A host of young and experienced Sydney Swans charges combined for a 43-point practice-match victory over GWS at Tom Wills Oval on Saturday.
Veteran on-baller Kieren Jack produced a second-consecutive stand-out performance in the Sydney Olympic Park clash, and the former co-captain pulled names like Darcy Cameron, Hayden McLean, Tom McCartin and James Rowbottom with him in the 11.13 (79) to 5.6 (36) win.
Jack, whose pre-season was hindered by a knee injury, budged last week’s 60 minutes up to 70 in Saturday’s fixture, and his trademark attack on the footy and game smarts were again on show.
Cameron and McLean worked in tandem in the ruck against Matt Flynn and imposing 172-game Giant Shane Mumford, while Cameron (two goals) and McLean (one) also proved dangerous when rotating through the forward line.
McCartin led with gusto all day, reminded the masses of his excellent contested mark and snared a pair of goals, while Rowbottom shouldered an enormous midfield workload and found plenty of the Sherrin.
Sydney development coach Jeremy Laidler was thrilled with the way his side’s fresh faces and experienced campaigners joined forces.
“Kieren went about his business as usual. Rowbottom is only a first-player but he’s playing some really strong midfield minutes, and his game is growing each week which is really pleasing,” Laidler told Swans Media.
“It was Darcy Cameron’s second game back from injury and he’s getting better and better each week. He had a really strong couple of opponents today.
“The ruck battle was great. I think they got on top of us through the clearances and hit-outs early, but I thought Darcy and Hayden then dictated terms throughout the rest of the game. You could see Mumford and Flynn getting frustrated because it was a great contest. It was like two big bulls going at it because Mumford’s quite a physical player and Darcy’s very competitive.”
New Swan Hayden McLean shovels a handball over the top.
The match saw Robbie Fox, James Rose and Jordan Dawson join Jack and Rowbottom at the centre bounce for a significant amount of time, while speedsters Ryley Stoddart, James Bell, Zac Foot and Justin McInerney took control of the wings and half-back flanks.
Although McCartin provided the primary target inside 50, first-year draftee Sam Wicks (two goals) showed promising signs as an explosive small forward.
And the Swans also stood firm in defence, with off-season recruit Jackson Thurlow, first-year Swan Harry Reynolds and Stoddart extinguishing plenty of the footy and driving hard out of the backline.
Laidler and fellow development coach Lloyd Perris have been highly impressed with Reynolds' form and willingness to learn in his early days in red and white.
Laidler said his players' attitudes to Saturday’s game were excellent.
“We don’t really look at them as practice matches because our AFL season has started,” Laidler said.
“We’re trying to get our boys fully prepared to play senior footy as quickly as we can. We haven’t taken any game lightly and we’ve tried to put things in place that hold them in good stead.”
Sydney Swans 3.2 6.4 10.7 11.13 (79)
GWS 1.0 3.1 4.3 5.6 (36)
Goals – Sydney: D Cameron 2, T McCartin 2, S Wicks 2, J Dawson, R Fox, H McLean, J Pawle, J Rose
