Player ratings: Sydney Swans vs Collingwood Magpies, Round 20, 2018

I said before the match that I don’t care if the Swans win by a point, because I’ll take any win at this point. I wish I would stop saying silly things like that, like the time I predicted Geelong would beat Hawthorn after the siren with a Tom Hawkins goal.

I’d love to say I brought that “winning feeling” back with me after my trip around the States, but I’d be lying because I was back before the Essendon match. Two wins from six games, not exactly a record I, my children, or my children’s children, that is when I have children, would be proud of. But at least we’re no longer worse than Carlton, and they don't have our pot of gold, Alex Johnson!

B: Nick Smith, Dane Rampe, Jake Lloyd
HB: Jarrad McVeigh, Alex Johnson, Aliir Aliir
C: Oliver Florent, Josh P. Kennedy, Harry Cunningham
HF: George Hewett, Lance Franklin, Ben Ronke
F: Kieren Jack, Tom McCartin, Tom Papley
FOL: Callum Sinclair, Isaac Heeney, Luke Parker
I/C: Will Hayward, Daniel Robinson, Nic Newman, Jordan Dawson

	2: Alex Johnson (R)	7.5	Not quite the flashy, fast defender that we remember, still held his own when it really mattered, doing a pretty good job on Mason Cox, despite giving away a whopping 18cm and 17kg.
	3: Jarrad McVeigh	8	Played like he hadn't missed a beat. That shimmy in the second half was Macca at his best. Really steadied the defence.
	5: Isaac Heeney	6	Had no impact as a forward and hardly any as a midfielder.
	7: Harry Cunningham	7	Had a few good moments in his milestone match
	9: Will Hayward	4	No impact at all
	11: Tom Papley	6	Another down game for the forward turned midfielder.
	12: Josh Kennedy	6.5	A pretty quiet game by his standards. Nailed a quality captains goal, finished with 21, but couldn't really get into the game.
	13: Oliver Florent	5	A pretty quiet game from the flashy player. Collingwood really went hard and shut him down.
	15: Kieren Jack	5	Hard to see him staying in the team, let alone continuing next season. A good second quarter, but nothing for the other three.
	18: Callum Sinclair	7	Against any other ruckman in the league, you would probably say he had a good game. Turned the tide in the third quarter when the Swans got their run on, but utterly dominated by Grundy. Grundy had more hit outs to advantage than Sinclair had hit outs.
	23: Lance Franklin	8.5	Won the game off his own boot and was the Swans' only forward option. Kicked 6.4, should have finished with 8 goals. Definitely near his best.
	24: Dane Rampe	7.5	Did pretty well all things considered. Rarely beaten by Collingwood's weird forward structure and had the ball on a string.
	25: Ben Ronke (R)	6	Another small player that had no impact.
	26: Luke Parker	7.5	In and out of the match but still worked hard and won his own ball. Finished with 8 tackles.
	27: Dan Robinson	6.5	He did a couple of good things, but like the midfield unit as a whole, was down on the night.
	28: Nic Newman	7	A tale of two halves - really good in the first with 11, pretty poor in the second with 13. When the Pies upped the pressure, his decision making and execution went the way of the Dodo.
	29: George Hewett	7.5	Did pretty well all things considered, definitely the Swans best ball winning midfielder with 10 clearances. Definitely looks like a changing of the guard in the guts.
	30: Tom McCartin	6	Probably would have got a 3 for the night without his match winning goal. Zero impact, had 1 kick and lucky for him, it trickled over the line for the unlikeliest of all goals.
	34: Jordan Dawson	6.5	Bagged two goals before half time, finished with 13 disposals and 6 tackles. However, gave away 4 free kicks and registered 6 clangers.
	36: Aliir Aliir	8	Best player for the Swans since the bye. If he was fit the entire season, he'd be top 2 in the Bob Skilton medal.
	40: Nick Smith	7	Hard to rate game. He did some really good defensive acts but he was beaten by his opponent a few times. Still had plenty of the ball and pushed a lot further forward than we're used to seeing him.
	44: Jake Lloyd	7.5	At one point the leading disposal winner. He's an important player for the Swans, but he's no McVeigh replacement.

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