Reserves set for NEAFL decider
The Swans reserves are heading to Brisbane with victory in mind according to midfielder Dan Robinson
Despite losing all three clashes against the Lions reserves this season by an average of 41 points, Robinson said the final score in this weekend’s game would be the only one that matters.
“We’ve got something to prove going up to Brisbane,” Robinson told sydneyswans.com.au.
“The only one that counts is the last one, so I think we’re all pretty keen to finish with the win.”
Robinson, who was recently named in the NEAFL Eastern Conference Team of the Year, said the Lions’ strength this season had been their on-field consistency, with the club suffering only a handful of injuries at both senior and reserve-level.
“They’ve got a lot of depth,” he said.
“You’ve seen in the seniors they came from the bottom of the ladder into finals contention this year and have had a good run with injuries and have had pretty full teams every time we’ve played them.
“They are really good structurally and if you give them an opportunity on the outside they’ll give cut you up.”
The young Swans midfielder said it would be important for the visitors to play to the game on their terms if they are going to get on top of the Northern Conference premiers this weekend.
“It’s important that we get our structures right and talk to the top-ups and make sure we play to our strengths and win the ball and play our game,” he said.
“We’ve got full confidence we can do it, so we just need to go out there and have a good game.”
Following last weekend’s Eastern Conference Grand Final victory over Belconnen in Canberra, Robinson said the team was looking forward to the chance of claiming overall NEAFL honours.
The 19-year-old said there was plenty of energy amongst the reserves group after last Sunday’s win, which was the first Grand Final victory for a number of his team mates.
“It was pretty exciting and a couple of boys had never played in a Grand Final, let alone won one, so there was a bit of a buzz about the group,” Robinson said.
“I was one of the lucky ones; I think I’ve won two. The first was in under-9s for the Mosman Swans and then in year 11 at Riverview.
“I even think Crouchy (reserves coach Jared Crouch) was pretty relieved and a lot of the young boys hadn’t been there the last couple of years so it was just a good stepping stone to show that we can play good footy and win those sorts of games.”
Whatever the result this weekend, the Swans reserves will return to Sydney on Saturday night and get together at the club to watch the seniors’ preliminary final clash against Fremantle at Patersons Stadium.
Robinson said reaching Saturday’s Grand Final caps off a fantastic year for the reserves group, who have all formed strong bonds this season.
“Everyone is sort of living together and we have a tight knit group,” he said.
“The team has also stayed pretty similar the whole way through the year and a lot of bonds have been made and everyone is getting along really well.”
NEAFL Grand Final details
Sydney Swans Reserves vs. Brisbane Lions Reserves
Saturday September 21
Graham Rd Oval, Aspley
12:30pm
Live updates will be posted on both the Official Swans Facebook and Twitter page, with all the final reaction on sydneyswans.com.au and SwansTV.
The game will also be live streamed via the NEAFL Website: www.neafl.com.au