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Swan Districts coach Adam Pickering “couldn’t be prouder” of his side after their ladder-defining win over East Perth.
An electrifying first half and staunch defence trademarked an important win for the Swans to keep the Royals and Peel Thunder at arm’s length as finals approach.
The Black Ducks booted eight goals to three in the first half to set themselves up for a 10.7 (67) to 6.8 (44) win at a wet and muddy Steel Blue Oval.
Although the Swans lost the inside-50 count 48 to 44, the Swans defensive unit stood up in extremely trying conditions.
“I thought our back seven defended really well against a very good forward line and were very good all day,” Pickering said.
Co-captain Brandon Erceg led the way down back, but Pickering said each player was a vital cog in the machine for the Swans’ push for finals.
“Brandon (Erceg) and Tony (Notte) are really important but, Will Collins has been given the best forward and kept them goalless on a number of occasions,” he said.
“The other guys are really underrated too, Anthony Stevens, Jehb O’Donohue, Jackson Beck and Cian Ehlers are really solid defenders and the back seven work really well together.”
Pickering also praised the midfield group for their work rate throughout the game which allowed the forwards to reap the rewards.
“Our connection going inside 50 was a lot better than them (East Perth) today,” Pickering said.
“I think part of that is the pressure we put on in the midfield, we won the tackle count and it allowed us to be more efficient when moving the ball forward.
With five games left in the home and away season, the Swans will get their first taste of finals football as they make a push to hold their spot in the top five.
“We have a little trial finals series coming up,” Pickering said.
“Whatever the five games are, we are playing the best teams in the competition, so we are going to see where we sit.
“It is a really good audit on us and our belief of being a finals team.
“The next five games are really important in terms of our belief, and we are going to find out where we sit.”
Despite the strong hold Steel Blue Oval has become, the Swans have lost their last three away games and if they are to be a finals team they will need to learn how to win away from home since three of the remaining five games are on the road.
“We have a few away games, and they are all very good sides so we will definitely need to be at our best to make finals,” Pickering said.
The loss for East Perth means they are now two games out of the five, but Royals coach Jeremy Barnard’s vision of his team has not waived.
“The main focus is just looking week on week, we’re not focussed about games after the bye, we’re just preparing for Peel and that’s our sole goal” Barnard said.
“We have a couple game plan methods we would like to tweak and hopefully we can rectify them against Peel Thunder next week.”
The severity of former Brisbane Lion Nick Robertson’s ankle injury is unknown after he was carried from the ground and unable to return at all in the second half.
