The Sydney Swans person shaken disconnected a chaotic pre-game and an aboriginal 35-point shortage to assertion the latest Sydney Derby against the GWS Giants.
After Callum Mills, Colin O'Riordan and Harry Cunningham were forced retired of the line-up little than an hr earlier the archetypal bounce, the Swans were rocked aboriginal earlier moving retired 15. 8. (98) to 11. 6. (72) winners astatine Metricon Stadium.
Originally scheduled to beryllium played astatine GIANTS Stadium, this lucifer was past moved to MARS Stadium successful Ballarat earlier yet being shifted to the Gold Coast owed to the processing COVID-19 situation astir Australia.
However, that was not the astir chaotic portion of the lead-up to the match, with 5 players forced to beryllium pulled retired of the contention contempt having gone done pre-match warm-ups.
Youngster James Rowbottom was 1 of 3 Swans to beryllium drafted successful astatine the 11th hour, alongside Dylan Stephens and Ben Ronke, and helium revealed that helium recovered helium was playing portion successful the ablution conscionable implicit an hr retired from the archetypal bounce.
"I was successful the ablution conscionable successful the edifice astir an hr and 10 [minutes] earlier the crippled and [Swans Football Operations Manager Peter Berbakov] rang and said, 'What are you doing?' and I said, 'I'm conscionable successful the edifice chilling retired and helium said, 'Good. Get your cogwheel on, it's been a s--tshow down here, you mightiness beryllium playing'," helium told Swans TV.
"I jumped retired of the shower, got dressed, my woman came up the stairs 2 oregon 3 minutes aboriginal and said, 'What are you doing?' and I said, 'I deliberation I'm playing', and came down with astir fractional an hr to spell and past we were retired there.
"It was a spot of a rattling archetypal fractional and I'm inactive a spot bushed I conjecture from yesterday, but the mode we rallied and came backmost and won was truly impressive."
It was a sensational 2nd fractional from the Swans, who kicked 9 goals to 2 successful an unthinkable burst aft half-time, including a six-goal burst wrong 15 minutes successful the 3rd quarter.
Tom Papley and Lance Franklin were ascendant up guardant and pivotal successful the comeback, combining for 8 goals, portion Justin McInerney and Sam Wicks were the Swans' different aggregate goal-kickers.
To marque matters worse for the Giants, who mislaid their spot successful the apical 8 with the loss, prima midfielder Josh Kelly was subbed disconnected successful the 3rd 4th aft rolling his ankle.
The Giants look Essendon successful a imaginable eight-point clash successful Round 19, portion Sydney volition Fremantle successful different lucifer with monolithic finals implications.
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