EXPLOSIVE almost does not begin to cut it when it comes to Swan Districts small forward Sienna Gerardi. The eye-catching talent lit up the AFLW Under 16s Championships a couple of years ago, and was able to step in for a game at Under 18s level in 2024, with the hope to further grow in 2025.

SIENNA GERARDI PROFILE

DOB: 16/10/2007
Height: 163cm
Position: Forward
Club: Swan Districts

West Australian Female Talent Manager Trent Cooper says:

“Sienna’s at the moment more focused on the basketball side of things so similar to Alira Fotu, hopefully we get to see a lot more of her once that basketball season has finished. But really excitement small forward who can play on a wing with that elite speed.”

SUMMARY

Gerardi is not just a talented footballer, but basketballer as well. While not tall, her spacial awareness and ability to evade opponents and then leave them in her dust which has no doubt helped from being on the basketball court, is evident from the way she goes about it. Her work at ground level and smarts close to goal are fantastic, and while at the national championships a couple of years back could have made more of her chances, showed more than enough to suggest she has plenty of potential for the future.

The Swan Districts top-age made her League debut for the black and whites last year, playing seven games and averaging a goal per match from 8.6 disposals and 1.0 tackles per game, as well as 2.5 inside 50s. While predominantly a small forward, Gerardi does have the capacity to play further afield on the wing. Those outside roles suit the lighter bodied forward, but her strength is when she gets goalside because it is game over for opposition defenders.

Heading into 2025, Gerardi will aim to build on her game to round it out and become a more complete player. Her traits show that she can impact games in the forward half of the ground and when given any look inside 50 she can do some serious damage. With time and development, Gerardi will only get better which is why she features in our WAFL Women’s countdown of top-agers to watch.