The Swans played finals in their inaugural year in the AFL North West women's competition and a large chunk of those players are going around again this season.

Donohue is ready to give them more responsibility and after playing Warners Bay in a trial match on Saturday, he has a clearer idea on how to do that.

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"We have the advantage now of a good core of players who played last season and they went up against Warners Bay and saw a top quality brand of football," Donohue said.

"I've learned some stuff and now I get to play around with what I've got. We're going to set leaders in each line of the set-up who can help direct play."

Like the men's team, the Swans trial match ended in a loss but Donohue said there was plenty of positives.

"Warners Bay were a better structured team but the girls didn't give up," Donohue said of the 30-point loss.

"I had about six players that hadn't played the game before and it was about giving them a go."

Donohue also heralded the growth of Elise Daly who was named best on ground by the coach.

"She absolutely flogged it across half-back," Donohue said.

"I was probably a little hard on her last year and had her hidden away a bit but after that game in Armidale she had [last year], I just said to her to just do what she did there. She was playing on bigger, harder hitting opponents and went really well."