Sarah Pannowitz: Swans mainstay heading to Canada for working holiday

No, the 20-year-old was as sunny as the day that greeted the Tamworth Swans and the Coffs Harbour Breakers, who played women's and men's trials at Riverside 5 on Saturday afternoon.

Pannowitz - or Panno to her mates - led the side for the first time, after the captain and vice-captain, Jess O'Brien and Madison Sharp, contracted Covid and missed the match.

They were among "four or five" Swans sidelined after testing positive for Covid, Swans coach Andrew Donohue said, in what was the team's first hitout of the year - the final score 20.16 (136) to 0.1 (1).

He said the outfit contained a number of AFL novices, while the Breakers contained several Sydney Swans signings including former Gunnedah Bulldog Alice Mitchell.

Pannowitz was an AFL novice when she laced up for the Swans in 2019, the side's foundation year; now she is one of the side's most experienced players.

Read also:

Post-match on Saturday, she revealed that she may not play for the Swans again this year.

In May, the McCarthy Catholic College alumnus will bid farewell to her family and friends and say g'day to her temporary new home, Canada, after travelling there alone.

The experienced horsewoman will work at a summer horse camp for kids at Ottawa, the job arranged through Camp Canada. She will then do some travelling, before returning home and starting a carpentry apprenticeship at Max Salter Constructions.

"I think it will be a big adventure doing it for myself," she said of the working holiday.

"I'm a good age to do it, and it's the perfect time [to travel] before I settle down into a career," she added.

Little wonder, then, that she was so upbeat: the trip of a lifetime awaits her.

She was also buoyed by the knowledge of what awaits her when she returns to Tamworth.

"I've got the Swanies family and my own family, I've got a job to come back to. I'm really super lucky, super privileged and grateful to have that security around me."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: