"My immediate reaction was how am I going to tell this group of girls that I can't be out there with them?"
One of the almost unavoidable and heartbreaking truths of AFLW is the dreaded frequency of season-ending ACL injuries that punctuate the game.
Every year there are audible gasps as another player falls to the ground grasping their knee, and we all collectively hold our breath for the scan results to reaffirm our worst fears.
Round 2, unfortunately, was no exception and one of the game's brightest lights, Chloe Molloy, found herself out for the rest of the Swans' season.
Usually, the injury is difficult to hide, but co-captain Molloy and the team's coaches successfully hid the news from her teammates until after her side's loss to St Kilda on Sunday.
Chloe reported knee soreness post-training on Friday in the build up to the round, and with the club's doctor at the men's qualifying final against GWS, official confirmation of the injury wasn't received until Sunday morning.
The club ruled her out an hour before the first bounce, and denied an ACL injury until it began to be reported and they confirmed the worst, while the game was in progress.
"We just decided that we would let the players play and being the leader that she is it was really important to us to let them focus on the game and that was driven by Chloe," senior coach Scott Gowans said after the side's 16-point loss.
It begs the question though, how much information do clubs owe fans and supporters, even the media? Is it fair to hide the facts from paying members and loyal followers, particularly when the question is being asked directly?
The three-time All-Australian spoke to media following the game and admitted it was her idea to keep it from the cohort to allow them to focus on the job at hand but did have to tell the players on the bench as the news broke during the game.
"It's a bit of disbelief, you never think it's going to be you," Molloy said of her injury.
"The immediate response is you hear ACL, and you go 'wow I never thought I would have that injury'.
"I've been emotional, I've cried, I give so much to football, there are so many expectations on me that my immediate response was that I thought I had let down a lot of people.
"I guess I now look at it as an opportunity, I've got to find other ways to give, I'm a co-captain, I can't be physically out there, so I have to find other ways.
"It's a great opportunity for a young side to fill the hole that I have left in the forward 50."
The leadership skills Molloy has are widely sought after and there's no doubt this was on the forefront of her mind when wanting to keep her injury concealed until after the game, however, is it the right precedent to set in such a new league?
Transparency and fact-checking are important to establish the integrity of messaging throughout the game, and a clear line of communication between clubs, the league and the media.
Gowans said Chloe is "irreplaceable", a fair assessment judging by the fact she has booted 57 goals from 59 games in the league, and her experience and footy intel are widely lauded.
There has already been whispers of Molloy joining the coaches' box while she rides out the long months of ACL recovery ahead of her.
"We have the philosophy of the next soldier in though and that's what we will work towards but there's no getting away from it being devastating. My heart goes out to her," Gowans said.
"There's no getting away from it, it's devastating to her.
"Chloe spoke to the group straight away after the siren because we were aware that the news had got out, she spoke brilliantly in there, very composed.
"Lucy McEvoy (fellow co-captain) was standing at the back of the group, and she grabbed me on the shoulder and said, 'we've got this'.
Molloy, 25, will remain an asset to the side off-field and plans to be involved as much as possible on top of her rehabilitation, but the on-field reshuffle needed to compensate for her absence will be mammoth, their forwards will have to rally in a big way.
Rebecca Privitelli and McEvoy will be heavily relied upon in front of the goals with young star Laura Gardiner already proving she can manage things in the midfield.
In just their third season of competition and having defeated Gold Coast in an historic first ever elimination final win last year, the Swans need to keep their foot on the gas, as the expansion side hopes to level up to teams who have up to eight years of AFLW under their belt.
Hopefully they can find the silver lining in all of this and shake down the thunder from the sky.