Richmond assistant coach Blake Caracella provides ‘Roar Vision’ with a snapshot of the key strengths of Sydney’s game ahead of this Saturday afternoon’s clash at the MCG.
Key match-up: Rance v Franklin
“Two amazing players, one in the forward half, one in the back half . . . Obviously, ‘Rancey’ will win his fair share of one v ones in this match-up, but if we can limit the supply (to Franklin), it’ll go a long way towards winning. He’s (Franklin) got so many attributes . . . he’s tall, he’s fast, he can run all day, and he’s got that big left foot as well. It’s always a team effort trying to stop the ball getting down there, and Rancey hopefully can do his job . . . Sydney have, historically, been a great contested-ball team. They probably lacked that a bit earlier in the season, but they’ve got it back now . . . If we can stop them winning the ball, and getting it down to Buddy, it’ll help us win.”
Be there as Saturday arvo footy returns to the ‘G this week when the Tigers host Sydney
The Swans’ red-hot, recent form
“They’ve found their mojo. They’re starting to rotate their ‘mids’ a bit more and they’re winning contested footy. The first five or six weeks they weren’t doing that. Now they’re getting their hands on the ball, keeping the ball off the opposition and attacking really well. And when they attack well, they don’t give the ball back . . . They’re No. 1 for defence and offense the last five weeks, so we know we’ve got a challenge, but I think we’re up to it.”
Why they’ve improved, and how we can counter them
“I think it comes back to winning it first, and then you need to be able to move the ball. A lot of the teams try and attack the same way – win the footy and then move the ball on angles down the ground. Sydney have got a really dangerous forward line, too, so if they can win the ball and get the ball moving forward, it’s going to be hard for us. But our pressure throughout the season’s been fantastic, and if we can bring that heat around the contest, and not allow them to get the ball to open space, then that’ll help us win.”
Pressuring Sydney clearance king Kennedy and co.
“It’s our midfield, our stoppage guys, trying to win the footy and not let Kennedy, (Luke) Parker, (Kieren) Jack, (Tom) Papley . . . there’s heaps of players. It’s a real team-versus-team game nowadays, but on each line a lot of teams have good players . . . Kennedy’s one of them (for Sydney), and we need to make sure that we can keep him down to one or two clearances. And, if he does get four, five, six, seven, at least make sure there not nice, easy ones.”
