All eyes will be on the premier state
Ben Horne
Daily Telegraph, August 31
NSW born-and-bred, Jarrad McVeigh will have one eye on the crowd when he runs out onto ANZ Stadium for the first ever all-Sydney final.
But the sentimentality will only last for so long, as the Swans brace for an attempted ambush from little brothers the Giants.
For many GWS’s arrival in the top four has come as a shock, but their cross-town rivals have been anticipating this day all season.
The Giants rolled the Swans when they clashed mid-season and Sydney admit they need to completely re-evaluate how they defend the youngest and most exciting running team in the AFL.
“We knew that the Giants were coming 100 miles an hour,” said Swans coach John Longmire.
“We’ve been able to see their development up close. We’ve been able to see their younger players coming through the seniors and the seconds, and we’ve seen their outstanding recruitment from other clubs.
“It hasn’t come any sooner than I expected. I absolutely expected the Giants to be as competitive as they are in this point in time and they’re going to be a real threat this finals series.”
Bloods and guts
Richard Hinds
Daily Telegraph, August 31
AUTUMN. There is a slight chill in the air, the leaves fall and pundits write off the Sydney Swans.
We did it again this year. In March, in John Longmire’s office at the SCG, I put to him the supposedly sound reasons why the Swans would finally relent to a salary cap/draft system that is calibrated to bring them down.
I suggested a humiliating grand final defeat to Hawthorn in 2014 followed by a straight-sets finals exodus last year constituted a trend. That Buddy Franklin’s health problems had proven unsettling and even jeopardised the club’s huge investment in the star forward.
The list went on: the Swans’ defence was brittle, their midfield slow and their list lacked depth. All theories being ventured in the traditionally gloomy pre-season forecasts.
By the notoriously combustible standards of top-flight professional coaches Longmire is the most patient and affable of men. But for one of the few times I’ve spoken to him he bristled slightly. Rather curtly, he reminded me the Swans had won a record 17 games in 2014 and 16 in 2015. How with an injury-depleted team they had almost beaten Fremantle in Perth during last season’s finals.
“Does that seem like a team that’s on the way down?’’ he asked.
Longmire did not, I suspect, make such a strident defence of his team because he cares what outsiders think. It was because as one successful season followed another, surely we should be looking for the reasons why the Swans would prosper. Not forecasting their imminent downfall.
It’s on for young and old as rookies get first taste of finals footy
Jarrad McVeigh
Daily Telegraph, August 31
THIS is the Swans’ seventh finals campaign in a row but this time it will be a little different. We’ve got a lot of new faces who’ll be getting their first taste of September football.
I’m very confident these boys will be able to get the job done — you have to start at some point. A few will play their first finals and a few got a taste last year. I’m certain they’ll bring to the finals what they’ve done all season.
Callum Mills, Tom Papley, Sam Naismith, Xavier Richards, Aliir Aliir, Harry Marsh and George Hewett have all done a great job for us this year and this is the next step for them.
I’ll be telling these boys to enjoy the experience — it’s what you play football for.
Leaving nothing in reserve for a late call-up to the big time
Neil Cordy
Daily Telegraph, August 31
BERTHS in the NEAFL grand final won’t be the only thing on the line when the Swans and Giants reserves take on Aspley and Sydney University respectively on Saturday at Blacktown.
With GWS and Sydney facing off in the qualifying final the following Saturday, competition for spots in the senior teams will be red-hot.
Veterans Ted Richards and Jeremy Laidler will be desperate to win back their spots in the Swans line-up and Jordan Foote will also press his case.
Zak Jones is expected to make his return from an ankle injury for the match at Blacktown, while Callum Sinclair is at least another week away.
Longmire on high alert as Swans gear up for hard heads
James Buckley
SMH, August 31 
A distinct lack of GWS finals experience will have little bearing on next weekend's all-Sydney qualifying final according to Swans coach John Longmire.
More than 60,000 fans are expected to cram into ANZ Stadium for the biggest AFL game ever seen in NSW, as the minor premiers from the eastern suburbs clash with the league's newest beast from the west of Sydney. As of Tuesday night, 16,800 tickets had already been sold.
The Swans managed one more win than GWS during the regular season, but the harbour-city rivals split the balance across two games this year – Sydney taking honours in round three before the Giants exacted their revenge nine weeks later.
Only six Giants who played in the win over North Melbourne on Saturday night have tasted AFL finals football while the Swans are embarking on a seventh straight September campaign. But Longmire doesn't expect that superior experience to be a factor.
"They've got seven or eight hardened AFL players that have been playing a long time at several AFL clubs," Longmire said. "Their younger players coming through have been playing a lot of footy, really hardened players as well and play a good brand of footy. Once the ball bounces any of those talks fall out the window straight away."
AFL expects influx in African-born players
James Buckley
SMH, August 31
The sight of Swans defender Aliir Aliir playing alongside Richmond debutant Mabior Chol on Saturday night was one of the most endearing moments the AFL has produced this year.
Chol became the fourth player of Sudanese descent to debut in the AFL, following in the footsteps of North Melbourne's Majak Daw, Aliir and Brisbane Lion Reuben WIlliam.
Essendon has Sudanese-born Gach Nyuon on its list while the Western Bulldogs is home to South Africa's Jason Johannisen.
And the next generation isn't far away with Sudanese trio Ajak Dang, Buku Khamis and Changbuoth Jiath on the verge of national Academy selection alongside Ghana's Kwaby Boakye.
"You're starting to see a couple, probably one or two a team right around Australia," AFL national talent ID manager Kevin Sheehan said.
"To have five [African-born players] in the AFL this year was a significant moment. They're starting to push their way through into our national championships at under-16s and under-18s level. They're getting through on merit, they're well suited to our game.
"As Aliir Aliir is, they're very athletic, they're often a good size and super courageous.
"They integrate so well into teams, they've been quite spectacular in recent years with their presence in under-age championships and now we're seeing that unfold at AFL senior level.
"That's super encouraging for us to see those boys as potentially part of our national program."
