MCG hoodoo no concern to Swans
Sydney coach Paul Roos isn't worried his team's recent dreadful MCG record or the emotions surrounding Western Bulldogs champion Brad Johnson's imminent retirement will hurt his side in Saturday's AFL semi-final.
The Swans were boosted on Thursday by the listed return of forwards Daniel Bradshaw and Ben McGlynn, who have missed 14 and three games due to knee and cheekbone injuries respectively.
Roos said he expected both to play unless they pulled up sore on Friday.
Key forward Jesse White and small forward Paul Bevan were dropped from the squad, with Roos admitting each were "stiff" to be omitted from a side that has won their last five fixtures.
The Swans will however take their three emergencies to the MCG, where they have lost their three fixtures this season against Hawthorn, Richmond and Melbourne.
Sydney have lost nine of their last 10 matches at the cathedral of the AFL, but Roos said he wasn't worried by that statistic.
"Generally we haven't played a lot at the MCG, but I don't worry about it," Roos said.
"I think it's a great venue. The players enjoy playing there (and) you couldn't get a better ground to play on."
Roos said he wouldn't consider tweaking Sydney's style for the MCG and that they would play their usual game.
The relaxed Sydney mentor didn't expect Johnson's retirement announcement would necessarily provide the Bulldogs with extra emotional incentive.
Roos, who like Sydney co-captain Brett Kirk, is also retiring at the end of this season believed those announcements had more impact in mid-season than before a sudden death game.
"I think this time of year everyone is motivated," Roos said.
"You don't really need anyone that's retiring to be motivated."
Roos also down-played the all the hype over the lengthy Bulldogs' injury list, declaring they still had a "load of talent".
"You look through their midfield, (Matthew) Boyd, (Daniel) Cross, are terrific players and (Ryan) Griffen is a very very good player," Roos said.
"Their forward line is extremely dangerous with (former Sydney full forward Barry Hall) and (Jarrad) Grant kicking six goals a couple of weeks ago.
"In their defence (Brian) Lake is probably all-Australian so they've still got a lot of talent through that footy team."
Asked if Sydney was lucky the Bulldogs couldn't call on sacked midfielder Jason Akermanis, Roos said: "It's not lucky for us, the way he's going on at the moment, it's lucky for them he's not in the footy club," Roos joked.
He was more diplomatic when asked whether Sydney was glad to have got former Brisbane spearhead Bradshaw rather than current Carlton full forward Brendan Fevola, saying it wasn't appropriate for him to comment.
Post a comment about this article
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Becoming a member is free and easy, sign up here.