Sydney vs. Geelong
Saturday August 27, 2011
Skilled Stadium, Geelong; 2.10pm
Sad and terrible news for the Swans this week, with Jarrad McVeigh's baby daughter, Luella, passing away after a month-long battle with serious heart complications. Yesterday afternoon, the struggle was over. She died with both parents by her side and the Swans community - indeed, the entire AFL community - is in mourning.
More than anything else, it was McVeigh's inspiration performance on Sunday, dedicated to his tiny daughter, that helped the Swans to a much-needed win. The Sydney Swans Football Club is close and full of good people who will help Jarrad and his wife, Clementine, through a tough period in their lives. Incredibly, McVeigh has played in two of the three Swans games since his daughter was born. Of course, he will miss this week's clash. RIP Luella.
And so, for the Sydney Swans, comes the toughest test in football, the greatest test in football: the death march to Skilled Stadium in Geelong, an absolute graveyard for visiting teams. The last team that isn't called Geelong to win at the Cattery was Port Adelaide in the final round of the 2007 season. Remember that the Cats ended up playing Port in the Grand Final that year, and proceeded to absolutely and totally destroy the game, the will and the spirit of the Power.
Perhaps it's wise to take the 2007 incident as a lesson. It's not a stretch to say that the Power have never really covered. I mean, look at them now. A 150-point loss seems a genuine chance every time they take the field. If you beat Geelong at Skilled Stadium, something pretty horrible is going to happen to your football club! It would be really nice to know if that was just a Port Adelaide thing, or if it happens to anyone who goes down into the lion's den and happens to come away with a win. Maybe the Swans can help us with the answer Saturday afternoon?
The word 'honourable loss' is bandied around a lot when teams head to Geelong to take on the Cats. It seems almost a foregone conclusion that a team goes in and loses. But it's the level of a loss, apparently, that matters. If you run the Cats close, it's a moral victory of sorts, or so I am reliably informed. As far as I can tell, an honourable loss is somewhere between 7 and 9 goals, as opposed to those games like the recent Demons vs. Geelong contest, where the Cats were up by that number of goals somewhere midway through the first period.
The Swans cannot go down to Geelong and hope to come away with a loss by seven or eight or nine goals. To do that is to invite disaster. A team that plays expecting a tough loss but not a destructive one is the team that will end up with a shellacking on it's hands. They'll get beaten by 150 points and any momentum carried in from last week's tough but pleasing victory against St Kilda will fall by the wayside as quickly as the Cats can move the football coast-to-coast and kick a goal.
One win gets the Swans into the finals. Or so say the latest set of prognostications. These last two weeks are going to be crazy, with so many teams still jostling for a finals berth, teams whose coaches tell them that it is still mathematically possible - my favourite two words this time of year - that they'll make the finals. The Swans must not be focused on that one win coming in the last week of the season, against the Brisbane Lions (Saturday September 3, SCG, 4.10pm). If they do that, Geelong will tear them apart, like they've torn apart so many teams this season.
For the Swans, this will be a good test against perhaps the best team in the league. Nothing but a 100% team effort where everything goes right from the opening bounce to the final siren will get the Swans across the line. The team has the talent to do it, provided there are no proverbial spanners tossed into the works. Josh Kennedy thinks it's possible, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. Of course, he's not going to raise the white flag. If nothing else, this is a challenge, for the Swans have been written off by most of the Melbourne press, given no chance of leaving Geelong with a W. They may surprise some people.
To be honest, I don't know that the red-and-whites can beat Geelong in Geelong. Maybe at the SCG or even ANZ Stadium, but going down to Skilled, to the close-in hostile crowd who gather every week, almost expecting a triple-digit win - or at least a number close to the magical 100 point margin of victory - when they take their seats, baying for blood.
What I want to see is a throwback to the Swans of old: a committed, tough, disciplined performance. I want to see strong tackles, smart use of the football, no bad handballs to sell team mates into trouble, no shaky play in our own defensive 50m and, most of all, some accurate goal-kicking. The best players need to stand up and be counted. If they play hard from the first bounce to the last kick, I'll be happy. We've seen glimpses of it this season, but not nearly enough.
Even if they lose on Saturday, any true fan will be happy with a four-quarter effort. We know what that is: the complete opposite of the performance - or lack thereof - against Richmond two weeks ago. A performance more like what the Swans dished up last week vs. St Kilda. Let's just not be embarrassed. Who knows? The Swans may yet turn a few heads.
Fearless Prediction: Geelongagaisnt a committed, tough Swans team.
Go Bloods!!
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