IT DIDN'T get off to a great start, but a groundbreaking season for the Eastern Swans girls under-16s ended in premiership glory.

In the first full AFL Mackay season of the under-16 youth girls competition, the Swans went from struggling to field a team in their season-opener to winning the inaugural premiership.

As far as footy turnarounds go, it's hard to beat the Swans' phoenix-like rise.

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Lauren Sonveld fills a few roles at the Swans, including captaining the senior women's team and volunteering as the assistant coach of the under-16 girls side.

Lauren was on hand when the Swans were to start their historic inaugural girls' campaign when a series of mishaps left them without the team's senior coach and just four players as they prepared to play the Moranbah Bulldogs.

"Half of our team is made up of basketballers who are new to the sport this year and they were all delayed after playing a basketball grand final," Lauren said.

"But the Moranbah coach was really lovely, I spoke to him before the game, and we both wanted to keep things rolling and not have a forfeit for the first match.

"So, he lent us some players."

Lauren addressed her four-player team shortly before the start of the game.

"My biggest message was to just trust themselves and to protect each other," she said.

"Just get around each other, shepherd for each other, look out for each other because you're a team … it's got to work as a unit out there."

After overcoming a travel delay, the Swans' senior coach arrived with two more players just before the opening bounce.

"Basically, half of our team were Moranbah girls, and then the six of them went out and gave it a crack.

"It was great, it was good community spirit, it wouldn't have happened without the co-operation of Moranbah."

Simon Pope is a freelance photographer, who lives and works in Mackay, and was there to capture the Swans' imperfect, yet inspiring, start to the season.

He also has two daughters who play for the Swans.

Simon, who began his photography journey around eight years ago, was delighted to be on hand to shoot the Swans' first game of the season … even if it was a little personnel-challenged.

"My background is mostly basketball, it's pretty controlled lighting environments, so I've definitely found AFL in comparison a huge challenge," Simon said. 

"It depends on which day you rock up to, what you're sort of dealing with, but I like to try to use the sun to my advantage and play with the contrast and stuff.  

"I like to stay on the move, sort of put myself in a position to get what I want, usually on the sunny side of the players to have the sun acting as a nice sort of light source for me."

The depleted Swans outfit didn't get a win that day, but the result was hardly the point as the two clubs came together to make sure everyone left feeling good about their experience.

But once the full Swans line-up was able to take the field from then on, they proved unstoppable.

"They just won the grand final, so apart from that game where they only had six players, they have gone undefeated all year," Lauren said.

"Most of them have juggled two sports all year because most of them play basketball as well. 

"But it's just been phenomenal to see the transfer of skills … apart from having to teach them how to kick.

"They went through one game, I think their second game or third game when they were all together, and they nearly handballed the entire field because they're so good with their hands through basketball."

Lauren, originally from Western Australia, has been delighted to help grow the game she loves in an environment with many other competing sports.

More than anything, she's thrilled to have witnessed the positive effect that playing AFL footy has had on the young ladies under her care who previously did not have that opportunity.

"I've seen their confidence grow," Lauren said. 

"It's been really great seeing a few of those quieter ones or reserved ones, who hang back, start attacking the ball or tackling, really coming out of their shell and just building confidence on the field."

Simon is delighted to have had the opportunity to capture the highs, the lows and everything in-between in a Swans season to remember.

>> See more of Simon Pope's photography HERE 

"I started out taking photos of bands, probably eight years ago, and fell in love with the candid side of things, and I think shooting sport is quite similar," Simon said.

"You don't have any control of what is happening in front of you, so you've got to put yourself in the position to get the best shot and hope for the best. 

"There's no guarantees.

"Some days you might rock up, and it's a cloudy day, and you've got to try and find something that doesn't exist, to make magic out of nothing, or the team you're shooting for might be having a bad day.  

"With sport, though, there's just so many different moments. You might walk away from a game like the girls' grand final and think, 'Yeah, that's my best shot of that'. 

"But then there's probably 10 in there that are really good.

"I just like to capture little moments for everyone because the fact that their child or they themselves are playing in the grand final, any picture of them is a good picture.

"I enjoy that challenge."

Footy Focus 26, thanks to Toyota's Good For Footy program, is now open for entries! Here's your chance to shadow and shoot with Michael Willson at a game in 2027.  We want to see your photos that capture the essence of our great game at a grassroots level. To enter, upload your best community footy photos taken during 2026 to: afl.com.au/footyfocus