AFTER felling tall timber Jonathan Brown and Jack Riewoldt in the past fortnight, Sydney's defence will meet with a smaller but no less daunting mission this week - silencing Carlton's mosquito fleet.
The terrors for Heath Grundy and Ted Richards, one of the more unfashionable key defensive pairs in the competition, lie on the ground rather than in the air as the Swans aim to claim a top-four scalp on Sunday at Etihad Stadium. The Blues' three leading goalkickers - Andrew Walker, Jeff Garlett and Eddie Betts - have all kicked 20 goals or more this year and are by no means traditional forward focal points.
With their blistering pace and sharp goal sense, Betts and Garlett, at 173 centimetres and 180cm respectively, have added extra bite at ground level for the Blues while the athletic Walker, at 190cm, is considered a strong mark for his size and dangerous when the ball hits the deck.
Midfielders Marc Murphy (nine goals) and Kade Simpson (eight) have also provided scoring support when pushing forward this year.
Betts has already burnt the Swans once this season, kicking three goals in a quarter in round six to inspire the Blues to a rare victory in Sydney.
''One of their real strengths is their versatility in their small forwards, their speed with Betts and Garlett, and Walker plays an in-between size,'' Richards said yesterday. ''They've got a few different sized forwards who can kick goals.''
Richards said he expected to spend time on Carlton talls Matthew Kreuzer, Lachie Henderson or Jarrad Waite, who is under an injury cloud, but has the versatility to play on more agile opponents.
''The good players are good both in the air and off the ground,'' Richards said. ''Me, being a tall defender, I don't rest once the ball's hit the ground and my opponent's a chance of getting a goal because the good forwards, they're kicking as many goals from the loose ball-gets on the ground as the contested marks.
''It's something that I'm trying to work on … making sure I'm stopping the long balls in but also the 50-50 contests on the ground.''
The burden on Richards' and Grundy's shoulders could be lessened in the coming years by teammate Alex Johnson, who has many excited in his debut season.
Although key-position prospects generally take longer to develop, Johnson, a graduate from last year's draft, has already played eight games this year.
''His development over the first half of the season from a new draftee to how he's playing now is incredible,'' Richards said. ''Heath and I are just loving the fact he's been able to come in and play some big jobs, and his first year of football has been great.
''Playing in defence can be quite a stressful position to play, which makes it more challenging, but to his credit, he's been up to it.''
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