The Roar
The Roar

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Swans block out mounting hype

21st July, 2014
13

They’re favourites to win every meaningful AFL gong going, but the Sydney Swans refuse to be distracted by the mounting external hype.

The ladder-leaders could be strengthened by the return of up to three stars for Saturday’s MCG clash with Hawthorn.

Defender Rhyce Shaw, midfielder Dan Hannebery and forward Kurt Tippett, who have all missed either three or four games, will be given until Thursday to prove their fitness.

Sydney will be going for a club record 13th straight win against the third-placed reigning premiers in a match befitting the often used and rarely justified blockbuster tag.

If the possibility of breaking a 79-year club record wasn’t enough to send the hype-metre into the red and have the notoriously low-key Swans diving for cover then there’s the profusion of betting markets.

On Monday, TAB issued their updated odds on the code’s biggest honours and the club, or some of their individuals, headed each major market.

Sydney are their favourites for the flag and minor premiership, Lance Franklin tops the Coleman Medal betting and midfielder Josh Kennedy the Brownlow Medal odds.

Asked if his side could block out all of the flattering distractions, a relaxed Sydney coach John Longmire casually answered “Yup.”

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“If you start getting distracted by that you jump all over the place.

“It is very much about how we prepare for games and how we go about our team meetings, how we train with intensity and intent and how we perform on the weekend.

“We need to do it time and time again and we need to do it this week against the best team in the competition over the last couple of years.

“So there’s nothing else to think about other than Hawthorn.

“They are a super team and have coped really well with a couple of injuries and look to be getting a couple of star players back this week.

“We need to make sure our intensity and focus is firmly on that.”

Nor are the Swans dwelling on the hugely positive potential ladder ramifications of a win against Hawthorn, who Longmire described as still very much a benchmark team.

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A victory would go a long way toward securing a top two spot, as it would lift them four points clear of Geelong and eight ahead of Hawthorn, Fremantle and Port Adelaide with just five rounds left.

“We don’t spend a lot of time thinking about it,” Longmire said.

“When you play Hawthorn you’ve got no doubt you’re going to get tested and we’ll get tested this week and we look forward to that challenge.”

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