Shining lights within the haze.
The Sydney Swans’ four-goal blitz in the opening minutes of last Saturday’s clash with GWS was scintillating and reminded every one of the 35,824 fans at the SCG exactly what this team is capable of.
That along with a fightback in the third quarter was a true reflection of how the Swans have played this season.
In each of their five losses, the Swans have been competitive but just haven’t been able to piece it together for the entire game for whatever reason.
“We've been unable to sustain a competitive brand of footy for long enough over the course of a game,” John Longmire said in his post-match press conference.
“We're showing bits and pieces here and there…it's a combination of a number of different things and it all adds up to that inconsistent performance, and not being good enough for long enough.”
Longmire will be looking for their first complete performance against Carlton at the MCG on Saturday.
The waiting game.
As it stands, the Sydney Swans have suffered their worst start to a season since 1993.
Never under John Longmire’s tenure as senior coach has finals been seemingly so out of reach.
History says no team, since the inception of the top eight system in 1994, has a team been 0-5 and played in September.
But from what the AFL world has learned over the journey is that the Swans never die wondering.
Patches of brilliance under the dark cloud should have the football club stirred enough to hold firm and bounce back against Carlton on Saturday.
Can they bounce back?
Of course they can.
Many critics believe it’s only a matter of time before the red and white claim their first premiership points of 2017.
They haven’t been the worst performing 18th-ranked side in recent memory. They’ve been in more contests than not this season with relatively young outfits, underlined by six debutants this season which says there is light at the end of the tunnel.
With consecutive matches against bottom eight sides Carlton (16th on the ladder), Brisbane (14th), North Melbourne (17th), St Kilda (11th) and Hawthorn (15th) in the lead up to the mid-season bye – all winnable games one could comfortably argue – so last year’s grand finallists could be back to square with then the week off to help reinvigorate the side ahead of a huge second half of the season.
It is a huge ask, there’s little doubt about that, but there’s a massive opportunity for Longmire’s men to piece this season back together and re-write history.
Jake Lloyd has been in stellar form to start the season currently averaging 29.8 dipsosals per game.
A double dose of the Blues.
Sitting a lowly 18th on the ladder, the Sydney Swans come up against a Carlton outfit also desperate for a positive result.
Sydney has history on its side when it comes to accounting for the Blues, having won eight of the past 10 encounters, including last year’s fixtures which involved a big win at Docklands in Round 2 and a much tighter victory at the SCG in Round 18.
Both sides boast very apt midfields, both down on form at the moment but both of which can win games on their respective ability alone.
The likes of Josh Kennedy, Dan Hannebery and Luke Parker up against Patty Cripps, Marc Murphy and Bryce Gibbs makes this bottom of the table clash an intriguing matchup with plenty up for grabs.
And there’s also a guy – now with 800 career goals to his name – who looms large. Lance Franklin has kicked 21 goals in four matches, with Carlton defences of yesteryear unable to go with him during Buddy’s time in red and white.
An unfamiliar battlefield.
Here’s a random stat for you…
The MCG isn’t unfamiliar to the Sydney Swans, obviously, but playing Carlton on the famous venue is another story.
Not since the Qualifying Final of 1986 have the Swans and Blues squared off at the ‘G.
The SCG, Docklands, ANZ Stadium, Princes Park and even Waverley Oval have staged these fixtures since then.
They’ve played each other nine times at the MCG in history, only one being a home and away match (Round 19, 1981) – the Blues have their noses in front with five wins.
Who replaces Kieren Jack?
A nagging hip injury has grounded Kieren Jack for a couple of weeks, the Sydney Swans ruling out the former skipper on Tuesday.
That means another opportunity will open for a youngster to come in and help the Swans (hopefully) claim their first win of the season.
James Rose kicked four goals for the NEAFL Swans in last weekend’s win against GWS while Jordan Dawson, Nic Newman and first-year Ollie Florent could also be in the mix.
Jack joins his former co-captain Jarrad McVeigh on the sidelines. McVeigh was close to a recall but pulled up with a tight hamstring at training last weekend which will see the veteran also miss this weekend's clash with the Blues.
