We bring you all you need to know from the newspapers around the country in the latest Swans in the media.
Callum's chances on the rise
Sam Landsberger
Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun, July 12
CALLUM Mills could create history and win the Rising Star with the latest ever nomination after judges finally recognised the Sydney defender on Monday.
No player has ever won the Rising Star after receiving a nomination beyond Round 14, with 15 of the 23 winners recognised inside five rounds.
But Mills — the Round 16 recipient — is suddenly equal favourite with popular Western Bulldog Caleb Daniel.
The pair have overtaken Jacob Weitering, Christian Petracca and Darcy Parish.
Mills, 19, was drafted at No.3 last year and is the poster boy for so much that is right about the northern-state talent academies.
The Swans paid a fair price for the gun junior after converting him from rugby union and investing four years of development.
While some clubs remain frustrated at Greater Western Sydney’s draft access to what they believe is “footy heartland” in the Riverina, Mills was raised in the north beaches of Sydney.
He said he grew up idolising Wallabies George Gregan and Stephen Larkham but fell in love with the 360-degree nature of Aussie rules.
Mills and teammate Isaac Heeney’s change of sports helped grow the talent pool.
“(Apart from Auskick) I never played AFL for my whole junior career, but was lucky enough to have the academy to persuade me back over to AFL,” he told the Herald Sun.
“I filled in for a mate’s team and (Swans academy coach) Mark Drinkwater asked me to come along and have a train and from then I haven’t really looked back.
“I love how it’s a 360-degree game and there’s so many different parts of the game you can enjoy.
“You can be a defender, a forward, a midfielder — there’s so many different components to the game which make it so enjoyable.”
Swans young gun gets his Rising Star gong at last
Andrew Wu
SMH, July 12
The question being asked in the football world last year about Callum Mills was how early he would be taken in the draft. The player himself, however, was wrestling with doubts over whether he would make it as an AFL player.
Mills received a belated nomination for this year’s Rising Star on Monday, capping a busy few days in which he played a key role in Sydney’s stirring win over Geelong at the cost of missing his brother’s wedding in the US.
Such is the poise Mills has shown in his debut season, it seems hard to believe a player of his ability could ever be unsure of himself. His concern was not so much if he was going to be good enough but whether his body would allow that talent to be displayed.
Just as year 12 can be a nervous time for students, so too is the final year of under-18 football when the country’s most precocious juniors make their case before an army of recruiters for a berth on an AFL list.
While his peers were jockeying for position in the draft order, all Mills could do was watch on due to a shin injury that wrecked his season. Although it was widely known the Swans would bid for their academy star, Mills was worried how much injury would restrict him once he was recruited.
‘‘It’s hard to have confidence in yourself when you haven’t played for 30 weeks,’’ Mills said. ‘‘There’s definitely times when you start to doubt yourself.’’
The deal will extend Longmire’s tenure as senior coach to at least 10 seasons.
Teddy flair has picnic
Neil Cordy
Daily Telegraph, July 12
VETERAN defender Ted Richards’ excursion to the forward line is set to be repeated on Thursday night when Sydney take on Hawthorn at the SCG in the game of the year.
With seven weeks to the finals, the first-placed Hawks and second placed Swans have established themselves as the teams to beat for the flag.
Richards’ surprise foray into the forward line reaped rewards for the Swans last Friday night when they upset Geelong by 38 points at Simonds Stadium.
The 33-year-old acted as a marking target in the front half of the ground and also played a spoiling role, stopping intercept marks from Harry Taylor and Lachie Henderson.
He could slot into a similar role against Hawthorn and look to prevent Luke Hodge and Josh Gibson from rebounding from Sydney’s forward 50.
Before last week’s game, Richards hadn’t started a match up forward since 2008. When John Longmire broke the news of his plans the evergreen defender admitted the only person more shocked was his wife Ella.
“I told John how excited I was about it but when I told my wife Ella I’ve never seen her laugh so hard,” Richards said.
“She said ‘I don’t see this ending well’, but she needn’t have worried. I didn’t do any homework and I really enjoyed it. I think I had as many spoils as I do when I play down back. Geelong have a great ability to intercept mark, so I did my best to stop that.”
Swans chasing a rare double
Tom Decent
SMH, July 12
It has been nine years since Sydney beat Hawthorn twice in a row in the same season and Swans ruckman Callum Sinclair believes a ‘‘fierce contest’’ awaits the Swans as they aim to go top of the table.
The Swans were too good for Hawthorn in round nine, outclassing them in a 14-point win at the MCG but history shows the Hawks do not like going down in succession to Sydney. While Hawthorn have notched consecutive wins against Sydney in previous years, 2007 was the last season the Swans went back-to-back.
A gritty 75-66 win at the MCG was followed by a 141-69 disaster at the SCG. ‘‘It’s going to be a pretty fierce contest,’’ Sinclair said.
Longmire joins fight against depression
Andrew Wu
SMH, July 12
As a 16-year-old country boy ‘‘straight off the farm’’ to start a career as a league footballer, John Longmire had no idea what mental health was or how it affected people. The Sydney coach is now part of an initiative driven by AFL players to raise awareness of mental illness among Australian men.
Longmire has helped the AFL Players’ Association launch a new online mental health platform called ‘‘Better Out Than In’’, which the union hopes will help ‘‘reframe the conversation about men’s depression from one of shame, stigma and secrecy to one of courage, hope and strength’’.
Longmire was teammates with players who have since gone public on their fight with depression and more recently as coach helped superstar forward Lance Franklin return to the field after his battle with mental illness last year.
Longmire can still remember Paul Roos’ opening words to the Swans when he started his coaching reign in the early 2000s. ‘‘I’m not going to treat you all the same, I’m going to treat you all fairly, but I’ll treat you as individuals.’’
That message has helped form one of the cornerstones of his coaching philosophy. ‘‘I can be talking to a player about football the whole time and not work out why he’s not getting my message but it’s got nothing to do with football,’’ Longmire said in a video launching Better Out Than In, an initiative run in partnership with beyondblue, MATES in Construction, La Trobe University and the AFL Coaches’ Association.
‘‘That’s how I coach them differently. If I find out a player needs some help, let’s stop talking about football for a second.’’
Swans should take centre stage from Origin
Richard Hinds
Daily Telegraph, July 12
THIS week Sydney will host a big football game. One of intense national interest and with significant ramifications featuring an array of superstars.
Oh, and State of Origin is on here too.
As the still modest TV viewing figures demonstrate, it is not often AFL holds centre stage in Sydney. Even less so in Origin week when rugby league usually sucks the oxygen from every other sport.
But surely Thursday night’s SCG blockbuster between the Sydney Swans and Hawthorn is of far more interest to the discerning sports fan than an Origin rubber so dead it should be cremated instead of played.
Before you hit the send button on that nasty email, this is not anti-rugby league rant. Cronulla’s intriguing tale, particularly, has invested the current NRL season with a wonderful storyline.
But, to borrow from Monty Python’s parrot shop sketch, this Origin series has passed on. It’s ceased to be. It’s gone to meet its maker. Bereft of life it rests in peace. This is an ex-Origin series!
What’s more, to tell the brutal truth, Origin was not exactly full of life this year even before the Maroons puckered up and applied the customary kiss of death. Not only was it (rightly) devoid of the once traditional biffo still bizarrely extolled by the TV spruikers. It lacked the first rate attacking football that should be Origin’s contemporary hallmark.
The result? We are left with a match in which Paul Gallen making his farewell, and Laurie Daley trying to avoid making his, are the major talking points. One Sharks fans will watch in the foetal position hoping the stars of their premiership push are not injured and sidelined for more important club games.
Meanwhile on Thursday night the SCG hosts one of the most mouth-watering clashes of the AFL season. A game replete with intriguing storylines and subplots that is being promoted by some as a grand final preview.
Swans playing a very different gamestyle of rival premiership contenders
Sam Edmund
Herald Sun, July 12
IN THE premiership paddock the contenders are huddled together like bulls in one corner.
There’s the Geelong bull, Hawthorn bull, Western Bulldogs bull and West Coast bull, and all with similar mannerisms.
But on the far side of the paddock the prized bull stands on his own. This is the Sydney bull — and he does things very differently to his stablemates.
The Swans of 2016 have become a unique beast in pursuit of another flag. The way they score and the way they defend sets them apart from virtually every other premiership threat.
John Longmire’s men are conceding a miserly 69.5 points per game — not only the No.1 defence in the league, but the fewest the Swans have given up since 1926.
Yet, that isn’t even half the story.
Swans push for more Thursdays
Greg Denham
The Australian, July 12
Sydney will lobby the AFL to continue their Thursday night experience beyond this year, as well as seeking an additional Friday night home fixture next season.
The Swans are expecting their first 40,000 home crowd during the premiership season for more than two years when they host Hawthorn in the round-17 blockbuster on Thursday night.
With the attraction of a top-of-the-ladder position at stake for Sydney, the attendance figure is set to challenge the 41,317 who witnessed the Swans’ round-13, four-point win over Port Adelaide in June, 2014.
Sydney chief executive Andrew Ireland yesterday said his club benefited more from corporate support on Thursday and Friday games, in part because of national free-to-air coverage, but also accepted that Saturday and Sunday fixtures were more popular with families.
This week’s timeslot has no direct competition from rugby league and is the third Thursday-night fixture at the SCG in as many years. The club’s previous best Thursday night attendance was in May, 2014 when 37,355 watched the Swans win by 110 points over Geelong.
“We’re comfortable with Thursday night footy,” Ireland said. “We clearly get good corporate response on Thursday and Friday nights mainly because of prime-time television, but we’re also conscious of families who prefer Saturday and Sundays.
“Having said that, we could do with one more Friday night — we deserve it. We are the biggest sporting club in NSW in terms of attendances and membership.”
Sydney, this year with a record membership of 56,200, had only one scheduled home match on a Friday night, that was in round 10 at the SCG in May when almost 39,000 watched the Swans inflict North Melbourne’s first defeat this season.
