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Swans 'lacking firepower'
By Nikki Tugwell
April 16, 2004
UNBEATEN Kangaroos coach Dean Laidley has questioned whether the Swans are gambling on an underdone forward line for their clash at Manuka Oval on Sunday.
Sydney will today assess how Nick Davis's muscular hip injury has settled after he resumed using his right foot on Tuesday for the first time in three weeks.
Davis and Michael O'Loughlin, returning from a hamstring injury, are both expected to play.
Small forward Adam Schneider has played the past two games after missing the first with a hamstring tear, while ruckman and tall forward option Stephen Doyle returned last week from tendinitis in the knee.
"It might be a bit of a risk to take in three or four players in your forward line that are underdone," Laidley said. "But that's up to them."
In the opening three rounds, the Kangaroos have kicked 55 goals while the Swans have managed just 36. The Kangaroos opened with 11 goals without a miss last week against Carlton, while the Swans converted just three goals from 10 last-quarter shots against Geelong.
Swans coach Paul Roos conceded not all of his forward line were at peak fitness but he said he did not believe they would be a liability.
"They probably are a bit underdone but most of them have played a bit," Roos said.
"This will be Doyle's fourth game, this will be Schneider's third game, Nick Davis played all of preseason and only missed two games.
"They're certainly not at their absolute peak but they are not far off and we can rotate the forwards on and off the ground anyway."
Form Kangaroos tagger Brady Rawlings is expected to run with Paul Williams while Sydney counterparts Brett Kirk and Jared Crouch will be charged with nullifying the Kangaroos production line; Brent Harvey, Shannon Grant, Daniel Harris and Adam Simpson are among the most effective forward-line suppliers this season.
Rawlings, for his part, has collected the scalps of Adelaide's Andrew McLeod, Hawthorn's Shane Crawford and Blues' Scott Camporeale.
They are without defender Glenn Archer, who faces six weeks out after injuring his knee. But they regain Jess Sinclair, who returns from a five-match ban for striking.
The Kangaroos ended the Swans five-game winning run when the sides met last year. Sunday is the first of the Kangaroos three 2004 "home" matches in Canberra.
The Daily Telegraph
By Nikki Tugwell
April 16, 2004
UNBEATEN Kangaroos coach Dean Laidley has questioned whether the Swans are gambling on an underdone forward line for their clash at Manuka Oval on Sunday.
Sydney will today assess how Nick Davis's muscular hip injury has settled after he resumed using his right foot on Tuesday for the first time in three weeks.
Davis and Michael O'Loughlin, returning from a hamstring injury, are both expected to play.
Small forward Adam Schneider has played the past two games after missing the first with a hamstring tear, while ruckman and tall forward option Stephen Doyle returned last week from tendinitis in the knee.
"It might be a bit of a risk to take in three or four players in your forward line that are underdone," Laidley said. "But that's up to them."
In the opening three rounds, the Kangaroos have kicked 55 goals while the Swans have managed just 36. The Kangaroos opened with 11 goals without a miss last week against Carlton, while the Swans converted just three goals from 10 last-quarter shots against Geelong.
Swans coach Paul Roos conceded not all of his forward line were at peak fitness but he said he did not believe they would be a liability.
"They probably are a bit underdone but most of them have played a bit," Roos said.
"This will be Doyle's fourth game, this will be Schneider's third game, Nick Davis played all of preseason and only missed two games.
"They're certainly not at their absolute peak but they are not far off and we can rotate the forwards on and off the ground anyway."
Form Kangaroos tagger Brady Rawlings is expected to run with Paul Williams while Sydney counterparts Brett Kirk and Jared Crouch will be charged with nullifying the Kangaroos production line; Brent Harvey, Shannon Grant, Daniel Harris and Adam Simpson are among the most effective forward-line suppliers this season.
Rawlings, for his part, has collected the scalps of Adelaide's Andrew McLeod, Hawthorn's Shane Crawford and Blues' Scott Camporeale.
They are without defender Glenn Archer, who faces six weeks out after injuring his knee. But they regain Jess Sinclair, who returns from a five-match ban for striking.
The Kangaroos ended the Swans five-game winning run when the sides met last year. Sunday is the first of the Kangaroos three 2004 "home" matches in Canberra.
The Daily Telegraph
