Swans On Screen
HISTORY IN RED AND WHITE
2026 RFNL SEASON
Round 1-9 Round 10-18 Final Series
COMINGS AND GOINGS FOR 2026
In: Nathan Richards and Jack Rowston (Corowa- Rutherglen),
Out: Bailey Morrissey and Lachlan Wallace (Barellan United),
CHANGING OF THE GUARD - By Jimmy Meiklejohn
GRIFFITH has unveiled a changing of the guard for their premiership defence, with Jenna Richards stepping up as A Grade netball coach for next season. Richards takes over the role from Joh Munro, who is expected to take a back step from her playing and coaching duties.
Under Munro's tutelage, Richards has become one of the top players in the Riverina League competition, her status confirmed after receiving the A Grade Best and Fairest Medal in 2024.
Having now reached the pinnacle after tasting premiership glory, Richards said she was looking forward to her newest challenge. "It's very exciting," Richards said. "It's very new to me, but I am very excited and very lucky to even be approached for the role."
Richards said it was revealed internally during the season that Munro would be finishing up as coach at the conclusion of the year.
With a few more departures likely, Richards said she was approached about her thoughts about taking on the role.
"She let us know about mid-way through the season that this would be her last year," she said. "She's not fully leaving, but someone else still needed to be coming on as coach. "After winning the premiership after falling short in their previous two grand final appearances.
Given Munro's impact on the netball program at Griffith, Richards agreed it was a great way to pay the departing coach back for all her efforts over the past couple of seasons.
"It's still honestly the best feeling," she said. I think it felt better after the last two, last year, especially being the most painful with the extra-time loss. "She has done so much for the netball program within our club and has placed a role in the rise of not only our A Grade team. but all the grades. "To get the win for her was so good."
It has been a busy year for Richards as she juggled her commitments for Griffith alongside playing in the Netball NSW Premier League Under 23's competition with GWS Fury.
Richards said she enjoyed the experience of playing in Sydney, noting it was good to test herself against some of the best young players in the state. It was good experience been able to play against the level of girls up there," she said. "I also got to play a game in the open's as well, which was really good.
"Being able to test yourself against girls who are in the state teams and Aussie squads and being able to compete, shows just how strong netball out in the country is in comparison.
Richards was expecting to field a different look side next season, confirming a few departures from their premiership side, which includes best and fairest winner Brooke Buckley. who has joined Erna Hawks for the 2026 Netball NSW Premier League season.
"Our team will look very different on paper," she said. "We've got a few girls who are going to university and a couple moving away.
"A Reserve was really strong this year, and there's a lot of youth in the team that is getting better every year. "I just want it to be an enjoyable year. Wins art great, but we're going to have a very different side. "I just want to have some fun, and I've got some big shoes to fill, obviously taking on the role from Joh, but I'm really excited and ready to get into it." Source - The Area News, Saturday November 22, 2025.
A ROUSING RECEPTION FOR ROWSTON - By Jimmy Meiklejohn
JACK Rowston is excited to be taking over as senior coach upon his return to Griffith for the 2026 Riverina League season.
Rowston returns home for the Swans after a stellar season playing in the Ovens and Murray League competition with Corowa-Rutherglen, which saw him crowned club best and fairest.
Already a best and fairest winner and former captain at his junior club, Rowston said he was excited ahead of his next big challenge.
"Being a club junior, it's a privilege to be able to coach the senior side of the club," Rowston said. "I'm looking forward to it."
First announced as returning in a playing capacity alongside Nathan Richards, Rowston's appointment as coach wasn't unveiled until roughly a month later.
Rowston revealed that taking over as senior coach wasn't initially in his plans when he decided to make the move home.
"I was mainly coming back from Corowa for work commitments," he said. "That was the main reason why I came back, and I was just going to come back and also play footy for the club. "But then they reached out to me about it.
"Fifty (Greg Dreyer) had been doing it for a while, and they were looking for someone else to take on the role.
"It only probably came about in the last few weeks. It wasn't the initial plan at all after leaving Corowa."
Rowston was full of praise Corowa, saying that he was welcomed at the Roos with open arms from everyone at John Foord Oval.
"I loved my time at Corowa," he said. "They're an awesome footy club and it's full of great people, they brought me in and accepted me.
"It was a hard decision to leave the club, but with the work commitments, they were very understanding. "They've got some awesome people down there, like Beau Longmire and Daryn Cresswell, who both looked after me and enable me to play some of my best footy.
"It was nice to repay them by playing some good footy, and I can't speak more highly of the Corowa footy club."
Rowston will head up a new-look senior coaching lineup, which will see longtime teammates in Richards and Sam Foley serve under him as assistant coaches.
Having grown up playing alongside the duo, Rowston said he was looking forward to working closely with the pair next season.
"I'm very good mates with these two boys," he said. "We've played a heap of footy together. When I spoke to them about potentially taking on this role, they both said straight away that they'd be there to help me out.
"It feels that even though I've got the title as head coach, there will definitely be a group of us that will be helping out."
The Swans are coming off a tough season, which saw then record just two victories as they finished eighth on the ladder.
Rowston said he was not expecting as overnight transformation; instead, he declared that they would be just looking for small wins. "Enthusiasm and improvement are all you can really ask for," he said.
"They obviously had a pretty rough year, and it's hard to jump back up the ladder straightaway. "I think the year is going to be about getting everyone keen for footy again with a new coaching group and getting everyone's interest back up.
"We want to improve. With only two wins last year, we just want to see the local blokes enjoy their footy, and hopefully, we can secure a couple more wins. "We're not putting too much expectation on it."
Rowston wanted to thank outgoing coach Greg Dreyer for his efforts over the past five seasons, especially for the work he put in during the tough 2025 campaign, which was, results-wise, a challenging year for the club. "He's done an awesome job," he said.
"Especially last year, as he was pretty much ran the whole footy club single-handedly. "He did an awesome job getting the club in a good spot." Source -The Daily Advertiser, Thursday November 13, 2025.