Swans Still Have The Will, Says Kirk

Sydney Morning Herald

Monday August 25, 2008

Sebastian Hassett and Chloe Saltau

Collingwood 18.10 (118)

Sydney 10.13 (73)

WE'RE not done yet. That's the view of Sydney captain Brett Kirk, who admits his side might be down on form but still has another week to turn it around before the finals.

Kirk said his side, which has made the finals through good fortune rather than good footy of late, had no option but to try and salvage something from a season which has frittered away over the past two months.

"I think people are disappointed, [but] we know where we are at," Kirk said yesterday after his side was beaten by 45 points by Collingwood on Saturday night. "One game to go against Brisbane and the opportunity to be involved in finals, but that's because we played some good footy early [in the season]. We are not playing like we want to now, but we will keep fighting.

"I guess the guys are trying, but the discipline and things have been inconsistent and it is something we need to keep on top off. We still think we have an opportunity to fight our way out as that opportunity is still there for us."

After round 19 the Swans were fourth but a late season collapse, in which they have lost six of their past eight matches, sees them going into the last match of the home-and-away season in eighth spot.

The Swans were spared the prospect of needing to beat Brisbane this Saturday to seal their spot in September after Carlton staged a courageous last-quarter comeback to down the Lions last Saturday. With St Kilda beating Adelaide yesterday, pushing the Saints to seventh, the top eight is settled - but not its order. Even fourth position is still up for grabs.

While a win and favourable results could propel Sydney to fourth, finishing fifth or sixth would still guarantee a home final in the first week of the finals. A loss will keep them eighth.

The Swans had more disposals than the Magpies (334 to 331) at the weekend, but the Pies had 36 more kicks, 18 more marks and scored 51 per cent of the time they entered their forward 50m - compared with 36.5 per cent for Sydney. Inaccuracy in attack didn't help Sydney either, where they also kicked at less than 50 per cent.

The Magpies began the game with a bang, piling on eight goals to two in the first term to kill the contest by quarter time, but Kirk said he couldn't identify what made the Swans such slow starters.

"I don't have any answers there," Kirk said.

"I guess our players mentally prepare themselves for the game and we are getting jumped, which doesn't help because you have to fight yourself back for the rest of the game.

"It is disappointing early that we were able to be blown out of the water. The reality is that as a team we know where we are at but there is still opportunity there.

"We just have to grit our teeth and keep fighting. We have to look at attacking the situation."

Asked if it was the end of an era, as some critics have suggested, Kirk refused to give a direct answer.

"At the moment we are thinking about Brisbane next week and keep fighting," he said.

"We have been [in the finals] before and if we can get some confidence back and get back to some form that we showed early in the season then anything is possible."

The comments were in contrast to coach Paul Roos's view of his team after Saturday's match.

"At the moment the guys are just incapable of coming with required intensity to compete at AFL football the way it's played now," Roos said.

"You would think it is unlikely we're going to do much damage over the next couple of weeks."

Roos also signalled that with so many players in the final stages of their careers, the chance to squeeze another premiership from the current playing list had passed them by.

"You would have to say from a neutral point of view that this group has run out ... it's hard to go back to the well all the time," he said.

"There's guys there that have just given everything over the last 51/2 years and at the moment other teams are lifting.

"Obviously we're playing some young kids as well but, our group as we know it, that's been so good, is just not capable of producing the performances they once were."

© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald

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