Sydney’s best is still to come this year, young Swans star Errol Gulden warns.
John Longmire’s side is off to a 4-1 start but completed a great escape against lowly North Melbourne a fortnight ago, a week after the scoreboard flattered Sydney in an 11-point loss to an inaccurate Bulldogs team.
The Swans bounced back to form last week in Perth against an under-strength West Coast but will get a better gauge of their standing against Hawthorn in Launceston on Anzac Day.
“It was a really pleasing performance from us; to go over to Perth in front of a pretty hostile crowd, as they usually are, and perform so well for four quarters,” Gulden said.
“We dropped off a little bit in the third, but we were all pretty happy with the overall result and a pretty strong team performance overall.
“We probably haven’t played our best footy just yet either. We’ve had a few down games and a few wins where we really had to dig deep – obviously North Melbourne was a really tough game for us.
“Sitting 4-1, it’s not a bad spot, but obviously we feel that we’ve still got a lot of improvement and it’s probably only upwards for us from here.”
Gulden’s mixing his time between half-forward and a wing this season, with many of his numbers this year improving on his standout debut season.
His disposals (19.8, up from 15.7), groundball-gets (4.6, up from 4), intercept possessions (1.6, up from 1.1) and score involvements (7, up from 4.9) are all up as his importance at Sydney increases.
“I’ve just enjoyed learning and playing in front of some big crowds this year,” Gulden said.
“Obviously, the majority of the year last year I was playing in front of empty stadiums (because of Covid), so to play in front of a packed SCG and even last week in Perth in front of 45,000, it’s been really enjoyable.”
Gulden is wary about the improved Hawks and considers the chance to play on Anzac Day as a “massive honour”.
More Coverage
“It’s a massive day on the Australian calendar for a lot of people and we’re all looking really forward to it,” he said.
“My dad is born and raised in Turkey, so I’ve actually had relatives fighting on both sides of the war at Gallipoli.
“My mother is Australian, (so my parents) both had ancestors who would have fought against each other at Gallipoli.”
Read related topics:SydneyncG1vNJzZmivp6x7r7HWrGWcp51jrrZ70qmmq6xflrOte8Cfo2axn6q7qHnSspunnaliwLWt0Wacq6qfoXqowcudnKdlp5a%2Fr7%2BMrK6apqNir6a%2F02agrGWpmsFuwM5mmqillWKuqbHAnWSonl2Wu7utwmabmrFdma61sYywoK2gXZ2uuMDHqKmnZ56axLR50q2mq7FfmK9zrsRrnZ%2Bck5eFpLGPcZpqmZJrfXOwkJydbXBkmII%3D