Sydney Swans reserves coach Henry Playfair was pleased with the way his side fought back from an early four goal deficit on the way to recording a 96-point victory against GWS at ANZ Stadium on Sunday.

The Giants got the early jump and kicked the first four goals of the practice game before the Swans were able to rally late in the first quarter to bring the margin back to eight points at quarter time, with Playfair saying there was much to work on after the hesitant start.

“We were almost a bit tentative early on, even with our ball movement and defensively putting pressure on,” Playfair told sydneyswans.com.au.

“We tried to sag back a bit, but we kicked seven straight behinds as well so that didn’t help. After that time we certainly got the game back on our terms and put them under some pressure and were able to score as well.

“The last three quarters we certainly played pretty well, but the first quarter we were pretty ordinary - so certainly some things to pick-up from early in the game,” he said.

It was an interesting experience for Playfair, coaching against the combined experience of GWS coach, Kevin Sheedy, and his assistant, former Port Adelaide coach, Mark Williams.

Sheedy began coaching before 28-year-old Playfair was even born. But the new Swans Reserves coach is on a roll so far, having coached his team to victory in all three practice games played in the past month.

The reserves get their home-and-away season officially underway this Sunday against Eastlake at ACT’s Ainslie Oval, when the new North East Australian Football League (NEAFL) begins.

The League includes the Swans reserves and GWS Giants, as well as teams from the former Canberra League and also the Brisbane Lions and Gold Coast Suns reserves.

Playfair says he has been particularly impressed by the early season form of 2010 recruits Jed Lamb and Alex Johnson.

“Both those boys are first year players, we drafted them last year, and they’ve settled into the club really well and through the whole practice match series they’ve been impressive,” he said.

Lamb kicked six goals for the game, with Playfair quick to highlight the defensive aspects he brought to the team as well, while he said Johnson had quickly developed a strong presence in the backline.  

“The main thing we were impressed with, is his (Lamb’s) forward pressure and the amount of pressure he puts on the opposition, but to kick six goals is obviously pretty pleasing as well,” Playfair said.

“Alex down back has been outstanding for the three practice matches certainly in his voice and communication and direction.

“His improvement in his game, even over the three matches has been pleasing and when he’s got the ball he’s generally able to set it up with a teammate as well, so he’s been good.”

In his first game back since recovering from an off-season knee injury, Swans defender Tadhg Kennelly got through the game well, starting numerous attacks from the half-back line in the last three quarters.

“He used the ball well, took the game on - the type of things you expect from Tadhg,” Playfair said.

“He used the ball well up the middle, and some of his defensive stuff was pretty good as well, so he’ll probably build on that over the next two weeks and start building for senior selection.”

One of the highlights of the game was a brilliant set-shot from Mike Pyke who had no trouble converting a 40 metre free kick despite being hemmed in on the northern end boundary line.

Playfair joked that his reaction in the coaches’ box may have been different had the big ruckman missed the shot after electing not to centre the ball.

“I was expecting him to square it up, but he had the blinkers on and just looked straight at the big sticks,” he said.

“I’m only new to the coaches’ box, so I had the headpiece ready to slam on the desk, but then he kicked it so I had to slowly put it (the headpiece) back on.”