The Sydney Swans have continued their winning ways with a convincing 19 point win over a struggling Hawthorn. The win for Sydney was soured by a hamstring injury Lance Franklin picked up in the 3rd quarter along with ruckman Callum Sinclair who was concussed after heavily hitting the Sydney Cricket Ground turf. Prior to his injury Lance Franklin starred kicking 4 goals, whilst in the midfield Luke Parker was in fine touch picking up 31 disposals and booting a goal. For Hawthorn all of the pundit talk was of an ineffective, ageing list and it was pretty apparent with a sub par performance from the Hawks. The only positives for Hawthorn were the efforts of Ricky Henderson and Jaeger O’Meara.

The Hawks struggled throughout the game due to the Swans pressure. Photo: Jodie Newell

Sydney began the game in similar fashion to their last effort against West Coast a couple of weeks ago. They were quick off the mark and posted early goals and like last week, the stars from that game in Lance Franklin and Tom Papley were the scorers, each booting two for the term. Interestingly James Sicily who usually plays in defense, was positioned on the half-forward line cashed in early with his side’s first goal for the game. A fit Zac Jones was a welcome addition to the Swans midfield as he picked up 26 disposals and laid 6 tackles. Jones was busy all night working over the Hawks in the contest and breaking free with surging runs forward.

Will Hayward shoots on goal at the Randwick end. Photo: Jodie Newell

The Hawks did show some resistance in the second term. They began to pressure the Swans in the contest and easily led the tackle count. The Hawthorn fightback came in the form of goals to Luke Breust, Ricky Henderson and Jarryd Roughead. Roughhead who has struggled this season, was back in the senior squad and whilst he was competitive and booted a typical Roughhead signature snap goal, for the most part he was held by Lewis Melican. At the main break Hawthorn found themselves back in the game trailing by only 7 points. The half ended on a fiery note, with both sides pushing and jostling for a couple of minutes as they headed back into the sheds.

A fierce rivalry is shared by these two sides. Photo: Jodie Newell

The third term was a pretty average affair with Sydney remaining in control, kicking one goal to Hawthorn’s one goal. The main story line from the third quarter was an injury sustained by Lance Franklin. During an attempted interchange move, Franklin was delayed in getting onto the ground due to the players being up-field. When Franklin was finally able to run in, it was short lived as he signaled to the Sydney bench that something wasn’t right and went off, his leg was iced and played no further part in the match. The timing couldnt come at a worse time, with Lance due to play his 300th game. That major milestone will be put on hold on for at least 3-4 weeks according to the Sydney club.

Playing his 100th game Callum Sinclair rises high above the pack. Photo: Jodie Newell

The Swans put the game beyond doubt on the last term with a four goal effort. One goal was the play of the game. In only his 12th AFL senior game, Nick Blakey took a sensational mark on a half forward flank, rising high above the pack and hitting the ball hard into his hands. He gathered his composure and kicked a superbly taken goal to the roar of delight from the Sydney fans. If ever there was an illustration between the two teams on an emerging talented, youthful list, it was evident in that passage of play. Callum Sinclair’s 100th game celebrations were somewhat soured with a nasty knock he encountered when he fell heavily onto the SCG turf. He was clearly shaky as he tried to regain his stance and had to be escorted to the boundary where he played no further part in the game. Despite the injury set-backs to Franklin and Sinclair, The Swans ran out comfortable winners by 19 points.

Sore Hawks. The aftermath of some friendly fire. Photo: Jodie Newell

With three wins from the past 5 games, Swans coach John Longmire told the media post game it was about quality not the finals  “We just want to play good, consistent footy, which we feel like we’ve done for the past 6 weeks and that’s all we are focusing on”. Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson was humorously honest with regards to where his struggling side is headed for the remainder of 2019 “We’ve had some misfortune this year to some key players, we are consistently beaten around the packs and obviously Tom Mitchell has been an enormous loss for us for the course of this year. We’ll work on what we can do to put together a side that can win our next piece of silverware. Whether that’s at the end of this year, (laughs) I think it’s highly unlikely”.

“We just want to play good, consistent footy” Swans coach John Longmire. Photo: Jodie Newell

Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson”We’ll work on what we can do to put together a side that can win our next piece of silverware” Photo: Jodie Newell

Sydney 14th (5 wins 8 losses) remain home and play the Gold Coast Suns 17th (3 win, 10 losses) on Saturday afternoon at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Hawthorn 12th (5 wins, 8 losses) face a tough test when they play the reigning champs, the West Coast Eagles 4th (9 wins, 4 losses) at the Melbourne Cricket Ground next Saturday afternoon.

SYDNEY          6.1       7.4       8.9       12.10 (82)
HAWTHORN    3.1       6.3       7.7       9.9 (63)

GOALS
Sydney: Franklin 4, Papley 2, Hayward 2, Blakey 2, Menzel, Sinclair
Hawthorn: Sicily, O’Meara, Ceglar, Breust, Henderson, Roughead, Gunston, Impey, Shiels

BEST
Sydney: Parker, Jones, Franklin, Blakey, Rose
Hawthorn: O’Meara, Henderson, Smith, Impey, Ceglar

INJURIES
Sydney: Franklin (hamstring), Sinclair (concussion)
Hawthorn: –

Reports: –

Umpires: Justin Power, Robert O’Gorman, David Harris, Shaun Ryan

Official crowd: 29,553 at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Moore Park, Paddington, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia