Armstrong stakes his claim

By James Matthey

Tony Armstrong has put his hand up for senior selection after an outstanding individual performance for the Swans reserves on the weekend.

The Burrumbuttock junior claimed the Alex Jesaulenko Medal as the best-on-ground in the Swans’ convincing 101-49 win over Belconnen in the NEAFL Eastern Conference final.

The 23-year old played a starring role across the half-back line, helping the Swans erase painful memories of the last two years when they fell down at the final hurdle on both occasions.

However, Armstrong refused to take too much of the credit for the drought-breaking win, instead heaping praise on his teammates.

“I just played my role, but they could have chosen a number of blokes, and they just plucked me out of the hat I think,” Armstrong told SwansTV after the match.

“Everyone has to play their role in a Grand Final and you can’t have any passengers and we certainly didn’t (on Sunday).

“We were solid and we played a really high standard all day, so when you do that in a Grand Final you put yourself in good stead to win.

“I’m very thankful and I couldn’t have done it without the boys, and it was just a great team effort.”

With Kurt Tippett and Tom Mitchell ruled out of the senior side’s preliminary final against Fremantle this Saturday through injury, Armstrong has presented a strong case to the coaches to include him in the squad to fly across to Perth.

Armstrong has already played 15 games for the red-and-whites after arriving in Sydney from Adelaide in 2012, and will be looking to add to that tally in the first team this weekend.

If he does receive the call-up, he will be part of a Swans outfit that takes on Fremantle at Patersons Stadium at 5:45 pm on Saturday September 21.