Swans eager to keep momentum
Ben Horne
Daily Telegraph, August 23
SYDNEY coach John Longmire admits the pre-finals week-off remains a complete mystery as the Swans seek to stop the invisible enemy killing their momentum.
The Swans resemble a runaway train at the moment, crushing Geelong and Adelaide away from home in their push towards premiership immortality as the only team to have ever qualified for a finals series following an 0-6 start to a season.
However, if last year’s bizarre finals campaign was anything to go by, the AFL has artificially moved the goalposts with their introduction of a pre-finals bye and made everything a lottery.
Twelve months ago the Swans finished top of the table, only to come back from a week’s break to be ambushed by the Giants in the opening final.
The two teams that then earned the customary armchair ride into the preliminary finals — GWS and Geelong — both failed to make the premiership decider after failing to cope with such a stop-start month of one week on, one week off footy.
Longmire insists one year isn’t enough of a form guide to analyse the science of the pre-finals week off, but that in itself brings a raft of unknowns.
The simplicity of finishing seventh and knowing they just had to win, win, win, win suited the hungry Western Bulldogs last year, and Longmire will hope that his side can follow the same formula to come from outside the four and claim the game’s biggest prize.
“Last year the Bulldogs were able to do it and it worked well but they still had to play four really tough, hard games. That’s not easy to do, regardless of whether you’ve had the week off or not,” said Longmire.
“It’s a bit tough looking at it in a one-off instance and getting a really strong opinion of it. What I do know and what will stand the test of time is you need to play really good footy for a month. We’d like to play good footy for five weeks.”
Ruckman choice a tall order for Longmire
Peter Lalor
The Australian, August 23
For John Longmire it is a matter of who is the first, second and third among equals. The Swans coach is fast approaching the situation where he must decide whether Kurt Tippett, Callum Sinclair or Sam Naismith play at the year’s pointiest end.
Each ruckman has made a case, but self-imposed height restrictions suggest only two can play in the one side.
Sinclair began his recent run in the team with a 10-mark, five-goal effort against St Kilda in round 18. He has, however, failed to take more than three marks or reach those offensive heights in a game since and was outpointed in the middle in last weekend’s arm wrestle with Adelaide.
Tippett has only been in the side for three consecutive matches following injury and a struggle to find form mid year, but has worked himself way back into the game. The former forward target stepped up when Sinclair struggled against Sam Jacobs in Saturday’s game.
And then there’s Naismith who appeared to many to be the Swans No 1 ruckman when the year began. Fit again, he is almost certainly available for selection this weekend, but Sinclair and Tippett will be hard to move.
Longmire tackles the problem with his usual pragmatism.
“What happens at the start of the year is everyone says No 1 ruckman, No 2 ruckman ... I never subscribe to that at all; it’s always about who’s playing well at that particular point in time,” he said.
“All three of those boys have played important roles for us this year. I’m hoping that all three play an important role for us going forward as well.
“What we need to do before we make too many comments about it is see how they train this week and understand how they’re going. We’ve generally been pretty happy with how Kurt and Callum have been going as well.”
“Pretty happy” is not exactly a ringing endorsement from the coach, but it never hurt to keep people on their toes. Even very tall people.
Naismith cleared to train but faces a fight to reclaim his rucking role
James Buckley
SMH, August 23
Ruckman Sam Naismith has been cleared to train this week in an effort to prove his fitness for the Swans' final throw of the top-four dice, although he faces a stiff task displacing Callum Sinclair or Kurt Tippett.
Sydney can still finish top four with a win over Carlton on Saturday but need Richmond to lose against St Kilda and potentially a percentage boost to leapfrog Port Adelaide.
Swans coach John Longmire will be reluctant to change the 22 that downed the ladder-leading Crows in Adelaide on Friday, and won't be required to after Zak Jones was cleared on Monday by the match review panel for his bump on Brad Crouch.
That would leave a fit-again Naismith in limbo for at least another week, with the Swans' reserves, fresh from claiming the NEAFL minor premiership, enjoying a bye this weekend.
"Those boys in the ruck have been pretty sound for us over the last couple of weeks, it'll be good to see Sam train this week and see where he sits as well," Longmire said.
"Our reserves have got a bye so that's not ideal timing for that particular discussion, but we'll have that chat once we know what he [Naismith] is like on Thursday.
"It's always about who's playing well at that particular point in time. All three of those boys have played important roles for us this year, I'm hoping that all three play an important role for us going forward as well.
"What we need to do before we make too many comments about it is see how they train this week and understand how they're going. We've generally been pretty happy with how Kurt and Callum have been going."
Swans wary of AFL conquerors Carlton
Rob Forsaith
AAP, August 23
Sydney confront the same opponent that pushed them to rock bottom earlier this AFL season, with coach John Longmire scoffing at suggestions of complacency.
The final round of the regular season is expected to deliver some lopsided results but none of the nine favourites will start as short-priced as Sydney.
The Swans are fully expected to crush Carlton at the SCG on Saturday.
The obvious risk is Longmire's charges, who have become the first VFL/AFL team to rally from an 0-6 start and reach finals, start thinking about September instead of the job at hand.
Longmire is adamant that won't happen after their epic win over Adelaide.
Part of the 2012 premiership coach's confidence comes from the fact most of his players boast finals experience and know the importance of momentum.
Everybody at the club also harbours clear memories of Sydney's most recent loss to any side that isn't Hawthorn.
It came four months ago, in round six at the MCG, and served as the catalyst for their resurgence.
The Swans, publicly shamed for letting Carlton physically go after young gun Callum Mills in that 19-point defeat, snapped out of their slumber and proceeded to win 13 of their next 15 games.
"It's always in the back of your mind that they played really well against us last time ... they beat us quite well," Longmire said on Tuesday.
"We can't escape that.
"We need to play better this time, we think and we know we're in better form but we still have to go out and do it.
"They're a really tough opponent; they beat Hawthorn on the weekend."
Thursday night start to finals again
Lauren Wood
Herald Sun, August 23
THE AFL has confirmed the finals series will again begin on a Thursday night.
Acting football operations boss Andrew Dillon could be in for a frantic Sunday evening with the AFL likely to have to wait until all Round 23 matches are finished for the top eight to be set.
Dillon said though venues and teams were up in the air, the schedule for the first finals weekend’s four clashes had been agreed.
The league will repeat the Thursday night timeslot after the success of last year’s West Coast-Western Bulldogs elimination final.
“It will certainly be on a Thursday night. Whether it’s interstate or not depends on how we end up after Sunday,” Dillon said.
“We’ll probably still be waiting until after the West Coast-Adelaide twilight game on Sunday until we know exactly what the final make-up of the eight is.
“But it will be Thursday night, Friday night and then we’ll have two games on the Saturday — one during the day and one at night.”
