IT COULD have been very easy for Sydney to delist Lexi Hamilton after an off-field incident resulted in charges by the NSW police and two-match suspension in 2024.
But Hamilton is a battler. The Swans stuck fat and are now being rewarded with Hamilton's resurgence as a player, in a position they most needed to fill. Now, she has earned another contract extension until the end of 2027.
"The (contract) following that incident was one of the most memorable re-signings I'll ever have. To know that the club had faith in me as a footballer, but also as a person… I could have been so easily delisted after that period. It would have been the easiest choice," Hamilton told AFL.com.au.
"But I wanted to really put my head down and work really hard and prove that wasn't something that I was going to be defined by, and I think the people I had around me and the communication, the honesty, and the transparency with the girls showed, because I re-signed not too long later.
"It's something I'm super proud of, that I was able to bounce back from that, because it's not as easy as people would expect it to be… I knew in the moment that's something that people will remember. But I had a choice, how do I want to be known moving forward?"
She is someone who has always played on the edge. Four citations from the match review officer – including two this year – are indications of the kind of footballer Hamilton is. Tough, relentless, but a little bit of a loose cannon at times. For Sydney, it has been about harnessing that energy in the right ways.
"Leading up to (Hamilton's round five suspension), I reckon any of the games prior she could have gotten suspended, and that is simply just from the way that she plays right on the line," Sydney backline coach Tanya Hetherington said.
"So, I think it was a suspension waiting to happen. Obviously, not ideal at all for the team or for her, but it's provided a really good learning opportunity for her to see that there's a real clear definition of where the line is, and in her two games since, I've clearly seen that there's a change she's made, to not tip over that and really play within that.
"Play with her aggression, because we love that about her, we never want her to lose that, but I think she understands where the line is now."
Already thin on the ground for key defenders, an ACL injury to Alice Mitchell in preseason, then to draftee Alex Neyland who was in line to replace her left the Swans scrambling for height down back.
The next choice was between bullocking midfielder Montana Ham, and Hamilton, who had spent the whole preseason training as a key forward.
They were reluctant to pull Ham out of the midfield mix, and Hamilton, at 180cm, had the height they needed. Having always been a stop-gap player, she never quite knew where she fit, but maybe now they could kill two birds with one stone. Hamilton could find a place to settle, and the Swans could enjoy some height in defence.
"I never really felt like I belonged in a certain role, I just felt like I was a fix-it for a lot of years. When (Ally Morphett) would go down, or a key forward would go out, or stuff like that, I would kind of just float between roles," Hamilton said.
"I had thought I had a massive preseason up forward. The realistic structure of a team doesn't really fall around three talls very often, so it was a battle between three of us, so there was definitely a period where I was like, 'what's my priority this year? Is it enjoying football? Is it playing? Is it just helping the next generation find their feet in the system?'"
But she wanted to play, and there was a problem in defence that Sydney needed solving. So, a week before practice matches kicked off, Hamilton knocked on head coach Colin O'Riordan's door and asked where she was going to be playing.
"He was like, 'Actually, I think we're going to play you as a defender'," Hamilton said.
She then threw herself into learning on the run. Pairing well with Hetherington – against whom Hamilton used to play – they got to work on developing her intercepting skill and defensive craft.
Hamilton now calls herself Hetherington's "protégé", having spent time with the latter when she was first Sydney's forwards coach, then midfield – when Hamilton was developing as a ruck – and now in defence, the position Hetherington played for six seasons with Greater Western Sydney.
"My relationship with Tanya is probably one of the most special… Tanya's been just an absolute rock for me over the last couple of years, and I look back to the first Sydney Derby that the Swans ever played, Tanya and I were on each other. So, she keeps showing me (photos of that) all the time," Hamilton laughed.
"It's been a really full circle moment… I've kind of followed her around by fate. She's been such a mentor for me, and seeing the type of player she was, and the career that she was able to have through all of her setbacks."
Hetherington vividly remembers what it was like to play on Hamilton back in 2022. Her aggression and physicality challenged the more docile defender.
"She was just absolutely giving it to me off the ball, and we have a good laugh about this now, considering I now coach her. But it was probably a similar thing, there were opportunities where I reckon she didn't need to be physical at certain times, and she could just go and get the ball," Hetherington explained.
"We can clearly see that is who she is, and you love that about her, because I was definitely not known to be an aggressive defender, and I love that about her because she can just play with that. But yeah, the Lexi I knew then is still the same Lexi, she's just channelled it into a more positive way."
No longer is Hamilton a fill-in, someone called upon when the first choice has gone down. She is now a key defender in her own right, and even when others make their return from injury, she will still be part of that mix.
"She's not just someone who's filling in, she's making this position her own, and she's showing that she can be an excellent key defender," Hetherington said.
"She's tall, she's agile, she's got great skills. She's making this her own and she's finally found a position that she can bed down rather than just being someone who always plays a role for the team and is ultra versatile. I think she's actually putting a stamp on it and saying, 'This is my position'."