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SEN Breakfast

Tom Papley, Sydney forward (13.05.26)

12 May 2026

Transcription

Chapter 1: Who is Tom Papley and what is his role in the Sydney Swans?

0.031 - 1.693 Tom Papley

Breakfast with Gary and Tim.

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2.013 - 22.956 Tim Watson

Well, it's enjoyable to watch as any player in the competition. Now, I don't think there's any question about that. If he's not the best celebrator of a goal in football, then you tell me who is. And he's a key part of the top of the table Sydney Swans outfit. His name's Tommy Papley. He's one of our favourites. He's been good enough to join us. Go, Pap. G'day, boys. How are we? Pretty good.

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23.216 - 26.46 Tim Watson

Where do we find you on this Wednesday morning?

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26.542 - 31.368 Tom Papley

Uh, just, uh, having a coffee at home just in Bondi, mate, uh, which is nice. Nice.

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Chapter 2: How does Tom Papley feel about the Sydney Swans' current season performance?

31.388 - 38.477 Tom Papley

Um, nice weather. It's actually a little bit, um, a little bit speedy rain this morning, but, um, hopefully it clears up for training this afternoon.

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38.657 - 39.899 Tim Watson

And you got the scratching jet or not?

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42.102 - 62.255 Tom Papley

Yeah, uh, I actually might have just been having a look at them before. Um, but yeah, it's, uh, Bit around today. There's Mamushka in race six or seven, I think. I'm on, so write that one down, boys. I've got it in the book. What is it? How do you spell that, Pat? Mamushka. M-U-M-U-S-H-K-A, maybe.

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62.275 - 64.337 Tim Watson

Yep, that'll do us. We'll find out.

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Chapter 3: What challenges did the Sydney Swans face in their recent matches?

64.738 - 72.727 Tim Watson

Gareth will have that written down in his black book somewhere along the way. Hey, top of the table. Not too bad going after nine rounds of footy. You've got to be happy with that.

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73.928 - 95.895 Tom Papley

Yeah, buddy, I... I think, yeah, we've been playing some pretty good footy. Last week, to Norse credit, they gave it to us and, yeah, tested us out for sure. I think they were really good around the contests and defensively we weren't great. But, yeah, they tested us out and probably the last five quarters we've let ourselves down in that area.

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96.516 - 105.165 Tom Papley

Last quarter against Melbourne, we let ourselves down as well. So we really want to bounce back this week against Collingwood in our defensive mindset.

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105.601 - 111.528 Garry Lyon

Tom, did they surprise you, the Kangaroos, with the way they played, the aggression and how physical they were?

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112.81 - 123.162 Tom Papley

No, not at all. I think they've improved their game significantly. I think they can really get around the ball with their pressure, outnumber.

Chapter 4: How does Tom Papley assess the performance of the North Melbourne Kangaroos?

123.763 - 145.075 Tom Papley

If you look at their midfield, their midfield is great. They've got Terry, LDU, Sheasel, Wardlaw, a few guys in there that win the ball and get it out to the outside players and obviously down forward as well. They've got Larkey, which Will Edwards did really well on him, but they're going really well. They've improved and they're going to be tough to beat this year for sure.

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145.595 - 161.455 Garry Lyon

They are. They're getting better and better all the time and I think the general football public is really enjoying watching the Sydney Swans side play and the way you play. There's a couple of people out there that aren't convinced that this is going to be sustainable right through the final series.

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161.495 - 165.68 Garry Lyon

This brand of football you're playing, do you think it's going to stack up in the last month of the season?

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167.142 - 193.023 Tom Papley

Yeah, I think everyone's got an opinion and we want to always improve our game. There's always different There's different ways we can score and obviously I don't want to give away too much, but look, we have been using the corridor a lot. Some teams are really blocking that up now and we can go around and, yeah, we can change it up. I think... Big games, a high contest and a lot of turnovers.

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193.945 - 204.525 Tom Papley

If you look at our turnover game, it's very good and we do turn the ball over a lot, but we are very good at stopping teams scoring from turnover and that's what you want to be.

Chapter 5: What strategies does Tom Papley believe will help the Swans succeed in the finals?

204.545 - 224.39 Tom Papley

You want to be a good defensive side in finals and be able to attack off those turnovers as well. So, Yeah, look, every team's got their own way they want to play. We're playing fast with handball and we can go through the corridor. We also go around as well. And when you've got big targets down our forward line like we do, it's handy.

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224.551 - 239.406 Garry Lyon

And is there anything better from a small forwards perspective than having the pace on the ball like it is and coming into the forward line the way that it is? I mean, we saw Rosas a couple of weeks ago kick seven goals and you've been enjoying all that space. I mean, you must be licking your lips at the moment.

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240.652 - 262.14 Tom Papley

Yeah, it's good. It's very different to what I'm used to in previous years, which is good. I think in previous years I've more probably stayed inside the forward 50 or forward half, but now I can get up the field and rip back and open up the space and I'm finding a lot more space in around the ground.

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262.16 - 276.178 Tom Papley

You probably see I'm not kicking as many goals, but get more of the ball up the field and then... Some weeks it's different. Some weeks Mel Rose has kicked seven because we were going wider and Melbourne blocked the corridor and Rose has got the ball.

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Chapter 6: How has Tom Papley's playing style evolved this season?

276.198 - 294.604 Tom Papley

So, yeah, it's been great. It's like I think the coaching staff has done amazing this year. The change of game plan, like Goody's been amazing. Just great energy. He runs the attack. Benny Matthews is the defence coach and he's done really well and also the line coaches and obviously Coxie as well. So it's been great this year.

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294.584 - 313.2 Tim Watson

It might be great for the team, Pap, but it's not great for us. We need to see the Pap in there kicking the seven and whooping it up and celebrating and running three or four K after you kick the goal. When do you get this? Do you wander down to Malcolm or Mel Roses and say, righto, two or three is enough for you, son. Get up high. Let the Pap loose.

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313.518 - 320.55 Tom Papley

Oh, well, if you have a little bit of points, guys, I've kicked actually a fair few points. If I could kick straight, I might be able to celebrate a bit more.

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Chapter 7: What are Tom Papley’s thoughts on his teammates and their contributions?

322.093 - 336.603 Tom Papley

But it's cost me a little bit. But, no, it's good to see old Lovin when Mel kicked all those goals. He's such a good little player. He's got great energy. He's just a... Just a bloke when you walk into the club, he's always got a smile on his face. He's just so happy to be there, and he deserves to be playing.

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336.623 - 344.781 Tom Papley

I think Gold Coast have sort of let one slip there, but that's the way footy goes sometimes. He's got his opportunity with us, and he's taken it with both hands.

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345.703 - 359.73 Garry Lyon

Nice. I reckon just – and I said this to Gary off air though, Tom. I reckon you've put more weight on a setting up of a goal as much as you did previously about actually kicking a goal yourself. Am I right in saying that? I don't like it.

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359.75 - 363.438 Tom Papley

I hope that's not the case.

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Chapter 8: What does Tom Papley hope to achieve in future games?

363.458 - 384.852 Tom Papley

Yeah, I think you probably are right there, Tim. I think – I like to think I've got some... As a small forward, I think you've got to have a couple of weapons. You can obviously have the Wizards. He's a very good player. He's only still so young and he's kicking so many goals.

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384.832 - 410.569 Tom Papley

I'd love to kick as many goals as Wizard, but I also think I can go inside the stoppage and go into centre-bounds and get up the ground and also set up some goals. So, yeah, there's different ways that I think forwards operate, and I'm pretty small, but I think if you look at the McDonalds and Moors of Hawthorne, that allows Wizard to sort of sit deeper and...

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410.549 - 425.098 Tom Papley

kick the goal so those Moore and McDonald's are setting the goals up for Wizard and yeah I like to think that I sort of play a little bit similar to Moore for Hawthorne or McDonald's where I can get up high and get involved in the stoppage.

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425.197 - 445.541 Tim Watson

I think this is a much more mature pap, which is probably good for the Swans, not so good for us. We need to see him a bit selfish. If you are the president of the small – I would have you as the president. I'm looking at this list. Rank the five best small forwards for me. Now, these are who I've got down right now. You're the president, so you can't have yourself in this.

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446.622 - 457.284 Tim Watson

Nick Watson, Charlie Cameron, Kai Lohman, Seth Campbell, Cozzy Pickett, Mel Roses, Joshua Shelley and Isaac Rankin. Can you give us your top five from that group or not?

458.448 - 474.745 Tom Papley

Yeah, geez, there's some fair names there. Now, I reckon, like, I reckon Cozy's more of a midfielder now, so you can't really... Righto, take him out. Take him out. And Isaac Rankin. And Isaac Rankin, he's gone to midfield.

474.825 - 476.868 Tim Watson

They're all following the pap up the ground.

480.614 - 501.085 Tom Papley

The Wizards won. The Wizards won for sure. I love the Wizards. I reckon he could end up being the best small forward the game's seen. The way he's going, the amount of goals he's kicking, the excitement that he brings. Big prize. We've got Charlie Cameron for sure. He's sort of in his 30s now, but what he's done over the years is amazing.

501.125 - 520.342 Tom Papley

The goals he kicks, the energy that he brings and gets the crowd involved with the country road and at the Gabba. And he's won a couple of flags and performed on the big stage. Nice. Top three. We'll go top three. Top three, and we've got to throw in little Mally Roses. I can't leave my teammate out. We'll go with number three.

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