The surge continues

The Sydney Swans upstaged Melbourne at the MCG on Friday to continue their impressive resurgence.

It was their fourth-straight win and seventh in eight matches, extending what’s been an incredible turnaround from their near-disastrous 0-6 start to the season.

The visitors overcame inaccurate kicking early to cruise to a 35-point win with Luke Parker (38 disposals, nine clearances, two goals) and Lance Franklin (19 disposals, 11 marks, four goals) starring against a side, notably with their injury concerns, but still right in the premiership race.

Next cab off the rank is Gold Coast at the SCG, fresh off a strong win against North Melbourne in what was superstar Gary Ablett’s 300th game.

On the verge of – incredibly – consolidating a spot in the top eight, the ninth-ranked Sydney Swans cannot afford to take the foot off the pedal or feel comfortable about how they’re travelling for fear of dropping a game they can ill-afford to drop.

While the climb back into finals contention has been sweet to watch, there’s still a massive climb to go before the Swans can rest on their laurels.

The Suns’ playmakers

Gary Ablett and Jarryd Lyons are winning plenty of footy in the middle of the ground. Tom Lynch is marking and kicking everything coming his way. Steven May, the skipper, is standing tall in defence. Jarrod Witts is one of the in-form ruckman in the competition.

Wherever you look there’s damaging players across every line within the Gold Coast squad.

The Suns sit 12th on the ladder, with six wins and eight losses, and have showed glimpses of form which rightly puts them in that mix of clubs capable of breaking into the highly sought-after top-eight.

They’re the competition’s best for centre clearances, averaging 15.6 per game in 2017, a glaring stat and one which according to AFL.com.au’s Adam Curley could go a long way to winning Saturday’s clash with the likes of Lynch and 203cm Peter Wright up forward.

The Suns, however, will have to break records to upset the home side. Not in their six years in the competition have they defeated the Sydney Swans.


Gary Ablett has been in superb touch this season.

Kickin’ goals

Sydney’s goal-kicking has been a bit skewiff over the past two weeks, the scorelines finishing 11.20 and 11.19 against Essendon and Melbourne respectively.

Is there reason for concern?

Maybe. When push comes to shove, inaccuracy can cost you especially in big finals-like clashes when goals are hard to come by.

But coach John Longmire would feel a little better about the level of intent his players showed in those two matches. Besides, that’s exactly what the coach cried out for throughout the slow start to the season.

The Swans kicked eight behinds before registering a goal against the Demons, but the fact they’d had almost complete control of the play, were still putting immense pressure on the opposition and ticked the inside 50 count over gave the coach some reassurance.

All it takes is a bit of fine tuning, maybe a bit of Tony Lockett magic during the week, and all should be well against the Suns whom they average a 53-point winning margin against.

Any movements at the selection table?

For arguments sake…the Club decides to take the conservative approach with Callum Mills in the wake of his concussion from Friday night. Who comes in?

Is it as easy as swapping a Callum for a Callum, in the form of Callum Sinclair, given the ruckman was pretty “unlucky” to miss last weekend’s game against Melbourne and his subsequent best-on-ground performance in the NEAFL?

Or do the Sydney Swans stick with the Sam and Sam (Naismith and Reid) ruck setup to retain an extra smaller, quicker, agile type?

There are several players waiting in the wings, playing well in the NEAFL, if the call-up comes including Jordan Foote (Round 15 emergency), Dan Robinson, James Rose and Shaun Edwards (unlikely, given he’s a rookie again).

Or do they simply swap the defender with a defender?

There’s a plethora of defenders knocking down the door for an opportunity including Harry Marsh, Jeremy Laidler, Aliir Aliir and Michael Talia.

It’s worth noting trio Will Hayward, Harry Cunningham and Kurt Tippett have already been withdrawn from selection as they tend to their respective foot injuries.


Callum Mills looks on at training on Tuesday.

AJ

It’s been a while since we’ve seen an Injury List without Alex Johnson’s name on it.

That became a reality as, after 1736 days on the sidelines, Johnson played his first full game of competitive football (well, sort of) in Saturday’s NEAFL in Canberra.

He played around 40 minutes, a half of footy, which at the end of the day is more than the defender could have wished for after five knee reconstructions.

It’s an incredible story, possibly the story of the year in Australian footballing terms, and many across the nation will be keeping their fingers crossed that’s it’s only onwards and upwards from here for the widely-loved member of the Sydney Swans.

He’s already looking forward to playing more minutes in Saturday’s clash with the Suns so the 25-year-old can leave the anxiety and commotion of his first game back behind and get back to just being a regular player again.

#SwansRedDay

The Sydney Swans are teaming up with charity partner Redkite once again to support kids and families dealing with cancer.

Saturday’s clash with the Gold Coast is #SwansRedDay, a special day on the Club’s calendar and a continuation of the 16-year commitment to Redkite’s cause.

Fans are encouraged, for a gold coin donation, to get themselves a red headband to help fill the SCG with plenty of red and white.

Every person that turns up and scans their membership card or ticket at this weekend’s game will contribute a donation to Redkite on behalf of the Sydney Swans, courtesy of the Sydney Swans Foundation.

As part of the week Jarrad McVeigh and Will Hayward visited Sydney Children’s Hospital on Tuesday for a musical therapy session while the players will be wearing the headbands during Thursday’s training in support of Redkite’s amazing work.