George Hewett set to get task stopping Clayton Oliver
IF Sydney is to have any hope against Melbourne it won’t be just Lance Franklin the Swans will be relying on, they must find a way to stop the Demons’ star-studded midfield.
Sydney
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IF the Swans are to have any hope against Melbourne it won’t be just Lance Franklin they’ll be relying on.
Their No.1 stopper, George Hewett, is certain to get another big assignment on one of the Demons’ star-studded midfielders — with young gun Clayton Oliver at the top of the list.
It certainly won’t be foreign territory for the 22-year-old who has taken on and beaten a host of the AFL’s best this year — including Brownlow Medal hot favourite Tom Mitchell, Carlton star Patrick Cripps and Richmond superstar Dustin Martin.
Hewett is one of the very few to lower Mitchell’s colours when he held him to just 11 disposals in his time on him and picked up 14 in Sydney’s round-eight win over the Hawks.
Hewett credits his success in stopping the opposition’s best to the tuition he gets from coaches and teammates.
“Brett (Kirk) has been really good and so has Dean Cox,” Hewett said.
“I’ve been feeding off them and other midfielders like Kieren Jack, he gives me advice as well.
Kieren did a lot of tagging early in his career and his advice was to keep it simple. It’s good fun going up against the best players just to see how you go.”
Hewett said the success of his assignment would be affected in a big way by Callum Sinclair’s performance on the Dees’ star ruckman Max Gawn, who has helped make Melbourne the No.1 team for contested possession and clearances in the AFL.
“Callum has been huge, especially around the ground with his marking and goalkicking,” Hewett said.
“If we can make it a 50-50 in the midfield then that will be a good result.”
Hewett’s job in the middle will be given added support by the return of Dan Hannebery from a calf injury. He comes into the team for Dan Robinson.
“Hanners adds to our depth in the midfield,” Swans coach John Longmire said.
“He’s a class player. Melbourne are the biggest scoring team in the competition and their midfield drives that along with their strength in the ruck.”
Longmire is also backing Sinclair to match it with Gawn in the ruck.
“Callum had a big job against Brodie Grundy last week and he’s got another against Gawn,” Longmire said.
“We’ve got to get it to ground and get our midfielders to work and take pressure off our defenders.”
The Swans have won six of their eight games on the road this year and return to the MCG for just the second time this season after beating Hawthorn in round eight.
Sydney were $3 in TAB Fixed Odds betting, with Melbourne at $1.42.
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