SYDNEY 7.1 11.4 16.9 21.12 (138)
MELBOURNE 0.3 1.5 2.7 5.7 (37)
Goals: Sydney: J Kennedy 3 K Jack 3 L Jetta 3 L Parker 3 B McGlynn 2 T Dennis-Lane 2 T Walsh 2 M Mattner R O’Keefe S Reid. Melbourne: N Jones 2 B Green C Sylvia J Bennell.
Best: Sydney: K Jack L Jetta R O’Keefe D Hannebery J Bolton M Mattner L Parker. Melbourne: N Jones J Watts S Blease M Clark.
Official Crowd: 20,818 at SCG.
Well, what can be said about that game? How to sum up the Swans' first 100+ point win since the 2006 season? I said on Twitter that it was an epic dismantling of extraordinary proportions. That barely does justice to what we saw today.
Not even the most ardent Swans fan could possibly have imagined how the game would go down. After all, the Swans have a frustrating and recent history of not totally demolishing teams that they are expected to totally demolish. The most recent example of that was Opening Night, when many critics thought that the red and whites would run up a cricket score on the GWS Giants. It didn't happen that night but tonight, in the twilight zone, the Swans put the sword to a woeful, inept, lacklustre and demoralised outfit, and they did it in a way that had to be seen to be believed.
This was ruthlessness as it is defined in the dictionary. The Swans were coldly dispassionate as they carved up the Demons in every facet of the game. They showed no quarter, accepted no surrender. It was pressure, pressure, pressure from the beginning to the end, and, in that way, this performance was a thing of beauty to watch, a perfect rebound from two straight losses, and a warning to the rest of the AFL that the Swans knew how to deliver a drubbing. This game will not go unnoticed by those in Melbourne. Yes, the talent level they had opposing them wasn't great, but their sheer will at every contest was something to behold. Not even at the end, when the game was well beyond doubt, did they slow down. Their foot stayed on the accelerator, and there were players lining up to have a shot at the big sticks.
The midfield dominated - O'Keefe, Hannebery and Jack all had more than 33 touches, and Jude Bolton wasn't far behind with 21 on a day when the white-shirted Swans midfield brigade seemed to be able to evade trouble with a deft step. It was little more than a training run for a team who, in their own words, had been an "embarrassment" last week vs. Richmond at the MCG. There was nothing that the Swans couldn't do; possessions were stacked up almost as quickly as goals were stacked up. The Demons rarely showed offensive spark. Their eighth loss is far and way their worst. They looked completely outclassed. It isn't unreasonable to say that they would struggle to beat the Swans reserves team. Where their first win of the season is coming from, I don't know. I don't think their coach, Mark Neeld, knows either. Horror start to his coaching career.
Attack was as good as defence. The debutant Tommy Walsh had an impressive two goal beginning and Lewis Jetta, a guy who couldn't have bought a goal a couple of seasons back, chimed in with three. Luke Parker and Kennedy had three, each, too and even Sam Reid chimed in, kicking his first major since round three. Trent Dennis-Lane and Ben McGlynn bagged doubles each. At the end, every Swan seemed to be getting in on the scoring action.
And so ended something of a record-breaking night at the SCG that was good to cure the two game losing streak and to boost their percentage, but not really for much else. Tonight's win will not be the one to catapult Sydney back into the premiership talk. This was a regulation win against perhaps the very worst team in the Toyota Premiership at the moment. Still it was a pleasing effort - a win's a win, after all - but it will do no one any good to let tonight's shellacking of an inferior opposition unit go to their heads. Surely, that's what John Longmire told his charges in the room, post-game.
The Swans are still without Adam Goodes and Shane Mumford. Neither was particularly missed on this night, but next week and further on down the track they will. They are vital cogs, of course. Now, the Swans must regroup and prepare to face the in-form St Kilda next Saturday night in Melbourne. A win at Etihad Stadium will do what tonight could not: let the AFL know that the Swans are back in the game.
Go Bloods!
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