THE SYDNEY Swans have problems.
Against Hawthorn at ANZ Stadium on Saturday night, the powerful Hawks carved up their fellow premiership aspirants with speed, skill and use of space.
The Hawks were sublime. The Swans were insipid.
They were missing four likely best 22 players on Saturday night – Mike Pyke, Gary Rohan, Jeremy Laidler and Ben McGlynn – but none were likely to make a difference against the Hawks.
The issue for the Swans now is that they don't bat deep enough. The big bucks outlaid to get Kurt Tippett and Lance Franklin, and the complications they have caused to the salary cap and the ability to trade, has eaten away at the club's depth and they don't appear to have adequate reinforcements in the NEAFL.
They travel to Perth next week and they will likely have to tackle the high-scoring Eagles without Ted Richards, who faces at least a week on the sidelines for his errant bump on Sam Mitchell.
But the biggest issue for the Swans is their forward line. Franklin has been sound this year – not at the level of last season or his best years at the Hawks – but that's it. Tippett won 23 hit-outs on Saturday night but the damning figure was zero, as in numbers of marks taken.
What is becoming increasingly clear is that Tippett hasn't delivered anything near the return the Swans would have hoped for – and expected – when they handed him that eye-popping contract at the start of 2013. The partnership with Franklin has yet to really gel to the point where the Swans have become as Franklin-conscious as the Hawks were in 2011 and 2012, at which point Alastair Clarkson decided it was unsustainable if the Hawks were to win the premiership.
Discussion has moved to whether Tippett might be best suited as a ruckman. That might be the answer, but that's not why they recruited him and handed him the big bucks and they are entitled to ask why he doesn't stand up and perform on the big occasions, which Saturday night at ANZ Stadium was.
There remains enough silk in the Swans best 8-10 players that they should finish in the top four. But they might lack the weaponry to go any further.
Conversely, the Hawks were incredible. And after a week when the aesthetics of football were placed under the microscope when even the game's most sensible talking head, Leigh Matthews, floated the concept of introducing zones to the game, the Hawks should be admired.
In fact, they rescued what had been a turgid weekend of football with a breathtaking display.
The Hawks won by 89 points despite the Swans having the edge in contested possessions, clearances, centre clearances and tackles. The Hawks kicked a remarkable 23.8 from 52 inside 50s and the spread of goalkickers – 12 this time around – demonstrates how hard the Hawks hard to defend.
Five of those came from Jarryd Roughead. The tragic events in Adelaide have naturally – and rightly – dominated the headlines the past few weeks, but for Roughead to suffer a cancer scare, lose 9kg and then kick five goals in his return game is extraordinary.
The social media take on Sunday morning was that Hawthorn is now the raging flag favourites although the hardheads at the club will be reminding everyone that the Hawks played at this level at times during both 2011 and 2012 without taking home the silverware.
Carlton on Friday night should not pose too many problems other than the third game in 12 days factor that might prompt some 'player management', but Richmond and West Coast come after that. Win those and a top two spot beckons and then the raging flag favouritism might be justified.
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