WESTERN Bulldogs’ amazing finals performance has even been enough to concern Sydney Swans great Paul Kelly.
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Wagga’s 1995 Brownlow Medallist was on hand at the Melbourne Cricket Ground last Friday night to see the Swans qualify for their third AFL grand final in the past five years.
Kelly thought the young and inexperienced Bulldogs team would be an ideal grand final opponent for the Swans – that was until he watched them beat Greater Western Sydney (GWS) the following night.
“I thought that night going into it that we would prefer to play the Bulldogs but after watching them, I’m not so sure now,” Kelly said.
“They’re going as good as anyone. They beat West Coast over there, came back to Melbourne and beat Hawthorn, and then went to Sydney and beat the Giants.
“They’ve had some great away wins.
“They’re quick and have really good pressure around the footy. They’re pressure is really in your face stuff.
“They’ve got the belief too.”
Kelly believes the Bulldogs will see the Swans as beatable.
“I reckon they would look at us and really think they can beat us,” he said.
“Just with our few injury concerns, we’ve got some pretty big decisions to make. Whether to bring in (Jarrad) McVeigh and (Callum) Mills, who have only played one game in four weeks.
“With us being a bit older as well, I think they would see us as gettable.”
While wary of the Bulldogs, Kelly has confidence in the Swans’ ability to rise to the occasion.
“I reckon we can get the job done,” he said.
“It’s going to be tight.
“They keep coming the Bulldogs. They kept coming on the weekend, they showed that. They just found a way. They’ve got a couple of blokes that can do special things.
“I reckon there might only be a kick in it. I can’t see us cracking them open and I don’t know if they can crack us either.”
Kelly played 234 games for the Swans, winning four club best and fairests along the way.
The Swans captain for 10 years, Kelly led Sydney to the 1996 grand final, only to go down to Wayne Carey’s North Melbourne.
Kelly said he is incredibly proud of how far the Swans have come.
“Absolutely, we’re a fully fledged powerful AFL club these days with 50,000 members,” he said.
“It’s been a fantastic achievement by the footy club, staying in finals for so long.
“They have only missed finals a handful of times since then, making it to their third grand final in five years now. They have been pretty consistent and it makes you feel good knowing you were part of the footy club early on.”
Kelly will be at the MCG on Saturday where he hopes to witness a Swans victory.
“You have got to go. You never know when the next one is going to be,” he said.
PAUL KELLY’S GRAND FINAL TIP
Sydney by 9
Norm Smith Medal: Tom Mitchell