Premiers remain undefeated despite not being at their best early in the season.
They may not resemble the team that won the 2012 premiership, but the Sydney Swans are slowly working their way into the season after securing their second win for the year.
Facing a Gold Coast side that was on a high after beating St Kilda in the first round, the Swans held off the spirited Suns by 41 points at the SCG on Saturday.
The Swans are yet to find their best form early in their premiership defence, but did enough to secure a 17.12 (114) to 11.7 (73) victory in terrible conditions in Sydney with torrential rain testing the skills of both sides.
Coming off their stirring round one win over St Kilda, the Suns weren’t overawed on their first game in the harbour city, leading at quarter-time and taking it right up to the premiers.
But the class of Jarrad McVeigh (27 possessions, four goals) and Ryan O’Keefe (27 possessions, two goals) proved telling on the day the Swans unveiled their 2012 premiership flag.
Gold Coast Suns coach Guy McKenna said the biggest battle for his side was to see if they could produce again after their stunning first round upset win.
“I said to the boys leading into this week it is going to be a mental challenge to see if we can back up after our result in round one and I thought they did,” McKenna said.
“It was just purely Sydney’s class.
“We just needed a bit of luck, but having said that Sydney’s pressure was fantastic, caused a few easy turnovers … and they are going to make you pay.”
Sydney will look to continue its unbeaten start to the season going when they take on North Melbourne in round three, while the Suns will face Brisbane in their local derby.
Check out the highlights of the Sydney Swans’ win below:
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