Body blows hurt Swans
Neil Cordy
Daily Telegraph, September 12

THE Sydney Swans have suffered a double blow ahead of Saturday night’s cutthroat semi-final with Kurt Tippett and Callum Mills both ruled out with injury.

Mills was expected to miss the game against Adelaide with a hamstring strain but Tippett is a shock loss with a hairline fracture of his jaw.

The injury to the Swans ruckman could also have a bearing on Shane Mumford’s availability for the preliminary final in two weeks time with the GWS big man sure to come under scrutiny from the match review panel.

Scans revealed a non-displaced crack in his jaw.

The Swans haven’t ruled either player out for the year.

Tippett will consult a specialist to determine the best course of action while Mills’ scans revealed a grade one hamstring tear which could see him recover should they make it through to the preliminary final.

Sydney withdrew Jeremy Laidler and Toby Nankervis from Sunday’s NEAFL Grand Final between the Swans and Giants’ reserves.

Laidler is now in the box seat to replace the injured Mills after Zak Jones suffered a nasty head clash in the clash at Blacktown.

Jones was in terrific touch and pressing his case for selection before he was knocked out cold when he clashed heads with Giants forward Sam Reid.

Jones’ misfortune added injury to insult for the red and whites who lost their second match to GWS in as many days when their reserves lost a thrilling NEAFL grand final by just four points.

“The medical staff will have a good look at him tonight and weigh up what happens in the morning,” Swans reserves coach Rhyce Shaw said.

“I’m sure Zak would have been up for selection next week.”

Desperate days for battling minor premiers
Neil Cordy
Daily Telegraph, September 12

SYDNEY will be desperate to avoid becoming the first minor premiers in more than 30 years to be bounced out of the finals series in straight sets when they face Adelaide on Saturday.

Hopes of an all-Sydney grand final are still alive despite the Swans’ 36-point qualifying final loss to the Giants on Saturday.

The last minor premiers to be eliminated with consecutive losses was the 1983 North Melbourne side.

Fortunately for coach John Longmire and his team, one thing the Swans have been able to do this season is rebound after a defeat.

The Swans have not lost consecutive games in 2016 and, more encouragingly, have produced arguably their best wins on the back of painful defeats.

The round-nine win over Hawthorn at the MCG came the week after Richmond’s Sam Lloyd broke Sydney hearts with an after-the-siren goal at the same venue a week earlier.

The emphatic 38-point round-16 win over Geelong — which was just Sydney’s fourth victory at Simonds Stadium since 1990 — came after another excruciating last-second loss to the Western Bulldogs at the SCG.

The Swans will also benefit from a genuinely tough game of football, something they’ve barely seen in the last six weeks.

McVeigh challenges Swans to be ruthless hunters against Crows
Andrew Wu
SMH, September 12

Sydney captain Jarrad McVeigh has challenged his team to be the hunter next week when they play for their season against Adelaide after a defeat that has raised questions over the Swans' finals credentials.

To do that, the Swans must overcome the loss of Kurt Tippett, who has been ruled out with a hairline fracture of the jaw, while it has also been confirmed that Callum Mills will be out with a hamstring strain.

Long thought of as September specialists, the Swans have lost their past four finals, in which twice they were monstered by harder and more committed teams.

While their loss to Greater Western Sydney was not as humiliating as the grand final annihilation they suffered in 2014, both times the Swans were found wanting in the physicality stakes. Equally as alarming for the Swans' brains trust, it was the second time in three months they had been beaten in such fashion by the Giants.

The Swans will draw encouragement from how they responded to their mid-year defeat against the Giants when they overcame a six-day break to upset Geelong at Simonds Stadium. This time they have an extra day to dust themselves off and are playing at home against the Crows, who kept their season alive by putting North Melbourne out of their misery.

The Crows defeated Sydney narrowly in round four in Adelaide in a game many believe to be one of the best of the season. The Swans, however, are warm favourites but will have to stop one of the most dangerous forward lines in the league.

They will be looking for a dramatic lift in their defence after laying only 64 tackles to the Giants' 96. Their small forwards Tom Papley, George Hewett and Ben McGlynn had six tackles compared with the Giants' trio of Devon Smith, Steve Johnson and Toby Greene who had 17.

They cannot afford a similar discrepancy against Adelaide. North recorded 43 tackles and paid the price, conceding 21 goals.

"We have to come with a mindset to really attack and hunt the opposition and take it off them," McVeigh said. "You've got to take it off the opposition, you can't expect it to be easy to win a premiership.

"Come with a ruthless attitude every single contest and it will turn your way."

Swans rule out Tippett, hold key to Johnson's finals fate
Andrew Wu
SMH, September 12

There has been dramatic fallout from the historic Sydney finals derby as ruckman Kurt Tippett is ruled out next week while Steve Johnson's preliminary final fate may hinge on a favourable medical assessment from the Swans.

In a huge blow to the Swans' chances of staying in the premiership race, Tippett will miss the semi-final showdown with Adelaide due to a hairline fracture of the jaw. The Swans confirmed Callum Mills is also out with a hamstring injury.

Young ruckman Toby Nankervis is the likely replacement for Tippett after being withdrawn from the Swans' losing NEAFL grand final team. Jeremy Laidler also sat the game out.

Tippett suffered his injury when accidentally kneed by Callan Ward and not from the sling tackle from Greater Western Sydney ruckman Shane Mumford.

Johnson is under scrutiny from the match review panel for his hit on Kennedy, which left the All Australian midfielder dazed and groggy. It was not clear from replays if contact was made to Kennedy's head.

Should the match review panel grade the hit as careless, instead of intentional, medium impact and high contact, then Johnson faces a two-game ban reduced to one with an early plea. A grading of careless, low impact and high contact would result in a fine and he would be free to play in a fortnight's time.

Johnson's season will be over if it is classified as intentional, medium impact and high contact, resulting in a minimum two-match suspension.

The fact Kennedy returned to the field and played out the game will help the Giants argue that impact was low. Against them is the fact Kennedy missed the mandatory 15 minutes to have a concussion test, which the Swans say he passed.

Tippett, Mills rubbed out of Adelaide showdown
Peter Lalor
The Australian, September 12

 

The Sydney Swans continue to reel from the fallout of their Saturday night loss to the Giants with news that stars Kurt Tippett and Callum Mills are ruled out of this weekend’s must-win semi-final against Adelaide.

There was further misery for the Swans with Zak Jones, who was a potential replacement for Mills, knocked out in the last quarter of the reserves’ loss to the Giants in yesterday’s NEAFL grand final.

The Giants beat the minor premiers by four points for their first premiership at that level.

This came a day after the senior side beat the Swans senior side — also minor premiers — by 36 points at ANZ Stadium.

Sydney will now face Tippett’s former club Adelaide at the SCG without the key ruckman who only returned from a hamstring injury in the last two round of the home-and-away series.

Tippett was diagnosed with a hairline fracture to the jaw yesterday while Mills tore his hamstring. Both incidents happened in the first half of the loss to the Giants and further compound what was a horrible weekend for the town’s foundation club.

The ruckman was left dazed after an incident in the first quarter which saw him leave the field to be tested for concussion.

He was cleared to resume the contest but was further stunned after being slung to the ground by Giants ruckman Shane Mumford in the second term.

The Giants continued to inflict physical and emotional pain on their neighbours with the win over Sydney in yesterday’s NEAFL grand final.

It was a close match with the lead changing hands multiple times in the last quarter, but the Giants reserves got up to win the club’s first premiership after snatching the lead with a late goal.

Jones, who had been a regular in the senior side, was knocked out.

He was taken by ambulance to hospital for further checks after a heavy clash in the last quarter.

Finals debutants paint town orange
Richard Hinds
Daily Telegraph, September 11

IF the Sydney rivalry wasn’t real before, it certainly is now.

The first Sydney derby final was supposed to be highlighted by the work ethic and accountability of the Swans and the speed and skill of the young Greater Western Sydney.

Instead, the Giants’ 36-point victory will be remembered mostly for its sheer brutality and high attrition rate. Both on the ground and, perhaps, in a tribunal room sequel that could follow.

Almost from the first bounce two Sydney teams who had been more like friendly cousins than jealous cross-town rivals ripped into each other with fierce intent.

This was not merely a football final but a genuine turf war.

The prize, of course, was not just the keys to the city.

Just five years ago the Giants arrived in the west as hopeless, unloved easy beats. Now, incredibly, they are just one home-ground victory from appearing in a historic first grand final. If the Giants get that far, it will be an achievement born of the blood of the Bloods.

With such brutal aggression from both sides a high attrition rate was inevitable. The Swans fared worse. Tough midfielder Josh Kennedy spent some time on the bench after a head knock; Kurt Tippett also copped a heavy blow; Rising Star winner Callum Mills went down with a hamstring injury in the first quarter; and young forward Tom Papley hobbled on a wounded knee.

So, perhaps inevitably, it was the younger, fleeter and fitter Giants who emerged from the first-half carnage with a spring in their step.

Although, the Giants’ concerns could come later with veteran forward Steve Johnson and ruckman Shane Mumford both likely to come under scrutiny from the match review panel.

Short way to the top when GWS rock ’n’ roll
Rohan Connolly
SMH, September 11

There have been some significant occasions in the history of the AFL, but not many as momentous as what transpired on Saturday afternoon at ANZ Stadium.

That was the case even before the first bounce when two Sydney two teams squared off for a spot in a preliminary final. It became more apparent during the game when a crowd figure of more than 60,000 people, the third-biggest attendance for a Sydney final, went up on the scoreboard.

But it was what transpired on the field that was the most emphatic announcement. And it came from a team only five seasons old, now just two wins away from a first AFL premiership.

No expansion team has won a flag in fewer than the six seasons it took West Coast. And even the Eagles in 1992 didn’t look as ominous as did Greater Western Sydney in their emphatic 36-point qualifying final defeat of their crosstown rival, a seasoned September campaigner.

If Hawthorn’s post-siren defeat by Geelong on Friday night had perhaps signalled a changing of the guard among the AFL’s heavyweights, this was a victory which screamed it from the rooftops. The Giants were ruthless, physical and, in the end, too quick and too skilled for the Swans.