The Sydney Swans have flown under the radar for much of the season, but are quietly in the midst of an impressive six-game winning streak and find themselves third on the ladder.
The Swans pride themselves on their defensive prowess and have leaned heavily on that aspect of their game throughout the winning streak.
On SEN Afternoons, Terry Wallace discussed how the Swans' defence has been able to shut down opposing teams this season.
“Their success is 100% coming from their ability to defend," said Wallace.
“Since round six, 71 points is the most they’ve had scored against them.
“They’re just shutting sides down completely, and not allowing them to do what they want to do with forward structures.
“You’ve got to work out a way to be able to lower your eyes, find targets and run the ball through forward fifty, because what every side’s doing at the moment is not working against the Swans.”
While the Swans have limited goal scoring opportunities to opposing teams, they have lost the inside fifty count in each of the last two weeks, against both St Kilda and West Coast.
Wallace however, believes it is a stat of relative unimportance to the Swans.
“Whoever’s playing Sydney, don’t get fluffed into ‘oh we’ve had it inside our 50 more often’, against the Sydney Swans that almost doesn’t count," said Wallace.
“The West Coast Eagles had 11 more inside 50s than what Sydney had, but they had 13 per cent less marks inside fifty.
“The Swans dominated them in the ability to actually convert by getting a cheap or easy kick inside fifty.”
The Swans have a bye this week, before taking on Richmond in a highly anticipated Thursday night contest at Etihad Stadium in Round 15.
Want to win the ultimate AFL Grand Final VIP experience thanks to Choices Flooring?
Pick the total combined possessions for Round 14 of: Jack Martin (GCS), Alex Witherden (BRI), Jeremy Cameron (GWS), Luke Dahlhaus (WB) & Steele Sidebottom (COL). Eg.: 134
Enter below:
