Don't miss any of the news involving the Swans as we bring you everything from the newspapers around the country on Monday 10^th August, 2015.

Sydney defender Rhyce Shaw says the Swans' inconsistency over the past month has been a frustrating reminder of why they are performing below what they have proven to be their benchmark best in recent years. 

The Swans were proficient early, but fell away badly after leading at half-time to go down by 32 points to Geelong – a side with four straight wins under their belt. Three losses – against Hawthorn, West Coast and Geelong on Saturday evening – in the past four weeks now puts the Swans outside the top four. It's an unfamiliar position for them given their consistent success in recent years.

Rather than knowing what to expect from John Longmire's men, it now feels like guesswork trying to figure out which Swans team will show up.

Last week, the Swans thrashed Adelaide, drawing inspiration from the outpouring of support for teammate Adam Goodes, who had stepped down for the game after consistently being taunted by rival fans. A week later, on Goodes' return to football after a week off, the Swans failed to reproduce the same clinical brand of football. 

Shaw said the vastly different results were frustrating and needed to be rectified as soon as possible.

"It is really hard because we're picking and choosing when we want to play good footy," Shaw said. "When we don't, we leave it to chance and teams take their opportunities and we lose the game, so it's pretty simple.

"Obviously we've had the three losses and there's no excuse really. We've trained hard but we just haven't performed on the field.  It was a very tough loss considering we were in a good position at half-time and to let it slip away was really tough."

Cats’ blitz continues Sydney’s horror run

Neil Cordy

Sunday Telegraph, August 9

THE Swans played their hearts out for Adam Goodes when he was out of the team but couldn’t replicate their effort with him in the side as Geelong inflicted a massive blow before a full house last night.

After trailing by 13 points at half-time the Cats kicked eight goals to one after the long break to run over Sydney.

The loss continued the Swans’ terrible record in Geelong. They have won just one match (round 23, 2011) in their last 10 games at the venue dating back to 2000.

ADAM Goodes made his peace with footy fans last night — and it will be a major surprise if it doesn’t stay that way for the remainder of his magnificent career.

On behalf of everybody in the game, the vast majority of a capacity crowd at Geelong cried “enough!” as the troubled star ended his brief self-imposed exile in a landmark occasion not just for sport, but for national goodwill.

Other than a few scattered boos and an old-fashioned Bronx cheer or two when things didn’t go quite to plan for him, Goodes was treated with complete respect from the time he was applauded off the Sydney team bus and again by many of the 27,910 spectators as he walked off at the end.

He did not make a production of thanking the crowd, preferring to leave Geelong captain Joel Selwood to soak up the glory of his 200th game.

SYDNEY coach John Longmire heaped praise on Geelong supporters for their respectful reaction to Adam Goodes’ return last night.

Longmire said he hoped the rest of the community would now follow the Cats’ lead and move on to enjoy the finer aspects of the game.

“From what I heard, it was really respectful and a fantastic result from that perspective after a couple of tough weeks,’’ he said.

“The Geelong crowd was sensational, let by the Geelong football club who contacted us two weeks ago and were fantastic all the way through.

“I hope the whole football world and community in general can just focus on the good things in footy.

“There has been a terrific response from everyone and the whole discussion and debate, while probably uncomfortable at times, it certainly turned and there was a great swell of support from the whole community, particularly the football community.

“The supporters were fantastic tonight and it’s a credit to the Geelong community and footy club in general.’’

Days after he welcomed Adam Goodes back to training with a hug, Aliir Aliir is seemingly a world away at an AFL multicultural program session in Wagga Wagga showing kids from recently arrived families that Australia's indigenous game welcomes them.

The Swans player, who was born in a refugee camp in Kenya to Sudanese parents in 1994, spent a couple of hours meeting and greeting mostly Burmese, Afghani and African kids, handing out caps and miniature footballs and passing on the message that they, too, can use sport as a way to integrate.

"This is what football's all about," Aliir said afterwards. "The situation that happened last week with Goodesy, you know, it's just good to get past it and show that the AFL and the community want to get rid of racism."

The Geelong Advertiser front page noted that the eyes of Australia would be on Simonds Stadium on Saturday night. Yet for all that this was about one man and how he would be received by many, as much as the night was a canvas for a far bigger picture, there was still a game of football to be played. An important one, too.

There had been much talk of warriors, but on this night Joel Selwood was the epitome of the hunter, pursuing the ball and ultimately the win with a zeal that was something to behold. He might not have got a 200th game banner all to himself, but he'd take a 32-point win against a top-four opponent any milestone day of the week.

Selwood finished with 36 possessions and a bruised backside, painful evidence that 20 of them were hard-won. The balm was being chaired off as the totem of a team that remains in the eight and in the hunt for more September action.

In front of 27,910 spectators at Simonds Stadium, the give-and-take between footballers and fans is more intimate than in the big citystadiums.

When Adam Goodes ran along the boundary line he seemed so close to the crowd, it cannot have been only the Sydney contingent holding their breath as he got his first touches of the match.

A little chip pass early in the first quarter was too fleeting to really tell what type of reception he would get.

But only minutes later there was a reminder of his greatness, when Goodes kicked a beautiful snap  goal from 30 metres out.

There was a roar from the Swans fans, just a smattering of boos, then a ripple of respectful applause from the otherwise fiercely tribal Geelong supporters.

Every one of his teammates ran in to congratulate him and it felt OK to breathe out.

When Adam Goodes sent himself to the reserves in April, even Sydney coach John Longmire had doubts it would work out for the best but the self sacrifice has bought the champion extra time at the twilight of his career.

Lost amid the recent booing controversy is the fact Goodes can still play, even if his glory days are a speck in the rear-view mirror. That Goodes can still command a place in a top-four side is proof of his continued worth.

While the Swans have shown in the past two weeks they are a club of compassion, they can be ruthless when it comes to the business of football.

Ask premiership ruckman Shane Mumford, who was squeezed out by salary cap pressures after the signing of Lance Franklin. Or Ryan O'Keefe, whose status as a dual premiership player, Norm Smith Medallist, club champion and All Australian did not prevent him from playing out his career in the seconds.

Such a fate also beckoned for Goodes but a month out of the finals he is again a key cog in the Swans' forward line, his importance on Saturday night to be magnified by Franklin's absence and the use of Kurt Tippett in the ruck.

GEELONG may be sympathetic to Adam Goodes’ cause with the Swans and Cats running through the same banner before tonight’s game, but Tom Hawkins says that’s where the niceties will end.

The home team is clinging to eighth spot on the ladder and is desperate for the four points.

“There’s no doubt we are supportive of Adam but as soon as the ball is bounced I expect our playing group to hunt after whoever has the footy and play with a hard edge,” Hawkins told The Saturday Telegraph.

“We’ve got a game to win, it’s important to the footy club; these games you play against sides above you on the ladder are so crucial.”

After a fortnight in which he shaped national conversation, Adam Goodes touched down in Victoria on Friday ahead of his return to football, and said he is looking forward to getting back out on the ground.

The dual Brownlow medallist arrived at Melbourne airport along with his Sydney teammates ahead of Saturday night's clash against Geelong at Simonds Stadium, in what is Goodes' first game back after a week off in the wake of the booing controversy, which escalated dramatically following the Swans' clash against West Coast in Perth on the Sunday of round 17.

Goodes, 35, took leave from the club for a week, missing last Saturday's win over Adelaide - which was played amid a backdrop of widespread support for the dual premiership player, and club games record holder.

Collingwood power forward Travis Cloke has declared himself a strong chance to be ready for Friday night's crunch game against Sydney.

With the Swans still unsure as to whether leading goalkicker Lance Franklin will be available for a match crucial to their top-four aspirations, Pies star Cloke rated himself an "80 per cent" prospect of returning from a calf injury in time to help keep his club's fading finals hopes alive.

His positive thoughts about a comeback after three weeks on the sidelines stem from a training session on Saturday which he completed and pulled up well from, bringing him into the frame for the match at the SCG.

"I had a really good run yesterday morning with [injured team-mate] Brent Macaffer, who's also returning from his knee, so we had a bit of a run together and a bit of a hit-out," Cloke told Channel Seven's Game Day on Sunday.

"I've pulled up fine this morning, which is the biggest plus. I'll go again tomorrow and try and get myself up for Friday night," he said. "I'd like to think I'm probably an 80/20 [chance of playing], but obviously the final say comes down to the medical staff and obviously Bucks [coach Nathan Buckley]."

SYDNEY Swans player Aliir Aliir delivered hope to the multicultural kids of Wagga in a special visit to the city on Thursday.

As part of AFL’s Multicultural Round, Aliir was a special guest at AFL’s highly-successful multicultural program where he proved an inspiration for kids.

Born in a refugee camp in Kenya. Aliir’s family fled civil wars in Africa and moved to Brisbane when he was seven.

He used his visit to Wagga to explain to the multicultural community that anything is possible.