BALANCE is everything to Sydney co-captain Lucy McEvoy.
It is key to her captaincy partnership with Chloe Molloy, key to her life balance, and key to the way she plays her footy.
Upon joining the club from Carlton early last year, McEvoy was ratified as co-captain alongside fellow new arrival Molloy. Settling into a rhythm which brings out the best in their contrasting personalities offers the playing group different kinds of leadership.
"I've learned so much from 'Moy', and the way she sees things differs to mine," McEvoy told AFL.com.au.
"In terms of even just how we deal with different situations, she's got so much more empathy than I do. And that's not to say that I'm a real hard ass, but I really admire that about Moy."
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So, while Molloy is often the public face of the partnership, much of that is a result of McEvoy's work schedule as an IT consultant, and the way in which she likes to support her teammates.
"I recognise the impact that we can have and the role we have, but early on, I probably didn't understand the magnitude of it," McEvoy said.
"I just did my thing, she just did hers, and it worked really well, and then it started to click that what we say holds more weight than I initially thought.
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"I'm not wanting just to say something for the sake of it. If something needs to be said, I'll say it, and I've tried to keep that aspect because I think sometimes you can lose a bit of weight if you just always say something."
The equality in the partnership extends to game day, on which McEvoy and Molloy play a quick game of paper, scissors, rock to determine who will take the coin toss.
On field, McEvoy is a sensible defender. She knows when to lock down and stop an opponent but can also flick the switch and create attack for the side. Poised, composed, balanced.
This year that cool head may be used a little higher up the field thanks to her versatility. That asset was a key talking point ahead of her draft night back in 2019 where she was taken with pick No.2 by the Blues.
"I've done that my whole career, just play wherever needed, so I've now embraced it at this point in my career. I find it's a strength that I can do that," McEvoy said.
That versatility was on show in Sydney's elimination final win against Gold Coast in November, where McEvoy was tasked with tracking Suns key forward Jac Dupuy across the ground.
Starting in defence, McEvoy ended up following Dupuy to the Swans' attacking 50 and kicked two goals.
"It was pretty obvious that I was following Dupuy forward," McEvoy said.
"So, when she went forward, my role was just to go and make her accountable forward. Make her play on someone."
It is just one example of the lever coach Scott Gowans has at his disposal on game day, able to trust not just her playing ability, but her leadership and intelligence in adapting to change.
McEvoy isn't the only player where positional changes are a possibility, and Sydney isn't the only club focused on training players in second positions. But she is an example of what can happen when done right.
"Scott's made it pretty clear to everyone that you need to know every line in the gameplan, and I suppose just to have that flexibility if you need to pull strings," McEvoy said.
Her Swans will open the 2024 NAB AFLW season on Friday, earning the right to host the marquee game thanks to consistently high crowds last year.
"We want to bring people to our games, and they turned out in numbers and that was so cool," McEvoy said.
"I remember we played at Henson (Park)… the opposition player said, 'Do you normally get crowds like this?' and I could proudly say 'Yeah, we do, they've turned up every week'."
