The Sydney Swans’ clash with the Brisbane Lions at Blacktown International Sports Park is brimming with Hot Topics.
The Swans last week enjoyed a bye and are now faced with a giant test on Saturday as they restart the engine for a massive back end of the season.
Ready to rumble off the back of a bye
The Swans were one of four teams to enjoy a Round 13 bye and promise to be raring to go for the massive Lions clash. It was the Swans’ second bye of the season after a Round 4 break and promises to have recharged the batteries ahead of a push toward the finals. Sydney bagged a 67-point win over Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium in its most recent outing to pencil in a sixth-consecutive victory. The Swans sit in fourth on the ladder ahead of the duel with the Lions and are set for a testing run of games, with matches with GWS, the Northern Territory and Gold Coast following the Round 13 fixture.
AFL hopefuls collide
The Swans always relish a chance to test themselves against a pool of AFL-listed talent. Brisbane, Gold Coast, GWS and Sydney all play in the NEAFL and a host of stars pushing for AFL selection raise the standard of the 10-team competition. The likes of star Swans Nic Newman, Ryley Stoddart, Darcy Cameron and Colin O’Riordan will again be out to press their AFL claims and a clash with a number of Suns on the verge of senior call-ups will present a litmus test. Cameron played his best game of the season in the Swans’ win over the Suns, raking in 26 possessions, 33 hit-outs, 12 marks and three goals to mount a strong push for an AFL debut. Development coach Tadhg Kennelly had touted Gold Coast big men Peter Wright and Brayden Crossley as “genuine AFL ruckmen” ahead of the game, but Cameron held his own in the giant stoush. The 204-centimetre behemoth is set for another weighted assignment in a clash with star Lion Archie Smith, who played nine senior games across 2016 and 2017.
A rivalry bubbling with heat
The Swans and Lions are locked in the fiercest NEAFL rivalry in recent memory. Brisbane last year claimed the four points in two regular-season games and Sydney in one, before the Lions scrounged a heart-stopping one-point victory in the 2017 grand final. They have met twice in 2018 and ahead of Saturday lay claim to a win each, Brisbane having collected a 50-point victory in Round 2 and Sydney a 16-point win in Round 8. Both teams are deeply entrenched in the race for a finals berth ahead of Round 13, with the Swans placed fourth and the sixth-placed Lions sitting just one win behind.
