The King!
Chosen One
So lets face it the rest of the season pre bye was filler, filler while we waited to unveil our recruit Kurt Tippett. Now sure the side has been playing great footy this month and yeah Tippett has been an inconsistent player but tell me you haven’t been excited about him joining the Swans. He is 25 and heading to his prime and we traditionally get the best out of players so exciting times ahead.
The two sides head into this clash on the back of winning form. Port winning last week against the Giants and Sydney winning their past 3 in their best patch of form for the year.
Currently heading into the round the swans sit in 4th with 8 wins 2 losses and a draw, Port are 10th with 6 wins and 5 losses and will be out to try and catch the top 8.
Port are an inexperienced side, but improving, they had a great start to the season the hit a bit of a wall prior to the win v the Giants. The Swans are currently media darlings and that worries me, coming off a bye you worry we could be sluggish and make no mistake working in a new forward, coming off the bye against a young pacey keen team spells danger game.
· Recent History
The swans have dominated recent clashes against port, winning last 8 and leading the head to head 15-6. The last time Port defeated the swans we were the reigning premier. Coming off the bye we have a poor record, but usually played Collingwood at ANZ so that is misleading. We also have lost 3 of the past 4 round 13 matches, on the flip side Port have lost their last 4.
· Injuries
Ports biggest loss is their in form captain Travis Boak who is out for 2 weeks with dislocated finger. This is a big loss as the captaincy has brought out the best in Boak this season.
Other Port injuries according to injuryupdate.com are:
Dom Cassisi
Brett Ebert
Jasper Pittard
Jarred Redden
who are all listed as returning this week
Jackson Trengrove is unavailable til round 16
Sydney have a few premiership players out the list is as follows
Alex Johnson
Rhyce Shaw
Shane Mumford
Sam Reid
Sam Naismith
Lewis Roberts Thompson
Gary Rohan
Tommy Walsh
And of course Martin Mattner who retired
· Possible ins and outs
For the swans Tippett is a confirmed in no doubt for the injured Mumford. It is unlikely Reid will play which means Jesse White should hold his spot after his 3 goal effort versus the Crows. I would expect Lewis Jetta to return and Brandon Jack is most likely to make way after his debut. Jetta may be a sub option as an impact player returning from injury, I would hope Tommy Mitchell avoids the sub vest, but honestly I can see him or Bird most likely getting the sub vest, just a vibe thing.
Port will have to replace Boak and you would expect Moore or even Pittard to come back, i rate Moore though and would have him in the Port side. I am not sure if Pittard is a walk up start off injury and not sure on the fitness of a Cassisi or Ebert. Hitchcock would probably be an out too I am not sure he is up to standard at the moment on what I have seen.
· Match ups
The thing that i like about port are the up and commers. Yeah Kane Cornes is rejuvinated and Brett Ebert continues to be underrated but for me its players like Hartlett, Wingard, Wines, Neade, Westhoff and co are making the future look good for the power. The key will be to use our bigger bodies and experience to keep these guys in check.
I would expect to see Okeefe go to Hartlett or Brad Ebert with Boak out.
Richards onto Schultz
Grundy on Westhoff and perhaps Kane Cornes will run with Josh Kennedy to curb his influence.
You would expect the power to pay close attention to Mcveigh and Malceski off half back, but no one else seems to bar Hawthorn.
· 10 Stats
1-In the last 5 clashes the number one ranked champion data player is Kane Cornes- he is in great form and if he is not running with someone put Okeefe on him
2- Port are ranked 4th in handballs per game but only 13th in kicks per game, they rank 2nd in team to opponent handballs difference per game, so they quick short ball movement needs close attention
3-Port do not concede many handballs suggesting they are quite good in tight with their pressure they are ranked 5th in least opponent handballs per game
4-Port are inexperienced and make mistakes they are the 4th ranked team for clangers per game
5-Unlike Sydney, Port seem to favour quick movement to open players ranking 13th in contested possessions per game
6-The Swans have become a high possession team moving the ball and waiting for an option with skills, they rank 4th overall in disposals per game
7-The Swans tackling is back on song and they are the number 1 tackling team in the comp.
8-Tippett is a key in as he gives us a strong marking option, currently we are last for Marks per game, despite having one of the best contested marks in the comp in Mike Pyke. Ever noticed our players often kick in front of a running player and thus they don’t actually mark the ball.
9-Our ruck Duo of Mumford and Pyke has the swans at 2nd for hitouts per game, Mumford will be a big out.
10-Only 2 games in but Tom Mitchell averages the most marks per game of any Swan in 2013
·Opposition Player in Focus
The young player I want to highlight for the power is Ollie Wines, a future gun player of this competition. In his first year of footy he is averaging 21 disposals per game. The effort that sticks out in my mind was in the Showdown, where not only did he rack up 25 possessions but he hit the scoreboard for 2 crucial goals. Until last week he like many of his team mates had slowed down a little, but the bye seem to rejuvenate him. He will need close attention as he is capable of racking up good quality possessions. Wines seems to me to be the ideal tough inside mid, someone you could imagine at the swans one day.
This game is seen as a gimmie by the media who are well and truly on our bandwagon. The focus will be on Tippetts return as most think we have this in the bag. I am not comfortable with this, Port are due to beat us and they have shown their best football is off a high quality. They are not easy beats anymore and at home provide a strong fast team that will be keen to cause an upset.
Having said that this is the sort of game we cannot afford to lose, I am hoping the bye has not halted the momentum we built up over the last month.
The swans need to display the same endeavour and run they have the last few weeks and need to be switched on from the opening bounce. I think our midfield depth will be too much for the power and with Jetta back we have the pace to outmatch them.
I think the Swans will be too good and win by 30, I do not think the power will go without a fight and would expect it to a close contested contest.
Tippett will kick 2 and get a few kicks
The two sides head into this clash on the back of winning form. Port winning last week against the Giants and Sydney winning their past 3 in their best patch of form for the year.
Currently heading into the round the swans sit in 4th with 8 wins 2 losses and a draw, Port are 10th with 6 wins and 5 losses and will be out to try and catch the top 8.
Port are an inexperienced side, but improving, they had a great start to the season the hit a bit of a wall prior to the win v the Giants. The Swans are currently media darlings and that worries me, coming off a bye you worry we could be sluggish and make no mistake working in a new forward, coming off the bye against a young pacey keen team spells danger game.
· Recent History
The swans have dominated recent clashes against port, winning last 8 and leading the head to head 15-6. The last time Port defeated the swans we were the reigning premier. Coming off the bye we have a poor record, but usually played Collingwood at ANZ so that is misleading. We also have lost 3 of the past 4 round 13 matches, on the flip side Port have lost their last 4.
· Injuries
Ports biggest loss is their in form captain Travis Boak who is out for 2 weeks with dislocated finger. This is a big loss as the captaincy has brought out the best in Boak this season.
Other Port injuries according to injuryupdate.com are:
Dom Cassisi
Brett Ebert
Jasper Pittard
Jarred Redden
who are all listed as returning this week
Jackson Trengrove is unavailable til round 16
Sydney have a few premiership players out the list is as follows
Alex Johnson
Rhyce Shaw
Shane Mumford
Sam Reid
Sam Naismith
Lewis Roberts Thompson
Gary Rohan
Tommy Walsh
And of course Martin Mattner who retired
· Possible ins and outs
For the swans Tippett is a confirmed in no doubt for the injured Mumford. It is unlikely Reid will play which means Jesse White should hold his spot after his 3 goal effort versus the Crows. I would expect Lewis Jetta to return and Brandon Jack is most likely to make way after his debut. Jetta may be a sub option as an impact player returning from injury, I would hope Tommy Mitchell avoids the sub vest, but honestly I can see him or Bird most likely getting the sub vest, just a vibe thing.
Port will have to replace Boak and you would expect Moore or even Pittard to come back, i rate Moore though and would have him in the Port side. I am not sure if Pittard is a walk up start off injury and not sure on the fitness of a Cassisi or Ebert. Hitchcock would probably be an out too I am not sure he is up to standard at the moment on what I have seen.
· Match ups
The thing that i like about port are the up and commers. Yeah Kane Cornes is rejuvinated and Brett Ebert continues to be underrated but for me its players like Hartlett, Wingard, Wines, Neade, Westhoff and co are making the future look good for the power. The key will be to use our bigger bodies and experience to keep these guys in check.
I would expect to see Okeefe go to Hartlett or Brad Ebert with Boak out.
Richards onto Schultz
Grundy on Westhoff and perhaps Kane Cornes will run with Josh Kennedy to curb his influence.
You would expect the power to pay close attention to Mcveigh and Malceski off half back, but no one else seems to bar Hawthorn.
· 10 Stats
1-In the last 5 clashes the number one ranked champion data player is Kane Cornes- he is in great form and if he is not running with someone put Okeefe on him
2- Port are ranked 4th in handballs per game but only 13th in kicks per game, they rank 2nd in team to opponent handballs difference per game, so they quick short ball movement needs close attention
3-Port do not concede many handballs suggesting they are quite good in tight with their pressure they are ranked 5th in least opponent handballs per game
4-Port are inexperienced and make mistakes they are the 4th ranked team for clangers per game
5-Unlike Sydney, Port seem to favour quick movement to open players ranking 13th in contested possessions per game
6-The Swans have become a high possession team moving the ball and waiting for an option with skills, they rank 4th overall in disposals per game
7-The Swans tackling is back on song and they are the number 1 tackling team in the comp.
8-Tippett is a key in as he gives us a strong marking option, currently we are last for Marks per game, despite having one of the best contested marks in the comp in Mike Pyke. Ever noticed our players often kick in front of a running player and thus they don’t actually mark the ball.
9-Our ruck Duo of Mumford and Pyke has the swans at 2nd for hitouts per game, Mumford will be a big out.
10-Only 2 games in but Tom Mitchell averages the most marks per game of any Swan in 2013
·Opposition Player in Focus
The young player I want to highlight for the power is Ollie Wines, a future gun player of this competition. In his first year of footy he is averaging 21 disposals per game. The effort that sticks out in my mind was in the Showdown, where not only did he rack up 25 possessions but he hit the scoreboard for 2 crucial goals. Until last week he like many of his team mates had slowed down a little, but the bye seem to rejuvenate him. He will need close attention as he is capable of racking up good quality possessions. Wines seems to me to be the ideal tough inside mid, someone you could imagine at the swans one day.
This game is seen as a gimmie by the media who are well and truly on our bandwagon. The focus will be on Tippetts return as most think we have this in the bag. I am not comfortable with this, Port are due to beat us and they have shown their best football is off a high quality. They are not easy beats anymore and at home provide a strong fast team that will be keen to cause an upset.
Having said that this is the sort of game we cannot afford to lose, I am hoping the bye has not halted the momentum we built up over the last month.
The swans need to display the same endeavour and run they have the last few weeks and need to be switched on from the opening bounce. I think our midfield depth will be too much for the power and with Jetta back we have the pace to outmatch them.
I think the Swans will be too good and win by 30, I do not think the power will go without a fight and would expect it to a close contested contest.
Tippett will kick 2 and get a few kicks
he only needs one leg to play.
