We take a look at some of the key talking points surrounding Thursday night's clash against Port Adelaide in this week's hot topics.
Bouncing back
The Swans have had only six days to digest last weekend’s result and reload ahead of Thursday night’s Round 14 clash with Port Adelaide.
The last of Thursday night football for the year will see the third-placed Swans host the 12th placed Power in the second consecutive match at the SCG.
The home crowd will want blood after the Swans were dealt a blow by the Tigers on Friday night.
Coming off an away game and the bye, the defeat was a bitter one for the fans so a good performance and subsequent four points will be top priority.
Last time we tangoed
It was Round 2 and the Swans’ intensity had been questioned after having to comeback from 41 points down against Essendon in the opening round.
The Swans answered and recorded an emphatic 48-point victory at the Adelaide Oval with Josh Kennedy collecting 36 disposals
With Port suffering two consecutive defeats and having the bye last weekend, facing a rebounding Swans outfit will be no easy task.
The Kennedy factor
Josh Kennedy averages 26 disposals against Port Adelaide, the most of any midfielder in the Swans playing group.
In the Swans’ Round 2 clash Kennedy (36 disposals) was an unstoppable force, gathering 18 contested possessions, 11 clearances and laying nine tackles in his night out.
Kennedy’s consistency has never been questioned and last weekend was no exception after picking up 28 touches in Friday night’s defeat.
Expect ‘Joey’ to be among the best again.
Buddy and Tippo
The loss of the Lance Franklin and Kurt Tippett can’t be underestimated and will throw some challenges John Longmire’s way in regards to how the team will structure up against the Power.
Franklin’s unrivalled impact up forward while Tippett’s pinch-hitting in the ruck has been invaluable and will be sorely missed.
But as it was pointed out earlier in the week, the Swans won the 2012 Premiership without either and managed fine with Sam Reid and Adam Goodes as forward targets.
Both will likely be called on again while the Swans’ midfielders, in particularly Luke Parker and Gary Rohan (two goals apiece against the Tigers), are capable of impacting the scoreboard.
The medical room
It wasn’t a good night on Friday, results wise and injury wise.
The Swans’ NEAFL side, already without a number of key personnel, had to make do without Craig Bird and Dan Robinson after the pair went down with respective injuries in the early stages of the match against Sydney Uni.
Thankfully the experienced duo should only miss one week each after scans confirmed as much on Monday.
Isaac Heeney’s comeback was postponed last weekend but is expected to line up in the NEAFL on Saturday while the same story goes for Ben McGlynn, pending how the veteran pulls up at training and whether the coaching staff want to utilise his goal kicking attributes in the seniors.
