Sydney Swans v Melbourne – Round Twelve
Saturday June 4, 7:25pm AEST

INS: Joel Amartey, Robbie Fox, Nick Blakey
OUTS: Lance Franklin, Braeden Campbell, Matt Roberts

The Sydney Swans have made three changes to the team ahead of their Round 12 fixture against Melbourne at the MCG on Saturday night.

Nick Blakey, Robbie Fox and Joel Amartey will come into the side. Lance Franklin will miss out due to a one match suspension, while Matt Roberts and Braeden Campbell also won’t feature.

“We get Nick Blakey back who was sick last week, and he’s a really important player for us,” said senior coach John Longmire.

“Robbie Fox was our medical sub last week but didn’t get used, he comes back into the team. With Lance out, we’ve got Joel Amartey coming into the side to play that forward ruck type role for us.”

Despite the loss of Franklin, Longmire is confident the team have the depth to still deliver points on the scoreboard.

“Lance is a star player, you don’t look to replace those type of players. In a role sense we still feel like we have some options in that front half that can hit the scoreboard and other players take other roles. It’s really important to look at the combined impact of our team, not just with Lance out of the team, we like to have various options going forward to score.”

The Swans dug deep to claim victory over Richmond last week, and Longmire admits they’ll need to do the same again when they take on the Demons on their home deck at the MCG.

“We know that Melbourne will be really fired up, they’re contested ball is really strong. We played some good footy last week in the second half, but still need to be mindful that particularly in that second quarter we need to be stronger for a bit longer, particularly against some of the best teams going round at the moment. We took some confidence out of that last half last week certainly. Our guys kept on trying, and kept pushing away and playing in front of a big crowd in a high pressure game, we expect the same this week”

Players will don famous red-V guernseys for the occasion, as the club celebrates its proud history during Heritage Week.

“Our players love the Heritage Guernsey, and to be able to run out in it in front of our South Melbourne fans in Heritage week is a really special.”

Get all the important information in our Match Day Hub ahead of Round 12 where we will celebrate our South Melbourne heritage.

ROUND 12 - Sydney Swans v Melbourne, MCG - Saturday, June 4, 2022.