Swans beat Giants amid COVID chaos, Eagles return to winner’s circle

Lance Franklin has helped lift the Sydney Swans to a stunning 26-point win over GWS in a fixture where several players from both sides were unavailable due to coronavirus protocols.

In earlier matches on Sunday, West Coast defeated Adelaide by 42 points, Carlton posted a 29-point win against Collingwood, and Essendon scored a three-goal victory over North Melbourne.

Sydney trailed by 35 points early in the second quarter but came to life leading into half-time in the derby on the Gold Coast on Sunday night.

After a quiet first half, Franklin finished with four goals, which included his 400th for the Swans, in the 15.8 (98) to 11.6 (72) victory.

He played a leading hand in the turnaround and capitalised as the Sydney midfield began to find their groove.

The Swans put together a run of nine goals, including six unanswered in the third term, to ultimately quash the Giants’ hopes of jumping into the top eight.

Callum Mills, Harry Cunningham and Colin O’Riordan (Swans) and Toby Greene and Matt de Boer (Giants) were forced to pull out less than an hour before the first bounce after the Victorian Government upgraded their COVID-19 exposure sites.

Unselected Giants Kieren Briggs and Jake Stein and Sydney ruckman Callum Sinclair are also isolating.

The group were among 15 players and staff from both clubs who attended the Wallabies’ rugby union Test in Melbourne on Tuesday and were in an area of AAMI Park that was reclassified as tier 2 exposure.

They are all in quarantine under Queensland Health department requirements until further notice.

The Giants’ woes were further compounded with injuries to Josh Kelly (ankle) and ruckman Matt Flynn, who left the field on two occasions after appearing to dislocate his shoulder twice.

Sydney have now notched three wins in a row and are sixth on the ladder, while the Giants sit in 12th position and are two points outside the top eight.

Tom Papley also finished with four majors for the Swans, while teammate Luke Parker was atop the disposals count with 31.

Remarkably, the Swans kicked 12 of the last 14 goals.

The Giants came flying out of the blocks against a sluggish opposition, kicking six first-quarter goals to open up a 37-8 lead at the end of the opening term.

They stretched the lead to 50-16 midway through the second quarter before the Swans scored three straight to reduce the margin to 56-40 at half-time.

Harry Himmelberg had a strong match for the Giants with three goals.

Cripps stars in Eagles’ win

Veteran Jamie Cripps has slotted five goals to snap West Coast out of the doldrums with a 42-point beating of Adelaide.

Cripps starred as the Eagles ended a three-match losing streak with a 14.14 (98) to 8.8 (56) victory at Adelaide Oval.

For all their apparent recent doom and gloom, the seventh-placed Eagles are now a win clear inside the top eight.

Cripps’s heroics loomed large as the Crows slumped to their fourth consecutive loss.

The 193-gamer collected 25 disposals, while fellow forward Liam Ryan kicked three goals from seven scoring shots.

Teammate Andrew Gaff (34 disposals) was influential, combining with Tim Kelly (26 disposals) and Elliot Yeo (23 disposals, one goal) to form a dominant midfield.

And in defence, captain Shannon Hurn, Jeremy McGovern and Brad Shepherd took 28 marks between them against a misfiring Adelaide attack.

Adelaide forward Darcy Fogarty and the industrious Ben Keays (30 disposals) both kicked two majors.

Ruckman Reilly O’Brien (27 hit-outs, six marks) performed well around the ground against Eagles’ 200-gamer Nic Naitanui (30 hit-outs) while Adelaide’s Brodie Smith, also playing his 200th match, collected 27 disposals.

A Taylor Walker strike for the Crows ended 23 goalless minutes and gave his side a 1.3 to 0.3 quarter-time lead over the Eagles, whose spearhead Josh Kennedy was a late withdrawal because of a calf injury.

The Crows’ advantage was short-lived, as West Coast scored three goals in five minutes to open the second term.

Eagles stalwart Jack Darling levelled scores and Cripps then booted two majors in a minute.

Adelaide got within one point and two points respectively after two Fogarty goals including a superb 50-metre set shot from the boundary line.

The visitors held a two-point half-time buffer, 4.6 to 4.4, before Cripps again took the spotlight.

First, he crumbed a shrewd Naitanui tap to slot his third goal and five minutes later he marked and converted to put his side 14 points up.

Fellow small forward Jack Petruccelle then kicked two goals and the visitors held a 21-point break at three quarter-time.

The Eagles then scored four goals to two in the last term despite on-baller Luke Shuey sitting out most of the quarter because of injury.

Bombers scrape past Roos

Essendon remains right in the thick of the finals race after overcoming a lacklustre start to beat North Melbourne by 18 points in Carrara.

The Bombers were sluggish out of the blocks early then were plagued by poor goal kicking, before turning the match in their favour in the third term and holding the Kangaroos at bay to prevail 13.14 (92) to 11.8 (74).

Jake Stringer booted four second-half goals to steer the Bombers to victory, while big man Peter Wright (three goals, 20 disposals) and midfield duo Zach Merrett (39 disposals and nine clearances) and Darcy Parish (34 disposals, eight clearances) were excellent throughout.

The Kangaroos were without gun inside midfielder Ben Cunnington but boom youngster Tarryn Thomas was everywhere in the first half, racking up 15 touches and a goal across the opening two quarters before finishing with 23 disposals.

Jy Simpkin (23 disposals, seven clearances) and Luke Davies-Uniacke (21 disposals, six clearances) were industrious around the stoppages throughout while Aaron Hall was busy off half-back.

The Kangaroos burst out of the blocks, booting the first two goals of the match in quick succession and impressing with their run and dare to take an early lead.

The Bombers lifted their intensity after quarter-time but were left to rue poor goal kicking in the second quarter and trailed by 10 points at the main break.

They seized control through the contest in the third quarter but largely peppered the goals without reward until Devon Smith put them in front with a classy snap.

Tristan Xerri briefly regained the lead for the Kangaroos before Wright’s third goal kick-started a run of three consecutive majors to hand the Bombers control.

Curtis Taylor sparked the Kangaroos with two final-quarter goals but Stringer, who was arguably the difference in the second half, and Cale Hooker struck late to wrap up the four points.

Blues run down Magpies

Carlton has kept its slim finals hopes alive with a stirring come-from-behind win over traditional rivals Collingwood, prevailing by 29 points at the MCG.

Midfielders Sam Walsh, Matthew Kennedy and Paddy Dow stood up in the absence of injured co-captain Patrick Cripps to help fire the Blues to a 13.13 (91) to 9.8 (62) victory in front of empty stands.

The Blues had trailed by four goals before half-time but kicked nine of the last 10 majors, including six unanswered in the final term, to steamroll the lowly Magpies.

Walsh was best afield with an equal career-best 38 disposals and five clearances, and kicked a crucial final-quarter goal.

The brilliant third-year midfielder brushed off a John Noble tackle and stepped inside Jack Crisp before slamming the ball on his boot under pressure.

It sailed through, putting the Blues 13 points clear and sparking wild celebrations among Walsh’s teammates.

Eddie Betts (two goals) had put Carlton in front for the first time moments earlier and key forward Harry McKay thrust himself into the match with four crucial goals in the final term.

The Coleman Medal leader had been kept scoreless by Jordan Roughead to three-quarter time.

Jordan De Goey, Taylor Adams and Brodie Grundy were in the thick of the action for Collingwood and emerging star Oliver Henry finished with three goals.

But the Magpies were listless in the final term in a complete form reversal from the previous week, when they overran Richmond late in the piece.

There was a touching tribute from Jack Silvagni to his late grandfather and Carlton club legend Sergio Silvagni, who died during the week, when he pointed to the heavens after a strong mark and goal during the second term.

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Silvagni evoked memories of his high-flying father Stephen with a huge ride on Isaac Quaynor’s back in the final quarter, hauling in a mark-of-the-year contender.

Collingwood lost Josh Thomas to concussion from a clash of heads with teammate Darcy Cameron before half-time.

AAP