Former Sydney coach Paul Roos has said the Swans have not come close to playing their best football despite a nine-game winning streak that has seen them go three games clear at the top of the ladder.
Speaking on ABC’s AFL Daily podcast, the former Swans coach discussed the team’s performance in coming from four goals down to beat the Crows in Adelaide, including a starring nine-goal display from forward Joel Amartey.
“I think the scary thing for the rest of the comp is the Sydney Swans have got a lot of development (in them). They’ve got a lot of upside in the back end of the season,” Roos said.
“They’re not playing their best football by any stretch of the imagination. How many games have we seen them get off to a five-goal down at quarter time … I think they were four or five down against the Crows, they’re not playing their best football.
“I think (coach) John Longmire said it after the game. That’s scary, and I totally agree.
“They’ve got some holes in the game plan, and they’re still able to cover them and they’re still able to win running away against the best teams.”
The Swans have not lost since a five-point defeat to Richmond in round four. But in five of their last six games they have trailed at quarter-time — including a 29-point deficit to Geelong in round 14 at the SCG — before rebounding to win all five.
Sydney’s winning streak
Rd 5: beat West Coast by 26 (Mt Barker)Rd 7: beat Gold Coast by 53 (SCG)Rd 8: beat Hawthorn by 76 (MCG)Rd 9: beat GWS by 29 (SCG)Rd 10: beat Fremantle by 48 (Perth Stadium)Rd 11: beat Carlton by 52 (SCG)Rd 12: beat Western Bulldogs by 14 (Docklands)Rd 14: beat Geelong by 30 (SCG)Rd 15: beat Adelaide by 42 (Adelaide Oval)
Amartey has been at the Swans for six years, but has really emerged this season following the retirement of Lance Franklin.
Amartey played 13 games in total between 2020 and 2022, then played 15 games last season and has been part of all of Sydney’s 13 games so far in 2024. The 24-year-old has more than doubled his career goals total this season, kicking 31.13 to be the Swans’ leading scorer.
Against the Crows, Amartey did not touch the ball in the opening quarter with Sydney under fierce pressure from the home side in Adelaide. But back-to-back four goal quarters saw the forward end the night with 9.1 in Sydney’s big win.
(Getty Images: AFL Photos/James Elsby)
Roos said the career-best game from Amartey added another dimension to Sydney’s play and made them harder to match up on.
“If you said they had a weakness, and it’s hard to have a weakness when you’ve only lost one game, the potential for the opposition, you’d say, ‘look their bigs, they’re relying too much on their mids to kick goals’,” Roos said.
“Suddenly you’ve got nine goals from one of your key forwards, and that’s a big change…when you’re looking at the Swans now.
“You’re not just saying we’re going to get beaten by Isaac Heeney and Chad Warner and Errol Gulden.”
Roos said that the presence of a superstar forward in Lance Franklin and the strength of the Swans’ system had allowed players like Amartey time to develop without pressure. But Franklin’s retirement had now changed the focus of Sydney’s attack.
“Now, when you’re coming down the ground, this is the tough thing to play against Sydney. You can’t target any one player in their forward line, because they don’t rely on that figure to kick all their goals.
“And that’s where I said before, the opportunity this weekend was for Joel Amartey. Nine goals. The week before, (Tom) Papley kicked four, their midfield’s a goal-kicking midfield.
“So, right time, right place, great system, and a player that’s persevered and I suspect has worked really hard on his craft. To kick nine goals in an AFL game is an exceptional effort.”
