Sydney update from Freedom Assistant Coach & Golden Gate Roo

The Revos are playing Sth. Africa in a curtain raiser to the Swans v Saints game at ANZ stadium. This is huge for the US - from both a contest and a development point of view. The stakes are high in this game, and the intensity so far has been strong. Looking forward to watching this.

The Freedom play Australia Multicultural Indigenous team at 12 noon - the bus to the ground leaves in just over an hour. We're prepared, we're excited, we are ready!

Will send out an update later today.

We spent yesterday afternoon with the Swans at the SCG. Barnsey wants everyone to know that he kicked a goal on the SCG yesterday. On the run. We had a tour of the facilities and were given a brief rundown of a match review. They track the players movements in real time and can show where their disposals and other events occurred on the ground. The events are linked and effectiveness measured. We figured Barnsey's tracking would colour-in the goal square. There were many other highlights, although some girls were disappointed not to be allowed to visit the Swans players in the change rooms. Just to say hello of course.

John Ironmonger's picture is still on the dressing room wall. The bearded look is tremondous, but the tightness of the shorts had some girls commenting on injury being inevitable.

Tom Harley denies knowing Luke Quirk. He said he had a memory of a little kid who used to hang around at school, but couldn't quite place him. Several of the Freedom team got to go out to lunch with Tom - he may have, at least to some, surpassed Brett Kirk in the popularity stakes.

Troy