Sydney senior coach John Longmire gave credit to Fremantle’s backline for making life hard for his forwards following Freo’s 31-point win at Optus Stadium on Saturday night.
The Swans’ score of 2.7 (19) was the club’s lowest score since relocating from South Melbourne to Sydney in 1982, although games in 2020 are played with shorter quarters.
Fremantle now average 52.9 points against in 2020, the second lowest in the AFL. Since round seven, when Fremantle arrived in the WA hub, that average has been 41.7 points against per game.
Longmire said Sydney’s low score wasn’t for a lack of opportunity, with the Swans’ convincingly winning the inside 50 count 43 to 34.
“Probably the second half in particular (the problem was) was our connection forward of centre,” Longmire said.
“We had 26 inside 50s to 14 and probably only had four scoring shots. That’s not normally the case, we’ve been able to get lower inside 50s and put the score on the scoreboard quite well.
“That’s something that hasn’t been the norm.
Longmire credited the likes of Brennan Cox and Luke Ryan, who won the Goodes-O’Loughlin Medal as the best on ground.
“Cox had five contested marks as a defender and we couldn’t bring the ball to ground, Ryan played an extremely good game,” Longmire said.
“We knew going in the strengths of their back six, back seven has been very good.
“They put us under pressure up the ground, their midfielders pressured well an they certainly showed us up in a few areas.”
