The Sydney Swans VFL side have secured a pre-season win to kick off the year, bringing down the GWS Giants in a modified practice match at Tramway Oval. Players were forced to battle wet and slippery conditions for three 25-minute quarters ending in a 6.3.39 to 3.6.24 scoreline.
New VFL head coach Jarrad McVeigh told Sydney Swans Media that despite a slow start, he was pleased with the team’s efforts.
“It was tough conditions for the boys out there which wasn’t ideal,” McVeigh admitted.
“Coming off the senior game we wanted to get our structure right, our contest around the ball and then a bit of the way we defend.”
Nic Shipley kicked the side’s first and only goal for the first term with the red and white trailing by 13 points at quarter-time.
2024 draftee Ned Bowman notched his first major in red and white early in the second term, followed by a mark and set shot from Hayden McLean.
“It was just our communication around the field and, you know, just trying to amalgamate our VFL players and our AFL,” he added.
“They haven't had a super amount of time together, so we were just trying to work on that. And, you know, a lot of young guys in their first game.”
The side featured a handful of 2024 AFL draftees including the aforementioned Bowman, Riak Andrew, Blake Leidler and Riley Bice. Tom Hanily who was recruited to the club mid-season last year played in both the AFL and VFL squad.
Thanks to a strong defensive outfit the Swans kept the Giants to just two more behinds across two terms. A further three Swans goals came from Jordan Endemann, Tom Hitchens and Robbie Fox.
“Robbie Fox was an absolute standout as well as Hayden McLean. Obviously when experienced players come on, they really helped. Some of the young guys including Tidemann and Hitchens played a pretty good game.”
The VFL side will travel to Queensland next Friday for another pre-season clash with the Gold Coast Suns. The reserves side will appear at People First Stadium from 9:00am before the seniors run out at 7:10pm.
“[This week] we’ll focus on our team defence and structure. We haven’t done too much on it yet. We’ve tried to focus on our fundamentals as a VFL group.”
