In this exclusive column for QBE, Swans stoppages coach, Stuart Dew, talks about the Swans runaway second half against Gold Coast last week and the improved Carlton outfit the Swans will face on Sunday...

Looking back on last week’s win over Gold Coast, we were a bit slow to get started, but I think we were able to generate some good ball movement after half-time. We weren’t using the ball well early but in the second half we were a bit more efficient.

Gold Coast put a lot of pressure on us and were really physical in close, which wasn’t a surprise as they have a group of quality players in Gary Ablett, Harley Bennell and Karmichael Hunt. We thought the Suns matched us in that area. However, looking back on the game we found that it was our movement away from the stoppages where we were able to make the most of our numbers compared to theirs, which ultimately contributed to the result.

Josh Kennedy was terrific in the win over the Suns. He definitely acted as one of our key indicators and he was just exceptional in that third term, along with Ryan O’Keefe and Kieren Jack. Those players probably just stepped it up a notch after having a slightly disappointing first half, and I think those three players just took the game on a bit more in the second half, and we were pleased with their efforts.

Mike Pyke also played an important role last weekend in the absence of Shane Mumford. He was good, he kept it simple and he just made a contest, which is what we’ve been working on with Pykey. He is really improving each week and it’s pleasing, so as long as he can keep going in the role we want him to play and get that result, then we’ll be happy. Physically, he is able to play the full game, so whether he plays the whole match in the ruck or up forward, he can do either.

This weekend we take on Carlton at Etihad Stadium. The last time we met the Blues, Matthew Kruezer and Marc Murphy both played terrific games and caused us a bit of trouble.

Kruezer is Carlton’s number one ruckman at the moment and he’s really relishing that role. It looks like he prefers to play the majority of the game on the ball and he plays his best footy that way.

Murphy is a player who has come back and slotted straight back into the form he had earlier in the year when he was probably one of the Brownlow favourites.

We’ve got to be mindful of both of those players’ influence, but the one thing about Carlton is that they also have some terrific depth. If Kade Simpson comes in, there is also Ed Curnow and Brock McLean, who is now playing like he is playing for his life, as well as Andrew Carrazzo, who is a player that sometimes gets under teams’ guards.

For us, Ryan O’Keefe is playing his 250th game this week which is a great achievement. He’s had a great last month of footy and it’s no surprise really given the way he prepares and the way he trains. The work he puts into each week makes it no surprise that he’s made it to 250 games and it’s really impressive the way he goes about his footy. He is a really good role model for any of our guys that are at the club who want to see how to be a pro playing AFL footy. They really don’t need to look any further than ‘Pebbles’.