‘Do they want to come with us?’: Nick Blakey on why Swans are the AFL’s benchmark

Over summer, the Swans focused on two things: bringing their strengths and taking the game on. The result is a spot in the top two of the ladder and the rest of the competition on notice.

Sydney's Nick Blakey spoils as the ball comes into Essendon’s forward line on Saturday night. Picture: Phil Hillyard.

The message was clear to Sydney players this pre-season: bring your strengths and don’t be afraid to take risks.

The Swans have long been one of the best pressure teams in the competition under John Longmire. 2023 was the third-straight season that they led the AFL for pressure applied and it played a big part in their dramatic surge to the finals.

But as a side, they felt they could be more efficient in generating scoring opportunities from the turnovers they created.

In the win over Essendon on Saturday, they were dominated around the stoppages. They finished the game -10 on clearances and were down on contested possessions for most of the night.

However, they were lethal in moving the ball forward against an often lethargic Bombers defence that was unable to keep up with Sydney’s run. By the final siren, the Swans were nearly 10 per cent more efficient going inside 50 and +10 for marks in the same area.

Sydney's Nick Blakey spoils as the ball comes into Essendon’s forward line on Saturday night. Picture: Phil Hillyard.

Nick Blakey was responsible for many of those moments and had a goal of his own after yet another lung-busting run. The rebounding defender believes it’s a game style that perfectly suits the Swans and one that other teams will struggle to match for four quarters.

“It’s been a massive thing this pre-season, bring your strengths,” Blakey said after the 30-point win over the Bombers. “So if one doesn’t come off, then we’re sure the next one will.

“The boys back everyone in, everyone’s got different strengths. And everyone’s extremely confident in everyone’s role.

“I think one of our great strengths is the outnumber at the contest. Then once we get enough numbers there, do teams want to match it in defence when we’ve got the ball?

“We value our defensive scramble and going hard to outnumber when they’ve got the ball. And then I suppose a lot of our team are really good attacking players and that comes just naturally.

“Once we get the ball, it’s, ‘Do they want to come with us?’.”

A hotter summer in Sydney contributed to an intense pre-season and better fitness levels, but running has always been one of their greatest strengths.

They are now a quicker team with ball in hand and have different modes of transition to pick sides apart.

Errol Gulden’s elite running creates countless opportunities, whether it be for himself or his teammates. He finished with 11 score involvements and two goals of his own against Essendon.

They can then slow down the pace of their build-up and pick off easy marks down the wing before capitalising up top.

Importantly, the Swans have a system that all their players have bought into, whether that’s experienced defenders or young Matt Roberts playing just his 10th game.

Roberts finished with a game-high eight intercept possessions and looks at home on Sydney’s half-back line.

“Robbo trained the whole pre-season as a midfielder,” Blakey said. “(Jake) Lloydy missed a couple of weeks in pre-season and Robbo went down back for the last two weeks and has not missed a beat.

Sydney's Matty Roberts has been a revelation down back for the Swans. Picture: Phil Hillyard.

“When you take the game on, it can be a million miles an hour. Whereas Robbo is nice and composed … he’s a bloody good player and he adds a nice, different dimension to our back six when me and Ollie (Florent) are attacking.

“Sometimes we can bite off a bit too much and get a bit short whereas sometimes you need to kick it deep. But when you’ve got the ball in the hands of Errol or BJ (Braeden Campbell), Robbo, Lloydy, Ollie, the list goes on, it usually finds a good place.”

“He’s just composed and reads it really early,” Longmire added on Roberts. “When he’s able to read the ball early defensively, and that’s defensively or offensively, he can make good decisions.”

The undefeated Swans have been relentless across their first three matches and clearly have a style of play to match it with the best teams.

Pressure has been a fait accompli for Longmire’s side in recent years. They now have the structure, and the players, to make the most of it.

“That feeling of pressuring the opposition so they haven’t got much time and space to work with helps everyone,” Longmire said.

“It helps out defenders, helps us win the ball back and go. But it also helps us win the ball out of the source. So if we’re winning the ball at the source, that’s a good sign.

“We talk a lot about the contest and getting that right and then around the ball and defence and usually offence flows from that. If we get those parts of the game right, that’s our main process.

“I thought our work rate in the second half was strong and you know, all over the ground, we were able to keep running and moving and play some good footy.”

Originally published as ‘Do they want to come with us?’: Nick Blakey on why Swans are the AFL’s benchmark