Round 20: Sydney 73 Collingwood 71

THE FACTS

2018 AFL Round 21 COLLINGWOOD v BRISBANE Time & Place: Saturday August 11, 7:25pm EST Etihad Stadium Fox Sports 7:00pm EST Weather: Min 6 Max 13 Chance of rain 0% Wind: SW 22kph Betting: Collingwood $1.26 Brisbane $3.90

SYDNEY                3.2.20  4.4.28   9.6.60   11.7.73
COLLINGWOOD   4.1.25  7.3.45   7.6.48   10.11.71

GOALS - Collingwood: Varcoe 4, Hoskin-Elliott 2, Cox, Daicos, Sidebottom, Grundy

BEST - Collingwood: Grundy, Langdon, Adams, Crisp, Sier, Varcoe

INJURIES - Collingwood: Moore (hamstring)

REPORTS - Collingwood: Nil

OFFICIAL CROWD - 39,238 at the SCG

TALKING POINTS

1. Welcome back Alex Johnson! Is there a better story in the AFL than that of the return of Sydney’s Alex Johnson? The last time the Swans defender ran out for a senior match was on the MCG for the Grand Final in 2012 (in which Sydney beat Hawthorn by 10 points). Some 2136 days and five knee reconstructions later and Johnson made his return against the Pies in a game he’ll long remember. Playing against a giant in Mason Cox, Johnson more than held his own in defence and will take confidence from his few forays in attack. After almost six years out of the game, it was a very welcome return for one of Sydney’s fan favourites. 2. Moore pain as crippled Pies fall short Collingwood’s heart-stopping two-point loss to Sydney is just its first interstate defeat for 2018. What will hurt more though is the loss of Darcy Moore, who exited the match in the second quarter after a hamstring complaint. It was a huge blow for the Pies who have seen their tall defender stocks decimated this season through injury, and now incredibly have 17 players on their injury list. Can their depth sustain them as they make a play for the top four? 3. Buddy brilliance has Swans flying high If you needed to look for a barometer for Sydney’s success, you’d be hard-pressed to look past Lance Franklin. When Buddy is on song, so are the red and white. When Buddy goes missing, so do any chances the Swans have of making an impression or registering a victory. That’s why it was so important Buddy was back to his barnstorming best against the Pies, dragging his teammates and his team to an important and hard-fought win. Since making his debut in 2005, Franklin has kicked 910 goals, while no other player in the AFL has kicked 600 goals in this period. The Swans spearhead was involved in 13 out of 17 scores for the Swans and took six forward 50 marks, which was the same number as Collingwood. The Swans talisman helped register another famous victory for the club, one that may be very important in deciding the eight. 4. Madgen alley-oops on AFL debut Former US college basketballer Jack Madgen has certainly had a debut to remember. Collingwood’s big tall played college basketball for four years for Delta State University in Ohio and has impressed in the VFL since his move to Australia. He continued that impressive run in the first half against the Swans, and at one stage early on had a game-high five intercept possessions. But the Magpie debutant had a tough initiation late in the third term when Darcy Moore’s injury forced Madgen to cover Franklin, with Buddy giving the first gamer a lesson in a marking contest. Promising signs though from the former hoops shooter and Nathan Buckley will be glad for the experience Madgen earnt from this match. 5. Swans are back but are they a realistic finals chance? Tippet. Naismith. Mills. Hannebery. Melican. Reid. Rohan. Normally this would read as a list for Sydney’s best and fairest contenders but currently this is just some of the outs the Swans have to contend with as they try to finish their season on a high. Their victory over the Pies was a welcome return to the winners circle, and Sydney certainly is a realistic finals chance but is it a real threat? Will its long list of injuries cruel it when push comes to shove and finals footy starts in earnest? For now, its mix of young and old players have kept the Bloods in the mix for another week, as well as maintaining its record of having never lost more than five times at the SCG in a season.

THE MEDIA

SUPERFOOTY COLLINGWOOD coach Nathan Buckley hopes Jeremy Howe will be back next week to boost his side as it tries to cope with the loss of another key defender to injury. Darcy Moore suffered another hamstring injury during Saturday night’s heartbreaking two-point loss to Sydney, the Pies having the four points snatched away having stormed back to take the lead and seemed headed for a famous win. Moore, who has missed large chunks of 2018 with hamstring issues, left the ground during the second term. Buckley blamed a third-quarter lapse, in which Sydney went on a tear to snatch the lead, for his side’s demise. Moore had been minding matchwinner Lance Franklin, and while the Swans’ superstar booted three first-term goals, Buckley said losing the emerging swingman had affected the Pies. “It is always nice to have the 22 that you go in with,” the coach said after the match. “The guy that Darcy was playing on ended having 10 of the 18 shots on goal. I think that was relatively significant … we were able to cover it for the majority of the game beyond Darcy leaving the field, but once again, that third quarter sort of stands out as something that we didn’t get right.” Buckley said he was unsure of the extent of Moore’s latest blow, which he has sustained to the other hamstring having recently returning from a similar injury. Buckley said his side “did a lot well” but its inability to play four quarters cost them. “You can’t afford to do that against good opposition,” Buckley said. “Third quarter was really poor. The Swans lifted and played really good footy there. We just fell away from our contest and their defence. We weren’t able to control the game at all for 30 minutes. The other 90 minutes I reckon we did. But you have to play four quarters to win.” The Pies had a chance to consolidate their place in the top four but Swan Tom McCartin’s freakish snap while lying on the ground — only just dribbling across the goal line — means the Pies slipped to fourth and could fall further on Sunday. But Buckley said he wasn’t looking at the ladder. “We wouldn’t be human if we didn’t understand where we sat and what was happening around us, but we haven’t focused on it to this point,” Buckley said. “So we won’t be focusing on it now. We play Brisbane in seven days’ time. It is a game that we want to play four quarters of footy and get a win in. We’ll pick our best 22. We will prepare as well as we possibly can. We will want to get back on the winner’s list.” Buckley said Howe could “potentially” return after missing the Swans’ clash after suffering a concussion last week against Richmond. “We will go through the week and have a look how he is,” he said. “(We’ll) have a look where (Jordan) De Goey is at and (the) VFL play tomorrow. We’ll have (Josh) Smith, (Alex) Fasolo, (Jarryd) Blair and a handful of other boys that are ready to put their hands up.” AFL NATHAN Buckley has been left to rue a horror quarter of footy that cost Collingwood the four points after his side had the better of Sydney for most of the match at the SCG. The Magpies went missing for much of the third quarter, allowing the Swans to kick five unanswered goals – a lapse which ultimately proved decisive to the outcome. "We played three quarters and you can't afford to do that against a good opposition," Buckley said after the match. "Our third quarter was really poor and the Swans lifted and played some really good footy there but we just fell away from our contest and our defence and weren't able to control the game at all for 30 minutes. The other 90 minutes I reckon we did. But you've got to play four quarters to win." The Pies are still sitting in the top four for now and there was a lot for Buckley to like from their narrow two-point defeat. "We did enough right to deserve to win the game but we didn’t do enough to win it ultimately. There'll be some stuff we like out of that but it’s pretty hard to talk about at the moment when you haven’t bested the opposition," he said. "We thought we had an answer to (six-goal hero Lance) Franklin, we thought we had an answer to (Aliir) Aliir that we found late in the third, and the players were asked to play roles in that and did exceptionally well. We got our noses in front and when you’re playing a game like that, you can’t afford to drop off as much as we did in that third…" As for Franklin, Buckley said the Swans spearhead looked like he was moving a lot better than he was last week and that he was ultimately the difference between the two sides. "He’s a dominant player and when he’s up and about he’s pretty hard to stop. He was a thorn in our side - what did he kick, 40 points out of the 73. Ten scoring shots out of 18. So I think he was pretty important for them." The Magpies play Brisbane next week and while Buckley isn't focusing on where his team is sitting on the table, he's hoping for a return of some good fortune. "We wouldn’t be human if we didn’t understand where we sat [on the table] and what's happening around, but we haven't focused on it to this point so we won’t be focusing on it now," he said. "We play Brisbane in seven days' time and it’s a game we want to play four quarters of footy in and get a win in, so we’ll pick our best 22, prepare as best as we can and want to get back on the winners list." MEDICAL ROOM Collingwood: Darcy Moore suffered a hamstring injury and played no part in the second half. NEXT UP Collingwood heads back to Melbourne to host Brisbane at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night. REAL FOOTY Lance Franklin made a mockery of the adage that you "play as you train" by putting on a clinic as Collingwood edged further towards their injury tipping point in a Saturday night thriller. The Swans marked Alex Johnson's comeback game by renewing hope in their finals campaign with a heart-stopping two-point win over the gallant Magpies at the SCG. Return of the king: Lance Franklin rallies the SCG crowd after kicking one of his half-dozen goals. Tom McCartin was the unlikely match-winner, dribbling a wormburner through with just under two minutes remaining to edge the Swans in front. Missing close to half their best team, the Pies were dealt another blow on Saturday night with Darcy Moore hurting his hamstring. Moore was the man they could least afford to lose as they had come into the game without five of their taller defenders. It proved a match-defining development as it exposed two first-year rookies to the best forward of his generation. Franklin had already kicked three of his six goals when Moore broke down but it was his third term that swung the match in their favour. Against Jack Madgen and Brody Mihocek, the superstar kicked two goals, including one after the three-quarter siren from a 50-metre penalty, was denied two more by the woodwork and set up another two for Josh Kennedy and Ben Ronke. His sixth gave the Swans a three-goal lead early in the last quarter but just as it appeared the home side would prevail, the courageous Magpies fought back. They dominated the last term, hitting the front with just over five minutes remaining after Travis Varcoe ran into an open goal. Mason Cox will be ruing two missed shots in the last quarter while Chris Mayne hit the post. Despite only 20 minutes of training this year, Franklin was the game-breaker with a million-dollar performance. "I was beaten the last two times convincingly so I had to bounce back," Franklin said. The Swans, also missing several of their first choice players, are now back in the eight and in control of their destiny, needing to win two of their last three games of the season to book an eighth straight finals series. The Pies, however, now look shaky with another casualty to their back six. The Swans can thank their defence for the season-saving win with Aliir Aliir and Dane Rampe outstanding. Johnson did not look like a man playing his first game in six years and should draw confidence from his performance. The Pies' pressure was outstanding in the first half but they could not fully cash in on the dominance of ruckman Brodie Grundy and Taylor Adams' grunt work. Varcoe's second goal was was the product of how the Magpies wanted to play. They switched the ball in their back 50, spread the Swans' team defence before bringing it inside. It was not a common occurrence due to the Swans' improved forward pressure. Franklin bagged all three of Sydney's goals in the first term but his opponent Moore also had his moments when delivery was not pinpoint. Nick Smith's comical stumble kick amid an aimless passage of play in defence was symbolic of how the Swans' game broke down in the second term against Collingwood's pressure. Twice the Pies kicked goals after applying the squeeze while Brodie Grundy helped himself to one after swatting aside Callum Sinclair from a boundary throw-in. The Swans' issue was not so much getting the ball inside 50 but the manner of their delivery. That Franklin was their only winner in attack did not help. It did not matter in the third as Franklin stamped his mark on the game. It proved a hell-raising initiation for debutant Madgen, who drew the short straw after Moore's injury.