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Five talking points from Sydney vs GWS

Expert
9th September, 2018
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Expert
9th September, 2018
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The GWS Giants are through to the semi-finals while the Sydney Swans are now out of the race. Here’s my five talking points from Saturday’s elimination final.

Toby Greene the controversial matchwinner
The inclusion of Toby Greene into the GWS side for their first final proved to be a significant one in the context of the match, as booted three goals – his most in a game since Round 1 – to play a crucial role in GWS’ victory.

However he’ll be talked about less for his match-winning abilities and more for his controversial and potentially seriously dangerous technique of defending his mark by raising his foot to oncoming opponents.

It’s essentially the same manoeuvre that saw Greene cop a fine when his boot collided with the face of Luke Dahlhaus last year, in an incident that many felt he should have deserved a more serious punishment for.

Is Greene’s technique technically within the rules? It seems that way. Will it be by Round 1, 2019? I would really hope not.

And speaking of rules changes…
A lot of the talk on this front has fallen away in the face of enormous fan opposition and trial games that have produced little positive outcome in the way of results.

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However if the AFL wanted to make a case for rules changes being needed to the game, then the low-scoring nature of three of this weekend’s finals would be exhibit A.

This match was another case of a slow, chess-like affair where goals were very hard to come by until one side eventually cracked at let the other in.

Which, as a spectator, I don’t entirely mind watching – obviously something frenetic and high-scoring is fun, but a match like this has a drama all of its own, particularly early.

Still at a time of year where ad space is at it’s most available, it’s not hard to imagine Gillon McLachlan gnawing on his fingernails as the Swans and Giants kept it low-scoring early.

That said, it might make just as good an argument for having two genuine daytime finals as in the days of yore rather than three at night at one twilight.

Let’s skip this year’s Lance Franklin takes
Ever since Lance Franklin arrived at Sydney whenever their season comes to end there’s been pundits who rush to point out that he hasn’t delivered a premiership to the Swans just yet.

In 2018 I respectfully request that we just don’t bother with it this time. The argument has been made and rehashed enough times that it’s not worth having any more.

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Is premiership success the only means by which to define the value of a big recruit? Absolutely not, though obviously it is the most important one.

Having lived in Sydney for two years now I can tell you that Franklin is the name on the lips of every Swans fan in the city and there’s no doubt that their excellent membership numbers and crowd figures – better than any NRL team in the city – are due in a large part to him.

If the Franklin era never delivers Sydney a flag – and that might be the way things go – then don’t think they’ll regret for a second breaking the bank to get him.

Lance Franklin

(Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Williams returns in fine form
When news came through at the start of the year that Zac Williams had suffered an Achilles injury at preseason training, his season seemed likely to be a write-off.

However on Saturday he played his first game for the year and not only got through it but genuinely starred with 20 kicks, nine marks and a goal assist.

Not only was Wiliams in fine form but his presence in the team also released Lachie Whitfield to roam further up the ground where he finished with 29 disposals and five tackles.

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Williams had built fine form at the lower level for a few weeks but it was always going to be a risk to bring back not just him but also Greene, Brett Deledio and Matt de Boer in a must-win final.

If the match had still been in the balance late it might have been a problem – luckily for GWS, the contest was long over by then.

Onto the semis, but can Giants win without Kelly?
Saturday’s match had potential disaster written all over it when Josh Kelly left the field early with a knee injury and didn’t return.

It didn’t look like a serious knee injury, and Kelly is still in contention to play in next week’s semi-final, but a long way from being likely.

As it turned out, GWS didn’t need his influence to slaughter the Swans. But how serious of a chance are they to conquer Collingwood next week if he doesn’t get up?

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