Match day guide and preview for the blockbuster 2022 AFL Preliminary Final between the Sydney Swans and Collingwood Magpies.
Match details
- Who: Sydney Swans vs Collingwood Magpies
- When: Saturday 17 September, 4.45pm
- Where: SCG
- Weather: min 14, max 23. 20% chance of rain
- Head-to-head record since 1980: Played 69. Swans 32 wins. Magpies 37 wins.
Teams
Swans
IN:
OUT: Braeden Campbell (medi-sub)
Magpies
IN:
OUT: Josh Carmichael (medi-sub)
Both teams are unchanged.
Click here for complete team line-ups.
Finals summary
Sydney
After finishing third on the ladder, the Swans travelled to the MCG in a Qualifying Final and got the job done against the Demons in a terrific performance.
Sydney’s pressure was through the roof all night, making it difficult for Melbourne to score before the Swans started to get on top during the third quarter.
It was a remarkably even performance across the board for the Swans, with a host of players stepping up on the big stage.
Co-captains Callum Mills and Luke Parker lead from the front in the midfield, while Jake Lloyd was superb with 25 touches and two crucial goals (his only goals for the season).
Their back six was also outstanding and showed great desperation all night, highlighted by Robbie Fox’s brilliant smothers in the fourth quarter.
Pressure has been the hallmark of Sydney’s game during their late season run and if they can replicate what they did against Melbourne, it will go a long way to beating the Pies and booking a spot in the Grand Final.
Collingwood
Collingwood lost no admirers in their close six-point loss to Geelong in week one of the finals and were then far too good for Freo in last week’s Semi Final to win by 20 points.
In front of over 90,000 fans at the MCG, the Magpies blitzed the Dockers early and kept the pressure up all night to seal a spot in the final four.
Jordan De Goey has been fantastic over the two finals, while 34-year-old captain Scott Pendlebury is showing no signs of slowing down.
The Pies play a similar style to the Swans, with their intense pressure around the contest making it hard for the opposition to move the ball and kick a big score.
They also like to take the game on through the corridor whenever they can, which is something Sydney denied when they met a month ago.
Collingwood showed they can match it with the best when pushing Geelong, and they are going to have to be at that level again to be any chance of beating the Swans.
Who to watch
Sydney – Luke Parker
Parker has been a key part of this Swans midfield for almost a decade and just continues to get the job done week after week and year after year.
The 29-year-old set the tone early against Melbourne with a typically courageous mark in the opening seconds, and when the game was there to be won in the second half, he was the man to step up in the middle.
He finished the match with 25 possessions, 11 tackles, 9 clearances and a clutch goal in another quality game on the big stage.
His influence has rubbed off on Sydney’s new brigade of midfielders with Callum Mills and James Rowbottom similar players that attack the ball with ferocity and just love to tackle.
A sold out Preliminary Final at the SCG against a big club like Collingwood is exactly the kind of game Parker thrives on, so expect him to be fierce right from the first bounce.
Collingwood – Jordan De Goey
There’s been plenty of talk around De Goey off the field and potentially leaving the Pies at the end of the year, but it hasn’t hurt his field on the form at all.
The 26-year-old had a strong home and away season but has really lifted his output in the two finals, managing 26 touches and 2 goals against Geelong before gathering 24 possessions and a goal against Freo.
De Goey was a late out in Collingwood’s loss to Sydney in round 22 and they really missed his ability to break away from contests and hit the scoreboard.
His speed and power poses a difficult threat for the Swans when he’s in the midfield, but Mills or Rowbottom could go to him at stoppages to try and negate his influence.
The Pies struggled to kick goals when they played Sydney a few weeks ago, and De Goey’s inclusion could make a big difference to their attack.
Last 5 meetings and SCG history
- 2022 round 22: Swans 11.11 (77) defeat Magpies 7.8 (50) at SCG
- 2021 round 9: Swans 10.12 (72) defeat Magpies 5.12 (42) at SCG
- 2020 round 10: Magpies 6.14 (50) defeat Swans 6.5 (41) at Gabba
- 2019 round 10: Swans 11.7 (73) lost to Magpies 11.14 (80) at SCG
- 2018 round 20: Swans 11.7 (73) defeat Magpies 10.11 (71) at SCG
Sydney hold a slight 3-2 edge over the Magpies in the last five clashes that includes a 27-point victory earlier this year.
The match was built up as one of the biggest home and away contests of the season and the Swans were simply too good, restricing Collingwood to just 7 goals with some desperate defence.
These two have met at the SCG plenty of times in recent years, with seven of the last eight contests played at the venue, dating back to 2015. The Swans hold a 5-2 record over those seven games, although there have been a number close clashes including margins of one, two and seven.
Sydney and Collingwood have met in two finals this century, with the Pies winning by 38 points in a 2007 Elimination Final at the MCG, while the Swans won a 2012 Preliminary Final by 26 points at ANZ Stadium.
Pre match predictions
Buddy bounces back: Buddy Franklin to bounce back from his poor final against Melbourne with 5 goals to send Sydney into the Grand Final. Swans by 16.
Man of Steele: Steele Sidebottom to have 25 touches and kick a goal.
