Sydney coach John Longmire praised the maturity of his young midfield group that has not only coped against two seasoned sides across the first two rounds, but thrived despite the absence of captain Callum Mills, veteran Luke Parker and recruit Taylor Adams.
Chad Warner was dominant with 27 disposals, seven clearances and three goals. James Rowbottom laid a game-high 13 tackles to set the tone. Errol Gulden collected 19 disposals after half-time to finish with 30 touches, 11 score involvements and 650 metres gained.
"It was terrific. We looked at the draw at the start of the year and two top-four teams from last year, so it was a tough one. I don’t think there any easy ones out there. I thought our shape was terrific, our intent, our connectedness across the ground was really good," Longmire said after the 33-point win.
"We are still a really young team. From that perspective, it was a mature performance with a lot of young players playing really key roles."
Longmire: It was a mature performance
Watch Sydney’s press conference after round one’s match against Collingwood
Isaac Heeney has starred across the first fortnight and could have six Brownlow Medal votes to his name after spending more time in the midfield to help cover the loss of Mills, Parker and Adams.
Longmire expects the 27-year-old, who was named All-Australian as a forward in 2022 after kicking 49 goals, to continue to spend plenty of time in the midfield even when the experienced names return.
"It has worked for the last two weeks and he has been super. We’ve had so much experience out of the team, if you look at our midfield group tonight, he was clearly the older one there and he is only 27," he said.
"We will play him where we need him. If we need him forward we will play him there, but he is going really well as a mid. He has been super. I just think he will play both roles. He was All-Australian half-forward, too, so he is a good player. Wherever you play him he has an impact.
Highlights: Collingwood v Sydney
The Magpies and Swans clash in round one
"I think it’s good for our team because he just works so hard because he is just runs, has such an amazing engine. The terrific thing we’ve seen over the pre-season is his ability to put himself forward, put himself mid when he needs to."
Sydney hosts Essendon at the SCG next Saturday night.
ALL THE HIGHLIGHTS