Finals-bound Swans reserves showcase club’s depth of talent as they come away with huge win against Wickham

The finals-bound South Hedland Swans reserves have shown the club’s depth with a big win against the Wickham Wolves. “The club’s future is bright” was the message from reserves coach Jacob Sanders as his young squad crushed the Wolves 20.16 (136) to 1.5 (11). He said his squad was looking to take their strong form into the first preliminary finals next week against the league-leading Karratha Kats who beat the Swans in their last match-up. “They had a lot to play for last time when they beat us with one of their players passing away,” he said. “Our focus goes back to team football, getting around our young blokes to lift us in the crucial stages of the game and just making sure that no matter the result we stick together as a team.” The league fixture was also a one-sided contest but this time it was the Wolves who dominated as they came out on top 20.12 (132) to 8.9 (57). The result saw the Swans finish fifth and miss out on finals. While it was not the outcome the club was looking for, Sanders said the strength of the reserves shows the club had a bright future. “The last two years the ressies have been the team that pushes through,” he said. “It shows all the good upcoming players we have coming through and will most likely be playing league in the next few years, possibly even next year. “It shows the depth of the footy club and with the league team not having many wins this year we debuted a lot of the Ressies who were showing the goods. “It feels good coaching a team that made finals and is looking to go pretty deep into finals as well.” Mr Sanders said the club had even more talented young men coming through the junior teams which would make the Swans stronger over the next few years. “In the league team you want your best team on the track and a lot of the time they are the more seasoned players,” he said. “But the ressies’ results show we have a lot of talent coming through and we’ve got a lot of Hedland Reds juniors players that are ready to take that next step to play league football. “It’s all a positive for the future and shows in the next couple of years the Swans are going to be a successful club again in both grades.” In the women’s game, the South Hedland Blazers gave the Wolves a last-quarter scare as they nearly came back from a three-goal deficit at three-quarter-time. Back-to-back-to-back goals from the Blazers in the fourth quarter reduced the Wolves’ lead to four points. Synarah Murphy took a mark 20m out straight in front with 10 seconds left and it looked like the Blazers were going to grab the win but a dramatic team smother from the Wolves saved the game for Wickham. The final score ended 3.7 (25) to 3.3 (21) in favour of Wickham. Sanders said while the team would’ve loved the win they learnt a lot from the game and looked to take the momentum into finals. “A lot of clubs don’t train those close finished so it’s easy to think you’re going to a good option but you’re making some mistakes,” he said. “But they look at it as a big positive to be able to come back from the deficit they were facing being down a few goals in the last quarter. “They have found a lot of positives and are happy the loss came in the regular season and not in the finals.”