Having a plan is one thing, being able to execute is another. But on Friday night, the Swans borrowed a tactic used successfully by the Brisbane Lions last year, and their high press again brought the Magpies unstuck.
Last year Collingwood moved the ball like a rumour. You didn’t know where it began or who started it, but it found a life of its own that was impossible to stop. It was on you before you knew what to do about it.
Most teams are fast counter-attacking sides, but the Magpies and Crows are considered the most aggressive in transition. The Giants can be added alongside those two. Sydney on Friday night didn’t do that. That is, they tried not to do it very often, for game tactics are not one-size-fits-all for a whole game. In round 23 last year, Brisbane didn’t do it either.
Normally, it works. Normally, he has the intelligent support of Nathan Murphy and the timed leap of Jeremy Howe for support. Murphy is presently not there, Howe was playing his first game for the year and Charlie Dean was playing only his second senior game. In the end, Howe was needed forward to have someone – anyone – who could take a mark there.
Sydney struck the right balance of when, and how often, to squeeze up high on Collingwood and hunt the defenders in numbers. And, yet, it took time to yield results. For all of the Swans’ field dominance in the first term, when they pushed up really hard at Collingwood, they were still, at one point, trailing 1.6 to Collingwood’s 3.1.
In the second half, as the Swans still stretched their lead, Collingwood flicked to a fast and higher risk ball movement to try to get over the top of Sydney’s high press. In attack Collingwood had little support.
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