![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/11\/565142718_1832268037_33227.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
“We have been down and out for a long time, so the aim is to be competitive in finals and eventually win an A-grade flag,” she said.<\/p>\n
“But that’s going to take time.<\/p>\n
“We’ve recruited three players so far, but hopefully there are a few more signings to come.<\/p>\n
“Obviously, if you make your A-grade stronger, it filters down.<\/p>\n
“We pretty much finished second bottom or bottom of the ladder in most grades this year.<\/p>\n
“But with a good defender, midcourter and goal shooter coming in, we have a good skeleton from which to build.”<\/p>\n
The signing of Eliza Burge, a former Victorian representative, comes after she featured in four games for the Swans in 2025.<\/p>\n
The sisters spent the 2025 season at Riddell District League club Riddell, which finished runners-up to Woodend Hesket, whose premiership line-up included Sunbury’s Rebecca Hicks.<\/p>\n
While the young Swans team did not register a win in 2025, Nunn said plenty of progress was made as the season wore on.<\/p>\n
“There was definitely improvement; we matched sides at the end of the year and stayed with them for a half or three quarters,” she said.<\/p>\n
“Being a young group of girls \u2013 our average age was about 19 \u2013 getting a few older players with some leadership on the court is a key.<\/p>\n
“They were a ripper bunch of girls. Our culture is fantastic. If you look at the girls who are coming back, there is only about two or three out of 60 girls who are not coming back next season.<\/p>\n
“We might not have been winning much, but the culture was great.<\/p>\n
“Now with these recruits, and with a new B-grade coach coming in, I feel we are really on the rise.<\/p>\n
“A goal would be to have a few teams contesting finals.<\/p>\n
“But we are definitely heading in the right direction and getting the right people in.<\/p>\n
“It’s exciting.”<\/p>\n
A sharp rise up the BFNL ladder is not without a precedent, after Bacchus Marsh went from wooden spooners and multiple seasons without a win to being finalists in 2025 with 10 wins.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BALLARAT is hoping an influx of quality recruits can help lift the Swans up the Ballarat Football Netball League A-grade ladder. After a winless season in 2025, the Swans have been quick to bolster their playing stocks, signing Victorian Netball League-affiliated players Eliza and Xara Burge and Dakota Blade. The Burge sisters \u2013 defender Eliza […]<\/p>\n