Swans learn from Giants’ hard lesson
FOR Sydney, it was the loss they had to have.
Swans high-flyer Isaac Heeney admits he owes the GWS Giants a debt of gratitude for embarrassing their cross-town rivals in the qualifying final at ANZ Stadium.
The shock 36-point loss spurred the Swans into action, and has them perfectly primed for tomorrow’s Grand Final against the Western Bulldogs.
“I believe it was a bit of a blessing in disguise,” Heeney said. “They embarrassed us and we were like gee, we’ve finished No. 1 on the ladder for a reason but we’ve come out and produced something like that — should we be No. 1 or should we be having that second chance?
“And I think we were blessed to have that second chance and having that bit of a wake-up call has really fired us on for the last two weeks so hopefully we can maintain it going into the granny.”
Sydney last night named co-captain Jarrad McVeigh and Rising Star winner Callum Mills for tomorrow’s season decider against the Western Bulldogs.
The Swans dropped Harry Marsh, while defender Aliir Aliir became one of the hard luck stories of the week after he was ruled out on Wednesday with the knee injury he suffered in last Friday night’s preliminary final win over Geelong.
For the Bulldogs, after an injury-ravaged season, they have had the rare luxury of naming an unchanged side after onballer Lin Jong and defender Matthew Suckling failed to break into the side that beat the Giants last week.
The response from Sydney after losing the qualifying final to Greater Western Sydney was immediate.
They took care of the highly fancied Adelaide Crows by the same margin they lost to GWS (36 points) with Heeney leading the way with a stunning 32 possession performance including nine marks and a goal.
His encore performance at the MCG the following week against Geelong was even better as he tackled his heart out.
He believes if the Swans bring the same energy to tomorrow’s Grand Final they will be very hard to beat.
“I think it’s just knowing that if we bring our hit and intensity around the footy it’s that we can match it if not beat any team in the comp,” Heeney said.
“If we’re sharp and our reaction times are on with our intensity and energy around the footy it’s going to be a massive step towards a win come Grand Final day.”
The Swans have made a habit of starting fast this season, winning 17 of the 22 first quarters in the home and away season.
They lost the opening quarter against the Giants in Round 1 of the finals but bounced back to outscore the Crows by four goals in the first term and belted the Cats by seven to nil in the same period at the MCG.
“Our first 15-30 minutes against Adelaide and Geelong was all we focused on and to hit them hard like we did was a massive contributor to our win,” Heeney said. “We’ll be looking to make a strong start against the Bulldogs on Saturday.” EMG: