Swans Review - Geelong (27 August, 2011)

SYDNEY 3.1  7.5  10.9  15.9 (99)
GEELONG 2.5  5.7  8.10  12.14 (86)

Goals: Sydney: G Rohan 2 J Bolton 2 L Parker 2 S Reid 2 A Goodes B McGlynn B Meredith J Kennedy J White M Spangher S Mumford. Geelong: C Ling 3 J Bartel 2 D Menzel D Wojcinski M Stokes S Byrnes S Johnson T Varcoe T West.

Best: Sydney: A Goodes B McGlynn R O'Keefe S Mumford J Bolton R Shaw. Geelong: J Kelly C Ling J Bartel J Selwood P Chapman C Enright.

Umpires: Michael Vozzo, Mathew Nicholls, Jason Armstrong.
Official Crowd: 25,900 at Skilled Stadium.

Finally, the Skilled Stadium fortress has fallen. Since August of 2007, 29 teams have tried to win at Skilled Stadium in Geelong. 29 teams have gone home beaten, battered, humbled and humiliated.

The Sydney Swans, themselves victimised by the Cats at Skilled during that long drought, and playing perhaps their greatest and gutsiest win since the Grand Final of 2005, just went down to the graveyard of the AFL and did the unthinkable, did the thing that most people didn't give them a chance of doing this afternoon. They went down the highway from Melbourne, the McVeigh family in their hearts - and black armbands on their sleeves in honour of their captain's baby daughter who tragically passed away during the week, a horrible occurrence that has seemingly galvanised this football club - and played the game of their lives. 

Not only did the Swabs play the game of their lives, but they rattled the premiership hopefuls, putting them off their game, potentially changing the dynamic of the 2011 AFL Premiership season. The critics thought that the chances of the Swans battering down the doors at Skilled Stadium was nigh on impossible. Well, the Swans are the Houdini's of the AFL and critics everywhere will be forced to eat some humble pie. It's the biggest upset of the 2011 season, perhaps the biggest upset of the last few years. 

It was a commanding performance by the Swans. The red and whites took the lead late in the first quarter, and didn't let it go from there. The Cats came and came and came, the Swans stood up and played sensational football, always delivering an emphatic answer when Geelong seemed like they were perhaps about to mount a comeback. It was a wonderful flashback to the glory years of 2004-2006 and if the Swans continue to play like they did today over the next few weeks, they are going to make some serious noise in the finals.

Today, the Swans did everything right. They tackled hard, kicked well in general play, chased when they didn't have the football, were steady in their back half and, when it counted the most, their goal-kicking woes disappeared. The important players - Goodes, O'Keefe, Jack, Hannebery, Mumford, Shaw, McGlynn, Reid, Bolton - were insanely good from the first bounce to the final siren, ably assisted by Rohan, Parker, Kennelley, Mattner, Spanger, White...the whole team, really. This was the perfect example of a team effort. Everyone pulled their weight; there were no free-loaders today.

As a season-defining performance, this win couldn't have come at a better time for the Swans, who now have a home elimination final in their grasp. I wasn't sure that they could get it done today, not based on the last twenty-nine results out of Skilled, but always hoped that they could. And they made me happy to admit that I was wrong! There could not have been a better tribute to the courage of the McVeigh family than what we saw out on the field today.

The best sound of all today? The silence as Geelong fans stared on in disbelief, the realisation that the great run was finally over. So, the Cats at Skilled Stadium are moral after all and the Swans have a home elimination final in their grasp!