Friday’s only AFL Finals Week 1 match is between Hawthorn Hawks and Sydney Swans. The opening bounce is set to commence at 7:50pm local time with the game to be played at MCG. The home team Hawthorn Hawks are the favourites for the match. View our preview and teams for the game between Hawthorn Hawks and Sydney Swans.

Round: Finals Week 1 7:50 PM September 06, 2013
Stadium: MCG
Weather: 20° Cloudy.

Featured Bookmakers:

Hawthorn Hawks $1.50 vs Sydney Swans $2.60 at Sportsbet Australia get a $250 FREE BET on this match

Hawthorn Hawks $1.52 vs Sydney Swans $2.60 at Luxbet Australia get a $500 FREE BET on this match

Odds Comparison by AFL Odds:

Hawthorn Hawks	1.50	1.50	1.52	1.50	1.50	1.50
Sydney Swans	2.60	2.60	2.60	2.60	2.60	2.60

Preview:

After meeting last week in Sydney, the Swans and Hawks line up to do it all again this time, at the MCG.

It wasn’t until the final quarter that Hawthorn were able to wrestle the lead off an under-manned but committed Swans outfit, and hold on to a slender two goal margin at the siren to win 112 – 100.

The win was soured for the Hawks with the reporting and subsequent suspension of star forward Buddy Franklin.

Through concerted efforts, Sydney have been able to keep Franklin relative quiet in their past encounters but with him missing this week, Sydney’s defence can be applied elsewhere, namely to Jarryd Roughead who has kicked four goals in each game the Hawks have had against the Swans this year.

Sydney, who were without Goodes, Tippett and Hannebery, were back to their tenacious best and with the return of the latter two this week, coupled with Franklin’s absence, the 12 point buffer Hawthorn had last week could easily be eroded here.

Sydney’s midfield is the key, led by O’Keefe and Jack, they’ll to produce last week’s effort again to secure victory here.

Sydney were great for 90% of last week’s match but to beat Hawthorn requires a 100% effort.

The Hawks showed last week though, why they’re the benchmark in the competition. They didn’t panic when behind early in the peace and showed signs of a seasoned and professional team to produce goals and take advantage of opportunities at precisely the right time.

Hawthorn have won both games this year and three of the last four against the Swans – the one loss was last year’s Grand Final and in three of those matches, no more than 12 points separated the two rivals.

Would expect that this game will be no different those matches or last week, and with some key line-up changes for both sides to be made this week, it should be a brilliant way to kick of this year’s final series.

Teams:

Hawthorn Hawks:
B: Stratton Lake Guerra
HB: Burgoyne Gibson Birchall
C: Smith Hodge Hill
HF: Breust Gunston Lewis
F: Puopolo Roughead Rioli
FOLL: Hale, Mitchell, Sewell
INT: Spangher, Whitecross, Bailey, Anderson
EMG: Shiels, Savage, Duryea

In: B.Guerra, M.Bailey, C.Rioli
Out: L.Franklin (suspension), S.Savage, T.Duryea

Sydney Swans:
B: Rampe, Grundy, Malceski
HB: McVeigh, Richards, Smith
C: Everitt, K.Jack, Rohan
HF: Hannebery, White, McGlynn
F: Bolton, Tippett, Mumford
FOLL: Pyke, Kennedy, O’Keefe
INT: Parker, Jetta, Mitchell, Bird
EMG: Biggs, Cunningham, Morton

In: N.Smith, K.Tippett, L.Jetta, D.Hannebery
Out: M.Morton, H.Cunningham, S.Biggs, B.Jack

Swans have turned the corner: Mumford

Sydney ruckman Shane Mumford believes the Swans have turned the corner and are as well placed to claim the AFL premiership as they were at the same stage of last year.

In the final four weeks of the 2013 regular season, the reigning premiers recorded losses to Collingwood, Geelong and Hawthorn.

This year though there’s also a long injury list headlined by dual Brownlow medallist Adam Goodes (knee), which is hardly the ideal preparation for Friday night’s qualifying final against the Hawks at the MCG.

Mumford said there was a lot to like in the team’s last-start 12-point loss to Hawthorn.

“We definitely turned it around on the weekend, compared to where we were a few weeks ago,” Mumford told radio station 2UE.

“We’ve probably got ourselves in just as good a position to push late into September as what we did last year.”

Mumford enjoyed his most productive game of the season last Friday night, grabbing 41 hit-outs and dominating the ruck contests in the absence of Hawthorn’s Max Bailey (general soreness).

The Swans led for the majority of that ANZ Stadium clash, but surrendered the lead early in the final quarter.

Mumford was impressed with the selflessness and grit the Swans had rediscovered after a 44-point away loss to Geelong.

“The way we played the few weeks prior to Friday night, we weren’t great with covering our man and helping (each other out),” the 27-year-old said.

“Working as a team. Basically all the things we do really well when we’re playing our best footy.

“On Friday night, we got back to doing that for three quarters.

“We know it’s going to take a four-quarter effort to beat Hawthorn, but I think we’ve taken a big step forward in terms of getting things back on track.”

Mumford is taking part in STEPtember this month and has already raised almost $1000 for the Cerebral Palsy Alliance.