Match

Sydney Swans vs St Kilda

Commentary / 22 Jul 2017

Pre Game

59:30

Welcome to SCG for the Sydney Swans v St Kilda Round 18 clash.

59:33

Outs for Swans: S.Reid

59:34

Ins for Swans: C.Sinclair

59:35

Outs for Saints: B.Long, T.Hickey, S.Gilbert, J.Battle, D.McKenzie

59:36

Ins for Saints: J.Webster, L.Dunstan, R.Marshall, B.Longer, B.Acres

59:40

Don't forget to enter your tips for this match, you have until the bounce to make your selection.

00:00

Both sides have registered nine wins this season, so a win tonight for either the Swans or Saints will solidify their position inside the top eight. Percentage is the biggest difference between the sides with Sydney owning 14 more per cent than the Saint

Quarter 1

00:00

Q1 is now underway.

00:57

SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Callum Sinclair)

04:22

SCORE GOAL - Swans (Callum Sinclair)

04:56

Sydney has dominated the early stages leading the inside 50s five to one and winning three more contested possessions. Tom Papley has three of his sides five inside 50s.

07:59

Sydney is locking the ball inside their attacking half strongly, with the ball inside their attacking 50 for 45 per cent of the match. In comparison, the ball has only been inside the Saints forward 50 for just two per cent of the playing time.

08:58

SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Luke Parker)

11:29

SCORE GOAL - Saints (Koby Stevens)

12:42

Despite Swans leading the inside 50s 10 to four, both sides have kicked one goal apiece. The Saints are ranked third for scores per inside 50 averaging a score with over 50 per cent of their entries whereas the Swans are ranked eighth.

17:25

SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Rushed)

17:58

Luke Parker has been bull-like at the contest this quarter, winning six contested possessions from his seven disposals. He is the only multiple clearance winner for the Swans, and has applied the most pressure acts for his side.

18:15

SCORE BEHIND - Saints (Rushed)

19:11

SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Dean Towers)

20:33

SCORE GOAL - Swans (George Hewett)

21:05

Five of the six scoring shots for the Swans have all been sourced from turnovers. They were ruthless against the Giants from scores from intercepts last week, kicking 13.6 (84) from turnovers.

22:15

SCORE GOAL - Swans (Callum Sinclair)

25:41

SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Gary Rohan)

26:51

SCORE BEHIND - Saints (Luke Dunstan)

27:20

The siren has sounded to end Q1.

27:30

Weight of numbers proved too tough for the Saints to manage, conceding nearly double the amount of inside 50s. Returning Swan Callum Sinclair was the beneficiary grabbing three marks inside 50 (two of these contested) and booting two goals.

Quarter 2

00:00

Q2 is now underway.

03:22

Whilst accumulating the most disposals for the Saints, Luke Dunstan has been let down by his poor kicking going at zero per cent kicking efficiency. Dunstan has had a career-best year by foot this season, going at 67.1 per cent efficiency this season.

03:35

SCORE GOAL - Swans (Lance Franklin)

05:40

SCORE GOAL - Saints (Josh Bruce)

06:42

SCORE GOAL - Swans (Isaac Heeney)

07:02

Sydney lead the centre clearances four to two. The Swans have kicked 2.1 (13) from centre bounces, scoring on 75 per cent of these clearances.

10:14

The Saints are trying to slow the play down and control the tempo of the match. They lead the disposals by 16 this quarter and have taken 12 marks to just the one for Sydney.

12:33

SCORE GOAL - Swans (Callum Sinclair)

13:02

The impressive match for Callum Sinclair continues, kicking his equal career-best third goal of the match. Sinclair has only kicked three goals in a match once before (Round 2, 2016 vs Carlton).

14:47

SCORE GOAL - Swans (Josh P. Kennedy)

15:17

The Swans have blown out the match this quarter, kicking four goals from their seven inside 50s. The Saints have lost all of their matches since round two when trailing at quarter-time.

16:37

SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Lance Franklin)

18:18

SCORE GOAL - Saints (Shane Savage)

23:58

SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Dan Hannebery)

24:41

The Swans have had 12 of the last 13 inside 50s, with an overall advantage of 18 for the match. The Swans largest first half inside 50 differential this season is 14, whereas the lowest for the Saints is -19.

27:03

Luke Parker has won a game-high 10 contested possessions, the third time he has won 10 or more contested possessions in the first-half of a match this season. Sydney lead the contested possession battle 81-70.

27:27

SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Lance Franklin)

29:24

The siren has sounded to end Q2.

29:34

The Saints finished with 14 inside 50s for the opening half. This is the lowest total for the Saints this season and the equal-third lowest result for any side throughout 2017.

Quarter 3

00:00

Q3 is now underway.

00:56

SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Kieren Jack)

02:06

Lewis Melican was a rebounding machine in the first half, winning a match-high seven intercept possessions. Melican has averaged 12 disposal and three rebound 50s in his debut season.

04:40

SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Callum Sinclair)

05:17

SCORE GOAL - Saints (Nick Riewoldt)

06:12

The Swans have won the first four clearances for the quarter. They have scored from three of these clearances. The Swans are ranked 10th for clearances per game this season, compared to 2016 where they were ranked fourth.

06:40

SCORE GOAL - Swans (Callum Sinclair)

08:38

SCORE GOAL - Saints (Josh Bruce)

10:30

Coming off their worst tackle differential for the season last week against Essendon, the Saints have managed to improve this week by squaring the ledger with the Swans at 31 apiece. Dunstan and Geary lead the way for the Saints, laying three tackles eac

14:15

The Saints have all the momentum currently, leading the time in forward half with 53 per cent of the play being inside their attacking zone this quarter. They lead the contested possessions by five this quarter.

17:49

SCORE GOAL - Swans (Lance Franklin)

20:33

Saints Interchange - Leigh Montagna and is possibly out for the game.

20:56

SCORE BEHIND - Saints (Jack Billings)

21:31

SCORE BEHIND - Saints (Billy Longer)

21:36

Dan Hannebery leads the match in metres gained with 356. He has been crucial for the Swans forward thrusts, leading the game in inside 50s with seven. This is his highest result for inside 50s this season, beating his previous high of six in round ten.

22:34

SCORE GOAL - Swans (Dean Towers)

24:03

SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Luke Parker)

25:23

SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Callum Sinclair)

27:09

After a strong early period for the Saints this quarter, the last 10 minutes has seen Sydney dominate play. In this time-frame the Swans lead inside 50s five to two, have won five more hardball gets and have had four scoring shots to nil.

27:41

SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Lance Franklin)

29:02

SCORE GOAL - Swans (Callum Sinclair)

30:21

The siren has sounded to end Q3.

30:31

The Swans extend the margin to a game-high 46 points going into the final break. The inside 50 differential has been extended to an extraordinary 28 in the Swans favour, and they also lead the clearances by three and contested possessions by 11.

Quarter 4

00:00

Q4 is now underway.

00:13

SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Dean Towers)

02:17

SCORE GOAL - Saints (Josh Bruce)

05:13

St Kilda has had all the play in the opening five minutes, leading disposals 27-14 and taking five more marks resulting in a goal for Josh Bruce. The Saints have won seven final quarters this season, one more than Sydney who has won six.

08:44

Callum Sinclair has had a career-best night, earning personal bests in goals (five), contested possessions (12), contested marks (seven) and marks inside 50 (six).

09:11

SCORE BEHIND - Saints (Rushed)

10:37

SCORE GOAL - Swans (Lance Franklin)

11:55

Lance Franklin's third goal for the night takes his season tally to 50. This is the 10th time in his 13th season that Franklin has kicked at least 50 goals in a season, the most of any current player.

13:58

SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Lance Franklin)

14:41

The margin has now extended to 47 points in favour of the Swans. In the last five matches between these two sides, Sydney has won every encounter by at least 50 points with an average winning margin of 69 points.

15:11

Saints Interchange - Jake Carlisle and is possibly out for the game.

15:46

SCORE GOAL - Saints (Jack Billings)

18:21

SCORE GOAL - Saints (Jack Newnes)

18:46

A positive for the Saints has been the continued form of midfielder Seb Ross. He has amassed a game-high 34 disposals and is the 12th time out of his last 14 matches that he has collected 30 or more disposals.

22:54

SCORE GOAL - Swans (Gary Rohan)

24:05

SCORE BEHIND - Swans (Rushed)

25:10

The Swans look set to challenge their best inside 50 differential of the season of 32 which they achieved against the Western Bulldogs in round 12. Currently the lead the inside 50s 63-33.

25:41

SCORE GOAL - Saints (Luke Dunstan)

26:44

SCORE GOAL - Swans (Jarrad McVeigh)

27:06

A clever snap for goal by Jarrad McVeigh sees the Swans score pass 100 for the fifth time this season. Remarkably this is just the second time in the past two months that Sydney has kicked over 100 points, despite winning every match in this time-frame.

31:13

The siren has sounded to end Q4.

31:23

Sydney finished the match with 65 inside 50s to just the 37 for the Saints which proved the difference in the match. Sydney also won the clearance battle by seven led by George Hewett who won seven himself.