Swans more on target away from SCG
IT’S not a case of home sweet home for Sydney’s most prolific goal-kicking forwards who are finding it easier to hit the target away from the SCG.
Even if the Swans win their last two SCG fixtures they will still finish with a superior replayers cord on the road (7-2) as compared to 4-5 in Sydney.
Perhaps the most startling aspect is their more accurate goal-kicking away from home where the Swans have converted 13 per cent more shots.
Lance Franklin and their two young small forward goalsneaks Ben Ronke and Will Hayward have all been much more accurate on their travels.
Rookie list sensation Ronke has booted 19.4 in seven away games with hauls of seven and five at the MCG and Etihad Stadium, but has kicked just 3.5 from one less home match.
Asked if he had pinpointed anything in their five home losses, coach John Longmire referred to educating a forward group which, Franklin apart, lacks experience.
“There’s a bit of work to do with our technical part of the game that we need to get right,” Longmire said.
The Swans have dropped four of their last five games and risk missing the finals for the first time in nine seasons.
They face a tough run home with all four of their remaining opponents above them in the top eight.
Longmire is looking for the Swans to rediscover the fierce pressure that has been their trademark until recent weeks. THE concept of AFL Cairns double-headers is one that is worth being persisted with.
It’s great for a neutral supporter to watch two senior games back to back.
Most club officials were positive about the idea at Watsons Oval on Saturday afternoon with many keen for the idea of netball and football being played together to continue. Hopefully the second of the double-headers at Cazalys Stadium in the last round of the season is well supported.
■ IT IS fair to say the Lee Undy story in Saturday’s paper was the talk of Watsons Oval across the two games.
With four clubs represented at the ground, many were quick to provide their insights.
A staggering part of the situation has been that undercover agents have infiltrated the Port Douglas Crocs AFL footy team. The word is one of the agents actually played a game for the club in the reserves while others trained.
■ FORMER Cairns Saint Lachlan Poulter is being remembered as a ripping bloke who was taken way too soon.
Poulter was with the club last season and booted 45 goals, including a bag of 15 in one game against Cairns City Lions. He was back in the Far North earlier this season to watch his old teammates, after relocating back to Victoria.
Poulter had just finished a match at Learmonth Oval on Saturday, when he told teammates he wasn’t feeling well.
Shortly after 4pm, he collapsed on the sidelines. Paramedics made efforts to revive the Dunnstown Football Club player but he died at the scene.
His family released a statement saying: “Lachie was taken too soon, but was doing what he loved, for a club he loved, with the teammates he loved.”