Wayne Schwass says opposition teams know the Swans love stoppages and are starving them of that
FORMER Sydney dual best and fairest Wayne Schwass says opposition teams know his old side love stoppages and are starving the Swans of them and winning. But will the Hawks run the same play?
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FORMER Sydney dual best and fairest Wayne Schwass says opposition teams know his old side love stoppages and are starving the Swans of them and winning.
Alarmingly for the Swans, the strategy of playing keep away, which has left them at 1-3 at the SCG, applies equally at the MCG.
The Swans play there Friday night for the latest instalment of their great rivalry with Hawthorn.
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Like a pair of old heavyweight fighters, both teams know what the other side wants and are trying to deny it.
North Melbourne was the latest team to employ the technique of maintaining possession, varying the pace of ball movement and limiting stoppages.
The Hawks have been past masters at this and have won their last three against the Swans and nine of the last 12 since the 2012 grand final.
“What teams are doing is starving Sydney of the ball,” Schwass said.
“If you can keep any team from taking 80 uncontested marks you win more games than you lose. Teams are looking to spread them wide and take away one of their greatest assets which is their work at stoppages.”
It’s a strategy John Longmire is well aware of. North took 101 marks including 89 uncontested in their win on Saturday night. They had 25 uncontested marks chalked up by quarter time.
“Obviously that was what they were trying to do,” Longmire said.
“We made some subtle changes to it. We slowed them down in the uncontested marks after quarter time but we let them go the length of the ground too many times to score and that was what we were disappointed in. We gave them easy goals.”
In their last three games against the Swans the Hawks have 110, 118 and 80 uncontested marks for three wins.
“I reckon every club will be pulling this strategy apart to see how they are doing it,” Schwass said. “Teams are looking to spread them wide and take away one of their greatest assets which is their work at stoppages.
“At the SCG teams want to take them out wide to the wings like North did. At the MCG for a team to have a lot of uncontested marks they have to be longer kicks. Opposition teams don’t have the ability to spot kick the ball over 40-45 metres consistently but Hawthorn is a team that can.”
The battle in the coaches box between Longmire and Clarkson is sure to be an intriguing one. Head to head the Hawks mentor leads 12-3. With heavy rain predicted the conditions should suit the Swans.
“They (Hawthorn) always have a mixture of both (contested and uncontested football),” Longmire said.
“Whether the weather comes into that or not I don’t know. You’d have to ask Alistair (Clarkson). We will prepare for both aspects of their game. We hope it’s a strong contested wet game this week.”
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