Sydney is clinging to a finals spot, having lost its last two games, and now hosts a team that has taken all season to find its mojo. Join us this afternoon from 1:00pm AEST when the Swans take on St Kilda at ANZ Stadium.
The dreaded curse of the bye has hit Sydney hard since it had its final bye for the year three weeks ago, struggling with form since.
I’d like to be able to say that the Sydney will enjoy home ground advantage, but its home ground form this season has been even worse than its accuracy in front of goal.
No problem for the Saints in front of goal, with an ex-Swan, Schneider, joining Milne over the past 12 weeks as a small crumbing forward capable of punishing defensive errors from opponents with ruthless efficiency.
The Saints defence looks far too settled for the Swans, with plenty of rebounding potency, although Reid continues to offer some hope for the Bloods as a tall marking option.
The Swans have a midfield capable of mixing it with the Saints top-shelf trio of Dal Santo, Jones and Montagna. Goodes is capable of anything, if he gets a bit of support from the likes of Bolton and Jack.
Riewoldt and Koschitzke are yet to cut loose this season as a forward-line partnership, and I can’t help thinking that the stage is there for them to do it today.
If that happens, put this down as a three goal win to the Saints.
Head to Head: Swans 124 Saints 76 drawn 3
Last clash: round one 2010 – Saints 15.6 (96) bt Swans 13.10 (88) at ANZ Stadium
Tab Sportsbet: Swans $2.25 Saints $1.60
The Cattery
Roar Guru
clipper it's all amateur, players and officials pay their own way, the AFL helps out with grounds, umpires, officials, and transfers within Australia, but their contribution from a monetary perspective is minimal. There are no ticket sales, in fact I would doubt that the event makes a single cent in revenue.
clipper
Guest
The Cattery - I must profess my ignorance of the set up. Who pays for all the infrastructure and who pays for all the teams expenses? Would be quite an expense and they wouldn't make too much back from ticket sales. Could you ever envisage a time when Australia competed, even just in the semis or final?
The Cattery
Roar Guru
clipper I have to correct you again - it is NOT run along world cup lines. It's held every three years, and it's open to any country (apart from Australia) that wishes to send a team to it.
ac
Guest
Im back !
clipper
Guest
I stand corrected, should be the international cup - but sort of run along world cup lines, being played every 4 years. Yes, I was well aware that the olympics and rugby were contested by amateurs, not that long ago either.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
I must correct you there clipper, it is not a world cup. It's a competition squarely aimed at amateurs playing the game outside of Australia, obviously, Australia cannot partake.ff Zillions of sporting competions around the world are contested by amateurs. In fact, did you know that the olympics and rugby used to be contested by amateurs?
clipper
Guest
Each to their own Brad. Not every sport can have a soccer or rugby world cup. Let the Aussie Rules have theirs along with the Boot Throwing WC, Sheep trails and RL WC.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
FT Syd 10.23 (83) def St Kilda 10.8 (68)
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Swans still hold 15pt lead, 2 min to go
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Swans have reduced the margin to 3pts - I'm trying to get my laptop back online
The Cattery
Roar Guru
still a 10pt difference to saints, half way through 3rd quarter
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Ray with an excellent running goal, started it, spotted up Riewoldt, he kept on going, ran into the pocket, took it back, slotted it in from a tight angle
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Q3 17min to go Hannebery with mark, inside 50, in the clear, runs in for an easy one, Syd 4.12 Sts 6.5
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Q3 18 min to go no score added so far, St Kilda doing early attacking, already 3 inside 50s, just scored a behind Syd 3.12 Sts 6.5
The Cattery
Roar Guru
We're back for the start of the 3rd quarter
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Healy and Johnno talking about the IC game earlier today. Sth Africa looked very skillful today, but couldn't get over the "big men" of the USA.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Martin Blake says: AFL rule of thumb is you get 1 goal for each 4 entries. Sydney 3 from 39 in half a game. That's inefficiency. Also costly. #aflswanssaints
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Sydney certainly showing enough to win this game. As I mentioned in the pre-game review, their goal kicking has been poor all year. They've had a bit of bad luck this time roud, with three posters, but no doubt that Saints are more accurate with their forward line set ups so far.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Champion Data: Half Time: Best players: S.Mumford (sy), N.Dal Santo (sk), C.Jones (sk), B.Goddard (sk), J.McVeigh (sy) #aflswanssaints
The Cattery
Roar Guru
HT there were only 17 seconds on the clock after that last goal, some rain has started Syd 3.12 ( 30) Sts 6.4 (40) back to a 10pt margin late in quarter, Swans have done enough to lead, but don't , we're in for a good contest second half,