definitely helps between the ears. And then I wanted to sign a long-term deal so Sydney didn't think I was coming for the money," Molloy said. 

"And everyone thought I was coming for the money." 

The value Molloy placed in that off-field influence was the reason she considered leaving Collingwood at all. Chased by several other clubs, her logic was that if she was to stay put in Victoria, there was no reason to leave the Pies, but there was a bigger opportunity for change up north. 

"I'm here, I'm a Swan and I am fully 100 per cent in here, but (the Pies) helped me out a lot," Molloy said.  

"There were other clubs that were seeking out my services, but I didn't want to lead anyone on, I was either going to play for Collingwood or Sydney." 

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But now based in Sydney, Molloy is working to put those goals into action. Without a specified job in the Swans Academy, she has been showing up to training sessions and games to offer support and get to know her potential future teammates. 

"I wanted to get down to the Academy and show that I'm not here just to do my own thing and walk about as if I'm the best thing ever. I wanted to get down to the Academy to help," Molloy said. 

"It was important to come up and give everything I can to the club, so that means going down to the Academy… a small gesture could have such a big impact, spending a couple of hours with them could impact them for the rest of their football career. I just think that's so powerful." 

It's a mindset that Molloy notes exists across the program and excites her for the future of the club. 

"I didn't want to come up and have that hierarchy, I didn't want vertical relationships with people, I'm not above anyone… and that's the mindset here. The Academy girls came to train with us, and I remember vividly Cynthia Hamilton teaching them how to do the warm-up.," she said.

"No one's bigger than what they're trying to do here. We don't mind where you've come from or what you've done previously. What can you do for the team now? How can you make your teammate better?" 

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That level of care for one another is something that stems from head coach Scott Gowans – someone with whom Molloy has reunited as part of the shift. Gowans was Molloy's first senior women's coach at Diamond Creek in the VFLW and they spent time together at the Pies where Gowans was the midfield coach. 

"I always got along with Scott," Molloy said. 

"He's a good bloke. I like the way he goes about things, he's really empathetic and I'm quite an empathetic person, so I feel like we connect on that level. He also values me to a point where he'll come and ask my opinion on things. I just appreciated that and, yeah, I thought that being coached under him was going to be something pretty special." 

Still just 24 years old, the upheaval of her life in recent months, while for good, has been a challenge for Molloy. After struggling through season seven with a back issue she required surgery from which she is still rehabilitating. 

"My body failed me immensely," Molloy said of last year. 

"Last season, thinking back to what I had to do to get through it was insane. Anti-inflammatory injections before games, not training, being managed." 

Packing two seasons into one year, plus the disruptions brought on by COVID was enough of a challenge without needing to play through persistent pain. 

"Last year definitely took a toll, mentally, physically, emotionally," she said.

Molloy's Collingwood lost to then-reigning premiers Adelaide at the semi-final stage in remarkable circumstances. Severe storms and rain set back the game's start time, and then caused another significant delay at the quarter-time break. 

"I was already struggling with my body, and I'd had this medication, but the delays meant that my body cooled down," Molloy recalled. 

"I was cooked, not that I was over football, but I remember feeling after that Adelaide game, a small, tiny part of me was relieved that I could have a break." 

On top of all of that, the move to a whole new city it hasn't all been smooth sailing. 

"Genuinely just last week, I just wanted a hug from someone who knew me a bit deeper than all the girls here. Like, they've been incredible here, but sometimes you just want a hug from your mum or your dad or your best mate," Molloy said. 

"But I chose to come up here, and I knew that was going to be a struggle and I have had my moment now, and it won't ever get as bad as what it did. It just makes it even better to be here, because now I've had such a low, there's only one way to go." 

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Part of that struggle is being separated from the main group for most sessions to date as she rehabilitates her back post-surgery. Injury itself is not new to Molloy, who missed the whole 2019 season with a nasty Lisfranc injury in her right foot.  

Taking lessons from that year, she is more open with how she is feeling, not bottling it up. 

"If they ask how I'm doing, the onus is on me to be like, 'I'm not okay'," Molloy said.

"Yesterday I literally asked the Irish recruits if they could drive home with me. I was driving, I just wanted them to sit in the car with me. I just want to be around people in those moments." 

The benefit of being at Sydney, however, is that most of the playing group is in a similar boat. Living away from home and family and forced to form a new support system at the club, so there is a shared understanding. 

But now that chance to settle, to focus on getting her body back to its best and digging in with her new club to be part of something big is front of mind for Chloe Molloy with a "character-building year" now behind her.