Match day guide and preview for the 2022 round 8 game between the Sydney Swans and Gold Coast Suns.
Match details
Who: Sydney Swans vs Gold Coast Suns
When: Saturday 7 May, 1.45pm
Where: SCG, NSW
Weather: Min 9 Max 21. Chance of rain 0%
Head-to-head record since 2011: Played 13. Swans 10 wins. Suns 3 wins.
Teams
Swans
IN: Paddy McCartin, Logan McDonald
OUT: Harry Cunningham (injured), James Bell (medi-sub), Sam Reid (omitted)
Sydney really missed McCartin down back last week against Brisbane and will be thrilled to regain him, while McDonald is a handy addition up forward.
Suns
IN: Rory Thompson, Will Powell
OUT: Alex Davies (omitted), Darcy Macpherson (omitted), Jeremy Sharp (injured)
Thompson’s return is the feel-good story of the week with the 31-year-old set to play his first AFL match in 1379 days after a string of knee injuries.
Click here for complete team line-ups.
Season so far
Sydney Swans 5th – 134.9% | 684 points for | 554 points against | 5 wins 2 losses | LWWWL
The Swans are tracking along well so far in 2022, but were just slightly outgunned against the more mature Lions last week.
Their back six was out of sorts with the experienced trio of Dane Rampe, Harry Cunningham and Jake Lloyd all struggling for form as the Lions scored at will after quarter time.
They weren’t too far off the mark though and it was great to see some vintage Buddy Franklin almost singlehandedly bring them back into the game early in the third quarter.
The Swans seemingly have what it takes to finish top four but will need to improve a few areas if they are to beat the best sides.
Gold Coast Suns 14th – 86.7% | 556 points for | 641 points against | 2 wins 5 losses | LLLWL
It looks set to be just another year of mediocrity for the Gold Coast franchise that hasn’t fired a shot since its inception in 2011.
The Suns have been competitive in all but one of their matches, but they just lack the consistency over four quarters to be able to string wins together.
While they don’t have what it takes to regularly compete against the best sides, the Swans know first hand that Gold Coast have enough talent to cause an upset on their day.
Last 5 meetings and SCG history
- 2021 round 23 – Swans 21.10 (136) defeat Suns 6.13 (49) at Marvel Stadium
- 2021 round 6 – Suns 15.10 (100) defeat Swans 9.6 (60) at Metricon Stadium
- 2020 round 7 – Swans 9.6 (60) lost to Suns 13.14 (92) at SCG
- 2019 round 15 – Swans 14.9 (93) defeat Suns 7.9 (51) at SCG
- 2018 round 18 – Swans 8.16 (64) lost to Suns 12.16 (88) at SCG
While Sydney has a dominant 10-3 all time record over Gold Coast, all of the Suns’ victories have come in the past five meetings.
They split the two games last year with the Suns coasting to a win early in the season before the Swans smashed them in the final round.
They are yet to play in a thriller together with the average margin being 51 points and the smallest winning margin 24 points.
The sides have squared off six times at the SCG with the Swans leading the count 4-2, although the Suns have won two of the last three at the venue.
Key matchup
Peter Ladhams vs Jarrod Witts
Ladhams was an off-season recruit for Sydney and has been thrust into the number one ruck role due to Tom Hickey’s injury.
He probably came to the club expecting to play the forward/second ruck role but has been more than serviceable as the main man in the middle
Ladhams is averaging career highs in disposals (19.5), marks (4.8), hitouts (27.8) and clearances (4.5) which illustrates his current importance to the Swans side.
After playing just three games last year due to an ACL injury, Witts has come back in fine form to start 2022.
The 209cm giant is probably behind just Melbourne superstar Max Gawn in terms of form ruckman at the moment, averaging a league-high 37.4 hitouts per contest and is second for hitouts to advantage percentage at 38.9%.
While you would expect Witts to get on top in the ruck contests, Ladhams will need to try and get on top of his bigger opponent around the ground.
Pre match predictions
Super McCartin brothers:Â Tom and Paddy to combine for 30 touches and 8 intercept marks.
Peter to have his Witts about him: Ladhams to push forward on Witts and kick a goal.
Swans by 32 points
Have any pre match predictions of your own? Let us know in the comments below.
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