The Sydney Swans return to the SCG on Sunday afternoon to take on one of the form teams in the competition, Geelong, in a Round 23 blockbuster.
Geelong is sitting in second position on the ladder, having won their last four matches including a 44-point win over Essendon last Friday night. The Swans late-season surge continued in Round 22 with a narrow win over premiers, Brisbane. The Cats will be looking to secure a top 4 finish with a win on Sunday while the Swans will be looking to put a dent in Geelong’s premiership chances with an upset victory.
This is the first time these two teams have met this season, with the last fixture between the sides back in Round 13, 2024 when the Swans prevailed at home by 30 points. On that occasion, Errol Gulden gathered 37 disposals and kicked a goal while Tom Papley booted for goals himself. For the Cats, Max Holmes was the leading possession getter with 23, while small forward Tyson Stengle kicked 3 majors.
Sydney coach Dean Cox has been forced to make a couple of changes with Brodie Grundy (concussion) and Justin McInerney (knee) set to miss the clash. Peter Ladhams comes in to fill the ruck void, while Will Hayward returns from a calf injury. For the Cats, three players have been added to the initial 26-man squad at the time of publishing, with experienced heads Patrick Dangerfield, Jed Bews and Jack Martin named.
Two of the Swans most popular players, Lewis Melican and Nick Blakey will each play a milestone game on Sunday. Melican has had a roller coaster journey with injuries to notch up 100 games, while fan-favourite Blakey – a former QBE Sydney Swans Academy athlete – will play game 150.
Cats coach Chris Scott says despite the loss of Grundy, the Swans will be a tough proposition.
“Ladhams I'm assuming will come in, McLean is a pretty seasoned player now,” Scott said.
“Grundy has been in good form, but I don't think it is as if they are going from the best ruckman in the comp to someone significantly below him. We have got a lot of respect for what Ladhams can do.
Scott went on to emphasise how important a win would be.
“It is so tight, I would be surprised if any team plays one game in the Finals and thinks beautiful, we don't need to think about how we might adjust next week or think about the opposition.
“My view is that if these days ever existed they are long gone now, where you just disregard the way the opposition set up. We think that hopefully those evolutions and those little tweaks will be smaller, but it is obviously so tight so there is no room for mucking around or experimenting,” Scott said.
