Kirk has urged his forward group to bring the same intensity and pressure to bear against the Pies, as they did against the Dogs last Friday night. He was impressed with the intent showed by the forwards against the Dogs' heralded defence, generating 40% of the Swans' scores from turnovers.
While Sam Reid and Lance Franklin lead the charge, it was the Swans' lesser lights and debutants that impressed.
“The front half, if you look specifically the weekend, we wanted to put a lot of pressure on the Western Bulldogs’ defence,” Kirk said.
“They’ve got a lot of running rebounding defenders and I think we were able to do that probably consistently, although we lapsed at different times.
“Sam had a really strong game, Lance’s last quarter was super and some of the young fellas who came in – (Robbie) Fox and (Will) Hayward and (Ollie) Florent –their run, chase, and tackles were really energy-lifting for the rest of the team.
“Front half is not just about kicking goals but it’s about holding (the footy) in there and I think they did a really good job of that.”
At times the pressure was fantastic, especially early in the last quarter and for most of the 1st quarter. With Tippett out, its now a choice between Dary Cameron and Callum Sinclair. Both kicked two goals each in the last NEAFL game, and both look capable of replacing Tippett.
“With Kurt looking unlikely this weekend, there’s a decision the match committee will have to make,” Kirk said.
“Both have been in good for, Sinclair has a bit more experience on his side, they both can have an impact up forward and in the ruck.
“We’ll wait for a decision from the match committee to see if we go in with one or two ruckmen.”
It'll be amazing for young Darcy Cameron if he plays this weekend, being the 5th debutant for the Swans already this season - yes that's right, 5 debutants, and all but Newman were the first 4 picks in the 2016 draft. In just 2 seasons, the Swans have gone from one of the oldest lists, to one of the youngest lists. Amazing.
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