2021 Telstra AFL Premiership Season – Round Three
Richmond Tigers v Sydney Swans
Saturday, April 3 at 1:45pm
MCG 

The Sydney Swans head into this fixture sitting third on the ladder with two wins on the board, after victories over the Brisbane Lions and Adelaide Crows.

They face a dangerous Richmond Tigers outfit that currently sit second after a 25-point victory over Carlton to start their season, followed by a 29-point victory over Hawthorn in Round two.

Forward Lance Franklin has been ruled out of this clash, with coach John Longmire confirming Franklin was being managed for the fixture.

“Lance is feeling good. It was part of our original plan, about a month ago when we sat down, that this might have been a possibility, but we still wanted to see how training went this week," Longmire said.

“We sat down after training and went through the pros and cons and we just want to make sure we keep getting some quality training in the gym and out on the ground into him.

“It is about the longer game with Lance and making sure we get him through the season.”

The young Swans outfit will still head into this clash with plenty of confidence and enthusiasm without Franklin. They side has showed plenty of energy and ball movement over the past fortnight with 2020 draftees Logan McDonald (5 goals this season), Errol Gulden and Braeden Campbell all transitioning into the side seamlessly.

The latter two have claimed back to back NAB Rising Star Nominations.

Sydney today travelled to Melbourne on Thursday ahead of Saturday's match against the reigning premiers and the final team for the fixture will be announced on Friday evening.

The Round 3 clash will be broadcast live on 7mate and Fox Footy from 1.30pm, with the first bounce set for 1.45pm AEDT. 

Visit the Match Centre for all the latest news and information on the game.

Where to watch

Heading to the game? View all the important information on the MCG website here.

Tickets are on-sale to the general public. Subject to availability, Swans members yet to redeem a ticket will have a secondary opportunity to access tickets, until the allocation is exhausted. Head to our Match Day Hub page for more information.

The Round 3 clash will be broadcast live on 7mate and Fox Footy from 1.30pm, with the first bounce set for 1.45pm AEDT. 

Last Time They Met

Richmond Tigers 4.10.34 def Sydney Swans 3.8.26, Round 6, 2020

What it means for Sydney

Whilst Franklin is a loss for the Swans, the forward line showed it is still capable of scoring points this season. The Swans kicked 19 goals in their opening game of the season and the forward line leads the competition for goals scored, with 37 in two games, average marks inside 50 with 19, and goals per entry with 30.8 per cent.

What it means for Richmond

Richmond have showed strong form over the first two rounds of the competition, cruising to victory over Hawthorn. Dustin Martin and Jack Reiwoldt continue to show how dangerous they are with the latter kicking eight goals this season. Richmond will be without Nick Vlastuin (knee) and fellow defender Bachar Houli (calf).

The stat

Richmond have claimed victories in five of the last six matches against Sydney, with 2017 the last time the Swans have secured a win over their opposition. However the victories have not been clear cut in recent years. The Swans have gone down by just 8-points, 22-ponts and 26-points in the past three occasions and were 9-point victors the year prior.

Quotes ahead of the clash – Jake Lloyd

“As a group, the way we are playing our football at the moment is an exciting brand, our young kids have really bought in as soon as they walked into the footy club and they have really added something different to our side which has been great.”

“The opportunity this weekend, we couldn’t have asked for a better one. The MCG, against the best team over the last 3-4 years we are really excited for that.”

“They are obviously great in a lot of areas but we think if we can bring that pressure around the footy, we have been really good at that over the last two weeks, and keep the ball in our forward half for as long as possible, we feel we have a really dangerous forward line down there.” Lloyd added.

“We feel if we can give them as much opportunity down forward, we can kick a winning score.”

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