Previews

I felt like I needed to exercise my writing muscles, so I thought I'd put pen to paper and have a go at writing a preview for this week's game against the Pies. It's a re-post of the preview I put up on BF. (Hope the IMG tags work here...) ...

By Alison Zell

Saturday May 26, 4.40pm, Etihad Stadium

Teams:

ST KILDA

B: Jason Gram, Sam Gilbert, Jason Blake
HB: Sean Dempster, James Gwilt, Jarryn Geary
C: Jamie Cripps, Lenny ...

Match preview: Sydney Swans v North Melbourne Kangaroos
Sunday April 22, 3.15pm, SCG

TEAMS
Sydney
B M.Mattner, H.Grundy, A.Johnson
HB A.Everitt, T.Richards, R.Shaw
C K.Jack, J.Bolton, L.Jetta
HF J.McVeigh, S.Reid, G.Rohan
F C.Bird, R.O'Keefe, B.McGlynn
Foll M.Seaby, J.Kennedy, D.Hannebery
I/C T.Armstrong, N.Malceski, L.Parker, J.White
Emg H.Cunningham J.Moore T.Walsh

In: M.Seaby , T.Armstrong
Out: S.Mumford (Back), A.Goodes (Suspension)

New: T.Armstrong (Adelaide)
Milestone: A.Everitt - 50 games

North Melbourne
B: Scott McMahon, Scott Thompson, Liam Anthony
HB: Daniel Wells, Michael Firrito, Jamie MacMillan
C: Sam Wright, Andrew Swallow, Shaun Atley
HF: Ryan Bastinac, Aaron Edwards, Kieran Harper
F: Matt Campbell, Drew Petrie, Lindsay Thomas
Foll: Todd Goldstein, Jack Ziebell, Leigh Adams ...

By Alison Zell

Saturday March 24, 7.20pm, ANZ Stadium

Teams:

GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY GIANTS

B: Tomas Bugg, Phil Davis, Adam Kennedy
HB: Jack Hombsch, Tim Mohr, Will Hoskin-Elliot ...

Saturday July 23, 2.10pm, SCG

Teams:

SYDNEY SWANS

B: Nicholas Smith, Heath Grundy, ...

Written by akitchener

Once upon a time, going down to play the Adelaide Crows at AAMI Stadium was as daunting a prospect for Swans fans as, say, facing off with Collingwood. The Crows were a real bogey team, even when the Swans ...

MATCH PREVIEW ? Swans vs. Hawks

TEAMS

SCG, Sunday 22 May, 2.10pm

Sydney Swans

B: Rhyce Shaw, Ted Richards, Alex Johnson
HB: Tadhg Kennelly, Heath Grundy, Nick Smith
...

ROUND 7 ? WESTERN BULLDOGS VS. SYDNEY SWANS

Saturday May 7, Manuka Oval, 1.10pm (local time)

Teams

Sydney Swans

B: Martin Mattner, Ted Richards, Andrejs Everitt
HB: Tadhg ...

A confession to start. I was meant to have contributed a match report for the round 4 Geelong game. So I pondered for more than a week waiting for inspiration to strike so that I could write something other than ?Cats still better than Swans?, or ?Swans tough and gallant but ultimately just a touch short in class?, or even ?Short, follicly challenged Cat dismantles Swans ? again?. Alas, nothing inspirational ever arrived ...

Sydney vs Geelong, Round 7. Skilled Stadium, Sunday May 9, 1.10pm

For all the talk of ?one week at a time?, history weighs heavily on footy, and it?s certainly making its presence felt at Skilled Stadium on Sunday.

The Cats haven?t lost there since 2007. They?ve won their last 18 at Skilled and if you include ?home games? at Etihad and the MCG - the AFL does - they hold the league record for 25 home wins in a row.

Since the Swans last beat them in round 5, 2006 at Telstra Stadium, the Cats have won six on the trot against us. Our last victory at Skilled (then Shell Stadium) was Round 8 1999, when Tony Lockett kicked 6.

However, recent history runs a little more in the Swans? favour.

As every pundit has pointed out, the Swans have cruised to top spot after crunching a few cellar dwellers and beating just one top eight side.

But Geelong?s record, as few seem to have observed, is even more slender. ...

AFL Round 6
Saturday 1st May 2010
7.10pm Sydney Cricket Ground
Sydney Swans v Brisbane Lions

Teams
Sydney Swans
B: Rhyce Shaw, Lewis Roberts-Thomson, Tadhg Kennelly
HB: Martin Mattner, Heath Grundy, Nick Malceski
C: Jarrad McVeigh, Brett Kirk, Lewis Jetta
HF: Ryan O?Keefe, Adam Goodes, Josh Kennedy
F: Mark Seaby, Daniel Bradshaw, Jarred Moore
Foll: Shane Mumford, Jude Bolton, Kieren Jack
I/C: Daniel Hannebery, Ted Richards, Nick Smith, Jesse White
Emg: Ed Barlow, Gary Rohan, Pat Veszpremi

In: Richards
Out: Craig Bolton ...

I should be fond of AAMI. Many of my best formative experiences happened there. The 1976 grand final. The Alice Cooper and Bob Dylan concerts. My first taste of a beer that wasn?t Southwark.

And yet I don?t like it. The Crows, who abandoned it to the Power last year, don?t like it. The AFL and the state government, who are tipping $450 million into Adelaide Oval, don?t like it.

And neither do the Swans. We routinely knock off Port there, but we can beat the Power anywhere. We haven?t beaten the Crows at AAMI since 2001 when a young Ryan O?Keefe got just four touches. (?Drop him!? says RWO.)

We?ve won once in the last 11 outings. Roos in his usual obscurantist way can?t explain why. It?s just one of those AFL oddities, like Kevin Sheedy, or our record against Collingwood.

...

Round 1, Sydney Swans v St Kilda
Saturday 27 March, 7.10pm, ANZ Stadium

Teams

Sydney Swans
B: Craig Bolton, Lewis Roberts-Thomson, Rhyce Shaw
HB: Tadhg Kennelly, Heath Grundy, Nick Malceski
C: Jarrad McVeigh, Brett Kirk, Lewis Jetta
HF: Ryan O'Keefe, Adam Goodes, Ben McGlynn
F: Jesse White, Daniel Bradshaw, Jarred Moore
Foll: Mark Seaby, Josh Kennedy, Jude Bolton
I/C: Kieren Jack, Martin Mattner, Shane Mumford, Ted Richards
Emg: Paul Bevan, Gary Rohan, Nick Smith

New: Daniel Bradshaw (Brisbane Lions), Lewis Jetta ...