Two finalists from last year are languishing outside the 8 this year, with the Swans and Dockers both desperate for a win.

Match details

• Who: Sydney Swans vs Fremantle Dockers
• When: Saturday 13 May, 1.45pm
• Where: SCG, Sydney
• Weather: min 12, max 21. 80% chance of rain, 0 to 3 mm
• Head-to-head record since 1995: Played 40. Swans 22 wins. Dockers 17 wins. 1 draw

Teams

Swans

IN: Tom Hickey, Will Gould

OUT: Marc Sheather (omitted), Peter Ladhams (injured), Tom McCartin (injured)

Hickey is a huge inclusion for the Swans, with the veteran ruckman set to play his first AFL game of the season after a calf injury. Hickey replaces the injured Ladhams (neck) and will have his hands full against Freo’s ruck duo of Sean Darcy and Luke Jackson. The loss of McCartin is slightly concerning, with the key defender showing mild concussion symptoms and is replaced by Gould. Aaron Francis also comes in the 22 after starting as the sub last week.

Dockers

IN:

OUT: Nat Fyfe (sub)

The Dockers have decided not to select Fyfe in the starting 22 and could be the sub yet again.

Click here to see the complete team line-ups.

Season so far

Sydney Swans 11^th – 99.9% | 689 points for | 690 points against | 3 wins & 5 losses | LLLWL

Sydney have lost five of their last six matches and their finals chances are now hanging by a thread.

They showed some good signs in the second quarter against the Pies last week, but just couldn’t go with them for the whole game and were overrun in the last quarter.

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what the issue is with Sydney so far this season, but they have struggled defensively without Dane Rampe and Paddy McCartin, while Isaac Heeney and Buddy Franklin aren’t having the same impact

The Swans have a winnable three weeks coming up and they simply must beat Freo to keep their season alive.

Fremantle Dockers 12^th – 95.4% | 657 points for | 689 points against | 3 wins & 5 losses | WLLWL

The Dockers got a much needed win over the Hawks last week, but they still seem a long way off the side that made it to a Semi Final last year.

Just like the Swans, Freo have struggled against the better teams, and have only managed to beat the sides sitting 14th, 17th and 18th on the ladder.

With the game increasing in speed this year, the Dockers have struggled to move the ball freely and might need to start taking some more risks to give their forwards more of a chance.

They’ve got the Cats and Demons after this one so if they can’t beat Sydney, you might as well put a line through the Dockers for 2023.

Last 5 meetings and SCG history

• 2022 round 18: Dockers 9.11 (65) lost to Swans 11.16 (82) at Optus Stadium
• 2021 round 19: Swans 14.14 (98) defeat Dockers 8.10 (58) at Metricon Stadium
• 2021 round 10: Dockers 12.14 (86) defeat Swans 13.6 (84) at Optus Stadium
• 2020 round 13: Dockers 7.8 (50) defeat Swans 2.7 (19) at Optus Stadium
• 2019 round 18: Dockers 7.10 (52) defeat Swans 7.9 (51) at Optus Stadium

The Dockers hold a 3-2 edge over the last five clashes, although the Swans have won the last two.

Sydney beat the Dockers by 17 points in their only meeting last year by slowing the game down and using a chip mark game style that Freo struggled to stop. The Swans tried a similar tactic against Collingwood last week with limited success, so it will be interesting to see if they try it again and how the Dockers might respond.

These two haven’t played each other at the SCG since 2018 which the Swans won by 58 points. In their last ten meetings in Sydney, the Swans hold a 7-2 advantage along with a draw.

Pre-match predictions

Heroic Heeney: Isaac Heeney to return to form with a match-winning four goals. Swans by 15.

Jaeger Bomb: Jaeger O’Meara to slot a goal from outside 50m.

Have any pre-match predictions of your own? Let us know in the comments below.