Rampe wary of wounded Pies as Swans kick off key five-week run

Hell hath no fury like a battling Collingwood. That is Dane Rampe’s perspective, at least, as the Sydney Swans begin a five-week block that could set up their season, starting with Saturday’s showdown at the SCG.

Sydney’s next five opponents before the mid-year bye are all currently outside the AFL’s top eight. With a surprisingly short injury list and a reasonably strong run of form behind them, it looms as a real opportunity for the 5-3 Swans to ensconce themselves in the finals mix.

Dane Rampe is wary of what a wounded Collingwood could be capable of on Saturday.Credit:Getty Images

They will go in as hot favourites to account for Collingwood, whose coach Nathan Buckley is under increasing pressure amid reports of internal ructions over the output of star players – primarily forward Jordan De Goey, who is said to have been challenged by injured teammate Taylor Adams regarding his poor performances.

De Goey immediately responded with a career-best six-goal display in a 18-point win over North Melbourne last weekend, which Rampe suspects is an indication that the AFL’s heavyweights may have turned the corner, having snapped their five-game losing streak.

“We’ve got no idea as to the context of all that but even the external noise would have been loud enough,” Rampe said of the reports around Adams and De Goey.

“He’s just too good a player not to respond. You can tell he takes pride in what he does and he came out and made a statement last week, there’s no doubt about that. Now he’s in a little bit of form, which makes it tougher for us.

“They’ve been under the pump the last few weeks and being on the inside of an AFL club, the emotional preparation is more than half the battle. We know Collingwood will be ready to show they’re a bloody good team when they’re on. We’re going to be expecting their best.”

After this weekend, Sydney have Fremantle (away), Carlton (home), St Kilda (away) and Hawthorn (home) before the bye in round 13.

But the Pies rarely make things easy for the Swans, with their last four meetings all decided by single-digit margins – and three of them going Collingwood’s way.

Rampe, who made his return from a broken finger in last week’s defeat to Melbourne, will be key in quelling the influence of De Goey and former teammate Darcy Cameron, who has emerged as a key option in attack for Collingwood and kicked three goals against North.

Rampe will make a good fist of it – metaphorically, if not literally. The 30-year-old can’t quite fully clench his left hand yet, after undergoing surgery to repair the index finger he broke against Richmond in round three, but expects that flexion to return gradually over the coming weeks.

Having shattered his other hand last year in an injury that ended his season early, any hopes of a hand modelling career post-football are long gone for the Swans co-captain, who opted to go under the knife after being told he was risking severe arthritis later in his life if he didn’t fix it.

“We tossed up returning a week or two earlier but it wasn’t worth it,” he said. “The other thing is making a fist and getting my flexion back – if I didn’t get surgery I could only get it out to 45 degrees. It still is stuck there, but I’ll get that flexion back eventually.”

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