A top-two finish and a home qualifying final could be up for grabs on Sunday afternoon as Sydney and Collingwood, two of the AFL’s most in-form teams, meet at the SCG.
The Swans (14-6, 127.5%) are in a good position to host a qualifying final, especially after Brisbane’s inability to thrash Carlton after threatening to massively increase their percentage. They have won six of their last seven games.
But the Magpies (15-6, 106.3 per cent) can put themselves in position A to finish in the top two with a 12th straight win and jump ahead of Brisbane on the AFL ladder.
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The Magpies were dealt a major blow just hours before the first bounce, with star midfielder Jordan De Goey a late withdrawal due to a hip flexor problem. De Goey has been in excellent touch since returning to the Pies side two weeks ago with 23 and 25 disposals respectively in wins against Port and Melbourne.
De Goey was replaced by Trent Bianco, and Callum Brown was appointed medical assistant. There were no late changes for the Swans, who named Braeden Campbell as his replacement.
This match kicks off at 3.20pm AEST from the SCG.
Watch it live on Fox Footy (Channel 503) from 3pm AEST.
Follow Sydney v Collingwood on our live blog below!
REPORT OF THE PARTY QUARTER TO QUARTER
Collingwood had the early run against the Swans but couldn’t get it on the scoreboard before a rare error from Scott Pendlebury gave Sydney their first of the game.
With the corridor kick unstuck, the Swans pounced before Lance Franklin unselfishly opted for the pass to teammate Isaac Heeney who slotted home the first.
Dane Rampe had Sydney’s second goal later, his first goal since 2016, as the home crowd went into overdrive.
But when Jack Ginnivan pounced on a center-field switch and barreled forward, Beau McCreery chased the foot and got the handball to Brody Mihocek, who really came out of the square.
“Wow, that was hard work for the cakes!” said commentator Brian Taylor.
“I’m not sure why (Ginnivan) went to the barrel … but they got the goal in the end.”
Mihocek appeared to pop a cork in the process of kicking the goal in early worrying signs for the Pies.
Tom Papley broke a tackle and got the crowd back with the Swans’ third goal of the day.
In more worrying signs, Brayden Maynard appeared to be nursing his right shoulder after Papley’s goal. He made it to the bench only to be sent back into action.
He then made a great tackle and was slow to his feet as James Rowbottom brought him down.
The Pies dodged a bullet when Ryan Clarke’s goal was disallowed as goal review showed his foot had grazed the post.
As his brother Nick struggled to get into the action, Josh Daicos cut Sydney’s lead to eight points with a breakaway goal from the stoppage.
“You have to be responsible because if you give him that much space, he’s going to kick the goal,” commentator Shaun Burgoyne said.
Youngster Ash Johnson beat two swans to take a great angled 25m catch but couldn’t convert.
At the other end, Franklin showed why he is the Swans’ marquee man as he roamed and scored from a tight angle.
“He’s the guy they all come to see,” Taylor said.
The goal moved Franklin to just shy of the great Tony Lockett on 462 goals for the Swans.
Sam Reid had a chance to extend Sydney’s lead but pushed his shot wide as the quarter-time siren sounded.
Papley may have burned teammate Franklin early in the second term, but Chad Warner made sure to look down minutes later after breaking two tackles.
Franklin couldn’t get the mark to the arc, but Warner wandered brilliantly and got the ball to Will Haywood who scored from the square.
The Pies couldn’t gain a foothold in their forward half as Taylor said they were “taking a bit of a bath from the Sydney defenders”.
When Jack Crisp went down in the center square, the Swans rallied the turnover and found Logan McDonald.
But the young man leaned back against it and missed the nearest side.
Franklin couldn’t get the rebound when he left the pocket as Collingwood couldn’t get into the contest in the second.
It took a Jack Ginnivan goal from a high inbounds free kick to give the Pies a sniff.
Paddy McCartin was penalized for the tackle and the controversial Collingwood forward kicked it to cheers from the crowd to cut Sydney’s lead to 15 points.
“It’s immediately high from McCartin,” said commentator Jude Bolton.
“I think the first one was around the throat. It has to come down.”
But Ginnivan left the field moments later and headed straight for the wards, leaving the Pies just two on the bench as medical staff battled to stop Will Hoskin-Elliott’s nosebleed early in the quarter.
Ginnivan was taken off at halftime and was later seen on the bench with ice on his left hamstring.
Franklin got the Swans off to the best possible start in season three when he kicked his 462nd goal for Sydney, level with Tony Lockett.
Johnson was unable to bridge the gap after some brilliance from the Daicos brother in the center of the pitch.
“He just didn’t get back into his career,” Burgoyne lamented.
“He got under.”
Isaac Heeney pushed the margin before Errol Gulden fired Sydney with a game-high 33 points midway through the third off a free kick by Isaac Quaynor.
Hoskin-Elliott was sent back to the bench after picking up a second knock on the nose for the game.
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