Big names back for Swans
By Alison Zell
The Sydney Swans will welcome back two key players for their clash with the Adelaide Crows tomorrow afternoon but will have to change things up to cover the suspension of defender Heath Grundy.
Star forward Sam Reid and tagger Nick Smith have been named for the Swans’ Qualifying Final at AAMI Stadium after recovering from minor injuries that caused them to miss last week’s game against Geelong.
They take the place of Armstrong (omitted) and Grundy, who will sit out this week’s match after copping a one-week suspension for striking James Podsiadly.
But fellow backman Marty Mattner is confident they can fill the gap left by Grundy’s indiscretion.
“It is a great loss but it creates an opportunity for someone else to come into the team and play their role,” Mattner said.
“Everyone else has got to lift, everyone else has got to take up the slack and the player that comes in has got to take up his role and do what Heath does.
“We have confidence in whoever that is to come in and do that job.”
Swans coach John Longmire has flagged a return to defence for Lewis Roberts-Thomson who has spent much of this year up forward but Mattner believes it is in the midfield that the game will be won.
“If you can put pressure on the midfield and win your share of contested ball and loose ball, it makes the job of the defence a lot easier,” Mattner said.
The ex-Crow, who played 98 games in the city of Churches before a move to the Swans in 2008, is looking forward to taking on his old team but knows how tough the challenge will be.
“I know in my time at Adelaide, they used to really set themselves to play Sydney because the Swans played a lot of finals footy so I think they really respect Sydney,” he said.
“There’s not many left from when I was there but Graham Johncock and Ben Rutten are a couple of the guys that I sort of started my career with and played a bit of footy with so I think there’ll be a bit of banter there.”
Adelaide go into this finals series as one of the more inexperienced teams with the Swans players recording 100 more finals appearances than their opposition (184-84).
Swans veteran Ryan O’Keefe, who has played 18 finals in his 12 years at the club, said that experience will stand them in good stead this weekend.
“Obviously more experience gives you that knowledge and you know how to prepare for it and you know what to expect,” O’Keefe said.
“The strength of our side is that we’ve been pretty even and haven’t had to rely on one or two players to get us over the line; it’s been an even contribution.
“We’ve got that confidence and that belief in each other. We’ve had some pretty good wins this year so we’re pretty confident in what we can do but now we’ve just got to execute it.”
The Sydney Swans take on the Adelaide Crows in the second Qualifying Final at AAMI Stadium, Adelaide from 3.15pm EST tomorrow. Click here for a list of Swans-friendly venues where you can watch the big game.