Sydney’s Lance Franklin spoils during Sydney Swans v Melbourne Demons at the SCG. Picture. Phil Hillyard

IN a game where goals were priceless Lance Franklin’s four were well and truly enough to get the job done against Melbourne in torrential conditions at the SCG.

Buddy’s goal tally tied the Demons single handed as they worked the Paul Roos team over in the first three quarters and then ran away with it in the last to win by 55 points.

The Swans also set a record for tackles, their 155 beat the previous mark of 142 set by Richmond in round 10, 2010.

John Longmire’s men came close to the mark two weeks ago when they chalked up 135 against Gold Coast in similar conditions at Metricon Stadium. Sydney have clearly honed their skills in the wet and none better than Jarrad McVeigh.

Lance Franklin celebrates with his Swans teammates.Source:Getty Images

The Swans co-captain’s 24 disposals were executed at a remarkable 86 per cent efficiency. He had plenty of support across the ground. Josh Kennedy (28 disposals) and Dan Hannebery (28) continued their outstanding seasons but it was the form of young players Dean Towers, James Rose and Zak Jones which caught the eye. Towers was dominant across half forward when the game was it’s hottest in the first half and finished with 27 possessions and two goals. In just his fifth game Rose was also lively and handled the conditions brilliantly.

Jones enjoyed the win against his big brother’s (Nathan) team and provided plenty of speed out of defence.

Sydney’s Aliir Aliir impressed in the wet. Picture. Phil Hillyard.Source:News Corp Australia

Heath Grundy was also solid in his 200th game in the red and white as the Swans backline limited Melbourne to just five goals for the day. Nick Smith and Dane Rampe were also miserly in clamping down the Demon forwards.

Christian Petracca was the only multiple goal kicker for the visitors kicking two in just his ninth game.

Bernie Vince, Nathan Jones and Jack Viney were also solid contributors in the scrappy encounter.

Heading into the bye the win moves the Swans into second spot on the ladder just three percentage points behind Geelong.

SYDNEY 12.14 (86)

MELBOURNE 4.7 (31)
GOALS

Sydney: L Franklin 4 B McGlynn 2 D Towers 2 G Hewett J Kennedy J Lloyd T Nankervis.

Melbourne: C Petracca 2 D Kent J Hogan.

Umpires: Chris Donlon, Scott Jeffery, Chris Kamolins, Andrew Stephens.

Official Crowd: 19,086 at SCG.

VOTES

3. Dean Towers (Sydney)

2. Jarrad McVeigh (Sydney)

1. Lance Franklin (Sydney)