A DOMINANT midfield display led by Josh Kennedy has seen the Sydney Swans grind out a nine-point win over Fremantle in a scrappy affair at Drummoyne Oval on Sunday afternoon.
On an afternoon where there was sunshine, wind, heavy rain and frequent planes directly overhead, the Swans did what they needed to without losing any of their prime players to fresh injuries.
The Swans raced out of the blocks and held off a late Fremantle charge to win 1.7.14 (65) to 1.6.11 (56).
Fremantle may also face a nervous wait after star forward Michael Walters was reported for misconduct against Craig Bird during the third quarter.
Sexual equality was celebrated with rainbow colours on the 50m arc, the goal pads and the umpires' flags, which marked the AFL's first official pride game.
But those who packed the small, picturesque ground in Sydney's inner west would have been disappointed with the game time of Lance Franklin, with the Swans' boom recruit kept to limited minutes.
When he did play, he was met by Michael Johnson and often double-teamed by Alex Silvagni, which made life difficult for the former Hawk as the wind picked up and the ground got slippery.
Franklin didn't play much after half-time and was subbed out at three-quarter time in his first competitive hit-out for the year, after just six touches and one goal.
But there was plenty for the pro-Swans crowd to enjoy with Kennedy racking up 33 possessions and Luke Parker, Kieren Jack and Dan Hannebery enjoying solid games.
Talented youngster Isaac Heeney was hard to miss, and it wasn't just his shock of platinum hair that caught the eye.
He collected 13 touches and had a handful of shots at goal that could have translated to more than one major had the wind not been so influential.
Lewis Jetta looks to be spending more time across half-back and had 16 touches while Adam Goodes played everywhere after starting at full forward.
The Swans had 17 members of last year's Grand Final team playing while the Dockers' side featured a number of their A-graders, including Nat Fyfe on return from a hamstring injury.
Fyfe was one of the Dockers' best and proved his fitness when he went on a long run down the wing and blasted the ball inside 50.
He failed to hit Matthew Pavlich, who had a quiet game and one possession in the first term, which was indicative of the skills of many of the players in an early pre-season game.
Lachie Neale showed again why he'll be in pretty much everyone's Fantasy teams this year with 33 possessions; 19 of which were in the first half.
But as the wet set in, the Dockers failed to score in the third quarter before coming home with a bang in the last to make the final margin tighter.
They travelled without Aaron Sandilands and Luke McPharlin, who pulled out before the bounce, as well as Ryan Crowley, Michael Barlow and Zac Dawson.
The Swans were cautious and didn't play Jarrad McVeigh, who is coming back from a calf injury, while Kurt Tippett, Ben McGlynn and Sam Reid were also out.
NEW FACES
Sydney Swans: No new faces for the Swans this week but Isaac Heeney continued to impress in his second competitive game.
Fremantle: Lachie Weller started as the substitute and came on for just two possessions for the last quarter when the rain was bucketing down.
SYDNEY SWANS 0.3.6 0.5.8 1.6.13 1.7.14 (65)
FREMANTLE 0.0.3 0.3.7 0.3.7 1.6.11 (56)
SUPERGOALS
Sydney Swans: Parker
Fremantle: Clarke
GOALS
Sydney Swans: Bird 2, Cunningham, Hannebery, Heeney, Franklin, B. Jack
Fremantle: de Boer 2, Fyfe 2, Suban, Mayne
BEST
Sydney Swans: Kennedy, Parker, Jack, Hannebery, Heeney
Fremantle: Neale, Johnson, Fyfe, Mundy
INJURIES
Sydney Swans: Nil
Fremantle: Nil
Reports: Walters (Fremantle) reported for misconduct against Craig Bird (Sydney Swans) in the third quarter.
Umpires: Fisher, Rosebury, Brown, Hay
Official crowd: 4343 at Drummoyne Oval
