BOTH Hawthorn and Sydney will take unchanged line-ups into the Grand Final re-match at the MCG on Saturday night.
Alastair Clarkson and John Longmire have chosen not to disrupt a winning formula that secured wins against Adelaide and Brisbane respectively.
Sydney will be without running defender Rhyce Shaw through injury – he hasn’t played for the Swans since Round 2 while utility Lewis Roberts-Thompson is also a notable absentee through injury.
The Swans defeated Brisbane by 60 points in a commanding four quarter display last Sunday. Its polish and ability to pressure the Lions into errors helped it build a match-winning lead in the opening term.
The Swans led by 40 points at the first break and never let the Lions back into the game.
Youngster Jed Lamb, who was Sydney’s substitute in that game has retained his spot, but could be headed for the green vest again in the big game.
At Hawthorn, Brent Guerra has been named despite jarring his knee in the win over Adelaide, while Max Bailey has been named as an emergency after being a late withdrawal last Saturday.
Both teams have made a number of changes to the sides that played in the Grand Final for Saturday night’s re-match.
For Hawthorn, there’s no Matt Suckling, Ryan Schoenmakers, Xavier Ellis, Cyril Rioli, Shane Savage or Clinton Young.
They have been replaced by Brian Lake, Jonathan Simpkin, Taylor Duryea, Bradley Hill, Michael Osborne and Brent Guerra.
At Sydney, there’s no Roberts-Thompson, Shaw, Mitch Morton or Alex Johnson.
They’ve been replaced by Jed Lamb, Tony Armstrong, Dean Rampe and Ben McGlynn.
Round 7 teams
Hawthorn v Sydney
MCG, 7.40pm
Hawthorn
B: Gibson Lake Hodge
HB: Guerra Stratton Birchall
C: Shiels Mitchell Hill
HF: Puopolo Franklin Burgoyne
F: Gunston Roughead Breust
Foll: Hale Sewell Lewis
I/C: Osborne, Smith, Duryea, Simpkin
Emg: Cheney, Bailey, Spangher
No change
Sydney
B: Malceski, Grundy, Smith
HB: Mattner, Richards, McVeigh
C: Jetta, O'Keefe, McGlynn
HF: Hannebery, Reid, Jack
F: Goodes, Pyke, Parker
Foll: Mumford, Kennedy, Bolton
I/C: Armstrong, Bird, Lamb, Rampe
Emg: M.Morton, T.Walsh, J.White
No Change
