We bring you all you need to know from the newspapers around the country in the latest Swans in the media.

Ruck and roll stars' derby show
Peter Lalor
The Australian, June 9

Sunday’s Sydney derby provides a number of fascinating match-ups but none better than the clash of the two ruckmen.

Kurt Tippett came to Sydney in 2013, Shane Mumford left the following year, the Giants luring him across town with money the Swans no longer had after recruiting Tippett and then Lance Franklin.

The knock-on effect also saw Tippett’s job description change from key forward to tap ruckman.

Mumford has proved to be critical for the Giants, and Tippett seems almost to relish the ruck role.

“I enjoy starting in the middle as there is something about being in that centre circle for the first bounce of the game,” Tippett said earlier in the year. “You’re always around the football and you can have a real impact.”

Swans forward Ben McGlynn's novel way of avoiding injury
Andrew Wu
SMH, June 9

It's been seen as one of the fads of the 21st century but Sydney's Ben McGlynn believes barefoot training is helping him stay out of the casualty ward.

After a 2015 season that was severely interrupted by soft tissue problems, the Swans forward may have found a novel solution.

The Merits of training without shoes, in particular running, has caused much debate with some adamant it is a more natural way to work out while others believe it makes an athlete more susceptible to injury.

McGlynn has not ditched the boots entirely, nor has he bought into the trend of pounding the pavement barefoot. The veteran raised eyebrows at training on Wednesday when he was spotted training without his shoes, however it's something that has been part of his training program throughout the 2016 campaign, starting in the pre-season.

The goalsneak does a small part of the warm-up barefooted before lacing up for the main session, the theory being that it helps with stability and balance. Gary Rohan and Kurt Tippett, who are both in a rich vein of form, also take part.

"It's been a program I've put in place with the conditioning staff over the summer to get on top of my calves and hamstrings," McGlynn said. "The bare foot is to get my stability in the ankles and calves and the Achilles [tendon] to strengthen them. It's a bit different but getting the rewards so far. The strength in my legs is something I've noticed coming into games and pulling up from games. Hopefully that puts me in good stead to be resilient."

The Swans' decision to take a more patient path with McGlynn this season is paying dividends. Although the start of his season was delayed, since breaking into the Swans' team in round three the rising 31-year-old has missed only one game.

The continuity has allowed him to reproduce the form of 2011-14 when he became an integral, though underrated, part of the Swans' forward line. Even last year when he was limited to only nine games the Swans deemed him so important to their side they picked him for the finals off a limited preparation.

Regular football for Ben McGlynn and Gary Rohan a walk in the park
Ben Horne
Daily Telegraph, June 9

IT’S the barefoot medicine that is keeping Sydney’s two forward line X-factors on the park.

Maintaining the week-to-week fitness of Ben McGlynn and Gary Rohan has been an ongoing challenge for the Swans over recent seasons, but this year they’ve turned to a slightly out-there physical remedy that is paying dividends for their chronic soft tissue injuries.

Starting this pre-season, McGlynn and Rohan were ordered to start training sessions without their boots on.

Absorbing the hallowed SCG turf between their toes as they run warm-up drills has helped fortify their calves and hamstrings against niggling injuries.

Both have still missed matches in 2016, but the Swans’ barefoot bandits are confident their shoes-off approach is giving them increasing confidence they can back-up week-to-week.

“I’ve definitely felt the difference. The strength in my legs is something I’ve noticed going into games and pulling up from games,” McGlynn said.

Mumford praises Kurt Tippett’s transformation as a ruckman
Ben Horne
Daily Telegraph, June 9

GWS Giants star Shane Mumford admits he never saw former Swans teammate Kurt Tippett as a No.1 ruckman.

But on Sunday the GWS big man is bracing for the one-on-one battle of the season against a Swan who has proven the transformation story of the AFL.

Tippett, much-maligned for his output as a forward during his first three years in Sydney, has gone to another level since being instilled by coach John Longmire as the Swans’ ruck king.

The 29-year-old outboxed the game’s most highly rated ruckman Todd Goldstein when the Swans smashed ladder-leaders North Melbourne, and last week Tippett stood out again as he schooled the Gold Coast Suns.

He’s Bud light
Ben Horne
Daily Telegraph, June 9

KEVIN Sheedy has declared the GWS Giants are better off without Lance Franklin.

The club’s founding father believes Franklin’s decision to snub the Giants for the Swans two seasons ago has proved a blessing in disguise for the west’s rising powerhouse.

At the time there was an explosion of bitterness from GWS over the Buddy rejection that also had the AFL fuming and demanding answers from the Swans.

But anger has turned to relief as the finals-bound Giants relish in the path they’ve instead taken, better investing Franklin’s multi-million dollar cash into signing experienced stars Shane Mumford, Heath Shaw and Steve Johnson as well as retaining a host of football’s most precocious young guns, like Zac Williams and Nathan Wilson.

Franklin might be the competition’s leading goalscorer and still its biggest name, but Sheedy is adamant the blindside deal that ignited a genuine cross-town AFL rivalry in Sydney has ultimately worked in the Giants’ favour.

“I’ve got no doubt. We spread our money better as an insurance,” Sheedy told The Daily Telegraph.

“Because if you spend all your money on one player and you lose him injured or through ill health or whatever (it can prove damaging).

“The deal in the end saw us get three or four players and keep some top young kids.

“And we even got one out of the Swans which was pretty good – a big ruckman from Bunyip … Mumford has been a great leader for the club.

“The money we didn’t get Buddy for we spent it wisely.”