North Melbourne has made two changes to its VFLW side ahead of its venture into New South Wales on Saturday.

The Roos head to Sydney's home deck of Henson Park following their first loss of the season last weekend, with a late Casey goal leaving North Melbourne with a 2-1 record.

The Swans played their first game of the 2024 season last Saturday against the Western Bulldogs, powering to a 62-point win.

Irishwoman Grainne McLaughlin has been chosen to make her VFLW debut, while Annaleise Xanthos joins her in the line-up for her first game of the year.

Small forward Felicity Theodore and defender Amanda Ling are both unavailable and will miss the trip to Sydney.

Bouncedown on Saturday is scheduled for 1.05pm AEST.

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Round 4

Saturday, April 13
Sydney v North Melbourne at Henson Park, 1.05pm AEST

The travelling Roos had a tough outing on Saturday afternoon, being dealt their second loss of the season at the hands of the Swans, who claimed a 17.12 (114) to 4.1 (25) win at Henson Park. 

A strong Sydney outfit - that consisted of 19 AFLW-listed players - quickly unravelled North Melbourne, led by the likes of Chloe Molloy, Laura Gardiner, and Montana Ham.

From the moment the ball was bounced in the first quarter, Sydney took control and kicked the game's first three goals in under five minutes as the difference in experience began to show.

SWANS v KANGAROOS Full match coverage and stats

Sydney's early run of majors was halted by the forward craft of Nyakoat Dojiok, though, who cut through the opposition to get the ball close to the goal line, before Renee Tierney (one goal, 13 disposals, three marks) slotted it off the deck to register North Melbourne’s first major of the game.

However, the home side responded promptly and would continue to keep the scoreboard ticking over, despite the Roos managing to goal once in every quarter.

"It's a fantastic learning experience for our girls, we'll take a lot out of it as a team, but also as individuals as well," VFLW coach Brett Gourley told NMFC Media.

"A lot of our girls (will) hopefully learn a little bit more about what it takes to get to the next level and the effort and the work rate that's required to play AFLW.

"All the players in our group today would have learnt something as individuals."

Defender Nicole Hales did her best on a difficult day for the Roos' backline. She recorded four marks and two tackles and led the way in terms of disposals for her team with 21. 

Dojiok battled hard throughout the contest and added to her growing season tally with two goals for the game. She's now booted seven in total for the campaign.

"I think that we've got a really talented forward line, unfortunately, we just weren't able to get it in there enough and give our forwards enough opportunity," Gourley said.

"We turned it over a little bit too much through the middle of the ground, and Sydney being a really quality team was able to pounce on our mistakes and make us pay.

"When we got it in (the forward line) I felt like we looked dangerous and we were able to get them out the back a couple of times, and 'Nykey' (Dojiok) kicked a couple, could've almost been three, but we just didn't have it done in our forward line anywhere near enough today."

Fighting with her was Tahlia Meier who notched 12 disposals, four marks and three clearances, while Brooke Sheridan slotted a well taken set shot in the fourth quarter after winning a free kick off the back of some forward line pressure.

"There was areas where we wanted to improve today and focus on and Sydney to their credit made it really difficult for us to play the way we wanted to play," Gourley said.

"But we'll keep working on things, we'll get back to training this week and continue to improve and look forward to the challenge against Box Hill next week."

SYDNEY SWANS     6.2    9.4    13.10    17.12  (114)     
NORTH MELBOURNE    1.0    2.1    3.1    4.1  (25)     

GOALS
Sydney Swans: Smith 3, C Hamilton 3, Molloy 2, Bailey 2, Whelan, Kennedy, Hillier, A Hamilton, Gardiner, Cooper, Beruldsen
North Melbourne: Dojiok 2, Tierney, Sheridan

BEST
North Melbourne: Hales, Meier, Dojiok, Tierney, Jackson, Paterno