Freo make Swans look Buddy good ahead of Crows clash
IF THE Swans were looking for nice stroll in the park ahead of Friday’s massive showdown with the Crows in Adelaide they got exactly what they were hoping for at the SCG.
Sydney were good but Fremantle were oh so bad.
The 104-point belting was the biggest loss of Ross Lyon’s coaching career, beating the 100-point margin suffered in Round 10. It also gave his former coaching teammate John Longmire exactly what he wanted – running key players Lance Franklin and Kurt Tippett back into form and boosting the Swans’ percentage.
By holding the Dockers to just 39 points and kicking a season-high 143 points the Swans improved their percent- age by more than six points from 117.7 to 123.7. Their percentage is now superior to Port Adelaide, Geelong and Richmond – which could be critical at the end of Round 23.
“Percentage comes on the back of the standards you set,” Longmire said.
“It’s not something we talk about but it comes from playing a strong brand of team football. When we were up at half time it was important to continue that.”
Lance Franklin also found his touch again with four goals, eight marks and 24 disposals.
Franklin had plenty of supply from his midfield guns led by Luke Parker (29 possessions, including 11 contested), Dan Hannebery (29), Isaac Heeney and Jake Lloyd (26).
Kurt Tippett also played himself back into form with two goals, seven marks and eight crunching tackles. His first-quarter run-down tackle on Danyle Pearce set the tone for the day and also gifted Heeney with his first goal.
“He contributed strongly last week and he was good again today,” Longmire said.
“His ruck work was good and so was his follow up around the ground.
“He was also a good target in the front half.”
Backmen Dane Rampe, Callum Mills and Heath Grundy were also in great touch as they allowed just five goals from 53 inside 50s.
It was also a measure of the domination of the Swans that they had 15 more tackles (63-48) but also had 115 more possessions (407-292).
The only downside was a knee injury to Nic Newman which was a result of a clash of legs with Tippett during the third quarter.
“He hyper-extended his knee,” Longmire said.