Two of the modern eras strongest teams meet tonight when the Sydney Swans host the Geelong Cats at ANZ Stadium. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 7.20pm AEST.
This same fixture was heavily anticipated last year but ended in disappointment for fans of good footy, as the Swans flattened the Cats into the ground with a 110-point defeat.
While you wouldn’t expect the magnitude of the win to be quite the same this time around it does appear that the Swans have turned the corner around Geelong sometime in the last few years.
Geelong in recent weeks have looked a bit average, playing well for most of the game but allowing their opponents to get back into the match with patches of sloppy play.
They have two straight wins over Richmond and Collingwood headed into this match, but weren’t really able to put either team away and out of the match at any point.
Sydney on the other hand have been in fairly solid form, despite losses to Fremantle and the Western Bulldogs. They’re in winning form, having comfortably trumped Melbourne last week.
The Swans have made only a single change and it’s a forced one – young gun Isaac Heeney is out with a knee injury expected to cost him around two months of football, and Dean Towers has been recalled to the side.
The Cats have made two changes. The luckless Josh Cowan is back out of the team due to a hamstring injury while Nakia Cockatoo has been omitted. Returning to the side is Mathew Stokes, and former Demon Sam Blease will play his first game for the club.
Blease was a first round draft pick for the Demons in the talent-laden 2008 draft, delisted last year after 33 games for the club. Geelong picked him up as a delisted free agent and this week he will get his first chance in the white and navy blue hoops.
He and indeed the rest of the Cats face a huge challenge against a Sydney team that have become experts at punishing opposition mistakes.
Prediction
The Swans are a class above the Cats, plain and simple.
Sydney by 42 points.
Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 7.20pm AEST.
Mark
Guest
1 point off picking the margin. Good call.
John Hamilton
Roar Pro
Roar prediction - Sydney by 42 Actual result - Sydney by 43 Well done whoever called that. I thought it would be closer
Josh
Expert
Josh
Expert
FULL TIME SYDNEY 17.12.120 GEELONG 11.11.77 Swans with a comfy win in the end.
Josh
Expert
GOAL SYDNEY Tom Mitchell snaps a thrid goal. Swans running away with it in the last minutes. SYDNEY 17.12.120 GEELONG 11.11.77
Josh
Expert
GOAL GEELONG Cory Gregson breaks a long run of Sydney goals by snapping his second. SYDNEY 16.12.114 GEELONG 11.11.77
Josh
Expert
GOAL SYDNEY Luke Parker kicks his fifth goal, that's a career high for him. SYDNEY 16.12.114 GEELONG 10.11.71
Josh
Expert
GOAL SYDNEY Tom Mitchell slots a second goal. SYDNEY 16.12.108 GEELONG 10.11.71
Josh
Expert
BEHIND SYDNEY Luke Parker has a shot on goal - the umpire reckons it's touched but sends it to review. Footage not clear so it goes back to his call, just a behind. SYDNEY 15.12.102 GEELONG 10.11.71
Josh
Expert
GOAL SYDNEY Gary Rohan snaps a goal for the Swans and they lead by five straight. Just counting down the time now. SYDNEY 15.11.101 GEELONG 10.11.71
Josh
Expert
BEHIND SYDNEY Lewis Jetta goes for a nice little dash but his kick goes off line. The Swans lead by an even four goals. SYDNEY 14.11.95 GEELONG 10.11.71
Josh
Expert
GOAL SYDNEY Lance Franklin snaps his fourth and that should just about sink the Cats hopes of a win. SYDNEY 14.10.94 GEELONG 10.11.71
Josh
Expert
GOAL SYDNEY Jarrad McVeigh has a shot on goal, it goes to review to see if it was touched but wasn't until it was across the line. It's a goal and the Swans lead by 17. SYDNEY 13.10.88 GEELONG 10.11.71
Josh
Expert
GOAL SYDNEY Luke Parker has a shot on goal which falls short but is marked by Lance Franklin. He slots his third goal of the evening, and the Swans lead by 10. SYDNEY 12.9.81 GEELONG 10.11.71
Josh
Expert
BEHIND GEELONG Josh Walker takes a snap at goal but does it a little early and manages just a behind. SYDNEY 11.9.75 GEELONG 10.11.71
Josh
Expert
Final term underway.
Josh
Expert
Big finish coming! The Swans looked a bit better in that third term but the Cats are seriously keen on the win and look like they'll keep pushing. Just one kick in it at the final change.
Josh
Expert
3-QUARTER TIME SYDNEY 11.9.75 GEELONG 10.10.70
Josh
Expert
BEHIND GEELONG Steven Motlop snaps a shot on goal from a pack in the forward line but it shaves the wrong side of the post. SYDNEY 11.9.75 GEELONG 10.10.70
Josh
Expert
GOAL GEELONG Steve Johnson slams home a much needed goal for the Cats, and they're back within a kick. SYDNEY 11.9.75 GEELONG 10.9.69