AFL PREVIEW ROUND 23 – SYDNEY V HAWTHORN

SYDNEY v HAWTHORN
SCG SAT 0725 PM

FORM

SYDNEY (LLWWW)

The Swans smooth ball movement will put the Hawks to the sword in this match if they repeat their performance against St Kilda. Defenders Jake Lloyd (30 disposals and 9 marks) and Aliir Aliir (15 disposals and 8 rebound 50s) will be licking their lips to play a Hawks attack that couldn’t find a goal for almost a half of football last weekend. Tom Mitchell remains a threat despite being quiet early he still racked up 31 touches and finished the match strong.

HAWTHORN (WWWWW)

Hawthorn were forced to work hard against the Saints, winning by just 4 points at Etihad Stadium. Alastair Clarkson may find himself with some interest from NASA after he launched a rocket at his underperforming team who conceded that ‘to be fair, i think the better side lost tonight’.

STATS THAT MATTER

• Luke Parker dominated against the Giants with 33 disposals, 7 marks, 9 clearances and 5 tackles. The midfielder will be one of the keys for the Swans to get the ball out of the centre with the Hawks ranked a lowly 13th for clearances per game.

• The Swans dominated the clearances 41-34 against the Giants who are the number one ranked team in the AFL.

• Sydney continued their dominant defence and are ranked 3rd in the competition for rebound 50s.

• Lance Franklin was the key for the Swans against the Giants with 5.4.  Buddy is three goals behind Jack Riewoldt for the Coleman Medal with just one match to play in the season. If you think he can make up the gap against the Hawks and win the medal he is currently paying a whopping $19.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Despite both teams winning their last matches, the way they did it was completely different. The Swans piled on the goals in the fourth quarter to defeat the Giants, whilst the Hawks didn’t score a goal in the last 40 minutes of their game against the Saints.

The SCG has hardly been a fortress for the Swans this season, splitting their 10 games for 5 wins and 5 losses. The last time these two teams played Sydney won by just 8 points at the MCG and the Wolf expects a similarly close scoreline in favour of the Swans.

HOW IT’S SHAPING UP

Swans by 8 points

BEST BETS: Sydney ($1.55), Hawthorn +10.5 ($1.92), Sydney 1-39 ($2.05)