Australian Football

Match Report

Pre-season predictions from a number of footy pundits had Collingwood climbing the ladder and Sydney on the slide but based on Saturday night's events at the SCG, those forecasts might need to be hastily reviewed. The Swans burst out of the blocks and never really stopped, leaving the Magpies in their wake, to the tune of an 80-point margin. That margin could have been much larger, but Sydney was wasteful in front of goal throughout the evening, finishing with 18.25.

From the Swans' perspective, little went wrong, with Buddy Franklin making a fine return from illness, liking four goals and looking like his old self. Solid debuts from George Hewett, Callum Mills and Tom Papley (three goals) made the night just about perfect. On the other side of the ledger, nothing went right for Collingwood. Five minutes into the match, the Pies lost Dane Swan to an ankle injury that will likely see him miss the remainder of the season, and could well end his career. How Swan's loss affected his teammates is not known, but their performance for the rest of the night was poor in most areas.

The night got off to a perfect start for Sydney, with Franklin marking a spearing pass from Kieran Jack inside the first minute and goaling to set the Swans on their way. They peppered the goals after that, but could manage only five behinds before Tom Mitchell and newcomer Tom Papley goaled to put Sydney 22 points ahead. Collingwood had scored only one point at this stage. The Swans lost their accuracy again after that, toting up another four behinds. Levi Greenwood managed to sneak in a goal for the Pies in that period but at the first break, Sydney led 3.9 to 1.1 and its 20-point lead could and should have been much greater.

Sadly for Collingwood, nothing changed in the second term, apart from the Swans becoming more accurate in front of goal. The Magpies could manage only three behinds, while Sydney piled on 7.3 - three of the goals going to Franklin - to lead by 62 points at the long break.

The second half was little more than a formality. Sydney kicked the first three goals of the third term and at the stage led 93 to 10. To the Magpies' credit, they fought out the match from that point, and broke even score-wise in that period, the final margin finishing at 80 points. 

Luke Parker was in scintillating touch for the Swans, racking up 40 touches, with Tom Mitchell (30 disposals, nine marks) also very good. For the Pies ex-Giants Adam Treloar (34 possessions, four tackles) and Taylor Adams (24 touches, five marks).

Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley will look to quickly leave such a poor performance behind and focus on the Pies' round-two clash against Richmond on Friday night. The Swans will look to make it two from two against Carlton at Docklands on Sunday.

GOALS
Sydney: Franklin 4; Mitchell, Papley 3; Cunningham 2; Hewett, Towers, Hannebery, Parker, Jones, Heeney
Collingwood: Greenwood, Crisp, De Goey, Moore, Fasolo, Treloar, Maynard

BEST - SMH.COM.AU
Sydney: Parker, Franklin, Mitchell, Jack, Papley
Collingwood: Treloar, Adams, Sidebottom, Blair, Greenwood

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Sydney: Parker, Grundy, Jack, Mitchell, Lloyd, Franklin, Rampe, Papley
Collingwood: Treloar, Adams, Sidebottom, Blair, Greenwood

INJURIES
Sydney: Franklin (shoulder)
Collingwood: Swan (ankle), Williams (knee), Brown (shoulder)

REPORTS: Sidebottom (Collingwood) for rough conduct on Dan Hannebery (Sydney Swans) in the third quarter.

UMPIRES: Bannister, Dalgleish, Schmitt

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Seven Network

COMMENTATORS: Brian Taylor, Luke Darcy, Matthew Richardson, Cameron Link