Western Bulldogs AFLW captain Ellie Blackburn will be staying at Whitten Oval after turning down an offer from expansion club Sydney.
The Swans attempted to lure star midfielder Blackburn away from the Bulldogs for their inaugural AFLW season later this year.
But Blackburn - a 2018 premiership-winning skipper, three-time All-Australian and dual best and fairest winner - has revealed she will be remaining at the Dogs.
“To be honest, I can’t fault Sydney at all in what they’re doing,” Blackburn told Sportsday.
“Speaking openly and honestly with it all, Kate (Mahony), who’s their GM of Football up there who’s running the program, is going to do an incredible job and Scott Gowans is a great coach as well, so their program itself is going to be fantastic.
“But I think for me, I love being at the Dogs, I’m really passionate about what we’re building and what we’re creating there, so for me, it’s a great opportunity to stay at the club.
“I’m the captain of the club and I really want to drive that and be a part of success in hopefully the not-too-distant future.
“I’m really excited to stay at the Western Bulldogs and be a part of that.
“They (Sydney) put a really good offer on the table for me and showed some interest and we spoke about other things that would come into play with it all.
“But at the end of the day, I think for me it was always going to be hard to consider leaving the Dogs, and in the end, I couldn’t do it.
“I love the fact that I’m going to stay at Whitten Oval.”
Blackburn’s Dogs teammates Kirsty Lamb, Bonnie Toogood and Isabel Huntington are also the subject of reported interest from rival clubs.