Sydney Swans coach John Longmire says his team will relish the chance to face “the benchmark team” in a clash with the Geelong Cats on Sunday afternoon.
Geelong beat Melbourne in Round 2 to climb to first place on the ladder and has remained on the top rung ever since.
Both the Swans and Cats will be on the hunt for a return to the winners’ column in Sunday’s SCG clash, and Longmire said his side would thrive on the challenge of meeting a team with 13 wins and four losses pencilled in.
“We come up against the best team in the competition this week and it’s a fantastic opportunity,” Longmire said.
“We look forward to playing the Cats here. They’re obviously the benchmark team this year and a great measuring tool.”
Longmire is likely to again opt for rookie-listed ruckman Hayden McLean after the 20-year-old carved out an impressive AFL debut in Saturday’s match against Fremantle.
The club’s primary ruckman, Sam Naismith, will be available for selection this week, although he 206-centimetre giant is expected to return from his long-term knee injury via the NEAFL.
And in further news on the ruck front, Callum Sinclair on Monday underwent season-ending surgery on the shoulder he dislocated in Round 15.
Longmire said McLean had “a real crack” in his first game on Saturday, which saw the pre-season recruit face towering trio Sean Darcy, Rory Lobb and – in the most formidable challenge of the lot – 211-centimetre Docker Aaron Sandilands.
McLean finished the night with 13 disposals, 16 hit-outs and eight tackles and, if selected, will square off with big-framed Cat Rhys Stanley on Sunday.
“It’s not often that you play your first game against three genuine rucks and one being Aaron Sandilands. It was a big ask of him but he really had a go,” Longmire said.
“What we ask of our first-gamers is for them to have a go and we thought he had a go. We had three blokes in their first year of AFL footy play on the weekend and Hayden had a real crack.
“I’m on the record saying we’d like to keep Aliir Aliir back and Sam Reid forward. We just want a really competitive effort in the ruck and who that comes from over the remaining rounds of the season we’ll see.”
