Rd 12 – Sydney vs Richmond
Preview:
It’s a familiar feeling coming into this season’s top vs bottom of the ladder clash between these two teams, but somewhat unusually, Richmond are coming in off a great performance in the Dreamtime match to record their second win of the season. Meanwhile, the Swans are licking their wounds after a comprehensive thrashing at the hands of the Cats at Alphabet stadium.
A return to the comfortable surrounds of the SCG should energise the Swans, although the loss of some big names for this clash will have a few considering the prospect of a boil over. The sodden Sydney conditions may also lead to a more dour match than would otherwise be expected.
From a spectacle perspective, its disappointing not to have marquee names like Tom Lynch and Brodie Grundy on the field. It’s strategically smart in the Swan ruck’s case, but perhaps missing a achance to progress his AA ambitions. Likewise the loss of Papley and Rosas presents a curious forward set up with Cox opting to go taller by recalling McLean, to partner with Curnow, Amartey and McDonald – this is one we’ll keep a close eye on.
The Tigers chose not to set up with any defensive midfield assignments, hoping to use their youthful speed through the corridor and capitalise on Grundy’s absence – while a number of milestones are also noteworthy in this game, McLean’s 100th, Tigers Banks & Sonsie celebrating 50 games at the top level, and young Swan academy graduate Harry Kyle, a 188cm defender on debut.
Special sealed section, before the review – five memorable matches between the two clubs:
Round 18, 1987 – I’ve written about this before, but the three match streak bookended by this match was the best and most dominant a team has ever played Aussie Rules Footy. The Swans won this game by 91 points, and just missed scoring over the magical 200 mark for the third successive game. The great Greg Williams collected 34 touches, with Paul Hawks and the speedy David Bolton hot on his heels with 29. The Wiz Capper (on his way to breaking that ton that year) and Merv Meagle each booted 5, with Tony Morwood kicking four, while Trevor Poole was a lone hand for the Yellow & Black with 5.4.
Round 8, 2016 – The miracle in Maddie’s Match! With the ball secured deep in Sydney’s forward 50 and only 21 seconds on the clock the Swans five-point lead looked enough… but enter Sam Lloyd, who lived out every childhood dream to slot the winner from just inside 50m to win the game after the siren. Interestingly he moved off his mark while walking in, apparently it’s just a Greg Swann thing that this needed fixing/meddling with.
Round 23, 2016 – The Swans tuned up for a deep September run against an under siege Tigers with an emphatic 113 point win. Franklin, McGlynn and Rohan shared 16 goals between them and an incredible six Swans had 31 or more disposals in an annihilation that almost ended Hardwick’s Tigerland reign before the glory years.
Round 11, 2022 – The Swans recovered from 31 points down in the third term to storm home and finish six points ahead. Lance Franklin kicked three of his five-goal haul in a gripping final term.
Round 3, 2024 – The high flying Swans were atop the AFL ladder and visited the MCG to face the lowly Tigers, winless so far in 2024. But Richmond flipped the script coming back from 4 goals down to run out surprise winners, Taranto and Vlaustin the standouts.
Let’s hope that today’s match can be added to this storied history, one way or the other…
Five players we wanted to watch a bit more closely:
Liam Fawcett – Somewhat surprisingly dropped after a three-goal outing last time in the seniors, he started brightly taking a genuine hanger over Cunningham after an ill timed Serong centred ball, however, his day peaked there, with a poor set shot after the half time siren, perhaps spooked by the Watson nonsense from Thursday night. He sadly replicated that miss in the final term, clearly put off by the umpires overbearing presence.
Noah Roberts-Thompson – The cousin of Sydney legend LRT, made an early impression with a superb crumber’s goal in the first term. Only six touches in a match he struggled to get more involved in, but promising signs and the inside word is that he’s spending plenty of time with one of the greatest goalkickers of all time, one Luke Breust.
Harry Kyle – The debutant started with an early spoil but then struggled to get into the play with the Tigers competitive through the first term and a half. Found his feet in the second term, however, and excited with an exhilarating run through the middle that ended with a neat hit up kick to Heeney for a goal assist. Followed it up with a strong mark under immense pressure.
Tom McCartin – Had a slight question mark over his form coming into this one, but obliterated that assessment with an imperious aerial display. A massive six contested marks amongst a game leading 13, ten score involvements, ten intercepts as part of his 26 touches and impressively six contested one-on-one wins.
Jasper Alger – The young Tiger got on the board early, with some nice, albeit fortuitous roving from a long Jack Ross kick to put his team in the lead. He scored a second in the first term after a beautiful spot up kick from Retchsko, and added a third later in the game from an acute angle. Added some good defensive pressure as well his offensive output with four tackles and eleven pressure acts.
Five things I learned:
Heeney can win the Brownlow – The Sydney mega-jetgun-superstar added another eye-catching performance to his stunning 2026 resume, dominating his Tiger opponents either forward of the ball or in the centre. HIs stat line was ridiculous with 32 disposals, seven tackles, five clearances, two goal assists, nine I50s, 13 score involvements, 22 pressure acts and the cherry on top with five goals.
He can beat you so many ways, and plays with an aesthetic that it’s genuinely confounding that more don’t rate him the preeminent player in the league despite some pretty compelling evidence. Was absolutely robbed of the AFLPA MVP in 2024, let’s see if his peers are watching more games this season.
The Twin-Twin Towers – Sydney played four tall forwards today, Charlie Curnow, Joel Amartey, Logan McDonald & Hayden McLean – Look I don’t think it’s sustainable, although it was obviously pretty successful today. Curnow was a star today, eight goals is epic, he was sensational, his last goal was a thing of beauty and he beat up on every opponent he had. Eight goals is a massive bag in the current AFL and it doesn’t matter if its the Tigs, its a mighty effort. The other three boys had up and down days, poor Jo-el touching the ball twice in the first half, despite a couple of big tackles.
In the third term he wrapped up a Tiger and earned his first goal – but his production was hampered by too many mouths to feed.
Logan McDonald is a top five draft selection, that ultimately means nothing when you hit the big leagues, but I’m worried about his place in the team. He made a few loose balls look good, but I’m concerned about his ongoing movement and feel he is potentially at risk if all three forwards are up and running.
Hayden McLean played his 100th game and scored an equal career-high four goals – he was a slow starter but built into the game, taking some strong marks and kicking straight – he also had some time in the ruck and is the most effective second ruck behind Grundy.
Joel Amartey threw his weight around, landing some big tackles, and winning a converted free kick. Also set up Curnow for a goal, but seemed crowded inside F50. Has been a strong performer this year and maybe it was a case of one too many talls.
I saw this in a Movie – The Swans must handball at speed around the wings and through the middle, keeping its ratio over 1:1, and if its speed drops below breakneck, Dean Cox would explode! I think it’s called the bus that couldn’t slow down… I mean “the 2026 winning game plan!”
Sydney employed their high intensity handball game in this one with great effect, topping the incredible 500m gained by hand metric as their midfielders and running defenders feasted on an overwhelmed Richmond side. The Swans handball numbers increased through the first three terms from 46 → 52 → 65 → 44 as they overpowered the Tigers, breaking their hearts and wills with sustained overlap. This strategy usually resulted in a player kicking under no pressure inside 50, where the tall forwards ran amok. Both Geelong and Hawthorn have been successful in nullifying this tactic in 2026 through closing off the centre corridor; it’ll be interesting to see the iteration Cox employs to counter that defensive mechanism at their next meetings.
I’m a little bit worried…
Chad and Charlie – Chad Warner & Charlie Curnow had probably been a little down on expected output so far in 2026, but boy did they address this today. Is it the Chad? Well, some might’ve been asking after he missed simple targets and fumbled badly early, but he quickly found his groove scoring on the siren, and hitting up Curnow for another goal. One handed steals and running goals were easy finishes for the Swans star as he returned to form with an incredible game that should net two Brownlow votes.
Charlie Curnow, does he have a reputation for beating up on poor opposition? Maybe… But in this game he made hay while the rare Sydney sun shone, finishing with eight goals in a masterclass of forward craft. There’s a lot of talk about Charlie not being at his best, but boy you’d love this guy playing for your team.
Three steps backward to take one step forward – Richmond fought hard early, they were absolutely in the game at quarter time, but the Swans just were in a different class. Yze has been in charge for three years now, and the strategy of kicking out towards the right side seems to be telegraphed which for a quality side like Sydney is easy to exploit.
And let’s finish off with five quick ones, celebrating the number on the back of the 2026 Brownlow Medallist…
James Jordon had a nice game but if he isn’t tagging someone does he have a role? Allowed Warner to play inside mid, and he dominated, and when he’s in the centre square marginalises his prolific teammate. Kicked a nice early goal, and can play, but maybe needs another string to his bow.
Tyler Sonsie kicked a wonderful goal in the first term roving at speed, but was largely anonymous for the remaining three terms. After 50 games, you need to be more present, for longer.
Jack Ross, potentially leading the Jack Dyer Medal at this stage, was good again today – a really nice run down tackle on Nick Blakey in the first term was indicative of his effort.
Luke Trainor was bullied and beaten up all night by the quad-headed monster in the Swans forward line, but in the third term took a courageous mark in front of oncoming traffic to show he was up for the fight. Long term prospect, but showing great signs.
The lolly cup of Dean Cox took a pounding today, based on the result that seems a good sign as another former ruckus sends his team shooting up the ladder.
What? One final section, get outta here… Ok, let’s give our five best on votes.
- Heeney
- Warner
- McCartin
- Curnow
- Blakey
