Swans want fast start
SYDNEY vice-captain Luke Parker says he and Swans skipper Josh Kennedy were down on form last week and has warned of the consequences if the side does not start better against Geelong tomorrow.
Midfield warriors Parker and Kennedy had seven kicks each and 17 and 13 possessions in the home loss to Adelaide.
In the case of the usually ultra-consistent Kennedy, it was a second-straight quiet game after he tallied four kicks and 16 disposals the previous week.
“Myself, I was down on form and ‘Joey’ (Kennedy) would say himself that he was down on from as well, so we can’t have too many players having an off game in one game,” Parker said. “For us, it’s about getting back to basics. We had a pretty low percentage of tackles made and lost the contested ball and ground ball.
“When you get those things wrong or lose those battles, it goes a long way towards losing the game, so that’s what we need to improve. But I don’t think it’s a crisis thing.”
The Crows had 13 firstquarter scores and Parker recognised the Swans could not afford another tardy start tomorrow.
“If we come up with that mindset, that we did on the weekend, we’ll get smacked,” he said.
Even without the injured Gary Ablett, the Cats possess two of the competition’s great midfielders in Joel Selwood and Patrick Dangerfield.
“They are one of the best midfields in the competition, there’s probably no better test than down there against some of the stars of the game.’ Parker said.
“It will be great to test ourselves and we’ll be able to bounce back.”
Making life tougher will be the absence through injury of stars Lance Franklin and Dan Hannebery.
Parker said Sydney might mix things up in a forward line without Franklin and injured key tall Sam Reid.
“It’s pretty hard to replace Bud, a six-foot-six animal who has incredible skills,” he said of Franklin.
“It depends if they want to go with a different look or be a bit more unpredictable, which could be the case”