Swans young guns hold the key - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Swans young guns hold the key

Adrian Warren 15/04/2011 06:39:32 PM Comments (0)

Sydney's young AFL speedsters Lewis Jetta and Gary Rohan are set to play a vital role against Geelong at the SCG on Saturday, according to a man familiar with both midfield groups.

With both operating under new coaches, the Cats and Swans have barely missed a beat this year.

Geelong have won all three of their games so far under Chris Scott, while Sydney have started John Longmire's tenure with two wins and a draw.

They will meet at the SCG for their first time since their memorable 2005 semi-final in which mercurial forward Nick Davis kicked four late goals to boot Sydney into a grand final they won to break their 72-year premiership drought.

Among the Geelong coaching group that night was Leigh Tudor, who spent five seasons with the Cats and two with St Kilda before joining Sydney for this season.

"It was a really good game, but it was a tough one to watch in the opposition box," Tudor told AAP on Friday.

He said there were similarities between the current Sydney midfield and their celebrated Geelong counterparts.

"(Sydney)are a very hard tough bunch, they are renowned for playing four quarters and giving their all so very similar in that sense, so it's just going to be a really good battle between the midfield groups tomorrow," Tudor said.

"Geelong have a really good midfield group. A lot of guys can go through there and they've got some dangerous forwards that are now starting to play a bit more midfield, like Paul Chapman and Steve Johnson.

"They are a really hard group to handle, so our focus has got to be winning the contested ball and first possession."

While Sydney's midfield have been renowned for their tenacity inside, Tudor reckoned the outside run provided by second-season speedsters Jetta and Rohan would be crucial at the SCG.

Jetta showed great pace on his way to kicking a memorable goal against the Eagles last week, while Rohan made a big impact as a substitute.

"Their pace and their run late in games has been really good and we're going to need those guys to play well for us,if we're any chance to beat Geelong," Tudor said.

Geelong reportedly roped off part of Skilled Stadium at training this week to prepare themselves the dimensions of the SCG.

They suffered a blow on Friday when forward Mathew Stokes pulled out with neck soreness and was replaced by first-year player Allen Christensen.

On Thursday, they recalled Tom Lonergan, Andrew Mackie and David Wojcinski, while Tom Hawkins and Mitch Duncan were forced out through injury.

Sydney named an unchanged side.

Brought to you by AAP AAP © 2024 AAP

0 Comments about this article

Post a comment about this article

Please sign in to leave a comment.
Becoming a member is free and easy, sign up here.

« All sports news