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I will play in AFL qualifying final: Rohan

Sydney forward Gary Rohan says he will be fit and firing for the AFL qualifying final against Greater Western Sydney.

In career-best form and fitness, Sydney forward Gary Rohan is happy to be labelled an x-factor AFL player, but is placing as much emphasis on the mundane as the miraculous.

Rohan on Monday declared himself fit to play in Saturday week's qualifying final against Greater Western Sydney after suffering a corked leg last weekend.

He kicked a career equal best four goals in the 113-point win over Richmond to boost his season haul to 21, eight more than he's tallied in any previous year.

The match against the Tigers was Rohan's 14th straight game, the most successive matches the injury-prone speedster has played in a single season.

"I reckon it's the best form I've had, this year," Rohan told AAP on Monday.

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"I've just got to do the basics well, I don't have to do the miracle things all the time.

"That's probably the big thing I've got to work on."

Rohan's blistering speed and ability to produce freakish pieces of skill has him frequently tagged as an x-factor player.

"It's pretty exciting, I'll take it on board," Rohan said.

For all the attacking sizzle he brings to the Swans forward line, it's the defensive aspects of his role Rohan and his teammates and coaching staff value the most.

His speed allows him to chase down other players and one smother on the weekend drew a massive roar of approval from Swans fans and the approbation of his teammates.

"The boys get around me all the time when I do the defensive acts so it encourages me to do it more and it gets myself into the game more if I'm having a bad day," Rohan said.

As someone who only averages 10 possessions a game, Rohan knows he needs to make every touch count.

Forwards coach Brett Kirk and his teammates make sure he stays focused on the game even when he doesn't get the ball in his hands.

"Buddy (Franklin) and Tippo (Kurt Tippett) and the other forwards keep talking to me during the game making sure I'm switched on, instead of lapsing through games," Rohan said.

The hamstring tendon injury which kept him out of eight games has provided a silver lining of sorts.

"It gave me a bit of extra time to get more fitness in to me, so I feel like I'm a lot fitter and can run through the games more this year," he said.

"I'm still pretty fresh leading in to the finals, which is pretty handy."


3 min read

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Source: AAP



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