Twelve months after falling short, the Brisbane Lions and Sydney Swans face off in a thrilling AFL grand final. Both teams are seeking redemption for past heartbreaks and looking to etch their names in football history.
Twelve months ago Chris Fagan sat in the bowels of the MCG, just minutes after his Brisbane Lions had fallen agonisingly short of premiership glory."You know there's lots of teams in the history of the game that have lost close grand final s have gone on to win premierships in the ensuing years," Fagan told the media after the heartbreaking loss to Collingwood.
The 2024 AFL grand final pits the minor premiers of 2024 against the team that has won the most games over the last three seasons. Both are looking to right the wrongs of a recent grand final past. Even when the Swans missed the finals in 2019 and 2020 they were still throttling opposition entries up forward.The Swans are at the top for scores from intercepts in the defensive half of the ground. If a side slacks defensively off after losing a chance to score the harboursiders know how to exploit them.
Instead, they are content to allow leading marks to the fringes of the 50-metre arc. Sydney's opponents average much more difficult shots than any other side. "We certainly haven't, you know, tried to change the way that we're playing. It's been a pretty successful way to play for the last five or so years."
The Sydney forward line is a great example of this. The Swans may have finished first for points scored this year, but they also finished last for marks inside 50 per inside 50 entry."Everyone just played their role. My role last week was just to compete and bring the ball to ground. You know Paps did the damage and now everyone got their lick of the ice cream tonight." Joel Amartey said last week.Amartey's comments underline Sydney's team first approach to attack.
When the Lions do win the ball in their back half, rebounding defenders such as Dayne Zorko can do damage at a moment's notice. Despite this the Swans tend to lose the contested possession balance. That's an area they tend to lose heavily when beaten, like against Port Adelaide in round 21.
AFL Grand Final Brisbane Lions Sydney Swans Redemption
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