Assistant coach Stewart Dew opened the doors to the Swans’ inner sanctum and answers a few questions for this week’s Coaches Column, thanks to Cellarbrations, ahead of Saturday night’s clash with Hawthorn.
We won both the contested and uncontested possession count against Geelong. Did those numbers go a long way to us winning the game and will a similar performance against Hawthorn get the job done again?
We were pretty conscious of winning the contested footy and playing majority of the game in our half – this week is no different.
It’s all well and good to get your hands on the footy but it’s what you do with the footy afterwards that counts the most.
Hawthorn is a strong team inside and outside. We like to rate ourselves in those areas as well so it will come down to how clean we can be in comparison to the Hawks.
In that case, when two sides with similar attributes come up against each other, does every inch count and how important is gaining that extra one or two percent?
Everything against a team like Hawthorn who uses the ball so well is important.
If we leave our back six out to dry and we’re putting no pressure on the ball carrier coming in, they have proven before that they can score pretty heavily.
We’ll try and put as much heat on the footy and, if they happen to win it, create turnovers.
Hawthorn averages a league-high 114 points in season 2015. How big of a task does our defensive half face on Saturday night?
We’ll always back our defenders to win the one-on-ones every day of the week. But our midfielders and forwards also have a big say in how easy that ball goes down there.
We have to put pressure on all over the ground because they’re so good at picking a team apart. Obviously if you give a quality side like Hawthorn time and space there’s not much our back six can do.
In hindsight, our forwards and midfielders have the most responsibility.
Another key aspect of last week’s win was the ability of midfielders Luke Parker and Tom Mitchell to impact the scoreboard, kicking five and three goals respectively. Is finding other avenues at goal, other than our key forwards, always an important element to a performance?
To compete with the best you have to spread the load a bit.
Don’t get me wrong, we’d love Parker kicking five every week but for obvious reasons we can’t rely on it.
But if he could snag two goals a game and other midfielders chip in with a couple as well, certainly that puts a lot of pressure on the opposition rather than simply leaving it up to our key forwards.
What will a 6-2 record and defeating Hawthorn do to our confidence going forward?
To beat one of the best teams in the competition and win our third in a row after losing back-to-back games, which we don’t normally do, would be great for the boys.
Fremantle are out in front now so if we can string another one together will go a long way to staying in touch.
Harry Cunningham comes back into the side. You have a lot to do with our midfield group – what does Harry add that mix?
Run, speed and flexibility – he can play inside, wing, half-forward and half-back – which is exactly what we need on the MCG.
He has found a bit of the ball in the NEAFL which was good, especially after being a sub in his last game in the senior side.
Sometimes you need a couple of four-quarter games under your belt so he’ll be ready to go.
