Match thread: Sydney Swans v Carlton March 5 2026 07:30 PM AEST @ SCG

[Velour&Ruffles]

For me, Serong is starting to give off Craig Bolton/Ted Richards vibes.

We can only hope, but tonight was a very encouraging start. And I’d be well satisfied with Marty Mattner or Andrew Schauble vibes.

[Kafka's Ghost]

The first half; unbelievably sloppy.
The second half; unbelievably explosive. How good can we be when we put it all together?! Top games from McInerney and Roberts, and Serong looks like stalwart already. Always great to pump the Blues, too.

[dejavoodoo44]

I have no idea how to interpret that bi-polar performance. Woeful in the first half, but when the switch flicked that was wild - especially in the third. Outrageous quality there when we get it right - but we can't play a quarter and a half of footy against good teams.

And well Carlton - who gives a @@@@ about them. Long may they rot in pugatory.

Big call out to Serong - he was terrific. Massive Teddy Richards/Craig Bolton vibes. Reckon he will rapidly be part of our back 6 - was showing real leadership already. Very happy.

Rosas had his moments too - great to have another little forward that will bring pressure.

Gulden reminded us just how majestic and magnificent he is when he gets going. What a footballer when he has time and space.

Next week will be interesting - if we play like the first half at any stage, Brisbane will chew us up and spit it out. But play like the second half and there is no ceiling.

Going to be some hard decisions to be made selection wise when we get our couple of players back. While I think Rampe may continue to continue on, I do have real concerns about Lloyd. If he is going to play further forward, he has to kick goals. Suspect he may well be squeezed out sooner rather than later.

Yes, to sum up our first half performance, I was very tempted to post the famous sequence from The Simpsons, of Sideshow Bob constantly stepping on upturned rakes. Our ball handling was totally inept. Then Errol cut loose early in the third quarter, then suddenly confidence and skill level lifted right through the team. After that onslaught, the game was essentially over well before three quarter time.

Though in one way, it might be the sort of performance that we don’t really need. That is, back in 2024, it seemed to me that the team got it into their heads, that they could finish teams off by playing a couple of ten or twenty minute bursts. Which may have led to increasingly undisciplined performances, where those quality bursts never really came. But of course, no team can be totally switched on right throughout the season. And at this stage, I'm not sure what I really want? Do I want to see grinding wins, where we win contested possessions, clearances and the tackle count, with the occasional flash of brilliance? Or am I happy with wins like tonight, where everything comes together in bursts that seem unstoppable, but which leave many of us fans wondering what the hell they were doing for much of the game? Who knows?

Anyway, the coaches votes will be interesting. Will they give Errol maximum votes for turning the game? Or will it be McInerney, who was possibly a bit better for most of the game? Serong might get a vote or two, as he was possibly our best when Carlton were on top in the first half. Warner was probably our best midfielder in the first half and did some classy things in the second. Mills had some steadying involvements. Curnow had a useful first game. I liked the way Amartey crashed a few packs. And apart from the Pittonet goals, Grundy generally had the better of the Carlton rucks. Actually, pretty much everyone played well in the second half.

[neilfws]

Hard to know what to make of that one. In terms of opposition especially, Carlton last year were often "a good half and then they're done", and were again last night. The first quarter pace was frenetic and they looked quicker and cleaner than the Swans.

Still - I enjoyed the third quarter immensely - the SCG had that "party time" vibe. Obviously great for Curnow to get his first goals on the board - Franklin, wonderful though he was, never seemed to go well against his old side. I like the look of Serong and Rosas - the latter very lively, they have clearly earned their spots. Great game from McInerney, great long bomb goals from Roberts!

Next week will be a better measure of the side but for now, I like this new high scoring team!

[SwanSand]

Amazing 3rd quarter. Everyone was excellent. It was good to see we could get our game plan going despite the opposition inserting themselves.
hard to repeat that one against quality opposition.
The rules of statue at mark help with forward handball. Nevertheless we should take it for percentage. The current rules will cause havoc in terms of how many goals would be kicked this season. I think there are going to be massive blow outs.

It would be interesting to see how we go next week. But our midfield scoring goals makes it interesting and possible to beat up the lions but the space afforded to us won’t be there and the defensive structure would need to tighten up and paid attention to otherwise on turn over they will really bury us.

[crackedactor 01]

I am still trying to work out the first half of football. They played like there were under a trance. Hard to access where the Swans are at as I felt Carlton were so poor. One thing I feel confident about is when we have Gulden, Heeney and Warner playing in the centre, we have the best centreline in the comp.

[lwjoyner]

Not sure Lloyd will hang on. Kyle in particyular our first draft pick, Corey W and CC awaiting a spot. Depends how they go in reseves prctice games. Also still think hayden a better bet than Joel Amartey a better choice as back up ruck to give Grundy a short spell and a better kick for goal.

[KSAS]

Though in one way, it might be the sort of performance that we don’t really need. That is, back in 2024, it seemed to me that the team got it into their heads, that they could finish teams off by playing a couple of ten or twenty minute bursts. Which may have led to increasingly undisciplined performances, where those quality bursts never really came. But of course, no team can be totally switched on right throughout the season. And at this stage, I'm not sure what I really want? Do I want to see grinding wins, where we win contested possessions, clearances and the tackle count, with the occasional flash of brilliance? Or am I happy with wins like tonight, where everything comes together in bursts that seem unstoppable, but which leave many of us fans wondering what the hell they were doing for much of the game? Who knows?

I was also thinking if there is still dangerous shades of 2024 where we'd relied too much on Chad, Heeney & Gulden to get us out trouble with brilliant bursts of footy?

Too early and too small sample to make any comparisons as yet. But it was pleasing seeing the likes of MciInerney also taking on the game when we needed it.

Also happy we weren't too Curnow focused with multiple goal kickers spread about. As mentioned, good to see Serong & Rosas make promising debuts. Hopefully the limited minutes did Papley good.

Relieved we got win, particularly after the poor start, as i was toey about this one.

[Industrial Fan]

Carlton werent that good in the first half, and neither were we that bad. The conditions were super humid and slippery. Our footy improved with Errol obviously, but the conditions noticebly changed as the sun dropped. We didnt play the conditions very well and made lots of sloppy errors but the intent was there the whole way.

As we got moving Carlton started second guessing and hearing footsteps. Voss gets sacked mid season imo.

Does Oli get fine for his knee on Heeney?

[stevoswan]

I can't watch anymore.....I've had a bad vibe all week about this match.....and of course, the umps are just being ****s. 7 to 12 free kick count.

How can the team produce this puke after looking at least competent in the pre-season games? I'm off to watch a movie and will just keep the fingers crossed.

Well, I should have stuck with the game but I really enjoyed that movie.....then to discover that we'd got our s*** together in the second half was joyous. I think we'll be ok.

Finding the BS about Florent and Mills supposed 'terse' exchange very annoying. I saw footage of them hugging and chatting before they walked off the ground. I think photographer Michael Wilson is just a liar.

[UUaswan]

Amazing 3rd quarter. Everyone was excellent. It was good to see we could get our game plan going despite the opposition inserting themselves.
hard to repeat that one against quality opposition.
The rules of statue at mark help with forward handball. Nevertheless we should take it for percentage. The current rules will cause havoc in terms of how many goals would be kicked this season. I think there are going to be massive blow outs.

It would be interesting to see how we go next week. But our midfield scoring goals makes it interesting and possible to beat up the lions but the space afforded to us won’t be there and the defensive structure would need to tighten up and paid attention to otherwise on turn over they will really bury us.

A few times we burst thru and had a hole at CHF.
Our fwds, or at least one of them, needs to run at the ball instead of toward goal.

Andrews will love that next week if we blaze

Curnow was good as well, playing on Weitering is no walk in the park

[wolftone57]

Yes, to sum up our first half performance, I was very tempted to post the famous sequence from The Simpsons, of Sideshow Bob constantly stepping on upturned rakes. Our ball handling was totally inept. Then Errol cut loose early in the third quarter, then suddenly confidence and skill level lifted right through the team. After that onslaught, the game was essentially over well before three quarter time.

Though in one way, it might be the sort of performance that we don’t really need. That is, back in 2024, it seemed to me that the team got it into their heads, that they could finish teams off by playing a couple of ten or twenty minute bursts. Which may have led to increasingly undisciplined performances, where those quality bursts never really came. But of course, no team can be totally switched on right throughout the season. And at this stage, I'm not sure what I really want? Do I want to see grinding wins, where we win contested possessions, clearances and the tackle count, with the occasional flash of brilliance? Or am I happy with wins like tonight, where everything comes together in bursts that seem unstoppable, but which leave many of us fans wondering what the hell they were doing for much of the game? Who knows?

Anyway, the coaches votes will be interesting. Will they give Errol maximum votes for turning the game? Or will it be McInerney, who was possibly a bit better for most of the game? Serong might get a vote or two, as he was possibly our best when Carlton were on top in the first half. Warner was probably our best midfielder in the first half and did some classy things in the second. Mills had some steadying involvements. Curnow had a useful first game. I liked the way Amartey crashed a few packs. And apart from the Pittonet goals, Grundy generally had the better of the Carlton rucks. Actually, pretty much everyone played well in the second half.

I thought Serong was good all game. One of the few who stood up during the first half. I was stunned by the ineptitude of our play in the first half. fumbling, dreadful disposal, players just stopping and not chasing. It's as if they just decided they didn't want to play. It was our ineptitude that made them look good. By that I mean, they were missing targets too but were not fumbling and missing them by metres. It's as though they looked at the movie Valentine's Day and decided 'We can play that badly'. We can't afford another half of footy as bad as that one, especially against a real team. more like the second half please

[dejavoodoo44]

Carlton werent that good in the first half, and neither were we that bad. The conditions were super humid and slippery. Our footy improved with Errol obviously, but the conditions noticebly changed as the sun dropped. We didnt play the conditions very well and made lots of sloppy errors but the intent was there the whole way.

As we got moving Carlton started second guessing and hearing footsteps. Voss gets sacked mid season imo.

Does Oli get fine for his knee on Heeney?

I reckon Florent should get a week or two. He seemed to have a good look at Heeney on the ground and then continued on his path. Though of course, since Heeney wasn't properly concussed, the AFL will probably assess the incident as "meh".

[Sandridge]

Finding the BS about Florent and Mills supposed 'terse' exchange very annoying. I saw footage of them hugging and chatting before they walked off the ground. I think photographer Michael Wilson is just a liar.

There's also a photo of them happy together in their civvies well after the game was over. A fabricated "story!"

[dejavoodoo44]

I thought Serong was good all game. One of the few who stood up during the first half. I was stunned by the ineptitude of our play in the first half. fumbling, dreadful disposal, players just stopping and not chasing. It's as if they just decided they didn't want to play. It was our ineptitude that made them look good. By that I mean, they were missing targets too but were not fumbling and missing them by metres. It's as though they looked at the movie Valentine's Day and decided 'We can play that badly'. We can't afford another half of footy as bad as that one, especially against a real team. more like the second half please

We possibly should put that first half abomination down to playing in the heat and humidity of early March and never talk of it again. I might even wipe the recording I made, without even watching it.