There’s few things better in footy than watching two very good teams – especially two very good midfields – go at it. The momentum swings back and forth were huge, making for a stressful night for fans of both teams.
In the end, despite a shocking first three quarters of kicking, the Swans escaped with a win. And what a win! The Swans did so much well:, hunting the footy in packs, tackling like their lives depended upon it. They clawed and struggled and somehow found a way to prosper, breaking a recent run of inept performances at ANZ Stadium, in which they’ve mostly not played the way they played tonight. Just quietly, whilst most people perhaps haven’t been looking, have won four straight., defeating the reigning premiers 15.17 (107) to 13.10 (88) in front of about 34,000 fans.
It’s a curious thing, sport, and our fandom, isn’t it? It can drive you to the edge of insanity time and time again, but those post-siren moments, bathing in the reflected glory of an important win, there’s nowhere else you’d want to be than at the ground or in front of your television. Rarely has that been truer than it was Friday night.
Perhaps we should thank the Swans’ first quarter inaccuracy and then their continued inaccuracy in the second and third quarters, for the way they dominated the first quarter and a half, they should have led by eight or nine goals. Instead, the stage was set for a brave Hawthorn comeback, and my concerns about kicking inaccuracy costing the Swans a win nearly came true.
The Hawks were brave. It can’t have been easy, missing Luke Hodge and Sam Mitchell before the bounce. Then, they lost Cyril Rioli, subbed off with hamstring issues, and Josh Gibson wasn’t himself after sustaining an arm injury late in the third.
To their credit, the Hawks kept coming. They hit the lead, and it was Nervous Central for those in red and white. They were unstoppable for a while in that third, but, as often happens, the supreme effort required to drag themselves back into the game, and take the lead, eventually took it’s toll.
Late in the fourth, the Swans wrestled back the ascendancy. Two important goals from Franklin, who had kicked seven straight behinds prior to that, a nice running goal from Nick Malceski – how much did you think of the 2012 Grand Final winner? – a heaven-sent snap from Dan Hannebery, another from Captain Courageous Jarrad McVeigh and the final, game-sealing slammer from Lewis Jetta, who sent the ball twenty rows back after a perfect hand-pass from McVeigh. What hadn’t looked too likely an hour earlier suddenly became reality.
Perhaps the Swans, in the end, deserved to win. They had five of the six best players on the field. Hannebery found the footy at will – any doubts that #4 isn’t all the way back should be cast aside now. Kurt Tippett enjoyed a four-goal haul upon his return. Josh Kennedy and Ben McGlynn continued their rich vein of 2014 form, and their destructive form against Hawthorn.
Elsewhere, McVeigh was brilliant, Luke Parker tough, Kieran Jack enterprising, Sam Reid a marking powerhouse, Ted Richards solid matched up on Hawthorn’s dangerous Jarryd Roughead and Rhyce Shaw his usual, dependable self. I thought Shaw looked gone and dead a few weeks back. Like the team he anchors, there’s been quite a resurgence.
Special mention for the bearded Tom Derickx who was a mountain of a man tonight, a workhorse in the ruck in the absence of Mike Pyke. Perhaps his contributions will be lost in the glow of the efforts of Messers Hannebery, McVeigh and Kennedy, but they shouldn’t be, because he was supreme against the Hawthorn pair of David Hale and Ben McEvoy. In Derickx, the Swans might’ve unlocked another diamond in the rough.
Much of the spotlight will be shined on Franklin, whose early kicking at goal was nothing short of horrendous – though he certainly wasn’t alone on that front. However, the big forward turned up when he needed to, taking the goal-kicking mantle from Tippett in the last quarter.
Franklin’s two goals definitely helped the Swans along. His freakish bouncing, bouncing, bouncing effort almost defied belief. Indeed, Buddy seemed to have not quite believed his own eyes. Two late goals will help balance the narrative, on a subpar night for the champ. Here’s something interesting: the combined total of Buddy’s 2.7 return was the final margin of victory.
The good thing is there’s always next week – Essendon in Melbourne for the Swans, and the Bombers appear eminently beatable. If Buddy can get his kicking boots on, he and Tippett figure to be a dangerous duo, with Goodes and perhaps Reid on the fringes of the forward line.
It’s a scary thought, destined to give opposition coaches sleepless nights. The former Adelaide Crow was superb in his return, kicking goals when he needed them the most. Crucially, there was plenty of silver service delivery into the Swans’ attacking 50m from the smooth-moving midfield. That means opportunities galore.
Friday night was a wonderful advertisement for AFL. How pleasing to check my Twitter feed to see even NRL types in Sydney – the always-controversial Phil Rothfield of the Daily Telegraph amongst them – making comment, in 140 words or less, on the game, and how they were enjoying it. Good night for the AFL to stage a big Sydney game when the NRL’s contest between the Roosters and Tigers wasn’t anywhere near as pulsating.
What a night – let’s hope the return clash between these two sides in Melbourne in Round 16 is just as good.
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