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2. Hayden McLean<\/p>\n
Not as effective as he can be forward of the ball. Chopped out in the ruck, but overall, below his best. 4<\/p>\n
4. Brodie Grundy<\/p>\n
An intriguing matchup with Luke Jackson. Grundy was quiet early but responded to pretty well nullify his superstar counterpart. Big mark in the defensive goalsquare in the second term seemed to get Grundy going. Jason Dunstall noted at half-time it was an \u201centhralling battle\u201d but neither was having a \u201ctelling impact.\u201d You\u2019d still probably give the points to Jackson. 6<\/p>\n
6. Logan McDonald<\/p>\n
Reputation is rising. A strong night from the rising forward, who kicked a game-high three goals after a bag of six against Brisbane two weeks ago. Looked dangerous early and would\u2019ve been celebrated as one of Sydney\u2019s heroes had it gotten over the line. \u201cLogan McDonald is fast becoming one of the best young key forwards,\u201d Jack Riewoldt said. The best key forward on the night for either side and Sydney\u2019s highest-rated player. 7<\/p>\n
8. James Rowbottom<\/p>\n
All heart and simply enormous defensively. A brilliant defensive passage with multiple tackle efforts led to a crucial Angus Sheldrick goal in the third term in a trademark moment. \u201cIt\u2019s plays that win you prelims \u2014 unbelievable defensive play!,\u201d David King said. Finished with 14 touches and seven tackles but went at just 42 per cent disposal efficiency. 7<\/p>\n
9. Jesse Dattoli<\/p>\n
Led hard to service and create space for the likes of Logan McDonald and Charlie Curnow but not enough impact. 3<\/p>\n
11. Tom Papley<\/p>\n
Played with captain energy and set the standards for his teammates with elite defensive pressure. Kicked Sydney\u2019s second goal \u2014 and didn\u2019t it energise his side?! \u201cYou can\u2019t leave him \u2014 it\u2019s as simple as that!\u201d David King said afterwards. Looked like he was going to tear Fremantle apart at times. But came from the ground with a knee injury concern in the third term and struggled to get involved when he returned. Had Judd McVee for company in what looked like was going to be a long night for the Dockers defender early. 6<\/p>\n
12. Angus Sheldrick<\/p>\n
Did his usual work in the trenches. Big-time snap goal in the third term when Fremantle started to push. Laid six tackles but only 12 disposals and one clearance in 65 per cent game time. Sydney\u2019s second-highest rated player. 5<\/p>\n
13. Jai Serong<\/p>\n
\ufeffAgain filled a midfield role with 23 disposals to go with six tackles but went at just 34 per cent disposal efficiency. We\u2019ll give him some let off for that in a scrappy game in a pretty good night for the recruit. Imagine if someone told you a year ago Jai Serong would be playing as a pure midfielder in a preliminary final? The ex-Hawk has come a long way. 6<\/p>\n
15. Sam Wicks<\/p>\n
Some questionable defensive moments and sloppy ball use. Not his best night. 4<\/p>\n
16. Braeden Campbell<\/p>\n
Nailed Sydney\u2019s first goal with a brilliant snap after consecutive Freo majors to start the game. Not a heap of impact thereafter, ending with 13 touches and five tackles. 5<\/p>\n
Suspended Swans expected for pre-season | 00:53<\/p>\n
21. Errol Gulden<\/p>\n
Tried his heart out as Sydney\u2019s best. Gulden left everything out there in a big night through the midfield. But he missed his usual star running partners in what felt like a one-man show at times against Freo\u2019s star-studded group. Sydney\u2019s main ball winner and playmaker and always took great mileage with his disposal. Racked up game-highs in disposals (36), tackles (eight) and metres gained (766) \u201cOne of the few mids out there able to find genuine space. Freo hasn\u2019t put a lot of time into him and are happy to let him roam far and wide,\u201d Jason Dunstall said at half-time. Very close to a nine. 8<\/p>\n
24. Dane Rampe<\/p>\n
Strong all night in defence including stints on Patrick Voss when the Dockers forward was well held. The stand-in skipper marshalled Sydney\u2019s back six brilliantly across the first three quarters, before that defence broke down. Curiously spent a key chunk of the fourth term on the bench. Could it be the last time we see the 36-year old? 7<\/p>\n
25. Billy Cootee<\/p>\n
Worked hard all night and played with the right intent but minimal impact overall. 3<\/p>\n
27. Justin McInerney<\/p>\n
Some baptism of fire getting thrown back in for a prelim. \ufeffKicked a huge, energy-lifting goal in the second term that lit up the SCG. But, as expected, below his best in limited time on ground in his return from a hamstring injury. Ended with 14 touches and a goal. 5<\/p>\n
29. Joel Hamling<\/p>\n
Defines one percenters. Defended well all night and provided great coverage for his teammates and shut down Jye Amiss at times. \ufeff\u201cHe\u2019s not about kicks, marks and handballs, he is just about stopping one of those big key forwards,\u201d Jack Riewoldt said. Hamling took a game-high four intercept marks and did his bit. 6<\/p>\n
30. Tom McCartin<\/p>\n
Did everything he could in defence. Completely owned Josh Treacy, who was goalless for just the third time this season, in one of the star forward\u2019s most quiet performances you can recall. McCartin also produced game-highs in intercepts (11), one percenters (10) and spoils (nine). 8<\/p>\n
32. Harry Kyle<\/p>\n
Part of a Swans defence that barely let up all night… until that fourth quarter capitulation. Had seven intercepts \u2014 the second-most of any Swan. 6<\/p>\n
Cox rues missed chances in Freo defeat | 09:52<\/p>\n
33. Caiden Cleary<\/p>\n
Played with a great defensive edge including a big tackle on Matt Johnson in the opening term. Nailed a cracking goal from a tight angle in the second term, too. Handy role player. 6<\/p>\n
34. Matt Roberts<\/p>\n
Gathered 17 disposals across the wing and defence in a solid enough night. 5<\/p>\n
35 Charlie Curnow<\/p>\n
An almost night for the star recruit but never really got going. Curnow didn\u2019t hit the scoreboard like he can, but played an important role structurally by putting himself in good spots. Massive mark and goal in the third term that separated the game. Needed a few more big moments like that. 5<\/p>\n
40. Tom Hanily<\/p>\n
Played his role by putting great heat on the ball in the first half \u2014 where he laid four tackles \u2014 but quiet in the second half. 5<\/p>\n
43. Lewis Melican<\/p>\n
Stood mighty tall in defence and blanketed Patrick Voss for the majority of the night. That included the Dockers forward recording just one disposal in the first half. 6<\/p>\n
44. Jake Lloyd<\/p>\n
Found plenty of the ball with 21 touches and over 500 metres gained. Lloyd was diligent defensively in a solid night for the veteran. 6<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Errol Gulden left everything out there and Tom Papley looked like he was going to tear Fremantle apart…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":897337,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,85,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-897336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-sports","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/897336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=897336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/897336\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/897337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=897336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=897336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=897336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}