The Sydney Swans will face the GWS Giants in the Sydney Derby on Sunday July 18 at Metricon Stadium, commencing at 6.10pm. 

Out of caution to the unfolding COVID-19 situation in Victoria, the Club agreed on Wednesday evening to relocate from Melbourne to Brisbane at short notice.

Sydney have named an unchanged team to face the GWS Giants in Sydney Derby XXI on Sunday evening.

The Swans have recorded impressive back-to-back victories in the last fortnight with a 92-point win over West Coast in Round 16 and a 19-point win against the Western Bulldogs last week in Round 17.

On the other hand, the Giants have made four changes to their side that suffered a one-point defeat to the Gold Coast Suns last week.

Stephen Coniglio returns for the clash, along with Matt Flynn who replaces an injured Shane Mumford.

Jeremy Finlayson retains his spot in the side in place of injured Lachie Whitfield (concussion) with Xavier O’Halloran named in their starting 22.

Sunday's Round 18 match will be the 21st edition of the Sydney Derby with the teams to play for the Sydney Derby Cup, with the player judged best on ground awarded the Brett Kirk Medal.

The match will be broadcast live on the Seven Network into New South Wales and the ACT and nationally on Foxtel and Kayo.

STATS

The Swans are coming off back to back victories over West Coast and the Western Bulldogs in the past fortnight. Sydney currently sit sixth on the ladder, with 10 wins this season, and three from their last five games.

The Giants are coming off  a one-point defeat to the Suns last week. They sit 11^th on the ladder, with seven wins this season. They have two wins, one draw and two losses in their last five games.

The Swans and Giants recent record favours GWS, claiming four wins from the past five games, including a two point victory earlier this season. However Sydney claim the overall head to head record with twelve wins to eight.

Click here to view all the Sydney Derby stats.

 KEY QUOTES

JOHN LONGMIRE

"I got a phone call on Tuesday night that said we needed to be in the hotel lobby at 6am the next morning because we are going to Queensland so trying to organise a squad of 43-players and our staff at late notice was a bit of a challenge but we managed to get that done,” Longmire said about the preparation.

"Ideally we would be at home with our family and loved ones in front of our Sydney supporters, but the benefit of being down in Victoria is that we have been able to connect with a lot of people that missed a lot of footy last year." Longmire said on the support around the country.

"To be able to play some games in front of them, and feel their support come through, was really special for the footy club. Whilst we are not playing there, we still understand their support is really strong all over the country, and it's so important for us as a team, when we have challenges on the road and away from our families, to be able to understand our supporters and members are right behind us and that means a lot to us"

"It went down to the last minute last time. We did a bit right but we didn't get the last minute right at all so we need to make sure we deal with that a bit better," Longmire said on the last time we met.

"But we understand each other, we play each other a lot. They have some great players and are going through some similar challenges to what we are going through but we are looking forward to that game."

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Lance Franklin has helped lift Sydney to a stunning come-from-behind 26-point win over Greater Western Sydney in a fixture where eight players were unavailable due to coronavirus protocols.

The Swans trailed by 35 early in the second quarter but came to life leading into half-time in the derby at Gold Coast's Metricon Stadium on Sunday night.

After a quiet first half, Franklin finished with four goals, which included his 400th for the Swans, in the 15.8 (98) to 11.6 (72) victory.

He played a leading hand in the turnaround and capitalised as the Sydney midfield began to find its groove.

The Swans put together a run of nine goals, including six unanswered in the third term, to ultimately quash the Giants' hopes of jumping into the top eight.

Callum Mills, Harry Cunningham and Colin O'Riordan (Sydney) and Toby Greene and Matt de Boer (GWS) were forced to pull out less than an hour before the first bounce after the Victorian Government upgraded their COVID-19 exposure sites.

Unselected Giants Kieren Briggs and Jake Stein and Sydney ruckman Callum Sinclair are also isolating.

The group were among 15 players and staff from both clubs who attended the Wallabies' match in Melbourne on Tuesday and were in an area of AAMI Park that was reclassified as Tier 2 exposure.

They are all in quarantine under Queensland health department requirements until further notice.

The Giants’ woes were further compounded with injuries to Josh Kelly (ankle) and ruckman Matt Flynn, who left the field on two occasions after appearing to dislocate his shoulder twice.

Sydney has now notched three wins in a row and is sixth on the ladder, while GWS sits in 12th position, two points outside the top eight.

Tom Papley also finished with four majors for the Swans, while teammate Luke Parker was atop the match possession count with 31.

Remarkably, Sydney kicked 12 of the last 14 goals.

The Giants came flying out of the blocks against a sluggish opposition, kicking six first-quarter goals to open up a 37-8 lead at the end of the opening term.

They stretched the lead to 50-16 midway through the second quarter before the Swans scored three straight to reduce the margin to 56-40 at the main break.

Harry Himmelberg had a strong game for GWS with three goals.

The 21st Sydney derby was originally scheduled for Giants Stadium and was then moved to Ballarat before being shifted to the Sunshine State.

Luke Parker (9 votes) was judged best on ground and claimed his third Brett Kirk medal. Josh Kennedy, Tom Papley, Tom Hickey and George Hewett picked up two votes and Lance Franklin 1 vote.

Paps puts on a show and pleases himself
Tom Papley seemed inspired by the Euro 2020 football tournament early in the match, as he kicked two first-half goals with deft kicks off the ground, but he reminded us in the last term that he has also mastered the oval-shaped Sherrin. When Lance Franklin gave the ball a subtle tap out of a marking contest, Papley timed his run perfectly to gather it off hands while running toward the boundary, then dropped the ball onto his right boot to dribble it across his body and through for a goal. The clever small forward looked as impressed as anyone as he turned to celebrate with his teammates.

Franklin fires up the Swans after slow start
The Giants are one of the many clubs that Lance Franklin has tormented throughout his career and he has the most goals (36) and the equal most Brett Kirk medals (three) in Sydney derbies. Franklin earned his third of those best-on-ground medals with five goals when the clubs met in round five this year, despite the Swans giving up a late lead to lose by two points. Giants full-back Sam Taylor looked to have turned the tables this time when he held Franklin to only two kicks and no score in the first half, but the modern-day great burst into life after half-time, kicking three goals in the third term to spark the Swans to overrun the Giants.

GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY   6.1       9.2       9.5       11.6 (72) 
SYDNEY                                      1.2       6.4       12.6      15.8 (98)

GOALS
Greater Western Sydney: Himmelberg 3, Hogan 2, Lloyd 2, Bruhn, Kennedy, Perryman, Finlayson
Sydney: Papley 4, Franklin 4, McInerney 2, Wicks 2, Parker, Hickey, Hayward,

BEST
Greater Western Sydney: Taranto, Hopper, Perryman, Kelly, Coniglio, Himmelberg
Sydney: Kennedy, Parker, Papley, Hewett, Franklin, McInerney, Hickey

INJURIES
Greater Western Sydney: Kelly (right ankle), Flynn (dislocated shoulder)
Sydney: Nil

LATE CHANGES
Greater Western Sydney: Greene (isolating) replaced in selected side by Bruhn, de Boer (isolating) replaced in selected side by Sproule
Sydney: Mills (isolating) replaced in selected side by Rowbottom, Cunningham (isolating) replaced in selected side by Stephens, O'Riordan (isolating) replaced in selected side by Ronke

SUBSTITUTES
Greater Western Sydney: Sproule (replaced Kelly)
Sydney: Ronke (unused) 

Crowd: TBC at Metricon Stadium