West Coast Eagles v Sydney Swans
It’s first against second this weekend, as top-of-the-table Sydney travel to Perth to take on West Coast.
These rivals, who produced two of the sport’s most memorable Grand Finals in ‘05 and ’06, are actually equal on points in the ladder.
The Swans are in some form. The comfortable victory over Brisbane Lions last round was their fifth in a row, taking them to 11 wins from 14 games.
With top spot at stake, they have an immensely difficult mission far away from home this Sunday – to beat West Coast at Patersons Stadium, where John Worsfold’s men have won 19 of their last 20 matches.
But a couple of comforting statistics – Sydney have won their last five matches against West Coast, and that includes inflicting the only loss the Eagles have suffered at home in over a year.
With more very tough matches still to come, Swans coach Longmire is not getting carried away with his team’s current table position.
“If you sit back and look at the ladder at the moment it doesn’t mean a lot. No one remembers who’s first after 14 or 15 rounds.”
He is, however, looking forward to the next game against ‘one of the top teams in the competition’ as a stern test of his men’s title credentials.
Sydney’s players have been going from strength to strength in recent weeks, and head over to Subiaco with confidence sky-high.
Against Brisbane last week, Co-captains Jarrad McVeigh (2 goals, 34 possessions) and Adam Goodes (3 goals, 22 possessions) were inspiring, while Nick Malceski filled in superbly for the injured Mattner with 29 possessions. But the standout performer was young forward Sam Reid, who produced a career-best six goals, along with six marks and 11 possessions.
Fellow forward Ben McGlynn has experienced both joy and sorrow against the Eagles in his 50 games for the Swans, and he’s fired up for the trip out west.
“Ultimately you want to put yourself against the best teams to see where you’re at. Nothing better than going over to Perth and playing West Coast over there.”
Against the Eagles at Patersons 15 months ago, McGlynn kicked two goals and had 16 possessions as the Swans mounted a late comeback to win by 13 points.
“We’ll go in pretty confident,” he said of this weekend’s fixture. “We beat them last year over there … and we’re playing better footy than what we were last year. We’re looking forward to getting over to Perth and hopefully taking four points.”
The team that loses this match could well drop out of the top four, if the other games this round don’t produce any surprises.
Despite only scraping past North Melbourne by 2 points last week to cap off an inconsistent month, West Coast is the slight favourite in the media thanks to their home ground advantage. But nothing fazes the mighty Swannies and we know they can beat anyone, anywhere!
West Coast Eagles vs Sydney Swans
Sunday 15 July
Patersons Stadium, 2.40pm
Looking for a cool place to chill out and watch the Swans on a big screen with other fans? Check out this extensive list of official Swans Friendly Venues:
https://www.sydneyswans.com.au/swans%20friendly%20venues/tabid/18130/default.aspx