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Swan plays down feud
28 February 2004 Herald Sun
By Tim Morrissey in Sydney
SYDNEY isn't out to settle old scores when it faces Collingwood today, but that doesn't mean the Swans won't be going hard at the ball according to defender Leo Barry.
"It's too early to worry about what happened last year," Barry said.
"It's probably in the back of everyone's minds, but it's still very early in the season to look that far away."
The last time the teams met Collingwood upstaged the Swans with a three-goal win in front of an AFL record crowd of 72,393 people at Telstra Stadium in Round 21 last season.
However, the game is also remembered for an ugly on-field incident that resulted in Magpie tagger Brodie Holland receiving a two-week suspension for king-hitting Paul Williams.
At the time Holland was labelled by a number of Swans players as the new "New Libba", with the attention Williams had from the Collingwood No. 6 all game evoking memories of the tagging Swans great Paul Kelly received from former Western Bulldog Tony Liberatore.
Today will be the first time Williams and Holland have played against each other since last season, but the Swans' half-forward has nothing to say about the incident, according to the club.
"As far as Paul Williams and the club is concerned it's not an issue," a Swans spokesman said.
The situation might be different when the Swans host Collingwood in a blockbuster at Telstra Stadium on June 26 during the mid-season bye weekend.
But as far as Sydney is concerned today, Collingwood at Victoria Park is just another low-key pre-season game and a chance to improve on last week's horror 102-point loss to Carlton.
"I think basically we will just concentrate on being hard at the ball, which was definitely lacking last week," Barry said.
"We also want to concentrate on the basics of our game, and if we do those things and we still lose, I think we'll still be happy with our game."
With seven senior players returning to the team today, the Swans are cranking up their pre-season preparations, but the emphasis is on performance and not results.
"I think it's just building momentum, getting a bit more run in the legs and giving the young guys a bit more exposure against a quality team in Collingwood," Barry said.
"Both sides at this stage of the year have got a bit to prove, especially after disappointing performances the week earlier.
"There's no doubt Collingwood will want to bounce back (from the West Coast loss) and get their reputation from last year back.
"I think we are very much in a similar position, but we are really just focusing on team rules and our structures."
The Swans high-octane running game should also get back into gear with Barry and Tadhg Kennelly returning to action, along with Nick Davis, Jared Crouch, Jude Bolton, Nic Fosdike and Williams.
28 February 2004 Herald Sun
By Tim Morrissey in Sydney
SYDNEY isn't out to settle old scores when it faces Collingwood today, but that doesn't mean the Swans won't be going hard at the ball according to defender Leo Barry.
"It's too early to worry about what happened last year," Barry said.
"It's probably in the back of everyone's minds, but it's still very early in the season to look that far away."
The last time the teams met Collingwood upstaged the Swans with a three-goal win in front of an AFL record crowd of 72,393 people at Telstra Stadium in Round 21 last season.
However, the game is also remembered for an ugly on-field incident that resulted in Magpie tagger Brodie Holland receiving a two-week suspension for king-hitting Paul Williams.
At the time Holland was labelled by a number of Swans players as the new "New Libba", with the attention Williams had from the Collingwood No. 6 all game evoking memories of the tagging Swans great Paul Kelly received from former Western Bulldog Tony Liberatore.
Today will be the first time Williams and Holland have played against each other since last season, but the Swans' half-forward has nothing to say about the incident, according to the club.
"As far as Paul Williams and the club is concerned it's not an issue," a Swans spokesman said.
The situation might be different when the Swans host Collingwood in a blockbuster at Telstra Stadium on June 26 during the mid-season bye weekend.
But as far as Sydney is concerned today, Collingwood at Victoria Park is just another low-key pre-season game and a chance to improve on last week's horror 102-point loss to Carlton.
"I think basically we will just concentrate on being hard at the ball, which was definitely lacking last week," Barry said.
"We also want to concentrate on the basics of our game, and if we do those things and we still lose, I think we'll still be happy with our game."
With seven senior players returning to the team today, the Swans are cranking up their pre-season preparations, but the emphasis is on performance and not results.
"I think it's just building momentum, getting a bit more run in the legs and giving the young guys a bit more exposure against a quality team in Collingwood," Barry said.
"Both sides at this stage of the year have got a bit to prove, especially after disappointing performances the week earlier.
"There's no doubt Collingwood will want to bounce back (from the West Coast loss) and get their reputation from last year back.
"I think we are very much in a similar position, but we are really just focusing on team rules and our structures."
The Swans high-octane running game should also get back into gear with Barry and Tadhg Kennelly returning to action, along with Nick Davis, Jared Crouch, Jude Bolton, Nic Fosdike and Williams.
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