This Week:
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
Telstra Stadium will be one of the few places in
- Peter Hayward: a Swans benefactor who was involved in the club’s unfurling of their 2005 flag last April.
- Billy Thorpe: One of
- 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
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
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,
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
Source: The Daily Telegraph
Dedicated to Richard "KCSwan" Lipp
Article last changed on Wednesday, April 04, 2007 - 8:08 PM EDT