Sydney Swans beats GWS Giants, Round 1, live scores, updates, video, stream, stats, live blog

The Sydney Swans overcame unprecedented pre-game panic and a 35-point deficit to register a decisive victory over rivals across town, the Giants at Metricon Stadium.

After being forced to remove three of their players due to COVID-19 protocols minutes before the first rebound, the Giants jumped on the Swans, scoring eight straight goals in the first and second quarters.

But the Swans then produced their best hour, improving their work around the game and securing their mind-blowing away running game which scored 12 of the game’s last 14 goals to register a 26-point victory, 15.8 (98) to 11. , 6 (72)

Watch the 2021 Toyota AFL Premiership season live and on-demand on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14 Free Days Now>

QUARTER BY QUARTER MATCH REPORT

Nine Giants players and staff and six Swans were excluded from the game after being reclassified as participating in a Level 2 exhibition site – Tuesday night’s Australia vs France rugby test at AAMI Park.

For the Giants, Toby Greene and Matt de Boer (who was supposed to be the medical replacement) were sent off, replaced by Tanner Bruhn and Zach Sproule (the medical replacement). Kieren Briggs and Jake Stein also attended rugby, according to Tom Morris of Foxfooty.com.au.

For the Swans, Callum Mills, Harry Cunningham and Colin O’Riordan (who was to be the medical replacement) came out, replaced by Dylan Stephens, James Rowbottom and Ben Ronke (the medical replacement).

Still, the match started as planned and Tom Papley gave Sydney the first goal.

But after that major, the Giants started a goal blitz, scoring seven unanswered goals as they dominated on the smut, leading to many undisputed marks under 50.

Harry Himmelberg was a big beneficiary, scoring two goals in the first quarter, while Bruhn, Jesse Hogan, Adam Kennedy, Daniel Lloyd and Harry Perryman all contributed.

The Giants were just as aggressive without the ball, having more tackles than the Swans in the first term.

“The swans are gone,” triple Prime Minister Lion Alastair Lynch told Fox Footy.

“That high pressure game that we saw in the first round this year is not here right now.”

The Swans fired back early in the second term, with Papley jumping on a loose ball to shatter an unanswered seven goals. Both teams then went goal for goal: Lloyd answered for the Giants before Justin McInerney hit a formidable running goal for Sydney, then Hogan kicked his second from a set-piece to give the Giants.

But the Swans returned late in the game, with McInerney scoring his second and Papley scoring his third before Luke Parker converted a set-shot on the halftime siren to reduce the Giants’ lead to 16 points in the major. Pause.

The Swans moved up a gear after half-time, scoring the first two goals thanks to Sam Wicks, Lance Franklin – a former Buddy long-range goal on the wrong side for a left foot – and Tom Hickey, remarkably, put the Swans in front.

And the blitz continued as Nick Blakey, who really sparked the retaliation with his half-back shot, landed a ball-like pass to Franklin, who converted a set goal before adding more minutes. late to make three for the quarter.

Will Hayward went on to win a free kick and score nine straight goals for the Swans and a 19 point lead for Sydney in the final change.

“It was all about the contest,” quadruple premier Jordan Lewis told Fox Footy Hawk. Their pressure has risen around the contest and the Giants can’t get any flow in their ball movement so that means when they come in forward 50 Sydney defenders have more luck because it’s a rushed kick.

“They just stifled all their ball movement (for the Giants), which was a hallmark of the first half.”

News worsened for the Giants at the end of the third term as star midfielder Josh Kelly limped out of Metricon Stadium after appearing to roll his ankle. Ruckman Matt Flynn also dislocated his shoulder twice, leaving Finlayson and Sproule to share the work of the ruck.

The Giants got the perfect start to the fourth term, with Finlayson scoring a goal to narrow the margin to 13 points. But that was the only silver lining Leon Cameron’s side would have.

After Sam Wicks scored a goal to stabilize, Papley dribbled the night’s goal with a superb pocket goal before Franklin hit his fourth to seal a remarkable victory in Sydney.

Get all the latest AFL news, highlights and analysis straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Register now!

Sydney’s 3-2-1 win over the Giants

3. THE FIGURES BEHIND SWANS ‘MATURE RETURN

The Swans had left early. Really off.

As quadruple Prime Minister Hawk Jordan Lewis noted on Fox Footy, “not all parts of their game were working”.

Yet somehow they turned a 35-point deficit into a 26-point victory, which now puts them within striking distance of one place in the top four.

The Giants clearly had the upper hand early in the clash, scoring nine of the game’s first 12 goals as they beat the Swans at the front (+24 contested possessions at halftime).

Then a switch was flipped and the script was reversed.

It started at the end of the second term when the Swans scored three goals in eight minutes to close the lead to 16 points at the major break.

But the real damage was done in the third quarter, scoring six unanswered goals to essentially wrest the game from the Giants’ grip.

Whatever ball dominance the Giants challenged early in the game, it evaporated in the second half, with the Swans +23 for contested possessions and +9 for 50s inside the final two quarters.

“It’s a different side, it’s like they’ve woken up,” three-time prime minister Alastair Lynch told Fox Footy.

Lewis described him as a “really mature comeback” from Sydney.

“They were seriously challenged in the first half… not every part of their game was working,” he told Fox Footy.

“But they came out after half-time and started to move their ball, they started to throw their fight and they just regained the margin.”

2. THE LAST ROUND OF BUDDY

The Lance Franklin-Sam Taylor match is emerging as a formidable Sydney Derby subplot. Ultimately, the veteran superstar would take the points on Sunday night.

At halftime, Franklin was scoreless in four eliminations, while Taylor had seven eliminations and four interceptions.

Bulldogs game record holder Brad Johnson said Franklin was not helped by his teammates, who were not delivering the ball to him effectively and “resting it on his head.”

Quadruple Prime Minister Hawk Jordan Lewis said Taylor “certainly got the points in the first half”.

“He was great in the contest, he kept his feet up – which really helps against a damaging striker – but he played really well,” Lewis told Fox Footy.

“There was a lot of pressure on the pitch, which certainly helped him, but in some one-on-one games where it’s just him against Franklin, he really held up.”

But as the Swans began to gain control in the midfield, Franklin started to have space inside the 50s – and he thrived.

Thanks to ball-shaped passes from Nick Blakey and Errol Gulden, Franklin took the lead. He scored three goals in the third term and added another in the final quarter to finish with 4.2 of 11 eliminations and six points (five taken inside 50).

In the process, Franklin scored his 400th goal for the Swans. According to his colleague Max Laughton, the only two players in VFL / AFL history to have scored 400 goals at two clubs are Franklin and the legendary Tony Lockett.

Franklin now has 37 goals for the season in 13 games and 981 overall in 313 games. Objective 1000 is getting closer.

And judging by his kicks and head bust on Sunday night, he’s not slowing down.

“The body is fine,” Franklin told Fox Footy after the game.

“Obviously missing last year was disappointing, but I feel good, confident and ready to attack the second half of the year.”

1. WILL HE EVEN PLAYED THIS GAME?

It’s hard to think of a more chaotic pre-game preparation than what the Swans and Giants experienced on Sunday night – to the point that one could argue that the game should have been postponed.

Minutes before the first rebound, several players and staff from both clubs were excluded from the match after the Australia-France rugby test at AAMI Park was upgraded to a level 2 exhibition site.

This meant Toby Greene and Matt de Boer were sent off for the Giants, while Callum Mills, Harry Cunningham and Colin O’Riordan were taken out of the Swans roster.

It is understood that Swans coach John Longmire was still telling the AFL who was in and out of his side about 20 minutes before the game.

Herald Sun reporter Jon Ralph told Fox Footy that the AFL’s priority was to “keep these games going and bank as many of them as possible,” adding: “Even though half a team was absent and there were 23 players available per team, they will continue to play football if it is safe to do so.

Ralph also reported on Fox Footy that the Giants didn’t even have time to ask the AFL if the game could have been postponed after learning that Greene and de Boer were to go into quarantine.

When asked if the game should have been postponed, Bulldogs Games record holder Brad Johnson told Fox Footy: “I don’t think it should have been. That’s the nature of what we’re dealing with right now.

“You basically hope they prepare the players for situations like this anyway – and the players who came in were actually pretty good. I don’t think it should have been removed at all.

Jordan Lewis added: “Both teams handled it professionally and as a player you understand the world we live in, there are going to be some issues that you will have to face.”

Follow GWS v Sydney in our live blog below!