Bonz
🤺🤺🤺
Ok the qualifying rounds are complete (and you would argue they have been somewhat of a success) and now the main event begins.
I know people get angry at Longmire and we had a period this year where we looked pretty average, but once again Longmire and co have put us in the perfect position going in. So without further ado, may I present your first finals preview for 2024.
I will add graphics and such later
Sydney Swans vs GWS Giants
Date and time: TBA, but most likely shaping up as the Thursday night matchup.
Location: Sydney Cricket Ground
Weather: TBA
Recent Form
Sydney: W-W-W-L-L
GWS: L-W-W-W-W
After a poor middle part of the Season (Potentially training load impacted), the Swans have come to life with 3 wins on the trot to secure the minor premiership. The Giants were on a 7 match winning streak before a horrible crash against the Bravedogs (Overall was actually an incredibly poor showing).
Home and away season summaries
Sydney: Minor premiers, honestly its pretty hard not to give the Swans an A+ for that, but there is that question mark, that small period in the middle of the season where we were losing games. Part of this was due to training loads (at least I believe), a large part of this was due to injures (Rampe, McCartin, Papley, McInerney and Melican are all crucial parts of our team and arguably top 10 players). But even then we had too much of a drop off. Luckily the start of our season was simply something else and was probably the best I have seen the Swans in my lifetime (33 years and counting). When we are on, we are the best team in the competition, the issue is not only keeping it up week by week, but actually delivering a 4 quarter performance.
GWS: The Giants kind of had a somewhat similar season to us, started off like a house on fire, then had a big down patch before recovering form... only difference is they had their down patch a bit earlier in the season, if they had won against the dogs they would have been arguably the form team in the competition, but they somehow didn't turn up (although I do wonder if the result was a little "manufactured" to ensure they get to play us in the first round of the finals. Overall whilst the Giants are a little inconsistent I do believe they are in the premiership race up to their eyeballs.
Likely changes (For the Swans)
How do we manage to fit in Heeney, McInerney, McCartin and Papley all into a side that has somehow found itself in ideal health right before the finals? Well I have given this my best crack below.
Other options: A few weeks ago I would have had Campbell here, but he has found his spot as a pressure forward and has exceeded my expectations that being said, if they keep Adams he is probably first to go. Parker I think has secured his spot in the side.
Who to watch out for
Giants
Lachie Whitfield: Will be the James Jordan matchup, if we can hold him to less than 20 disposals we will win this match.
Giants intercepting tall's: GWS have some of the best intercept marks in the competition, Himmelberg, Buckley, Taylor, Perryman, I expect Haywood to play a negating role on Buckley and whoever is on Taylor to try and lead him away from the contest.
Giants small forwards: The Giants have some of the most dangerous small forwards in the competition in both Greene and Daniels(Bedford and Jones are no slouches either), I expect Rampe to go to Greene and Cunningham to Daniels. But we are going to have be switched on around defensive stoppages to fully put on the clamps here.
Swans
Heeney: Heeney is BUILT for finals, has had the season of a lifetime and I fully expect this finals series is going to be where he creates his legend at the Swans. If Heeney has a large impact on this match, the Swans win it is as simple as that, so I expect the giants to put a hard tag on him.
Defence: Yes our defence has had some worries this year, BUT when we have our personal on the field (and we will for this final), it has been rock solid, A great combination of intercepting ability, rebound, and exceptional disposal, if we are back to our best of absorbing blows and then rebounding this is ominous for the competition. The fact that Mills is now back there as well is even more scary for the Giants as his really secured things back there and given us another intercept option.
Parker: Since coming back into our team has had a point to prove, his a brilliant one on one forward option and has helped us get out of jail in the midfield on multiple occasions, if his up and about the Swans team rises with him and I firmly believe he is our spiritual leader behind the scenes.
What to expect from this match
I wouldn't have believed it if you had told me earlier in the season, but surprisingly the Giants are actually a decent match up for the Swans. Our midfield can go toe to toe with theirs, and if we can get body to body with Tom Green around the stoppages we will most likely come out ahead in the contested ball.
Both teams really excel when the ball is in transition, we need to ensure we are bringing the ball to ground in our forward 50, and not allowing the Giants to get quick rebounds down the corridor, with the speed they have in their forward line (Not to mention Hogan who terrifies me), if they are allowed easy transition from defence it will be game over for very quickly.
Luckily I believe Hayward will play a great shut down role on Buckley and we can use one of McLean, Amartey or McDonald to lead Taylor away from the contest, if we can do this, we can back in our midfield and some of our better ball winners to take control of the contest.
The Giants are going to come hard for us from the first whistle, they aren't afraid to put their body's on the line and will try to both physically and mentally blow us away early on. But if we can withhold this pressure (or even better get off to a good start ourselves), we should be able to win this match.
Sydney by 27 points.
I know people get angry at Longmire and we had a period this year where we looked pretty average, but once again Longmire and co have put us in the perfect position going in. So without further ado, may I present your first finals preview for 2024.
I will add graphics and such later
Sydney Swans vs GWS Giants
Date and time: TBA, but most likely shaping up as the Thursday night matchup.
Location: Sydney Cricket Ground
Weather: TBA
Recent Form
Sydney: W-W-W-L-L
GWS: L-W-W-W-W
After a poor middle part of the Season (Potentially training load impacted), the Swans have come to life with 3 wins on the trot to secure the minor premiership. The Giants were on a 7 match winning streak before a horrible crash against the Bravedogs (Overall was actually an incredibly poor showing).
Home and away season summaries
Sydney: Minor premiers, honestly its pretty hard not to give the Swans an A+ for that, but there is that question mark, that small period in the middle of the season where we were losing games. Part of this was due to training loads (at least I believe), a large part of this was due to injures (Rampe, McCartin, Papley, McInerney and Melican are all crucial parts of our team and arguably top 10 players). But even then we had too much of a drop off. Luckily the start of our season was simply something else and was probably the best I have seen the Swans in my lifetime (33 years and counting). When we are on, we are the best team in the competition, the issue is not only keeping it up week by week, but actually delivering a 4 quarter performance.
GWS: The Giants kind of had a somewhat similar season to us, started off like a house on fire, then had a big down patch before recovering form... only difference is they had their down patch a bit earlier in the season, if they had won against the dogs they would have been arguably the form team in the competition, but they somehow didn't turn up (although I do wonder if the result was a little "manufactured" to ensure they get to play us in the first round of the finals. Overall whilst the Giants are a little inconsistent I do believe they are in the premiership race up to their eyeballs.
Likely changes (For the Swans)
How do we manage to fit in Heeney, McInerney, McCartin and Papley all into a side that has somehow found itself in ideal health right before the finals? Well I have given this my best crack below.
- Papley in for Clearly - I didn't enjoy reading this one, as Clearly has been a great contributor over the last few weeks, but Papley is one of the barometers in our team, a walk up start and I doubt the Swans will want to move Campbell away from his forward position currently.
- McCartin for Francis - No words need to be said, I am actually disappointed we played Hamling as a forward instead of a defender as I rate him. Francis shouldn't be getting a look in our side and McCartin is nearly first picked.
- McInerney for Fox - Sorry Fox, I rate you highly and believe you will be the first emergency to come into our team, but McInerney is critical for our set up. With McInerneys return look at one of Florent, Llyod or even McInerney himself playing as a HBF, but the increased run will be critical here.
- Heeney for Adams - I genuinely rate Adam's (Or Taytay if you prefer to call him that) i feel he helped increase our training standards over the offseason, he has fantastic leadership and is going to make a seamless transition into coaching, but with Parkers return he is the odd player out in our side right now and if he does stay in the squad he is likely going to be the emergency (and I would rather us use Fox here or even Campbell).
Other options: A few weeks ago I would have had Campbell here, but he has found his spot as a pressure forward and has exceeded my expectations that being said, if they keep Adams he is probably first to go. Parker I think has secured his spot in the side.
Who to watch out for
Giants
Lachie Whitfield: Will be the James Jordan matchup, if we can hold him to less than 20 disposals we will win this match.
Giants intercepting tall's: GWS have some of the best intercept marks in the competition, Himmelberg, Buckley, Taylor, Perryman, I expect Haywood to play a negating role on Buckley and whoever is on Taylor to try and lead him away from the contest.
Giants small forwards: The Giants have some of the most dangerous small forwards in the competition in both Greene and Daniels(Bedford and Jones are no slouches either), I expect Rampe to go to Greene and Cunningham to Daniels. But we are going to have be switched on around defensive stoppages to fully put on the clamps here.
Swans
Heeney: Heeney is BUILT for finals, has had the season of a lifetime and I fully expect this finals series is going to be where he creates his legend at the Swans. If Heeney has a large impact on this match, the Swans win it is as simple as that, so I expect the giants to put a hard tag on him.
Defence: Yes our defence has had some worries this year, BUT when we have our personal on the field (and we will for this final), it has been rock solid, A great combination of intercepting ability, rebound, and exceptional disposal, if we are back to our best of absorbing blows and then rebounding this is ominous for the competition. The fact that Mills is now back there as well is even more scary for the Giants as his really secured things back there and given us another intercept option.
Parker: Since coming back into our team has had a point to prove, his a brilliant one on one forward option and has helped us get out of jail in the midfield on multiple occasions, if his up and about the Swans team rises with him and I firmly believe he is our spiritual leader behind the scenes.
What to expect from this match
I wouldn't have believed it if you had told me earlier in the season, but surprisingly the Giants are actually a decent match up for the Swans. Our midfield can go toe to toe with theirs, and if we can get body to body with Tom Green around the stoppages we will most likely come out ahead in the contested ball.
Both teams really excel when the ball is in transition, we need to ensure we are bringing the ball to ground in our forward 50, and not allowing the Giants to get quick rebounds down the corridor, with the speed they have in their forward line (Not to mention Hogan who terrifies me), if they are allowed easy transition from defence it will be game over for very quickly.
Luckily I believe Hayward will play a great shut down role on Buckley and we can use one of McLean, Amartey or McDonald to lead Taylor away from the contest, if we can do this, we can back in our midfield and some of our better ball winners to take control of the contest.
The Giants are going to come hard for us from the first whistle, they aren't afraid to put their body's on the line and will try to both physically and mentally blow us away early on. But if we can withhold this pressure (or even better get off to a good start ourselves), we should be able to win this match.
Sydney by 27 points.
.
