IT WAS a week defined by turmoil, but Sunday afternoon at the SCG belonged entirely to Sydney's AFLW side. In the wake of an emotionally charged six days, coach Colin O'Riordan couldn't hide his raw pride — or his sheer relief — after his team turned a high-stakes moment into a statement victory.

A record 16,672 fans packed the stands to watch the women's side, more than doubling Sydney's previous AFLW crowd benchmark of 8,264 set at North Sydney Oval in 2022.

SWANS v BOMBERS Full match coverage and stats

The massive show of support followed a turbulent week in which Sydney's club culture came under intense scrutiny after five AFL Swans players — Riley Bice, Nick Blakey, Isaac Heeney, James Jordon, and Chad Warner — were handed season-ending suspensions for breaching club standards at a Melbourne hotel.

In response, a widespread push across the footy community urged fans to attend the women's match in solidarity.

Speaking after the 9.12 (66) to 6.6 (42) victory, O'Riordan praised his team's resilience and performance on a high-stakes occasion.

“The first [feeling] I have is just pride,” he said.

“Pride in my team and how they showed up. We chatted after the game, and they just rocked up with an attitude that they weren't going to lose again. They're really starting to adopt that attitude as nearly part of their DNA at this stage. They just hate losing. It's just immense pride — pride in the group we have, how they went about it, and how they went about their footy is incredible. It makes me as a coach immensely proud.

“For me, I go back to pride and relief; they're probably the two emotions that I have today. It's incredible relief, and pride in the group, alongside personal relief that we got the win. To be involved in a game of that magnitude, with everything that went on, the way they conducted themselves during the week, the way they played footy — I think it epitomises everything good about our footy club. So, couldn't be prouder, and immensely happy and relieved.”

While emotions were high among the playing group and the crowd, O'Riordan said his charges were able to convert that energy into a positive force.

“The hardest thing with any game is positively channelling the emotion,” he said.

“We chatted about it a little bit during the week, but we didn't go much into it. That's always a challenge when you're playing, but it was a real positive to have — I think it was 16,500 in the end to break the record. I guess that was a positive thing for us. Channelling the emotion is one thing, but actually using it as a positive is a lot better, and that's what we tried to do for the duration of the game, which I think showed in the end.”

When asked about fans who attended the women's game leaving the SCG before the men's game commenced, O'Riordan acknowledged that while fans can make their own choices, the club remains fully united.

“That's an opinion. If individually people want to choose that, as a club we're incredibly all in on this,” he said.

“We've been united all week. We've done a lot of stuff with the men's team; our program fully supports them in every way we can, and our club is fully united in everything we do. So if people want to leave, that's their individual choice, but as a program and as an AFLW program, we're incredibly united.”

Meanwhile, Essendon coach Natalie Wood reflected on the broad cross-section of supporters who came together to drive a positive movement and back women's football following a difficult week for the sport.

“There are a lot of mixed emotions,” she said.

“It's been an incredibly big week for many people. As the senior coach of a team and for the players that I lead, our conversations have first and foremost been towards the alleged victims of what has transpired. We hope that they're managing to do okay and that the people around them are providing all the support they need.

“There's also the flow-on impact in society, as you mentioned, so we needed to make sure that we nurtured our group across the week. Everyone's experience has been different and varied.

“I thought Sydney did an incredible job during the week to pivot the conversation through their lens, acknowledge everything that's gone on, and address the difficult conversation that we all need to talk about. As an industry, we need to stand up, talk more openly about this with more people, and hold each other accountable for better, right behaviours.

“Sydney Swans did a terrific job pivoting the conversation to something really tangible and positive by calling on the masses to come support women and women's football. It was a sight you would never normally see: our girls were walking off after the game disappointed that they lost, and the Sydney Swans fans were high-fiving them. You think, ‘That's a bit different, and today is different’.

“We're really proud and honoured to have played just a small role. I reached out to Colin [O’Riordan] during the week, and Bonnie [Toogood] did the same with Lucy [McEvoy]. Our message to the Swans was: ‘Whatever you need us to do, we'll do’. A big part of our role today was to turn up and put on a really good spectacle of football, and although we didn't get the result, I think we played our part really well today.”

O'Riordan also expressed deep gratitude for the supportive messages extended by rival figures to himself and captain McEvoy, emphasising that the tight-knit nature of the AFL community shines through during difficult times.

"To have someone you're playing at the weekend reach out and say, 'I hope you're feeling okay, and is there anything we can do?' takes immense leadership," he said. 

He noted that such gestures serve as a reminder of "a lot of good in society" and ultimately "galvanises a little bit of what the AFL is about".