The Sydney Swans have made one change for tomorrow night’s blockbuster clash with Collingwood at the MCG, with midfielder Jed Lamb set to return to the side.
The 20-year-old, who made his AFL debut in round six this season, played two consecutive games as the Swans’ substitute player against the Brisbane Lions and Hawthorn before returning to the Swans reserves last week.
The young midfielder’s inclusion comes at the expense of forward Tommy Walsh, who has been omitted from the team.
Sydney Swans coach John Longmire said Lamb performed well in the reserves’ recent win over Queanbeyan and deserved another senior opportunity.
“He played on the weekend in our reserves and he did quite well again,” Longmire told SwansTV.
“We’ve got a couple of young players in our reserves who we still have to have a look at, but Jed has had a taste of senior footy and he gets another chance this week.”
Longmire also confirmed that defender Marty Mattner, who was a late withdrawal from last Saturday’s match against the Dockers with hip soreness, would not play tomorrow night.
“Marty tried to train again on Wednesday but he was still sore in the hip, so unfortunately he’s out for this week so we’ll see how he pulls up for next week.”
Reflecting on the Swans’ round eight draw with Fremantle, Longmire said the side had learnt a lot from Saturday night’s disappointing result.
“I thought we did a lot right and I think that’s what we need to keep reminding ourselves of,” he said.
“We did a lot right to get to that point of the game with that type of lead but the last ten minutes were disappointing and we learnt that we need to be better when the ball is in our hands and to control things when we have the opportunity to.
“We looked at that earlier in the week and hopefully we can be better at that particular stage of the game if we’re faced with that again.”
The coach added that the Swans would need to increase their pressure across the ground and would need to produce four quarters of consistent football to defeat Collingwood at their home ground.
“It’s a good opportunity to play another Friday night game for us and we’ve had a couple of chances this year, which has been good,” Longmire said.
“But it’s only good when we make the most of our chances and that’s what we’ve got to try and do, which is to try and play a really strong, hard and competitive game for four quarters against a high quality opponent.”
Sydney Swans v. Collingwood
MCG
Friday, May 24, 2013
B N.Malceski, T.Richards, N.Smith
HB J.McVeigh, H.Grundy, D.Rampe
C L.Jetta, R.O'Keefe, D.Hannebery
HF M.Morton, S.Reid, J.Bolton
F L.Parker, A.Goodes, B.McGlynn
Foll M.Pyke, J.Kennedy, K.Jack
I/C C.Bird, A.Everitt, J.Lamb, S.Mumford
Emg T.Armstrong, T.Mitchell, T.Walsh
In: J.Lamb
Out: T.Walsh