Yartapuulti has named an extended squad for Sunday’s Indigenous Round clash against the Giants in Canberra, with the final team to be confirmed at 4:30pm ACST on Friday. 

Co-vice-captain Sachi Syme and midfielder Piper Window have been named in the squad, with the pair in line to play their first games of the 2026 season. 

The duo has successfully rehabilitated their hamstring and foot injuries respectively, returning to full-contact training during the side’s main sessions this week ahead of the Round 3 clash. 

Syme has been named in the backline alongside fellow co-vice-captain Amelie Borg, Teagan Germech, Olivia Crane and Cheyenne Hammond, while Window has been named in the midfield.  

Gemma Houghton, a proud Yindjibarndi woman, has also been named to feature in the forward line during the league’s annual Indigenous Round. 

It is fitting given the last time Houghton faced the Giants, in Round 12 of the 2025 season, she became the first player in AFLW history to kick 100 goals in a memorable after-the-siren moment. 

Houghton will be joined up forward by Justine Mules-Robinson, Katelyn Pope, Lauren Young and Indy Tahau. 

Ebony O’Dea, Shineah Goody, Abbey Dowrick, Molly Brooksby, Emily Elkington, Sophie Eaton, Grace Parsons and Julia Teakle have been named on the extended bench, with this list to be trimmed to five when the final team is confirmed at 4:30pm ACST on Friday. 

Should Parsons be named in the final side, the injury replacement player will make her AFLW debut in the nation’s capital, while Teakle would play her first game of the season. 

In celebration of the league’s Indigenous Round, Yartapuulti will proudly wear its First Nations guernsey, designed by Kaurna Elder and former player Uncle Mickey Kumatpi O’Brien. 

As a reflection and symbol of club connection and unity, Yartapuulti has worn the same guernsey across both its Sir Doug Nicholls Round and AFLW Indigenous Round campaigns for the second consecutive year.