The Sydney Swans return to the SCG for a Round 21 clash against Essendon on Saturday afternoon.

The Swans are officially out of the finals race with a month remaining in the home & away season, while the Bombers are sitting in 15^th on the ladder after a largely forgettable season so far.

In Round 20 the Swans started well against the Giants but were overpowered by their cross-town rivals in the second half, eventually losing by 44 points. For the undermanned Bombers, they were on the receiving end of a 93-point thumping at the hands of the Western Bulldogs.

Swans coach Dean Cox has been forced to ring the changes for this one, with Jesse Dattoli (debut), Caiden Cleary, Peter Ladhams, Oli Florent and Tom McCartin named in the senior side. Will Hayward, Matt Roberts, Hayden McLean, Joel Hamling and Aaron Francis will miss the match. Crafty left footed Swan, Errol Gulden, will play his 100^th AFL game against Essendon. The dual All Australian was originally taken with pick 32 in the 2020 draft. 

Essendon has made four changes to its lineup, with the inclusion of debutant Jayden Nguyen. Returning to the side is forward Ben Hobbs, while Archer May and Xavier Duursma are also locked in to play against the Swans. Zak Johnson and Saad El-Hawli have been omitted. Jordan Ridley is out due to a minor hamstring strain and Nate Caddy will miss with a groin injury.

The last time these two sides met back in Round 9, it was Essendon prevailing in an upset. Wayward kicking was the enemy for the Swans who kicked 8.15 for the match, opposed to the Bombers 11.5. Sydney also smashed Essendon in the inside 50 count, 61-45.

Essendon coach Brad Scott says he’s going to use the next month to experiment with his squad as he looks ahead to 2026, starting with Saturday against Sydney.

“Unfortunately, the mathematics tells you, in our industry, there are more lows than highs. There's the elation and the joys of players being drafted in a mid-season draft, and then six months later, you're faced with the discussion as to whether they can stay on the list or not,” Scott said.

“It's a huge challenge and a bit of a juggling act at the moment, but again, you try to be as empathetic as you can to players and their careers, but the reality is we've got to make the decisions that are in the best interests of the Essendon Football Club, short, medium, long term.

“There's going to be a lot of hard decisions, but we've got to make them,” Scott said.

The Sydney Swans have defeated the Essendon bombers by 14 points during a gloomy afternoon on the SCG. In wet and wild conditions the Swans eased away then held off the brave Bombers for a 9.14 (68) to 7.12 (54) win on Saturday.

The Swans still have the slightest mathematical chance of finishing in the top-eight but need so much to go their way, including rediscovering their best. This was almost certainly the first dead rubber they have played in more than five years.

Brodie Grundy was a shining light and could yet give the Swans reason to cheer as he continues to strengthen his claim for a third All-Australian blazer after overpowering the Bombers’ young ruck Lachlan Blakiston as well as veteran Todd Goldstein in a ruck masterclass.

Grundy finished with a career-high 39 disposals including 22 contested, to go with 13 clearances and 32 hitouts as the dominant big man in the game, though Blakiston was able to drift forward and boot a goal in the final term to give the Bombers a hint of hope before the Swans held them at arm’s length.  

Errol Gulden celebrated his milestone match in style with the opening goal of the game and went on to finish 30 disposals as well as 575m gained, while Justin McInerney (27, two goals) and Isaac Heeney (28, one) were lively as the Swans pulled away.

Swans dasher Nick Blakey added an early spark as he was allowed to roam free and gathered 18 disposals during a blistering first half before the Bombers finally clamped down to limit him to 28 touches for the game.

James Jordon was important as the Swans tagger lined up on Zach Merrett from the opening bounce and restricted the Bombers skipper to 19 disposals.

Essendon has now lost 11 of its past 12 matches at the SCG but can perhaps take just as much from the contest as the winners after its injury-ravaged and young side fought out the game.

With Merrett having little influence on the game, Andrew McGrath stepped up to have more of an impact in the midfield and finished with 26 disposals and seven clearances, while Sam Durham (22, 5) battled hard.

The Bombers will be also buoyed by Jayden Nguyen’s debut as the 19-year-old defender went toe-to-toe with Tom Papley, while Archie May showed potential when shifted into defence.

But the Bombers were not quite able to take their opportunities late to overrun the Swans even while continuing to lay promising foundations for their own future.

Lizard on the loose in Sydney defence
Nick Blakey can hold his head high as a solid contributor even as Sydney has dropped from minor premiers last year to all but certainly missing the finals this season. But the dashing defender has rarely been able to hit the heights of his 2024 All-Australian campaign until being allowed to roam free on Saturday. With the Bombers severely undermanned and sending a forward further afield to clog up the midfield, Blakey often found space as the Swans’ loose player and used his laser-sharp left boot and blistering pace to launch attacks from defence. The son of a gun sent a warning shot with 12 disposals in the opening term on the way to finishing with 28 touches, seven score involvements and 678m gained under little pressure.

SYDNEY                       4.3       6.9       8.12      9.14 (68)
ESSENDON                  2.4       2.6       4.10      7.12 (54)

GOALS
Sydney: McInerney 2, Campbell 2, Gulden, Rowbottom, Buller, Papley, Heeney
Essendon: Perkins, Guelfi, Clarke, May, Redman, Kako, Blakiston

BEST
Sydney: Grundy, Gulden, Blakey, McInerney, Rampe, Heeney, Jordon
Essendon: McGrath, Durham, Redman, Merrett, Prior

INJURIES
Sydney: Nil
Essendon: Nil

SUBSTITUTES
Sydney: Caiden Cleary (replaced Peter Ladhams at three quarter-time)
Essendon: Oskar Smartt (replaced Liam McMahon in the third quarter)

Crowd: 20,805 at the SCG