AFL Swans' Seaby faces big test with Jolly - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

AFL Swans' Seaby faces big test with Jolly

Greg Buckle 21/06/2011 06:32:07 PM Comments (0)

Premiership ruckmen Darren Jolly and Mark Seaby are set to resume their rivalry in Saturday night's Collingwood-Sydney clash at ANZ Stadium.

Collingwood's Jolly, 29, is on the comeback trail from a knee injury and has declared himself fit to play for the first time since April 25.

Swans big man Seaby, 27, faces the challenge of rucking solo - potentially against Cameron Wood and Jolly - in the absence of Shane Mumford who accepted a two-match ban on Tuesday for a dangerous tackle.

Jolly, despite his long lay-off, casts a big shadow as a premiership player with Sydney in 2005 and the Magpies last year.

Seaby locked horns with Jolly in the 2005 and 2006 grand finals for West Coast against Jolly's Swans.

Sydney co-captain Adam Goodes said Seaby, who joined the Swans in 2010, was in the type of form that could unsettle the second-placed Magpies.

Seaby and Mumford have only played together twice this season, in rounds one and 13.

"I've got no doubt 'Seabs' can definitely play a huge role on Saturday night and hopefully 'LRT' (back-up ruckman Lewis Roberts-Thomson) can keep chipping away," Goodes said on Tuesday.

Jolly said he had ticked all the boxes with Collingwood's medical staff for a comeback this weekend after being one of four players sent on a two-week, high-altitude training camp to Arizona.

"It was good to get away and train hard and have some sun and get out of Melbourne for a bit," Jolly said on Tuesday.

Collingwood boast a 9-0 winning streak against sixth-placed Sydney.

However Goodes says the Magpies may have lost some momentum after having the bye last round.

Geelong and Hawthorn are the only teams that have won this year following the bye, against teams that weren't also coming off the bye themselves.

Collingwood's only loss in 2011 was to competition leaders Geelong in round eight, after the Magpies had the bye in round seven.

"They're the team coming off the bye so hopefully we can get a little bit of an advantage out of that," dual Brownlow Medallist Goodes said.

Jolly admitted the Magpies had been caught out against the Cats.

"After a bye, you have the weekend off and your intensity is probably a little bit off in the following week," Jolly said.

"We've just got to make that we learn from the Geelong game - we were blown out of the water in the first quarter - not to be lethargic and sluggish in the first couple of minutes."

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