The absence of fans, a duel between two stars of the league and a former Swan taking control of the Crows are among the Hot Topics ahead of the Sydney Swans’ clash with the Adelaide Crows on Saturday.
Behind closed doors
The reality of the coronavirus pandemic will hit the Swans and Crows when they soldier up the Adelaide Oval races amid silence. The Swans’ six visits to Adelaide Oval in history have drawn an average crowd of 46,446 – and when the venue is close to capacity it’s rocking. The AFLW, International Cricket Council and National Basketball League were among the sporting bodies that hosted games without crowds in Australia last week. It will be fascinating to next week get an insight into how Sydney’s players felt during the crowd-less Adelaide clash.
Midfield battle
Sydney’s Josh Kennedy, Luke Parker, Isaac Heeney, George Hewett and Oliver Florent are set to square off with Adelaide’s Rory Sloane, Matt and Brad Crouch, Rory Atkins and Bryce Gibbs in a mouth-watering midfield showdown. Every one of those midfielders are capable of racking up 30-plus possessions a game, while Parker and Heeney are proven goal-kickers when rotating through the forward line. Could those two Swans give the away side the edge?
Rampe v Walker
A highly anticipated duel between a gun key defender and star key forward will play out when Sydney co-captain Dane Rampe meets former Adelaide skipper Taylor Walker. The big-framed Crow has booted 426 goals across 189 AFL games and was recognised as one of the game’s best when selected for February’s State of Origin clash for bushfire relief. Rampe, on the other hand, is the Swans’ reigning Club Champion, is an All Australian backman and has shut down top-quality key forwards like Josh Kennedy, Tom Hawkins, Tom Lynch and Ben Brown in his 159-game career. Is Rampe or Walker set to gain the ascendancy?
Ex-Swan to step into Crows' coaches’ box
Former 175-game Swan Matthew Nicks will take charge of his first AFL game when he coaches the Crows in Round 1. Nicks held a variety of coaching roles at Port Adelaide over the course of eight years, worked as an assistant coach to Leon Cameron at GWS in season 2019 and filled the void left by Don Pyke at Adelaide in October. Sydney secured the South Australian with pick 21 at the 1994 AFL Draft and he played a number of roles under coaches Rodney Eade and Paul Roos. Agonisingly, injury forced him into retirement in August 2005, less than two months out from the Swans’ drought-breaking premiership.
An Adelaide Oval thriller
The Crows sat atop the ladder when the Swans last met them at Adelaide Oval in Round 22, 2017, but Sydney had won 13 of its last 15 games. This was a match billed as a heavyweight showdown and the clash lived up to the hype. Adelaide booted the first three goals of the final term and led by nine points with just over five minutes left on the clock, before goals to Sam Reid and Tom Papley handed Sydney a last-gasp three-point victory. The 2017 clash also saw Lance Franklin kick one of the most memorable goals of his career, with the star forward latching on to the footy on the left wing, taking two bounces as he outran Daniel Talia and nailing a six-pointer off a tight angle from 40 metres out.
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