Sydney Swans coach John Longmire addressed the media at the SCG on Monday afternoon.
Sydney is set for a clash with Carlton at the SCG on Saturday afternoon.
Here are some key quotes from the press conference.
Kieren Jack’s NEAFL performance
“He was pretty good. He’s been building his form and fitness over the last few weeks up to a good level. They had a good win up there. It’s hard to win up there but they had a good win. I think they only had 11 AFL-listed players, so it was a good win.”
Ryley Stoddart’s AFL selection chances
“Ryley is one that we probably played in the AFL ahead of his time last year. But we’ve been able to build his body, build his strength and build his form up over the course of the pre-season and this year. He’s been reasonably consistent and has been building week in and week out. He’s getting to that point where he’s getting his confidence up. He’s absolutely in the hunt for a senior game. As with any of them, we like to give them the best opportunity to succeed. That’s what we’ve done with James Rowbottom, Jordan Dawson and a number of the others. We want to give them an opportunity to not just play but play well.”
Jarrad McVeigh’s fitness
“He was a little bit tight over the back end of last week. He still trained on Saturday but we didn’t want him to fly to Darwin for the NEAFL game. We didn’t want to put him at risk and it wasn’t worth it. But he trained again today and trained well, so that’s a good sign. We’ll sit down and talk to him today and tomorrow about his selection chances for the Carlton game, but we’re mindful that he’s missed a lot of footy this year and want to give him the best opportunity to play well when he returns.”
Ruck situation
“Hopefully Darcy Cameron will train this week but we’re yet to see it. We’re really pleased with how Aliir went on the weekend. We understand playing him in the ruck is taking away a strength of ours in his intercepting marking, but we felt his ability to get after the ball at ground level was very good. What we do with the ruck situation this week we’ll have to play as the week pans out. We want to make sure that when Darcy is right to go into the senior side he’s ready to go. He’s missed a bit of footy this year so we’ve just got to work through his program.”
Sam Naismith’s fitness
“He’s still a few weeks away from playing. He had a good, competitive training session today and he’ll do some more on Wednesday, but he’s still a few weeks away.”
Lance Franklin’s fitness
“He ran well today so that’s a good sign. There’s nothing to update on Lance other than he had a good, strong training session today.”
Carlton’s form
“The only two games they’ve lost over the last four weeks have been by a number of kicks, so they’re playing really good footy.”
Saturday afternoon footy
“It’s always a great opportunity to play afternoon footy at home. Hopefully all the families turn up. The good thing about the last time we were here in the daytime was it great for the families to get out and come to the footy, and let’s hope it’s the same this weekend.”
