Fremantle are bracing for footy war, and that’s exactly what Sydney are planning to give them in Saturday night’s AFL preliminary final at Patersons Stadium.
In many ways, Sydney and Fremantle are cut from the same cloth.
Both teams thrive in contested situations, with Fremantle’s fierce tackling and Sydney’s love of stoppages setting the stage for an intriguing battle on Saturday.
And if Perth’s recent wet and wild weather stretches into the weekend, things could get even messier.
That suits Sydney just fine.
In 2005, AFL boss Andrew Demetriou labelled the Swans as “ugly ducklings” for their unattractive style.
Sydney merely used the comment as ammunition as they charged towards that year’s flag.
The Swans still retain many of the hard-nosed traits first introduced by Paul Roos, and Fremantle skipper Matthew Pavlich said it was a big reason why Sydney were so well respected by their rivals.
“You admire a lot of teams in the AFL but certainly Sydney – their culture, leaders, the way they go about their business – we very much respect what they’re about,” Pavlich said on Thursday.
“And that’s why we’re preparing ourselves for what we call footy war, because it’s going to go until the end.
“We’ve prepared as best we can to make sure that come the 30-minute mark of the last quarter, we’re still there competing, because they are going to be red hot.
“What they’re about is exactly what we’d like to be about as well. We understand how hard a game it’s going to be.”
A refreshed Fremantle will start as strong favourites given they’ll enjoy home-ground advantage and are almost at full strength.
In contrast, Sydney appear battered and bruised, with the reigning premiers missing a host of their best players through injury.
Fremantle have been boosted by the return of All-Australian defender Michael Johnson, with Tom Sheridan forced to make way.
Sydney welcome back Ben McGlynn from a calf injury, but Kurt Tippett (knee) and young gun Tom Mitchell (ankle) join the likes of Adam Goodes, Sam Reid and Rhyce Shaw on the sidelines.
Gary Rohan, who returned from a broken leg earlier this year, earns a recall after being dropped for last week’s semi-final win over Carlton.
Fremantle have established themselves as one of the most disciplined teams in the AFL under coach Ross Lyon, and Sydney veteran Ryan O’Keefe said the Swans would also have to treat Saturday night’s game as a footy war.
“The way they have played this year, their contested ball has been really hard,” O’Keefe said.
“Depending on what the weather does, it could make it even more fierce or more contested in terms of a slippery ball.
“It’s going to be a really tough game.
“But that’s what finals football is all about – it’s doing it harder for longer and seeing who can last the longest.”
Pavlich described Lyon as the best coach he’s had.
And the 289-game veteran said the players were determined to do everything within their powers to book a spot in the grand final.
“What you’ll see from our guys on Saturday night is they’ll leave everything out there,” he said.
“We may win, we may lose but, as long as we can look each other in the eye after the game and say ‘we gave it our all’, we’ll at least be able to move forward as a group.”