When Geelong travelled to the SCG, its loss was to the tune of 110 points, the club’s heaviest defeat in almost a quarter of a century. However it was the way Sydney romped to victory which has relevance to Saturday night’s match.
The Swans’ ball movement in the first half was electric; with a play on at all costs mantra, they caught Geelong on the hop. Heading into the game, Sydney played on from marks approximately a third of the time. In the first half against the Cats, that number increased to almost 50 per cent. With a 48 point margin at the long break, the game was all but over.
| Sydney | Mark-play on % |
| Round 1-10 | 31.3% |
| Round 11, first half | 48.8% |
Compare the numbers to North’s loss to Geelong in Round 10 and it shows how quick ball movement is a key if a side wants to hit the scoreboard regularly against Chris Scott’s team.
In the first half of that game, the Kangaroos were often stagnant with the ball and entered the rooms having only nine scoring shots. After the break they took more risks when in possession and it paid off with 16 scoring shots after the main break.
While it is only one statistic, the mark-play on percentage shows a significant difference in North’s approach.
| North Melbourne (v Geelong) | Mark-play on % |
| Round 10, first half | 29.5% |
| Round 10, second half | 37.1% |
Continuing the theme of risk-taking, when Sydney had possession in the first half against Geelong, it was largely through long kicking.
The Cats typically setup with a short wall on the defensive side of the ball from a set play. Therefore a long kick over the top removes their first line of defence immediately.
The setup had a marked difference to Sydney’s general play over the first 10 weeks and it clearly worked to break the game open in the first half.
Again comparing it to North’s Round 10 performance, longer kicks were evident after half time. While the splits weren’t as vast as Sydney’s approach, the slight tweaks appeared to work well.
| Sydney | Total % of long kicks |
| Round 1-10 | 38% |
| Round 11, first half | 46.2% |
| North Melbourne | Total % of long kicks |
| Round 10, first half | 34.7% |
| Round 10, second half | 41.1% |
Finally while Sydney’s offensive production was locked in against the Cats, clearly its defensive efforts had to be spot on – it conceded just four scoring shots in the entire first half.
Key to the performance was how the Swans defended after turning the ball over. From 37 turnovers, approximately the normal league average for a half, Geelong scored just three behinds.
Firstly Sydney ensured the majority of its turnovers were not in a dangerous position - only eight were in the Geelong forward half in the first two quarters. So once the ball was in the forward half and the Cats gained possession, they would frequently look further afield to see a wall set up a kick ahead of the play.
Sydney’s loose defenders ran riot; Nick Malceski and Rhyce Shaw had 38 first half possessions between them. Shaw in particular was able to roam free, picking off errant opposition disposals – every one of his 18 first half disposals was uncontested.
It was a balanced effort between quick attack and consistent defensive structures which allowed Sydney to defeat Geelong. North will require a similar effort to defeat another top side on Saturday night.
