Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Sydney midfielder James Rowbottom insists no alarm bells are ringing, but admits the flag fancies were handed a “timely reminder” from the Brisbane Lions.
The second-placed Swans are licking their wounds after suffering their third defeat of the season – a dismal 43-point loss to the reigning premiers at the Gabba last Thursday.
Brisbane – this time, well-prepared after a round-one 44-point drubbing – nullified Sydney’s signature handball game and forced uncharacteristic mistakes with high pressure.
The Swans lost the clearance game 46-33, while gifting the Lions eight shots at goal from kick-ins.
While Sydney (48) remain six points ahead of third-place Hawthorn, all three defeats have come against top-five teams.
The Swans first lost to the Hawks in round two, then Geelong in round 11.
Still, Rowbottom says his side aren’t panicking with still eight rounds remaining.
Sydney return to the SCG on Friday night to host the eighth-placed Western Bulldogs, before facing ladder leaders Fremantle (56) at Optus Stadium.
“We’re still sitting second on the ladder, so we’re pretty confident with our game when we play our best,” Rowbottom said.
“We’ve just got to be able to turn to things when the pressure builds and get back to our best in-game. Brisbane are a very good opposition. A couple of things have been a trend for us the last few weeks.
“To really double down on those things that we’ve been working on, it was a timely reminder that to beat the best, you’ve got to have those things in place as you go.”
Sydney coach Dean Cox will be forced to make at least two changes with key forward Joel Amartey (Achilles) and defender Sam Wicks (hamstring) injured after the Lions clash.
Hayden McLean appears next cab off the rank for Amartey, while Matt Roberts is a possible option in defence – alongside fit-again Dane Rampe, Harry Cunningham and key defender Lewis Melican.
The Swans steamrolled the Bulldogs by 66 points in their round-seven meeting, but Rowbottom isn’t expecting a repeat of their fortunes.
Welcoming back a raft of injured stars like Aaron Naughton and Tim English, the Dogs reignited their finals campaign with five wins from seven matches before last week’s bye.
“They’ve got 11 players that didn’t play in that game that are playing this game, so it’s a very different opposition that we’ll come up against,” Rowbottom said.
“You’ve got to adjust in-game and take what other teams give you. If they want to guard our handball game and how we want to play as a first preference, then we’ve just got to find other avenues.
“We’ve worked very hard with our offence coach and our team as a whole to put things in place, so when that does happen we can turn to that on game day.”
