Sydney Swans reserves coach Henry Playfair said he was pleased to advance through to the NEAFL Eastern Conference final on the first attempt after his side beat Ainslie by 62-points in last Saturday’s second semi-final.
While the final margin may have indicated a comfortable victory, Playfair said there are still areas of the game that need work before the Conference decider on September 17.
“The scoreboard didn’t really reflect how close the game was,” Playfair said.
“When you look at all the stats, aside from the end scores - scores on goal, inside 50s and clearances - they got us in a few of those areas.
“We know we’ve got things to tidy up on and we’ll try and do that in the week off.”
One facet of the game the Swans excelled in against Ainslie was goalkicking. Playfair has often said his team’s ability to convert on the scoreboard was a work in progress, and they made it count when it mattered, kicking 21 goals from 28 scoring attempts.
“Obviously it’s a really important part of the game,” Playfair said. “No matter what competition or which side you’re in, if you can kick straight it really freezes the opposition.
“You get to go back to the middle and reset again, whereas if you miss the momentum can swing based on your goalkicking.
“For us to kick straight was a big factor in the game and probably blew out the margin.”
Nathan Gordon kicked five goals to finish as the game’s leading goalkicker, and has now kicked a total of 15 goals from his last three games.
Lewis Roberts-Thomson and Andrejs Everitt both returned to the side from calf injuries, with Playfair satisfied with the effort they put in on limited playing time.
“Both got through injury free and played roughly the same amount of minutes,” he said.
“Both contributed to the team and slotted straight in to what we expect, so it was pleasing to get those boys both through.”
The team will be sticking to their regular training routine during the week off, but they will have an additional hit-out this Saturday morning to make sure they are primed come the final at Manuka Oval.
“We’ll train (Tuesday) afternoon which will be pretty light, and again on Thursday, and then we’ll have a pretty solid hit-out on Saturday in preparation for the week after,” Playfair said.
“We won’t be having too much time off, I think we’ll just continue on training and make sure the boys are really switched on for the week after.”
The Swans reserves will face either Ainslie or Eastlake in the Eastern Conference final at Manuka Oval from 2.15pm Saturday, September 17. The winner of the Eastern Conference will take on the Northern Conference champions, with a trip to Darwin to face the NT Thunder on September 25 a possibility.
The Swans have played Eastlake twice this season, resulting in a 123-point win in round 2 and a 20-point win in round 16. They’ve played Ainslie three times - including the last two matches - for wins of 50 points (round 9), 24 points (round 22) and 62 points (2nd semi final).
