THE PROSPECT of a wet ANZ Stadium on Saturday may well suit the Swans’ big-bodied midfield but coach Paul Roos says he’s more concerned with substance than style when his side takes on Collingwood.
The Swans have lost their past eight games against the Magpies and Roos said suggestions that a sodden ground would benefit his side were irrelevant.
“I’m hoping we’re 20 goals and they’re five, something along those lines, but given the recent history, a 15-goal win might be a little bit beyond us at this stage,” Roos quipped.
“I’d probably take a one point to zero win… I don’t care about the style of footy. I’ve just got to find a style that will actually beat them.”
The Swans’ quest to break their five-year drought has received a boost with the return of Daniel Bradshaw and Rhyce Shaw.
The Swans have lost their past eight games against the Magpies and Roos said suggestions that a sodden ground would benefit his side were irrelevant.
“I’m hoping we’re 20 goals and they’re five, something along those lines, but given the recent history, a 15-goal win might be a little bit beyond us at this stage,” Roos quipped.
“I’d probably take a one point to zero win… I don’t care about the style of footy. I’ve just got to find a style that will actually beat them.”
The Swans’ quest to break their five-year drought has received a boost with the return of Daniel Bradshaw and Rhyce Shaw.
Roos said Patrick Veszpremi and impressive first-year utility Gary Rohan were stiff to be omitted.
However, one of them may yet get a late reprieve, with some doubt emerging over Tadhg Kennelly’s fitness after he resumed from a knee injury against Port Adelaide.
“He hasn’t done much all week so there’s always some sort of doubt when a player’s only played one game [after injury],” Roos said.
“One of the disadvantages of putting your team in before training is that not everyone gets through training. We’d expect him to play… but if [he] doesn’t, we’d feel Patty and Gary would be well-equipped if they did have to come in.”
Despite Kennelly’s injury concerns, Roos was confident Bradshaw could make a significant contribution after missing the past three games with a recurrent knee complaint.
“Even in his early games, he certainly draws a good opponent. He’s capable of kicking a couple of crucial goals,” he said.
“He’s not going to absolutely spot on as he was after week three and four but he’s certainly going to be a valuable player for us.”
Swans skipper Brett Kirk, who revealed he carried a Collingwood bag to school during his early years at his grandfather’s urging, said the players were keen to end their Magpies hoodoo.
“I really feel there’s starting to be a rivalry building up between both sides,” he said.
“There’s no doubt I’m sick of losing against Collingwood. It’s happened for a while now and I know the guys are really mentally switched on to play on the weekend.
“They’re vulnerable like any side. Melbourne played some really good football [in round 12] and was able to show them up in some different areas and we’re hoping we can do that on the weekend.”
With the match promoted as one of the Swans’ biggest clashes of the season, Kirk said the players were hoping for fervent support from an equally huge turnout from the red and white faithful.
“We’re hoping we get a big crowd out there. As a kid, when you come out, you want to play in front of big crowds and we’ve had that against Collingwood in the past,” he said.
“Both sides are in contention to play finals again so hopefully we’ll get plenty of Swannies fans out there and make plenty of noise.”
