Don't miss any of the news involving the Swans as we bring you everything from the newspapers around the country on Thursday 31st March, 2016.
Reboot and kick on
Neil Cordy
Daily Telegraph, March 3
THE season has only just started but already there is a distinct feeling of deja vu around the Sydney Swans.
In 2003 they faced an almost identical scenario. Paul Kelly, Andrew Dunkley, Tony Lockett and Wayne Schwass all hung up the boots at different times in the 2002 season. The quartet represented 1014 games experience walking out the door.
It’s a remarkably similar total to last year’s exit of premiership players Adam Goodes, Mike Pyke, Rhyce Shaw, Lewis Jetta and Craig Bird, who tallied 984 games.
Then as now, pundits and bookmakers were predicting the Swans to slide down the ladder — but what happened was completely different.
Cygnets holding fort for Swans
David Sygall
SMH, March 31
Perception counts for plenty in the heat of the battle, but surprises can lurk in the detail.
Such is the case with the Swans, who conjured an image of seasoned professionalism in their round-one dismantling of Collingwood. By comparison, Carlton – Sydney's opponent on Sunday in Melbourne – are seen as a team rebuilding from the ground up after finishing in a heap last season.
The reality is that the Swans' average age in their season opener was more than a year younger than the Blues' 22 against Richmond and they had nearly 200 games' less experience.
Ted Richards set for Sydney return
AAP, March 31
SYDNEY coach John Longmire will continue backing his exciting young brigade despite welcoming back his oldest player for Sunday’s AFL clash with Carlton.
Longmire said premiership-winning defender Ted Richards was the “logical choice” to replace injured recruit Michael Talia for the Etihad Stadium clash after recovering from a nagging calf strain that sidelined the 33-year-old for the entire pre-season.
But he has no plans to overhaul his starting line-up after a youthful Swans outfit featuring Callum Mills, George Hewett and Tom Papley destroyed Collingwood by 80 points last Saturday night.
Longmire will stick with all three youngsters when he names his side on Thursday, believing they will only get better after being exposed to the AFL pressure-cooker for the first time at the SCG.
Senior Swans near return
Adam Curley
AFL.com.au, March 30
Sydney Swans veteran Ted Richards is fit and ready to play but co-captain Jarrad McVeigh’s return has been pushed back by at least a week, according to coach John Longmire.
After struggling to overcome a calf complaint in the past month, Richards played his first game of the season in the Swans' NEAFL practice match on Saturday and got through almost three quarters without incident.
With off-season recruit Michael Talia set miss at least the next two months with a foot injury suffered against Collingwood last week, Richards looms as a logical replacement.
Swans defender Michael Talia could miss 12 weeks with Lisfranc ligament injury
Andrew Wu
SMH, March 30
Michael Talia, the man Sydney recruited as insurance for their key defensive posts, is facing at least eight weeks on the sidelines after suffering a serious foot injury at the weekend.
But Lance Franklin and Dan Hannebery have both been cleared to play after injury scares against Collingwood.
The Swans had been hoping Talia's injury would be only minor but scans have confirmed the former Western Bulldogs backman has torn the Lisfranc ligament - one of the injuries that threatens to end Magpie Dane Swan's career.
