Sydney Swans forward Tom Papley proves discipline by overcoming free kick meltdown with starring role against Carlton
Tom Papley gave away more free-kicks than any Sydney Swan in 20 years against Adelaide, but the forward fired back to keep the Bloods’ season alive.
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A week after being blown up by umpires, Sydney forward Tom Papley has helped ignite the Swans stuttering start to the season.
Papley was called for seven free-kicks in the round two loss to Adelaide — the most by a Swan in a single game since the year 2000.
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But the gutsy 22-year-old put the stunning statistic behind him on Saturday night in Melbourne as he produced an almost faultless individual performance in Sydney’s critical 19-point win over Carlton.
The Swans attention now immediately turns to a Thursday night home clash against Melbourne at the SCG, as they try and manage a previously unprecedented five-day turnaround between games.
Papley didn’t give away a single free-kick against the Blues and believes he may have found his groove in the forward line after two weeks of spending more time in the midfield.
Swans coach John Longmire might have solved two of his positional headaches, with young gun Tom McCartin, normally a forward, starring in his first match of the season at centre-half back only weeks after being cleared of a concussion issue some speculated could have been career-threatening.
Papley realises he may be required to pop up in the midfield this season, but believes his best position is forward as he helped inspire a major confidence booster for the bloods.
“I played a bit more midfield the first two weeks but Saturday night was predominantly forward,” he said.
“I think that worked a lot better. Just having little spurts in the middle of the field, but then (being up forward) I kicked a couple of goals and set up a couple and played my role I think. That’s what you want to do.
“Confidence is a massive thing in footy and to get the win on the board and get us rolling is massive.
“We go onto next week and it’s a five-day break so a pretty quick turnaround so we want to get into the D’s (Demons) because we know they’re going to come out firing.
“We focused on team a lot this week, working together and on our defence to shut the opposition down and it really showed.”
Papley was ribbed by captain Josh Kennedy over his high free-kick count last week, but put the anomaly down to overeagerness rather than ill-discipline.
“Just going a bit too hard, but it didn’t cost us too much and I moved on this week. It was about this week not last week,” he said.
All eyes will be on Lance Franklin this week to see how the big man handles the short turnaround. Before the season, the Swans would have considered him next to no chance of backing up within five days, but the star forward has exceeded expectations with his fitness.
The Swans will have at least two changes though, with Will Hayward (broken jaw) and Jarrad McVeigh (quad) set for stints on the sidelines.
Young forward James Rose could push for a recall to the AFL after starring in the Swans’ big NEAFL win over GWS with 38 disposals and four goals.
The return of McCartin also shapes as a major bonus for Longmire who had made a bold attempt to change things up by playing the 20-year-old as a back rather than in the forward line.
“I think he’s locked himself away there (at centre-half back) so that’s good to see,” said Papley.
“It was massive for Tommy. He’s a great kid and I love playing with him. He goes hard at it all the time.
“We just stuck with him (during his concussion dramas) and just kept behind him.”
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