Buddy almost missed Sydney’s derby win
Ben Horne
Daily Telegraph, July 18
REVELATIONS have emerged that Lance Franklin’s premiership-shaping performance against GWS was almost grounded by injury.
Franklin had been close to being ruled out of Sydney’s momentous victory over GWS last Saturday night, only for him to rise from the canvas and deliver the epic four-goal knockout that has reshaped the entire landscape for the AFL finals.
The Daily Telegraph can reveal that Franklin damaged his knee at the Swans’ main Thursday training session last week and it’s understood there was initial advice from medical staff to keep him on ice for the derby.
However, in a sign that Franklin is as tough as he is brilliant, the influential forward convinced coach John Longmire to give him until match day to prove his fitness.
It’s difficult to imagine how the Swans could have overcome the Giants and kept their premiership fire burning without Franklin’s immense presence upfront, but behind the scenes the champion goal scorer put his hand up to battle through the pain and now the path to history has been set.
Longmire didn’t disclose the Franklin drama post-match but he was eager to point out that his biggest star is more than the mega sum of his left boot.
“He is skilful but probably what gets undersold a little bit is how much of a competitor he is. He’s a massive competitor,” said Longmire.
“He kicked some important goals, there’s no doubt about that. But some of his contests in outnumbered situations — where he was outnumbered in the air, flew really hard and brought the ball to ground (were immense). We saw that shine as the game wore on.”
Locked away: Lewis Melican to remain a Swan until at least the end of 2020
Sarah Olle
Fox Sports, July 18
LEWIS Melican’s breakout season has been rewarded, with the defender signing a three-year contract extension with the Swans to anchor him at the club until at least 2020.
Melican, 20, has played 11 of a possible 12 matches since debuting in Round 5 against GWS at the SCG.
And he has successfully kept intercept king Aliir Aliir out of the senior side, with coach John Longmire a fan of Melican’s no-fuss approach.
“It’s a great reward,” Melican said.
“I guess this year I’ve been able to prove what I can do at senior level. It’s good to get the three years and not be looking at another one-year rookie contract.”
Melican suggested the endorsement validated his position not only in the Swans’ best 22, but in the AFL more generally.
“To have a three-year deal obviously means the club has seen something in me,” Melican said.
“It definitely helps fill me with confidence.”
The old heads steadying Swans’ resurgence at either end of the ground
Sarah Olle
Fox Sports, July 17
THEY were branded as too old and too slow.
But now Kieren Jack and Jarrad McVeigh are playing valuable roles for a team that remarkably has a top-four finish in its sights, after starting the season at 0-6.
The Swans are on the march. And while neither former co-captain has led the resurgence, they’ve provided a crucial steadying influence at either end of the ground.
“Having those two experienced players certainly helps,” Sydney coach John Longmire said after the 13-point win over GWS on Saturday night.
Jack was vilified for his underwhelming start to the season in which he was averaging career-lows before he spent two months on the sidelines to recover from a hip complaint.
Meanwhile, McVeigh broke down through calf and hamstring injuries and was limited to just two games in three and a half months.
The pair was emblematic of a club that looked to be hitting a decline that was unexpected, but long overdue.
Yet in their absence, Jack and McVeigh have not only regained their fitness and form, but allowed a host of young players to establish themselves.
They may not be at the head of this club any more, but they can certainly help shape its direction.
Since returning against Melbourne in Round 15, McVeigh has averaged 22 disposals and six marks across half back, lifting the age profile of a defence that now features youngsters Lewis Melican and Nic Newman.
Sydney confident battling big man will play
Rob Forsaith
AAP, AFL.com.au, July 17
KURT Tippett has received positive news on the injury front, with Sydney upbeat the battling big man will train and play this week.
Tippett was dropped after an underwhelming performance against Hawthorn in round 10, the in-form Swans' most recent loss.
He hasn't been sighted at AFL level since.
A persistent ankle injury has denied the ruck-forward a chance of stating his case for a recall in recent weeks.
Tippett turned out for the Swans' seconds last Saturday but played no part in the second half because of a tight groin.
"There is nothing too serious at this stage after having our injury clinic this morning. We will assess him as the week goes on but we expect him to train and play," Swans head of football Tom Harley said.
All-Sydney final would pose venue conundrum
Rob Forsaith, Roger Vaughan
SMH, July 18
The AFL and ANZ Stadium are yet to discuss the looming possibility of GWS hosting Sydney in this year’s finals.
The Swans’ barnstorming form is raising the prospect of the two teams clashing in September, with the Giants as the home team. Spotless Stadium only holds 24,000 and the two Sydney teams attracted a crowd of 60,000 at ANZ Stadium last year when they met in a final for the first time.
The AFL no longer has a contract with ANZ Stadium and ground management confirmed they have had no talks with the league about this year’s finals.
The AFL’s official line is that the Giants have one home venue – Spotless Stadium. ‘‘At the moment we don’t have a contract anywhere else,’’ a spokesman said. In February, AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan raised the prospect, however remote, of returning to ANZ Stadium should the two Sydney teams meet again in the finals.
‘‘More than 60,000 people there at the qualifying finals shows how much demand there is, and if we played it at another venue we would have locked out a lot of people,’’ McLachlan said.
GWS are third, two games and percentage ahead of sixth-placed Sydney with six rounds left. Sydney have won nine of their last 10 matches. Should they finish above the Giants and be the home team, the game would be played at the 42,000-seat SCG.
Are the Sydney Swans creating a football fairytale?
Tony Jones
Channel 9, July 17
Now, stay with me here…
In 1843, author Hans Christian Anderson penned the famous The Ugly Duckling, a story of a young bird bullied by those around him.
But that ugly duckling was soon to have the last laugh when he blossomed into a beautiful swan.
See where I’m going with this?
I’ve got a growing feeling that we might be on the verge of a similar storyline unfolding in the AFL this season.
Indeed the Swans - the football variety - were bullied in the early rounds of the season.
In round one it was a 28-point loss to Port Adelaide.
We were willing to put that down to a bumpy start for the grand finalists of the season before.
It’s generally accepted that those clubs who do play off for the flag are a good month behind the rest of the competition in their preparations for the following season.
Even in round two, when the Swans suffered a 23-point loss to the Bulldogs in the Grand Final rematch, the alarm bells weren’t quite ringing.
But when the Magpies beat them by a point the following week at the SCG, those bells were starting to ring right off the wall - and so the slide continued.
By round six, the Swans were winless and a finals berth looked almost impossible.
But just like that ugly little duckling, there was a turning point.
He matured, he got bigger, he got stronger and soon he was imposing himself.
How the AFL could revive State of Origin
Chris Judd
SMH, The Age, July 18
Watching the NRL State of Origin last week, I couldn't help but feel envious of what they've created with their representative football and the best of three series which started in 1982.
There are multiple reasons why State of Origin hasn't worked in the AFL in recent years, but I don't feel it's something that the AFL should give up on.
The major issue is that the due to the longer game time and increased distance covered by AFL players, it takes them longer to recover from games than their league counterparts. This leaves AFL players and coaches desperately looking at ways to reduce load during the season, not increase it.
Secondly, AFL isn't the predominant winter sport in only two states of Australia – Victoria, SA, WA, Tasmania and the NT can all claim to have AFL as their No.1 winter sport. This leaves the challenge of either too many games, lopsided games, or players being less enthused by the idea as they're asked to play for an All Star/Allies type team instead of their own state.
Outside of home-and-away games and finals, there's only one time of the year where players and coaches are eager to get extra game time into players. That's before the season proper starts. That's where the JLT Community Series currently occurs, a time when coaches aren't overly fussed with the results of games, but are keen to get match conditioning into players as well as implement the strategies they've been working on over summer.
As this has been the major sticking point in the past to State of Origin, I'd propose that the first games to kick off the pre-season matches be two games between Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and the Allies selected on the form of players from the previous year.
