Sydney’s September specialist Jude Bolton is confident the reigning premiers’ bolts from the blue Harry Cunningham and Shane Biggs will stand up in Saturday night’s semi-final against Carlton.
Retiring Bolton, who will end his celebrated AFL career if the Swans lose at ANZ Stadium, has featured in a club-record 24 finals; eight times the combined tally of youngsters Cunningham, Biggs, Tom Mitchell, Dane Rampe and Andrejs Everitt.
Bolton will be tied 17th on the VFL/AFL’s list of most finals after Saturday, while the quintet’s previous September experience amounts to the Swans’ 54-point loss to Hawthorn last week.
The difference between playing for premiership points and playing to keep a season alive is hard to quantify, and 33-year-old Bolton admitted it took him a while to become accustomed to the step up in intensity.
“It’s definitely a different game. You can play it a lot quicker in your own head, but hopefully we’ll try and calm those guys down,” Bolton said on Friday.
“It becomes a basic game in the fact you have to be clean and hard … you’ve got to win contested footy, tackle well and do the basics well.”
Finals debutants Cunningham and Biggs’ combined AFL career to date totals five games.
It’s in sharp contrast to Ben McGlynn and Gary Rohan, the men they replaced in the side, and light years from champion Adam Goodes, whose season was finally confirmed as being over on Thursday night.
Bolton said he was shattered for Goodes, but that the team must move on quickly, pointing out Cunningham and Biggs acquitted themselves well against the Hawks in the side’s final game of the regular season.
“They’ve shown they’ve been able to stand up in big games and it just injects a bit of pace and energy into our side,” he said.
Bolton noted the inclusions’ other advantage was fitness, a more-than-handy attribute at this time of year.
Just ask Carlton, who on Friday conceded hobbled ruckman Matthew Kreuzer would not make the trip to NSW.
“Mick (coach Mick Malthouse) has always had the philosophy that you take fit players into finals and that’s the way we’re going,” Carlton’s director of development and coaching Rob Wiley said, adding that further late changes were possible.
Blues midfielder Brock McLean (quad) trained strongly on Friday and could well come into the side for last week’s substitute Troy Menzel.
Wiley said champion Chris Judd had pulled up “really well” after returning from a knee injury to spearhead a second-half surge against Richmond in week one of the finals.
Bolton said it was daunting to think Saturday night could be his last AFL match, but added he was “extremely positive” that wouldn’t be the case.
“They’re a good side and they’re riding a wave of emotion after finishing ninth. We want to put and end to it,” Bolton said.
“We feel we match up really well.”
