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Chapter 1: What makes the Sydney vs. Melbourne matchup significant?
The three o'clock Sunday game from the SCG, it's first versus fourth, it's so beautifully poised. Every now and then we get the right matchup at the right time and this is it. The Swans are hot and Melbourne are the delight. And I don't think the D's have featured in our segments yet either, Brenton.
No, I think it's time because we need to talk about the Demons and we haven't yet. And I do know Stephen King, I did play with him
at geelong and i just think the biggest changes we're seeing with kingy at melbourne is a definite shift in style we're seeing that we're seeing game plan we're seeing a different energy around the club and the standards and the internal culture there has been certainly a shift but what we are seeing is that really aggressive ball movement so i think one of the clearest changes with melbourne they've become a lot more attacking with the ball
That suits guys like Cozzy Pickett. He's playing out of his skin at the moment with this freshness in their game plan. There is a willingness to take the territory quickly. That more sort of methodical style, which they played a bit more last year, and we're heavily criticised for. They were high disposal, shape the ball, work it through the ground.
But now they are the second lowest disposal team in the AFL, but they're going direct. And Kinney's encouraging faster transition from defence, more corridor use, greater risk-reward decisions, which is fun to watch, which has exposed them defensively at times. They are giving up big scores too. But the mindset has been exciting to watch. It's entertaining.
I think it's bringing a lot of Melbourne fans back to the footy. And King was ā he did state publicly that his philosophy is that teams need to score and score heavily if they're going to win. So 100 points plus. And we're seeing that D50 to score percentages are excellent. So, for example, it sounds really low, but ā Melbourne go from D50 to score 12 and a half percent of the time.
That sounds really low.
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Chapter 2: How is Stephen King's coaching impacting Melbourne's game style?
That's number two in the comp. So the Swans who they're playing this weekend are 12.7%. So this is the one and two sides, which means they're fun to see them move the ball up and down the ground. They're getting great front half pressure and they're owning territory. They're locking the ball inside forward 50. They're getting repeat entries.
And they're taking really aggressive positions defensively too. Their retention rate's good inside forward 50 as well. So when the ball goes in there, it's not bouncing out, which is really important. And that has been a problem in the last couple of seasons. I just think we're seeing the emergence of some really great young talent too with great role clarity. So I mentioned Cozzy Pickett.
I love Windsor as well. But there's half a dozen young players now that look like they belong in this game style. They're scoring from stoppage, which is great. They're scoring from turnover. So there are a lot of positives, I think, with the way that Stephen King has brought a new system and a different looking culture into the Melbourne Footy Club.
How's he done it so quickly as a rookie coach?
He spoke about, in his first couple of press conferences, he spoke about player empowerment and building trust. So he's got this belief now, trust in empowering players. We've seen a stronger, clearer ownership of standards. And I think we're seeing collaborative leadership at Melbourne at the moment.
But sometimes it doesn't matter if it's a footy team or an organisation or whoever, but sometimes when you get a leader come in with a fresh start, you see change and you see players have the confidence to step up. So I didn't see this coming. The departure of Petrarca and... And Oliver, a lot of coaching changes, list upheaval.
But yeah, King's arrival appears to have given the club a real psychological reset. New voice, new expectations, new optimism. And they are running with it, which has been awesome.
What's happened in the games that they've lost? What are the weaknesses that are obvious?
Yeah, well, I was at the Essendon game in Adelaide when they got beaten and Essendon controlled the tempo of the game in that one. Essendon took 139 marks. And in the Fremantle game, they just, Fremantle, great defensive side. They choke you. They did defend Melbourne's ball speed. They forced them wide. They created turnovers early in their offensive chains.
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Chapter 3: What are the strengths of Melbourne's new attacking strategy?
It just feels like their defensive system. I mean, we love the way they're moving the ball, the Swans, but they're only allowing 65 points per game. So defensively, they've been great. Despite no Goulden, Sydney's midfield class in their run, they've still got one of the most explosive midfields in the AFL. And he seems to be using that transition football to his advantage at the moment. So...
Swans mids, they have the ability, I reckon, to be arguably one of the best midfields in the competition and combine that with that extra forward line firepower. So we've seen Charlie Curnow go up there. And I think that's helped guys like Joel Amati, Logan McDonald, Papley, Isaac Heaney.
There's just now multiple marking targets and more opportunities for the dangerous small forwards at ground level. So It's a real headache for the opposition team when you're preparing to play against Sydney Swans midfield and then Sydney Swans forward line. They're the biggest challenges for the upcoming opponents.
What makes the Swans so dangerous?
Well, unlike some teams that rely on just one phase of the game, it looks like Swans now are capable of winning on the back of really good, strong defensive processes, a really balanced midfield. They're fit enough. They're explosive to win those transitional games. And it just looks really clear how they want to play.
So, yeah, that's, I think, the ability, the strong ability now that Swans have got is they can beat you in multiple different ways.
All right, so on all that we have before us, what does it point to?
Well, I think Sydney's midfield, they've just got to get on top around clearance and post-clearance spread. I think that's where they're going to have the advantage in this game. I think ground ball, as I mentioned, has been a weakness somewhat for Melbourne at the moment. So that's... The ability for the Swans to hunt post-clearance, I think they're going to be quicker than Melbourne.
I think they're going to be... I think they're going to hunt that loose ball a little bit faster than what Melbourne can. And I think Swans are probably a bit more advanced with that contested balance around being tough inside, being clean inside, and then spreading harder post-contest. I think that's where the Swans might have the advantage in this one. But...
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