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The Sydney Swans have come away with a one-goal win despite a highly competitive effort from the Carlton Blues on Saturday afternoon.
» Click here for the full match report
Final score
Sydney Swans 10.14.74
Carlton Blues 10.8.68
» What’s next? Follow our Eagles vs Demons live blog
The Carlton Blues face their biggest challenge of the season yet, travelling to the SCG to take on the champion team that is the Sydney Swans. Join The Roar from 1:45pm (AEST) for live scores and commentary.
The Sydney Swans have well and truly established themselves as a genuine premiership threat, and would be on top spot on the ladder if not for a five-point defeat at the hands of the Hawks last week.
Despite the close loss and a consequent drop out of the top four, the Swans are still at the top of their game. Their well-known respected brigade of midfield stars is firing, but the club is also unearthing new talent seemingly by the week. Fans are excited by the emergence of players such George Hewett and Tom Papley, who already seem at ease on the big stage. Aliir Aliir is also taking big steps in becoming an important cog for the famously tight defensive unit, alongside the criminally underrated Dane Rampe and Nick Smith.
Carlton’s main aim for this season has arguably already been accomplished – not to be anywhere near as bad as last year. There is no doubt that Brendan Bolton was the man for the job, and in just a few months the future of the Blues has gone from bleak to bright.
A lot of hype is surrounding Jack Silvagni at the moment – as it was always going to be – but he’s not alone in the excitement stakes. Jacob Weitering will be the player his top draft pick tag deserves, while Patrick Cripps is well on his way to becoming a top-five player in the competition.
Last week the Blues fell short by just seven points to a West Coast team bound for September, yet when they last met in 2015, the Eagles won by 69 – a clear sign of marked improvement already.
Carlton won’t play finals this year, and will find it incredibly difficult to beat the Swans, but much like the Eagles match, the test for them will be to improve on their recent record. The Swans have won the last three by margins of 60, 60 and 71 – if Carlton can significantly reduce those numbers this time around the loyal fan-base will probably be happy.
On the other hand, the Swans can be ruthless at home – against bottom ten sides this year at the SCG, their average winning margin is 71. Ouch. Gary Rohan has become an interesting route to goal after a big game against the Hawks and could be the x-factor the Swans need to go deep into September. He’ll be looking to follow up last weeks effort with another big game.
With names like Josh Kennedy, Daniel Hannebery, Lance Franklin and Luke Parker hovering, the mighty Swans will be terribly hard to stop, but Carlton has shown they will refuse to go down without a fight.
Levi Casboult and Blaine Boekhorst return to the Carlton 22 at the expense of Kristian Jaksch and Jed Lamb, who have both been omitted.
Sydney have made four changes to the side that went down to the Hawks: Zak Jones and captain Jarrad McVeigh will miss through injury, while Ben McGlynn and Ted Richards have been omitted, somewhat curiously. The younger brother of Ted, Xavier, will come into the side, recalled along with Isaac Heeney and Harry Cunningham. 20-year-old Jordan Foote will also play his first game, the Swan’s seventh debutant this year.
Prediction
Easy call for this one – Swans at home.
Sydney by 57.
Will the Swans fly back into the top four or can Carlton take another unlikely scalp?
Join the Roar from 1:45pm (AEST) for live blogging and score updates.
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