Australian Football Association of North America

Frank Ienco, AFANA Sydney Correspondent  

This Week: Sydney Swans v West Coast Eagles @ Telstra Stadium Saturday 7:10pm Local Time

 
After a tumultuous month in their club’s history, the Eagles, as well as the AFL, will be finally looking to turning the focus onto the field this weekend. There will be no better way to do this than against the Swans in another Grand Final rematch in what is quickly becoming the AFL’s biggest rivalry. The evenness of the two sides has been well publicized, and after the Eagles one-point win at the MCG last September, only 12 points have separated the sides in their last five encounters. Perfect conditions are expected for Saturday’s match, which will be a far cry from the only previous time the sides have met at Telstra Stadium, when the Swans eliminated the Eagles from the 2004 season with a 41 point victory. Aside from another close match, the biggest draw card for footy fans will be the possible showdown between two-time Brownlow Medalist Adam Goodes and 2004 winner Chris Judd.

Sydney vs. West Coast Match Facts

Telstra Stadium will be one of the few places in Sydney on Saturday night with artificial lights turned on. The match coincides with Earth Hour, an initiative that will see lights turned off across the city for one hour from 7:30pm. The project is part of a long term strategy to tackle global warming, with a target set to reduce Sydney greenhouse emissions by 5% in 2007. With occupational health and safety regulations, and obviously a football match taking place, the lights at Telstra stadium will remain switched on, but the Swans will acknowledge the cause on the night.

Sydney players will also be wearing black armbands on Saturday night to pay their respects to three supporters of the club who passed away during the off-season. They are:

-          Peter Hayward: a Swans benefactor who was involved in the club’s unfurling of their 2005 flag last April.

-          Billy Thorpe: One of Australia’s biggest rock stars who was a regular attendee of Swans matches across the country.

-          Kerry Templeton: The wife of 1980 Brownlow Medalist Kelvin Templeton, who served as club CEO between 1995 to 2002.

 
Source: Swans media release; The Sydney Morning Herald

Goodes ready to face Judd

If the Goodes v Judd match-up is to come to fruition on Saturday night, the Swans star says he will be ready to face the competition’s best player one-on-one. “It's a great challenge, it's a learning curve,” Goodes said.

But the admiration certainly is mutual, with Judd admitting that Goodes is the best opponent he has played against. “He is a fantastic player, and he is probably the best player I've played on,” Judd said. “He is right up there, he is a great player and very hard to match-up on because he is so athletic.” Judd and Goodes can lay claim to sharing three of the last four Brownlow Medals, with Goodes sharing the honor with Collingwood’s Nathan Buckley and Adelaide’s Mark Ricciuto in 2003, while Judd’s team-mate Ben Cousins won the award in 2005. While Goodes has a height and weight advantage over Judd, it is both players athleticism that sets them apart from their contemporaries. For his part, Sydney coach Paul Roos says we can expect the two superstars to face each other at least some stage during Saturday’s contest, admitting there is no player in the competition that take Judd out of a game. “The thing with Chris is that he's such a good player putting a negative player on him makes it easier for him because he's gets the ball anyway,” Roos said.  Source: The Daily Telegraph; The Sydney Morning Herald.

Sydney Jumper Presentation  

Last Monday night saw the Swans hand out their player guernseys for the 2007 season, with over 500 guests attending the event at Sydney’s Town Hall. All three of Sydney’s co-captains made speeches on the night, with Leo Barry welcoming guests; Barry Hall telling new players and their families the importance of receiving a Swans guernsey; while Brett Kirk gave an inspiring speech to the playing group on the club’s culture.

Swans Team of the Century players Barry Round and Dennis Carroll presented the players with their guernseys, with special applause reserved for new recruit- and number 10- Peter “Spider” Everitt.  Source: sydneyswans.com.au  

Roos ready to tackle another slow start

Sydney coach Paul Roos says he will put up with another slow start from his charges, but only if it means they build up to another storming end-of-season finish. The Swans have struggled to get off the mark in both their Grand Final seasons. In 2005, Sydney won only two out of its first six games before going on to claim the flag. The following season they suffered the dreaded ‘Premiership hangover’ early in the season, winning only one of their first four games, and that was against lowly Carlton.

The Swans have also made a traditional slow start again in this year’s pre-season, but Roos says losing early matches don’t bother him. "You always hope to win games of footy, but I wouldn't take a quicker start if (it meant) we had a worse season,” he said. “It is one of the difficulties when you make grand finals, you're not allowed to start training until well after other teams have started, so it means it takes longer to get your team ready to play.”

Roos will also have a few selection concerns following last weekend’s intra-club hit-out. Luke Ablett had a solid hit-out following a hamstring tear in last year’s Grand Final, but Jared Crouch, who has not played since Round 12 last year, is in doubt after a thigh muscle injury forced him off the ground early.

Roos also said West Coast had the depth to cover the loss of any of their star players, including former captain Ben Cousins, who is suspended indefinitely. “They have won games without Cousins before, without (Daniel) Kerr, without (Andrew) Embley so I don't think they have ever relied on one player to get them across the line,” Roos said.    Source: The Daily Telegraph

Grassroots Numbers Rising 

Last week’s AFL annual report has found the success of the Swans, as well as the AFL’s significant investment into the game in New South Wales and Queensland, has led to a growing popularity in the game at a grassroots level in the non-traditional states. The report showed the number of primary school teams in NSW rose from 36 to 356 since 2005, while overall participation rates at a local club level has risen by 37 per cent. Last year the AFL predicted that participation rates in NSW and Queensland would rise by 80,000 players- to 218,000- by 2011.
Source: The Daily Telegraph

Dedicated to Richard "KCSwan" Lipp