Star Sydney Swans trio Darcy Cameron, Robbie Fox and Harry Marsh will return to the NEAFL for a curtain-raiser clash with the Brisbane Lions at the SCG on Saturday afternoon.
Cameron will take control of Sydney’s ruck reigns as Fox bolsters the Swans in the midfield and forward line, while Marsh will line up in defence as the NEAFL match brings in the senior side’s showdown with Collingwood.
Cameron made his AFL debut in Sydney’s recent battle with the Gold Coast Suns and will have his sights firmly fixed on staking his claim for a senior recall, while Fox will slot back in off the back of four consecutive games in the big time.
Marsh played senior football in the recent clashes with North Melbourne and Gold Coast and shapes as a key inclusion for Sydney’s NEAFL side, with his ability to play on key and small forwards and clean ball movement off half-back throwing up big positives.
Dean Towers and Ryley Stoddart will be on the hunt for AFL call-ups of their own as the Swans, fresh off a bye after losing to the Suns at the SCG, eye a return to the winners’ column in the Round 18 contest.
Development coach Jeremy Laidler said those on the verge of AFL selection would jump at the chance to again impress on Saturday.
“We’ve got a few players that are really biting at the bit to get back in the senior side and they’re doing a lot of things right,” Laidler told SwansTV.
“They’ve just got to bide their time and their time will come. You look at the likes of Darcy Cameron, Robbie Fox, Dean Towers and Harry Marsh, who are probably a bit unlucky to not be playing in the seniors. When they come back to the NEAFL level their attitude is really good. They’ve been playing some really good football at NEAFL level.”
Cameron, Fox and Marsh are among a sweep of 10 changes for the Swans, while young key forward Toby Pink and a string of QBE Sydney Swans Academy stars are also set to return to NEAFL action.
The Swans’ 23-point loss to the Suns brought to a halt a nine-game winning streak that had shot Sydney to first place on the ladder.
Sydney led at quarter-time and the long break and trailed by just one point at the final change, but the Suns would run in six final-term goals to the Swans’ three to pocket the four competition points.
Laidler said the Swans would focus on rediscovering their trademark intensity at the contest in the date with the Lions.
“It’s just about getting back to our Swans brand of footy,” Laidler said.
“We went away from it two weekends’ ago against the Gold Coast. They outworked us and their contested footy and uncontested footy were really high. But we got back to basics at training.”
Brisbane sits in sixth on the ladder and has its tail up after collecting a hard-fought 12-point victory over Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium last Saturday.
A long list of AFL-listed Brisbane talent will present Sydney an invaluable challenge, with Claye Beams, Rohan Bewick and Archie Smith among the Lions’ star-studded NEAFL ranks.
The Swans and Lions have met on three occasions this season, with Brisbane proving too strong in the first two fixtures before Sydney struck back in a 29-point win in Round 13.
Lailder said the Swans were headed for a tough encounter.
“We always know coming up against them that they’re a quality outfit in the NEAFL and they’ve got some strong AFL experience,” Laidler said.
“We’re going to have to be on our game and it’s going to be a pretty contested game.”
Who: Sydney Swans v Brisbane Lions
Where: SCG
When: 3:45pm Saturday (AFL curtain-raiser)
Sydney Swans team:
B: 53. Conor Flanagan 21. Jack Maibaum 49. Josh Rayner
HB: 47. Toby Pink 31. Harrison Marsh 58. Mitchell Rogers
C: 22. Dean Towers 45. Angus Styles 52. Josh Stern
HF: 33. Ryley Stoddart 55. Bailey Stewart 56. Joey Reinhard
F: 59. Kyle McKellar 46. Joel Amartey 41. Jake Brown
Foll: 17. Darcy Cameron 42. Robbie Fox 32. James Bell
Inter: 19. Harry Parker 50. Sam Wicks 51. Sam Thorne 57. Luke Parks 60. Hamish Ellem
Emer: 14. Matt Kannan 48. Max Ries 54. Lachlan Swaney
In: 17. Darcy Cameron 42. Robbie Fox 31. Harrison Marsh 47. Toby Pink 50. Sam Wicks 59. Kyle McKellar 19. Harry Parker 57. Luke Parks 49. Josh Rayner 51. Sam Thorne 60. Hamish Ellem
Out: 34. Jordan Dawson (AFL) 6. Jordan Foote (injured) 39. Heath Grundy (illness) 2. Alex Johnson (AFL) 16. Gary Rohan (injured) 49. Cooper Kilpatrick (omitted) 59. Max Ries (omitted) 54. Lachlan Swaney (omitted) 53. Jackson Barling (omitted) 57. Jack Blair (omitted) 48. Matt Kannan (omitted)
