The 250-game milestone of a former Sydney Swans co-captain is among the latest edition of Hot Topics ahead of Saturday night’s clash with Richmond at Marvel Stadium.
A brewing rivalry
Sydney’s rivalries with GWS, Hawthorn and West Coast have long drawn plenty of hype, but one unheralded feud continuing to build is that between the Swans and Tigers. The last eight Sydney-Richmond encounters are split down the middle, with both clubs having won four games each since Round 18, 2013. The Swans lay claim to an average winning margin of 45 points in that period and the Tigers 12, while Richmond clinched a 26-point victory when the clubs last met in Round 15, 2018.
Swans eye the winners’ list
The Swans have their sights firmly fixed on responding to last Thursday night’s 22-point loss to Melbourne at the SCG. The defeat means Sydney now sits in 15th place with one win and three losses beside its name. Sydney coach John Longmire said on Monday the clash with the Demons was a snapshot of the Swans’ start to the season, which he conceded had been hampered by inconsistency “in all areas of our game”. Another match, and thus another opportunity to kick-start momentum, now awaits.
Jack to notch 250th
Spirited Sydney veteran Kieren Jack will again bring to light an astounding journey from rookie-listed Swan to great of the game when he soldiers up the race for his 250th match. The 31-year-old took up Australian rules football at the late age of 15 after abandoning a rugby league rise earmarked for stardom. He was then drafted to Sydney as a rookie in 2005, but even that was a breakthrough shrouded in doubt, with many believing he was too small and not talented enough to become a force in the AFL. But after tackling a one-year apprenticeship in the reserves competition, Jack would go on to win the Swans’ 2008 Rising Star honour, claim a Bob Skilton Medal (2010), win a premiership in 2012, don an All Australian blazer (2013) and co-captain the Swans alongside Jarrad McVeigh (2013-2016). He has played the 10th-most games competition-wide of players who began their careers as rookies, with Heath Grundy (256 matches) the only Swan higher on the list.
Kieren Jack searching for a teammate.
Rampe v Lynch
Two All Australian stars will lock horns as Sydney defender Dane Rampe and Richmond forward Tom Lynch engage in a highly anticipated one-on-one battle. Rampe has long been assigned to shadowing the opposition’s most dominant key forward – and with triple Coleman Medallist Jack Riewoldt sidelined, Lynch looms as the Tigers’ go-to man. Lynch has booted 16 goals across four games since jumping ship from the Gold Coast Suns during the off-season, including six majors in his side’s win over Port Adelaide last week. Rampe is now set for arguably his most challenging test of the season since facing Adelaide’s Taylor Walker in Round 2.
Young guns set for battle
Some of the brightest young stars in the competition will descend on Marvel Stadium as names like Sydney’s Tom Papley, Oliver Florent, Aliir Aliir and Zak Jones do battle with the likes of Jason Castagna, Daniel Rioli, Jack Higgins and Sydney Stack. Florent gathered 25 possessions and two goals in a sparkling display against the Demons last Thursday, and he said earlier this week he’d relish the chance to suit up against the star young Tigers.
