[RELATED: Scouting Report - Forwards | Scouting Report - Midfielders]

Individually, Sydney’s defenders aren’t household names. Collectively, they form a formidable unit.

The Swans statistically had the best defence in the AFL during the home and away season. Based off a strong familiarity of each other’s strengths and weaknesses, they’re able to make life tough for opposition forwards.

With forward-lines trending towards employing three tall forwards, Sydney plays only two genuine tall defenders in Ted Richards and Heath Grundy. While it may appear to be a weakness for the Swans, they work around it with flexibility, according to North forward coach Shane Watson.

“They’ve been using (Dane) Rampe as the third tall,” Watson explained to NMFC.com.au.

“In terms of how he’d compare to us, he’d play a similar role to Michael Firrito. He can play on smalls, he can play on talls, he’s that versatile guy in the back-line.”

The talls in Richards and Grundy play into the team balance well, not necessarily attempting to outright win the contests they’re involved in, but giving the side the best chance of rebounding well.

“Grundy and Richards are both very good one-on-one players. They’re smart and use their body well in the contest.

“They bring the ball to ground well to get the other players involved. They’ve got a good balance of halving the contest but they can also back themselves in the air if needed.”

At ground level, the Swans have an array of running defenders who can cause problems.

With a healthy mix of defenders and rebounders, it’s a well-balanced unit.

“(Nick) Smith is more their lockdown small defender, while (Nick) Malceski and (Rhyce) Shaw are their rebounding defenders,” Watson said.

“They’ve also been playing Gary Rohan down there a bit recently to add to their run and carry.

“They’ve got other guys like (Jarrod) McVeigh who can roll back there, and their midfielders also work back to support so well.”

While a common talking point during the week has been the difference in the Swans’ lineup between Round 4 and the Preliminary Final, Watson was quick to point out they aren’t the only ones who’ve had change.

Ben Brown and Kayne Turner had not made their AFL debuts at that stage of the season, and both only cemented their spot in the North 22 in the latter third of the home and away season.

Since Brown’s introduction into the side, the Kangaroos have increased their scoring power by almost three goals a game. It gives the Swans’ defence an extra element to plan for heading into Friday night.

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