The Sydney Swans face Fremantle this Sunday afternoon at Metricon Stadium in their Round 19 fixture.
The fixture was originally scheduled to be played at Geelong’s GMHBA Stadium but has been relocated due to the team’s move from Melbourne to Queensland out of caution to the unfolding COVID-19 situation in Victoria.
Sam Reid returns to the side for the first time since Round 6 after a calf injury saw him sidelined for the past few months, whilst Ben Ronke makes his first appearance for the year after being the med-sub last week.
Reid and Ronke return with Joel Amartey and Dylan Stephens omitted.
Fremantle have made four changes to their side that suffered a 69-point defeat to Geelong last week.
Key forward Matt Taberner, defender Hayden Young and ruck Lloyd Meek have come into the starting 22, as has defender Brandon Walker, who played against Geelong as a medical sub.
They replace the injured Rory Lobb (ankle) and Sam Switkowski (hamstring) as well as omissions Blake Acres and Ethan Hughes.
WHERE TO WATCH
The match will be broadcast live by the Seven Network into New South Wales and the ACT and nationally on Foxtel and Kayo.
Follow via our social channels @sydneyswans on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
RED DAY
The annual Swans Red Day will take place this weekend as we celebrate our 21-year partnership with major charity partner Redkite.
This Red Day, the Sydney Swans are showing children with cancer we're on their team! We have been on Redkite’s team for 21 years, supporting children and families affected by childhood cancer and we are asking our footy family to stand with us and show children with cancer we’re on their team.
We are encouraging our footy family to show their support by donating online today.
Click here for more information on Red Day.
STATS
Sydney enters this clash off the back of three consecutive wins in the past month over West Coast, the Western Bulldogs and GWS. The side sits sixth on the ladder with 11 wins this season.
Fremantle will be looking to rebound from last week’s loss in hopes to improve on their 10th place on the ladder. They have eight wins this season with three in the last five weeks.
Fremantle hold the recent head to head advantage, with three wins in the last five games including a two point thriller at Optus Stadium earlier this season.
Sydney were last victorious over Fremantle in 2018.
KEY QUOTES
John Longmire
“It's good to have Sam back. He has proved to be a handy player for us over a long time and he was playing some really good footy for us at the start of the year," Longmire said.
“He has been back for a few weeks now and got some games under his belt so it’s good to get him back in the team.”
"Ben Ronke is a player who has had some terrible runs with injury. Last year in particular, he wasn’t able to get out there very much at all and this year, he has had a few hiccups but he has been back playing for a couple of weeks now and he gives us great pressure, run, speed and hardness so he will play an important role for us." he added.
“The victories have been good, and the other game (against Port Adelaide) we were beaten in the last five minutes as well, so we have been pretty pleased with how it has been going, but we didn’t get off to a good start last week," Longmire said.
“We need to get off to a better start this week because we know that Fremantle will come across throwing everything at this game, as will we.
"We are looking to have a really consistent four quarter effort. It’s pretty basic but that’s what we are after. We are trying to continue to build on that real pressure footy that we like to play."
SOCIAL MEDIA
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