Don't miss any of the news involving the Swans as we bring you everything from the newspapers around the country on Monday 16th May, 2016.

Longmire ponders changes
Greg Denham
The Australian, May 16

Sydney should regain the services of quality midfielder Josh Kennedy and small forward Ben McGlynn for Friday night’s MCG blockbuster against Hawthorn.

Coach John Longmire could react strongly to Sydney’s shock loss to Richmond on Saturday night by making a number of changes. Also in the mix for his first game of the season is Gary Rohan, who has had two games back in the reserves after overcoming a serious hamstring injury.

And for Hawthorn, Cyril Rioli remains in limbo over his availability. He missed the Hawks’ win over Fremantle in Launceston on Saturday as he travelled to the Northern Territory for family reasons.

Following the Swans’ after-the-siren defeat to the lowly Tigers at the MCG, Longmire revealed Kennedy had been withdrawn late with a “minor” hamstring ­problem.

He said Sydney had taken a “conservative” approach with Kennedy because of his previous soft-tissue issues. The contested-ball specialist was sadly missed against Richmond but Longmire admitted Sydney should have still been able to cope better without him.

“We were beaten out of the centre but we’ve got plenty of other blokes in there who are good enough to get the ball going our way,” Longmire said.

Franklin in better form than Coleman Medal year
Andrew Wu
SMH, May 16

Two of Sydney's leaders say Lance Franklin has never been in better form in the red and the white after a hot start that has raised hopes of a 100-goal year.

His bag of five in the Swans' after-the-siren loss to Richmond took his tally to 34 from eight rounds, his best start to a season since 2008 when he posted triple figures for the only time in his career.

At his current rate of 4.25 goals a game, Franklin would be on track to reach the ton in the finals, provided the Swans get that far, though he would only need to lift marginally to achieve the feat in the home-and-away season.

It has been a stunning turnaround for Franklin, whose 2015 was prematurely ended on the eve of the finals because of mental illness.

But despite fears over the superstar forward's future he has been able to return to the high standards that have made him the dominant forward of his generation.

Captain Jarrad McVeigh and Luke Parker believe this is his best season to date in Sydney. That is considerable praise given Franklin won the Coleman Medal, was named an All-Australian and finished equal second in the Brownlow in his first year at the club.

"He's had some unbelievable years but his high level performance and the way he goes about it is unbelievable this year," McVeigh said. "It's great to see, it's great to watch."

What possessed Swans
Neil Cordy
Daily Telegraph, May 16

SYDNEY failed the possession test in their post-siren loss to Richmond on Saturday night in a worrying sign ahead of Friday’s blockbuster against Hawthorn at the MCG.

Swans half-back Jarrad McVeigh said a lack of composure in the closing minutes against the Tigers cost them victory.

“We had the ball with about 40 seconds to go, so you shouldn’t lose from there,” McVeigh said yesterday.

“We could have chipped the ball around a little bit more or went a bit wider to the boundary line.

“In saying that, we were probably a bit lucky to be so close in the third quarter when they missed a lot of shots for goal.”

Swans clipped by last-gasp Tigers
Neil Cordy
Sunday Telegraph, May 15


A GOAL after the siren from Sam Lloyd gave Richmond a stunning one-point win over the Swans, who led by three goals at the last change and by 10 points with just five minutes to go only to lose in the most heartbreaking fashion last night at the MCG.

Tigers key forward Ben Griffiths was another unlikely hero kicking five goals including three in the last to help them over the line.

His last involved a foot-race with Ted Richards where the big man burned off the Swans fullback in a race to the goals to keep the home team in touch.

Richards and his fellow key defender Heath Grundy both had their colours lowered on the night.

“We should have won it when we got our noses in front but did we deserve to win it?” Swans coach John Longmire said.

“If you look at the match in its entirety they took 19 marks inside forward 50 and they kicked five goals from centre bounces. They kicked the five goals at the start of the last quarter and had about five walk out centre clearances.”

Sydney Swans sunk by Richmond Tigers in after the siren thriller
Andrew Wu
SMH, May 15

There is something about Richmond. Sydney's bogey team has struck again, this time doing so in a most unimaginable way.

Sam Lloyd lived out every young footballer's fantasy, kicking the winning goal after the siren from 50 metres out to continue the yellow and black curse on the Swans.

A game which thrice looked in Sydney's keeping slipped away from them right at the death. Leading by five points with close to half a minute left in the game, the Swans had the ball deep in the forward half only for the Tigers to spirit the ball, with the aid of a fortuitous bounce in the middle, to the other end of the ground where it landed in Lloyd's arms.

The Swans have now lost their last three games against the Tigers. As heartbreaking as this loss will be for the Swans, it was a defeat which was weeks in the making.

Man of the century
Jon Ralph
Herald Sun, Daily Telegraph, May 14

GOALKICKING great Jason Dunstall says Lance Franklin can become a centurion again this year — but only if he can go on a “Buddy” rampage or two.

Franklin is on track to hit 100 goals this year given his average of four goals per match ahead of Saturday night’s showdown with star defender Alex Rance.

But Dunstall says he needs some big bags of goals to create leeway for a poor day or late-season rest leading into the finals.

In his remarkable 1254-goal career Dunstall kicked six tons, with his last coming in the historic 1996 merger game.

He needed nine goals to reach the century and did it in the last quarter on the way to a 10-goal performance that sealed the Hawks’ finals spot.

He is thrilled Hawthorn premiership player Franklin is back enjoying his footy and confident he can ton up.

“He is playing brilliantly and kicking his fours and fives but you have to have some eights and 10s to fall back on,’’ he said.