SYDNEY has re-established itself as a genuine premiership contender after winning a tough derby against Greater Western Sydney by 16 points at the SCG on Saturday night.
In a match that saw several lead changes throughout the night, the Swans proved too good for their cross-town rivals, taking the honours 16.7 (103) to 12.15 (87).
Superstar Swan Lance Franklin had the better of an engrossing battle with Phil Davis while playing an unfamiliar role further up the ground. The reigning Coleman medallist – who booted 12 goals in the opening two rounds – was scoreless with six minutes to play but unloaded an amazing 70m bomb to give his side some breathing space and followed up a couple of minutes later with the sealer.
FULL MATCH COVERAGE: Match highlights, stats and more
Young defender Callum Mills was a star in defence for the home side and won the Brett Kirk medal for best afield, while midfielders Josh Kennedy and Isaac Heeney provided the Swans with plenty of muscle around stoppages, where ruckman Callum Sinclair was influential.
Unheralded forward George Hewett played a major role in the win by tagging Giant Lachie Whitfield out of the match. Whitfield, who racked up 60 touches in his first two games of the year across half back, didn't get his first kick until 20 minutes into the second term and finished the night with just 15 possessions.
Sydney coach John Longmire said it was important for his side to respond well after last week's loss to Port Adelaide.
"The Giants had a real crack and it was a pretty fierce game, so to come out on the right side of the ledger was really pleasing," he said.
"It was clearly an improvement on last week, we used the ball a lot better going forward.
"We played some good footy but lost some key areas like the centre bounces in the first half, then we were able to neutralise that a bit more in the second half."
Stephen Coniglio was a standout for GWS with 27 disposals and five tackles, while co-captain Davis battled hard to keep Franklin in check, and fellow defender Nick Haynes gathered 28 possessions.
WATCH: Buddy's bomb blows Giants away
GWS coach Leon Cameron lamented his side's disposal and decision-making across the night, especially in their forward half.
"We turned the ball over and they kicked 10 goals off our turnovers, we kicked seven – there's the game with that three-goal difference," he said.
"We probably could have gotten a little bit more scoring opportunity from stoppages.
"We won that at times but probably wasted the ball centre of forward."
Both sides applied enormous pressure in the opening quarter which saw the turnover count soar, and it took until the 12-minute mark for Giant Daniel Lloyd to kick the first goal of the match before the home side took control.
WATCH: Daniel Lloyd gets the ball rolling
The Swans cleaned up their ball use going forward and booted three in a row through Gary Rohan, Callum Sinclair and Isaac Heeney, but while GWS continued to be wasteful with the footy, a Matt de Boer goal just before the siren reduced the margin to five points at the first change.
A superb contested mark from Coniglio deep inside 50 gave the Giants the first of the second quarter and de Boer's second put his side back on top, but ruckman Rory Lobb sent a major scare through his camp when he hobbled from the field with a left knee injury.
With Jonathon Patton in the ruck, Sydney gained control of the midfield battle and gave their forwards better opportunities to impact the game, and goals to Tom Papley and Rohan, plus two in a row from Sam Reid, who was hardly sighted in the first half, helped John Longmire's men to a 13-point advantage.
TALKING POINTS: Is Buddy the wind beneath Swans' wings?
A freak Jeremy Cameron snap pulled GWS back to within a kick at half-time and the star forward grabbed his second just after the main break, before Lobb – his knee heavily strapped – added another to give the Giants back the lead.
The rest of the third term belonged to the Swans with Papley, Will Hayward and Sinclair booting five unanswered goals between them, and the Giants trailed by 22 points with a quarter to play.
GWS looked certain to trim the gap again early in the last term, but Tim Taranto coughed up a golden chance in the goal square when Dane Rampe came from nowhere to lay a desperate tackle, and two quicks snaps to Luke Parker and Kennedy blew the margin out to 33 points.
WATCH: Luke Parker snaps a beauty
Just as they had done all night, GWS came again and they got back to within 10 points when Patton booted their fourth in a row, but some Franklin magic ended the derby in stunning fashion.
MEDICAL ROOM
Sydney: The Swans looked to have come out of the derby without any injury worries.
Greater Western Sydney: Lobb looked gone when he clutched his left knee and had to be helped from the field in the second term, and while he played out the match he must be in some doubt for next week.
WATCH: Rory Lobb came out of this contest poorly
NEXT UP
The Giants are at 'home' against Fremantle at UNSW Canberra Oval on Saturday afternoon, while the Swans head to Melbourne to take on the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium for the twilight fixture later that day.
SYDNEY 3.4 7.4 12.5 16.7 (103)
GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY 2.5 5.10 7.13 12.15 (87)
GOALS
Sydney: Sinclair 3, Rohan 2, Reid 2, Papley 2, Hayward 2, Franklin 2, Heeney, Parker, Kennedy
Greater Western Sydney: Cameron 3, De Boer 2, Lloyd 2, Coniglio, Lobb, Himmelberg, Hopper, Patton
BEST
Sydney: Mills, Heeney, Kennedy, Sinclair, Hewett, Parker,
Greater Western Sydney: Coniglio, Shiel, Haynes, De Boer, Cameron, Hopper
INJURIES
Sydney: Cunningham (leg)
Greater Western Sydney: Lobb (knee)
Reports: de Boer (GWS) for rough conduct on Mellican in the second quarter
Umpires: O'Gorman, Chamberlain, Pannell
Official crowd: 34,711 at the SCG
