Headbangers Ball
If you thought Round one was intense, wait until 7.50pm on Friday night when the ball is bounced.
The Swans don’t drop two in a row very often, and after their season opening loss to the Power you can be sure they’ll come out in a frisky mood.
Indeed, both sides lost the contested ball count last week, the Swans by 22, and the Bulldogs by 26. That’s right, the number one and number three contested sides of 2016 were out-contested last weekend. That’s not a typo.
Both sides will be determined to not let that happen again, so expect a fast and furious contest from the first bounce.
Fortress Etihad
The Bulldogs finished last season with a 10-4 record at the Docklands last season, and it’s hardly breaking news that Luke Beveridge’s side enjoy playing the slick surface of their home deck.
But guess who else plays Etihad well? That’s right, the Swans. It’s going on five years since Sydney last dropped a game there, a time when John Longmire was a second year coach and Adam Goodes was co-captain.
Going the other way, the Dogs have won our last three against the Bloods. The last loss?
That was Round 22, 2014 at.. you guessed it. Etihad Stadium.
The grand unfurl
It’s an especially proud moment in the history of the Football Club when the 2016 premiership flag is unfurled this Friday night.
The stadium will be filled with greats of the past like Doug Hawkins, Scott West and Gary Dempsey to name a few, as well as various others who have been important figures throughout the Club’s history.
As Luke Beveridge pointed out in his press conference on Thursday – it’s a moment for the fans to saviour.
However, there are four crucial points on the line and Beveridge will be expecting his players to be inspired by the deeds of the past, but focused on the job at hand.
Team Plugger
That noise you heard early last week was the collective sigh of the rest of the competition upon hearing the news that the great Tony Lockett was back at the SCG working with the Swans forwards.
As if Buddy Franklin needs any help.
Whether it was Plugger-inspired or not, Frankin was his usual powerful self last weekend, kicking four goals, and was one of his side’s best. If that wasn’t enough, another tall, Sam Reid bobbed up and kicked three of his own.
In short, it’s far from ideal to lose Dale Morris.
That said, the Dogs pride themselves on team defence and last season’s average number of 73 points against was good for third in the competition, so they’ll rightly back themselves in - but it won’t be easy.
