Roos Shoots For Six Straight Before Pies Blockbuster

Sydney Morning Herald

Monday June 16, 2008

Michael Cowley

IT'S been billed as a blockbuster and Sydney's clash with Collingwood at ANZ Stadium on July 5 not only appears certain to live up to the expectations, but could determine both teams' chances of a top-four finish.

After their win over St Kilda on Saturday night, Paul Roos stressed to his team they must not get too far ahead of themselves.

Next Sunday, Sydney travel to Canberra to meet bottom-of-the-ladder Melbourne. A win would have them perfectly placed heading into the following week's bye.

"Next week's a massive game for us to make sure we capitalise on our good form," Roos said. "I spoke after the game about how important this game is. We have to prepare this week, and do everything we can to win, then we can relax next week before preparing for Collingwood. But for now we have to be working as hard as we can.

"If we can get over the line against Melbourne, that will give us six [wins] in a row and then the guys can have the weekend off and regroup a bit. But we need to keep things going this week. It's a really big game for us and really important to go into the break with a sixth win."

The Swans under Roos have only once before managed to string together six wins, in 2006.

While their form has been impressive, winning makes it tough for a number of Sydney's senior players currently in the seconds to break back into the main team - players such as Nick Davis, who booted five goals in the reserves on Saturday, and Nic Fosdike, who was among their best against Ainslie.

One change Roos could make is to bring back ruckman Peter Everitt, who missed Saturday's win with a hamstring injury. The coach said Everitt was a 50-50 chance of playing against the Demons.

Saturday's win was a milestone for Roos. He became only the 15th man to participate in 500 VFL/AFL matches as a player and coach, comprising 269 games for Fitzroy and 87 for Sydney as a player, and 144 games as coach of the Swans. He joins the likes of Kevin Sheedy (886 games), Jock McHale (878), Leigh Matthews (783), Mick Malthouse (750) David Parkin (729) and Ron Barassi (719).

However, Roos recalled that his playing debut didn't indicate that he had a long career ahead. "We got smashed and I got dropped the next week," he said. "My career looked like it was going to be over after one game.

"When you ... reflect on how fortunate you are, there's been so many people involved in footy, so to be one of just 15 is quite flattering. It's exciting when you look at the list of names, and it's something you're proud of, and you reflect on those times and all the good memories you've got and I was fortunate to be involved with two really good clubs, Fitzroy and Sydney."

© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald

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