Swans Review - GWS Giants (24 March, 2012)

SYDNEY 4.1  8.4  13.8  14.16 (100)
GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY GIANTS 1.2  3.3  3.4  5.7 (37)

Goals: Sydney: C Bird 2 J Kennedy 2 L Jetta 2 A Everitt B McGlynn G Rohan J Bolton J McVeigh K Jack L Roberts-Thomson S Mumford. Greater Western Sydney Giants: C Ward J Giles J McDonald N Wilson W Hoskin-Elliott.
Umpires: Matt Stevic, Simon Meredith, Jacob Mollison.
Official Crowd: 38,203 at ANZ Stadium.

 

The GWS Giants certainly weren't humiliated in the opening game, the first Sydney Derby, and that's a good thing for the emergence of AFL football in Western Sydney.

For the Swans, there is certainly some work to be done, and the fact that the team has two weeks before it's next game - for all intents and purposes, a bye next week - is probably just as well. Kicking was a problem again; not just set shots for goal, but kicking in general play. There were more than a few head-scratchers, especially early on, and hopefully most of the inaccuracy and poor decision-making can be simply dismissed as early-season rust being worked out.

The third quarter was where the Swans looked the best, kicking 5.3 to 0.1 in the third frame, dominating not only on the scoreboard, but in every facet of play. It's a shame that they didn't manage to kick just a few more goals to really ram home their advantage. As I said before, accuracy is an issue; it's been an issue for some time. Even so, it was a quarter to be proud of, mostly because every one of the players on the field had a meaningful contribution - especially the old hands like Bolton and Goodes. It's a good, impressive sign of what is possible from this team this season, provided everyone is on song. 

The physical nature of the contest definitely wasn't a bad thing, either. If nothing else, the young Giants showed that they'll play a bruising brand of football, just as Kevin Sheedy had promised and just as Kevin Sheedy-coached teams have played in the past. Josh Kennedy said it best in his post-game acceptance of the inaugural Brett Kirk Medal - nice work, JK - when talking about how much he was hurting. There was good physicality from the outset. It wasn't the cake walk that some expected.

Special kudos to Garry Rohan, who risked life and limb throughout the game, getting involved in a number of contests, and ending the night battered, bruised and almost hobbling, with a Mark Knopfler-style headband wrapped around the red locks, and certainly having given everything that his body had. He seemed to be involved in everything; an impressive and inspired effort. The kid never took a backward step. That's the way to establish yourself in the team. Guys like Rohan throwing the body around are a the direct result of guys over the recent years like Craig Bolton and Jared Crouch, Brett Kirk and Jude Bolton. That sort of play is definitely in the Swans DNA.

So the much-hyped Sydney Derby I is over, the crowd was pretty reasonable, GWS Giants are finally a real part of the sporting landscape in Sydney and the Swans, who didn't deliver the 100-point belting that many predicted, nonetheless had a solid win - they didn't really look challenged at all - and now have two weeks before their home opener at the Sydney Cricket Ground against old acquaintance Ross Lyon and his controversial new team, the Fremantle Dockers.