A SLOW-starting Sydney has got its season back on track after overrunning Collingwood to claim a 30-point victory.
The Magpies made a bright start to the game, with Beau McCreery kicking the first goal of the day. Gun forward Jordan De Goey then backed up his strong start to the game last week by booting the next two goals of this match and helping the Pies to a three-goal lead at quarter-time.
But the Swans fought back to hold the Magpies goalless in the next two quarters, as they kicked six goals in a row and eventually ran out winners 10.12 (72) to 5.12 (42).
It was some of the Swans’ younger midfielders that led the fightback, with Callum Mills collecting 26 disposals, while Justin McInerney (24 disposals) was damaging throughout the game from a wing. Co-captain Luke Parker battled hard as usual, gathering 25 disposals with 11 contested.
Isaac Heeney kicked three goals for the Swans in his return from a week out with soreness in his right ankle. Tom Papley kicked two including a team-lifting goal when he started a transition from the half-back line then sprinted 100m to get onto the end of a pass from Hayden McLean and kick truly.
SWANS v MAGPIES Full match coverage and stats
Superstar forward Lance Franklin had an intriguing contest with Brayden Maynard, spending much of the match roaming around the forward 50 arc but able to offer his usual goal threat to kick two.
Will Hoskin-Elliott was among the best for the Magpies with 23 disposals and one goal, while Jack Crisp also collected 23 touches in his 150th consecutive game.
De Goey wasn’t able to add to his two early goals, though his first goal had showed how good he is in one-on-one contests, outmuscling the Swans' ruckman Tom Hickey to claim a pack mark then wheeling around onto his right boot to snap truly.
The Swans were able to all but level the scores at half-time, locking the ball in the forward half and generating more scoring opportunities, while in defence co-captain Dane Rampe locked down on De Goey.
The Pies again failed to kick a goal in the third quarter, as the Swans started to wear them down with another three goals and take a 19-point lead into the final term then run away with the game.
Swans superstar fails to shine
The last time Sydney and Collingwood played a day game at the SCG was round 10, 1999, when Tony Lockett broke Gordon Coventry's record of 1299 career goals. It was now Lance Franklin’s chance to shine in the Swans’ forward line, but the superstar was well-held in a surprising match-up with the Magpies’ 189cm defender Brayden Maynard. Franklin still kicked two goals, to take his career tally against the Pies to 70, but Maynard was able to nullify several aerial contests between the pair and offered plenty of drive out of defence with 29 disposals.
Will on a wing and a prayer
Known more for his work as a forward, Will Hoskin-Elliott spent much of the first three quarters playing out on a wing where he gathered 20 disposals in that time. But it was his first touch of the final term that was perhaps Hoskin-Elliott’s most important, kicking a set shot for the Magpies’ first goal in more than a half of football and giving his team a glimmer of hope. The 27-year-old played out the match further up the ground, as he has done in recent weeks, and finished with 23 touches to show that his versatility can help freshen up the Magpies' midfield.
Hickey a hit in battle of the big men
Brodie Grundy has had his own way in the ruck against the Swans in recent times, averaging an incredible 49 hitouts the past four times he’s faced them. But the Magpie met his match in journeyman Tom Hickey, who is in career-best form while playing his first year in red and white. The battle of the big men was relatively even in the hitouts; Grundy with 26 and Hickey 19. But the Swans’ resurgent ruckman arguably had the better of his Magpie rival around the ground and in the contests with more disposals (19-17), contested disposals (16-14) and clearances (8-6).
SYDNEY 1.2 4.3 7.7 10.12 (72)
COLLINGWOOD 4.2 4.4 4.6 5.12 (42)
GOALS
Sydney: Heeney 3, Papley 2, Franklin 2, Warner, McLean, Blakey
Collingwood: De Goey 2, McCreery, Cameron, Hoskin-Elliott
BEST
Sydney: Mills, McInerney, Parker, Hickey, Heeney, Rampe
Collingwood: Hoskin-Elliott, Crisp, Maynard, Mayne, Sidebottom
INJURIES
Sydney: Nil
Collingwood: Nil
SUBSTITUTES
Sydney: James Bell (unused)
Collingwood: Jack Madgen (unused)
Crowd: 31,448 at the SCG
