Don't miss any of the news involving the Swans as we bring you everything from the newspapers around the country on Wednesday 23rd March, 2016.
Just call me Plugger
Neil Cordy
Daily Telegraph, March 23
IT’S little wonder Callum Mills ended up in the red and white of the Sydney Swans especially after he asked his mum Simone to call him Tony Lockett when he was just three.
Mills didn’t turn out to be a massive key forward like Plugger but he’s just about everything else the Swans were looking for in a young player. The highly skilled and ultra-competitive teenager will make his debut against Collingwood in Saturday night’s season opener at the SCG.
The early request of a name change has turned out to be a youthful warning sign of greater things to come.
“He came up to me one day and asked why did you call me Callum?” Simone Mills told the Daily Telegraph.
“I told him I liked the name Callum and he ran away and came back and said I don’t like Callum why didn’t you call me Tony Lockett?”
Sydney Swans riding out the storm as 2016 AFL season looms
Richard Hinds
Daily Telegraph, March 23
FOR all their recent success as a team and a trademark, the Sydney Swans had mostly avoided the hyperbole and hysteria that can engulf winning clubs in a success-addicted city.
The Swans were, as King Blood Brett Kirk used to say, Cortinas not Ferraris. They were a triumph of reliability over glamour.
Richards fighting to make it
Neil Cordy
Daily Telegraph, March 23
TED Richards is making a last minute bid to prove his fitness for Saturday night’s season opener against Collingwood at the SCG.
The Swans full-back has been battling a calf injury for much of the pre-season and hasn’t played in any of the NAB Challenge matches or the intra-club matches. But the key defender would be of enormous value to coach John Longmire in combating Magpies tall forwards Travis Cloke, Darcy Moore and Mason Cox.
Changes aplenty for Sydney Swans for round one against Collingwood
Andrew Wu
SMH, March 23
Sydney could field as many as five fresh faces for their season opener against Collingwood as part of a vastly different side to the one which crashed out of last year's finals series.
The perception the Swans are an ageing side on the brink of taking a tumble is actually off the money. The club may yet fall but not necessarily on the count of being too old.
Of last year's finalists, only the Western Bulldogs fielded more players with less than 50 games' experience, and in their final pre-season game they fielded four players yet to make their AFL debuts, as opposed to the rebuilding Carlton's one, and had a further five players yet to play 17 games.
The side which runs on to the SCG on Saturday night will include at least seven changes from the semi-final defeat, possibly eight if veteran defender Ted Richards does not prove his fitness.
Where should Lance 'Buddy' Franklin play for the Swans?
Jon Pierik
The Age, March 23
Buddy is back. The champion forward is healthy, fit and enjoying his football after battling mental health issues.
But heading into the season opener against Collingwood, Sydney must ensure they do not become Buddy-centric if they are to get the best out of Lance Franklin and be a serious flag threat
Nathan Buckley says Collingwood will play team defence against Lance Franklin
Herald Sun, March 23
COLLINGWOOD coach Nathan Buckley is wary of pigeonholing one Magpie into taking the job on Lance Franklin this weekend, saying they will all have to wear the responsibility.
The Swans will host the two sides’ season-opener at the SCG on Saturday night.
“The idea of one-on-one footy is a bit archaic,” Buckley said.
