The Sydney Swans will welcome back star midfielder Chad Warner for their final regular-season match at the SCG on Saturday against Adelaide as they aim to build on their back-to-back victories over Collingwood and Essendon in preparation for the finals.
Coach John Longmire has resisted the temptation to rest several of his front-line players with the September play-off campaign rapidly approaching; only defender Tom McCartin is being controlled.
The Swans won’t give up just yet, even though assistant coach Dean Cox withdrew to compete for the position of senior coach for the Eagles.
The Swans are about to achieve their first minor premiership since the Western Bulldogs defeated them in the grand final in 2016.
Brodie Grundy, an experienced ruckman, will be crucial in neutralising Reilly O’Brien of Adelaide, who leads the AFL in hitouts. Despite lately experiencing knee pain, Will Hayward trained well enough to take on the Crows.
Joel Amartey, who will play in his 50th Swans game, scored nine goals in round 14 against the Crows, a career best. The important forward has only scored six goals in eight games since then, including two last Friday in Melbourne against Essendon.
For the Swans this weekend, winning the minor premiership is a formality: even if they fall short against Adelaide, second-place Port would still need to defeat Fremantle by 204 points on Sunday. Fitzroy’s 190-point victory margin versus Melbourne in 1979 set a record for the AFL/VFL.
Amartey acknowledges that the minor premiership will be a worthy reward for the Swans’ dominance during the regular season, but he also knows that September is when the real work begins.
Amartey remarked, “You can’t drink your own bathwater, but you can give yourself a little pat on the back.” “Nevertheless, you have to seize the small victories when you achieve them. Going back to the confidence piece, it simply restores that and maintains the positive energy [ahead of the finals].”
In the first week of the finals, the Swans will play at the SCG. If they win, they will play in a preliminary final on September 20 or 21 in Sydney.
This season, the Swans have easily scored their largest average SCG home crowd of 38,374, much above the second greatest total of 33,425 in 2016.
Amartey isn’t ready to give up home advantage just yet, even if he understands the impact the nearly full SCG crowds have had on the Swans’ season.
Amartey stated, “Home crowds and home ground advantages are a big thing.” “I think the biggest advantage we can have is playing in front of the Swans fans here. It would also be nice to stay at home and not have to travel as much, so there’s always a little bonus on top.” I believe that the atmosphere we create at the SCG is unrivalled, as is the home crowd advantage.
Amartey has had trouble adjusting to the physical and mental demands of the AFL since making his debut in a 32-point loss to Brisbane in Cairns in 2020. He has also experienced nagging ailments and a decline in performance.
Prior to his retirement last season, Amartey had a tight working relationship with Lance Franklin both on and off the pitch. Amartey has taken two lessons from the illustrious career of the champion full forward.
The two most important factors, according to Amartey, are confidence and competitiveness. “I’m a vocal guy, so I wasn’t the most confident player on the pitch, but you feel a little awkward on the pitch, especially early in your career.
“Seeing the man like that, with his self-assurance and weekly competitiveness, I think I took inspiration from those things, and I hope it will serve me well for the rest of my career.”
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