A trip to Tasmania headlines the latest instalment of Hot Topics as the Sydney Swans get set to face North Melbourne at Blundstone Arena on Saturday night.
Tassie trip
The Swans will head to Tasmania for just the fourth time in history on Saturday night. It will mark their third visit to Hobart's Blundstone Arena after having defeated North Melbourne by 39 points in Round 3, 2013 and by nine points in Round 22, 2016, in front of an average crowd of 14,859. Blossoming Sydney midfielder Oliver Florent has told SwansTV the team is “eager” to again square off with the Roos in front of the Swans’ Tasmania-based fans.
An eye on back-to-back wins
Sydney will be on the hunt for a second-straight win after pipping Essendon by five points at the SCG last Friday. The result means the 16th-placed Swans are heading into Saturday’s match against the Roos with two wins and six losses beside their name. Sydney co-captain Luke Parker told Melbourne radio station SEN on Saturday the Swans had set their sights on winning every one of their remaining four games before their Round 13 bye – and the month-long mission will begin at Blundstone Arena against the Roos.
Glowing record against Roos
The Swans have won four of their last five games against the Roos in a dominant period stretching back to Round 10, 2016. Sydney has beaten North Melbourne by an average of 21 points per match in that time, with its 42-point victory at Docklands Stadium in Round 8, 2017 the biggest of the lot.
Last time they met
Star Sydney defender Aliir Aliir sealed a thrilling six-point victory when the Swans and Roos last met, roaming forward to thread a goal on the run with less than two minutes remaining in the game. In a seesawing encounter at Docklands Stadium in Round 17 last season, the Roos led at quarter-time, the Swans at the long break and the home side at three-quarter time, before Sydney stole victory at the death. Explosive small forward Ben Ronke collected five goals from 16 disposals to earn two Brownlow Medal votes, while star teammate Lance Franklin became just the ninth player in history to boot 900 career goals.
