When a footy team chooses to wear a white strip for a match alarm bells ring inside me. You know, running up the white flag and all that. And that is how it played out at Adelaide Oval. Bloodless Swans outplayed by Magpies in Gather Round. The stylish outfits were part of a marketing exercise for raising awareness about giving blood. All very worthy but AFL is about winning games of footy and players dressed as metrosexual models does not bode well for results in my book. We used to call AFL umpires white maggots back in the day and guess what colour outfits they used to wear?

Bloods Missing In Action In Adelaide Against Dominant Magpies

Collingwood were too good, and too tough, all over the ground. The Sydney Swans paled in comparison and got worse as the night went on. Isaac Heeney could hold his head up high as one of the few Swans who won contests and made things happen. Yes, too many youngsters could not handle the Magpie pressure and Sydney was missing many stars. It was not only newbies in the side, however, who failed to handle the going. Beaten around the ball at centre bounces a largely ineffective Swans midfield were too often chasing tail. Perhaps, those white jerseys were sending the wrong message to the playing group, who knows?

White Swans Lacking Blood’s Intensity In Capitulation To Magpies

Steele Sidebottom ran amok all over the ground cutting the Swans to pieces all night. One wonders what Dean Cox was up to in the box because it sure wasn’t savvy coaching. The pressure level for Collingwood was elite for four quarters whereas the Swans waxed and waned. The Swans defence was appalling in the second half in particular. Collingwood forwards marked the ball with ease. Not sure if Joel Hamling is up to AFL standard anymore, the number of times he was beaten and threw his head back in shame I thought he would get whiplash. Dane Rampe was repeatedly defeated in contests. Tom McCartin is obviously confused because he was defending as if he was in the forward line, playing on inappropriately and not spoiling when he should. Swans defenders were going for the mark when they should have been spoiling and being outmarked by Collingwood’s Triple ‘M’ tall forwards. In the avian struggle Magpies outperformed Swans hands down. Bloodless Swans outplayed by Magpies in Gather Round.

“Collingwood has made itself at home at Adelaide Oval, out-pressuring Sydney for a 31-point win in the AFL’s Gather Round.”

• (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-11/afl-live-blog-collingwood-magpies-vs-sydney-swans/105168004)

Swans Aerially Ineffective In Adelaide

Brody Grundy toiled hard all night and did some solid stuff in the ruck. He does not mark or contest aerially enough around the ground, however. Peter Ladhams was a waste of space up forward but tried his best on ball. Ladhams plays small for a big man. Acting Captain James Rowbottom was, as always, a strong physical presence all game but lacked cut through in attack. Chad Warner was poor all night. James Jordan doggedly stuck to his Nick task all night and reduced his influence on the game. Ollie Florent is not the player he was and his ball use is iffy. Jake Lloyd falls into that category too.

Collingwood Masterful Over Swans

Bloodless Swans outplayed by Magpies in Gather Round. Collingwood wanted the ball more and played with far more dash and intensity. Their defence was masterful. Hayden McLean dropped marks and was well beaten by the Magpie’s Captain on the night. Too many young Swans were pushed aside and positioned themselves poorly to impact the contest. In truth, the Sydney team never gave up competing but were woefully ineffective going forward, especially in the final term. The Swan’s clangers and mistakes mounted up like the score during a bad round at Augusta National. The Magpie pressure would have been responsible for this.

This was a Friday night failure that Sydney would rather forget in their bloodless display.

Swan Injuries Colour Season 2025

One wonders why Sydney have entered season 2025 with so many injuries to key players? Callum Mills has hardly played since 2023. Injuries to key forwards delayed their returns to the team and McDonald is still playing VFL. The Errol Gulden injury was an unfortunate footy accident and the loss of arguably their best player for half a season.

“The club has said the back-to-back All-Australian will get more of an insight into his recovery timeline when he meets with his surgeon in coming weeks, with a return in the second half of the season being eyed.”

• (https://www.afl.com.au/news/1287087/guldens-return-date-becomes-clearer-after-serious-ankle-injury)

Tom Papley is out for many weeks after only playing a couple of rounds in 2025. Taylor Adams is another senior player missing with injury for weeks. Robbie Fox, Harry Cunningham, and Lewis Melican all missing with injuries. https://www.sydneyswans.com.au/news/1752081/injury-update-round-5

Robert Sudha Hamilton is the author of America Matters: Pre-apocalyptic Posts & Essays in the Shadow of Trump.

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