SYDNEY SWANS coach Paul Roos has praised the performances of international rookie-listed players Mike Pyke and Brendan Murphy after the side's eight-point win over Melbourne at Visy Park on Saturday.
The Swans defeated the Demons 9.9 (63) to 8.7 (55) in the first round of the NAB Challenge matches.
Former Canadian rugby representative Pyke impressed in the ruck and also chipped in with a goal, which earned the plaudits from Roos post-match.
"I liked his goal – it was good. He's been terrific and he's still learning, but his ruck work has been really solid," Roos said.
"Against some young ruckmen today he dominated the contests at times, so it's a real credit to him. But he's a bigger body than some of the younger kids he's playing.
"But to pick up the game like he has, he's still unsure when the ball's on the ground and he's got to work on other areas. But he's made some significant advances for a guy who hadn't played the game up until a week or two weeks ago."
Murphy, a second-year rookie from Ireland, also caught the eye of his coach.
"He did some really good things. He came in a little underdone, but we were very keen to play him and get him out and get him running out and playing against senior company," Roos said.
"He came on and off the ground a bit, but he showed some really good signs. At times he showed he was a little bit tired and made a few mistakes, but I thought there were some real positives for him as well."
Roos was also pleased with the efforts of former Magpie Rhyce Shaw, who crossed to the Swans in October's exchange period.
"He's been really good. What we need to do with Rhyce now – he's been training for a while and pretty hard before he got to us – is make sure we don't exhaust him over the next two weeks," Roos said.
"So we'll probably try and give him a bit of a rest and maybe play him for half a game next week and a full game the week after, but he's been very good."
Dual Brownlow Medallist Adam Goodes was one of the Swans' best with 20 touches while Amon Buchanan had 20 of his own. Youngster Craig Bird had 19 possessions.
Hard-at-it midfielder Jude Bolton and versatile tall Ed Barlow kicked two goals each, with singles to Jarred Moore, Ryan O'Keefe, Pyke, Nick Smith and Jesse White.
Overall, Roos said there were some good signs from the hit-out.
"We got more out of it this week. One thing with Melbourne, even though they're a little undermanned than us, you know they're fit. They're a young team, they're running and they've been training for a long time," Roos said.
"Today it was more to test our fitness. I thought at times, they looked fitter than us and they outran us, but then at times our senior core was able to claw it back and work through and that's what you want to see at this time of the year.
"Certainly from our senior players there were some really good signs. [Jarrad] McVeigh is in really good form and young Shawy has come in and given us some real run that we'd hoped. Hally [Barry Hall] looked pretty sharp early.
"The next two weeks are really critical and then you start to get your team together next week and the week after."
Sydney Swans 1.3 3.5 6.7 9.9 (63)
Melbourne 3.1 3.2 6.5 8.7 (55)
GOALS
Sydney Swans: Barlow, J. Bolton 2, O'Keefe, White, Moore, Pyke, Smith
Melbourne: Sylvia 2, Miller, Morton, McDonald, Newton, Davey, Jetta
BEST
Sydney Swans: Goodes, McVeigh, Bird, Buchanan, Mattner
Melbourne: Sylvia, Grimes, Martin, Bruce
INJURIES
Sydney Swans: Nil
Melbourne: Bell (corked thigh)
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Vozzo, Statham, Gestier
