‘Sit down’: Swans coach explains bizarre benching

If nine-goal hero Joel Amartey had one tiny gripe after his nine-goal haul against Adelaide, it was that he spent the last two minutes on the bench.

Joel Amartey and John Longmire

If nine-goal hero Joel Amartey had one tiny gripe after his stunning career-best night out against Adelaide it was that he spent the last two minutes of the game on the bench.

With the supercharged Swans running over the top of the fading Crows, Amartey took a 90-second spell on the bench after he booted his ninth goal with 10 minutes remaining, then was surprisingly summoned to sit back down for the last two minutes after coming agonisingly close to reaching double figures.

“He did (question it) … he might have looked up at the (coach’s box), but he got told to sit down,” a smiling John Longmire said.

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“We want him available.

“Once we had the game won it was important for the team that we looked after him and get him into next week.”

Amartey equalled his previous career-high four goals in a scintillating second quarter at Adelaide Oval, with three of those majors coming in a devastating three-minute burst.

The 24-year-old, who finished with 9.1 from 10 kicks, added another four in the third quarter and booted five of Sydney’s game-winning run of 10 unanswered goals after Adelaide held a surprise 16-point lead midway through the third quarter.

“It doesn’t happen much nowadays, does it?” Longmire said of the key forward’s game-turning dominance.

“First of all, it was so important for us, his ability in front of the ball to be able to take the grab and be a big presence in front of the footy, but also to kick so accurately.

Amartey’s efficiency on Saturday night reached uncharted territory in his nine-goal haul (Photo by Sarah Reed/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

“It’s such an important thing to do, to be able to hit the scoreboard when you get the chances, and you could see the team rising because of the confidence it was giving them to go forward and see that type of contest.

“They (Adelaide) have been really good when you look at their stats defensively, particularly in one-on-ones, so we came in thinking it was going to be a bit of a battle because they’ve actually been quite strong defensively.

“So, for one of our key forwards to do that was just a fantastic effort … it was a real credit to him.

“It just shows him that he can launch at the ball, he can be clean, he’s good on the ground, he’s a good athlete.

“He’s added that … this year he’s been able to play out full games and have a real impact.

“We’re just after that consistency now.”

On any other night, Brodie Grundy’s brilliant 31-possession, 49-hitout performance would have been the main talking point.

“He was significant … his contested work over the past couple of weeks has been enormous,” Longmire said.

“The longer games have gone the better he’s been.

“He had a real presence around the footy, particularly in the second half, his impact around the ball was big and we had a good clearance game.

“He had an enormous contest/pressure game.”

The ladder leaders moved three wins clear of second-placed Carlton with a 12-1 record with the 42-point win.

Ominously for the rest of the competition, Longmire is confident the premiership favourites can get even better.

“We’ve still got some improvement left … there’s still some work to do in our game,” he said.

“We’ll keep working at it.

“It’s just about getting into the next game and making sure that we continue to get better every day.

“If we keep that as our mantra – we’ll just keep trying to get better – sometimes we’ll take a step back and sometimes we’ll take a step forward.”

The Swans travel across town to face local rivals GWS on Saturday afternoon.

Originally published as ‘Sit down’: Swans coach explains bizarre benching