2012 PREMIERS!!
SYDNEY 1.4 7.4 10.5 14.7 (91)
HAWTHORN 4.5 4.6 9.10 11.15 (81)
GOALS: Sydney: Kennedy 2, McVeigh 2, Jack 2, Morton 2, Malceski 2, Goodes, Hannebery, Roberts-Thomson, Reid. Hawthorn: Franklin 3, Hale 2, Gunston 2, Breust 2, Smith, Ellis.
BEST: Sydney: O’Keefe, Hannebery, Pyke, McVeigh, Roberts-Thomson, Goodes, Johnson, Kennedy.
Hawthorn: Franklin, Sewell, Mitchell, Gibson.
INJURIES: Sydney: Goodes (knee), Johnson (elbow).
Hawthorn: Hodge (cut eye), Ellis (leg).
UMPIRES: Rosebury, Stevic, Meredith.
CROWD: 99,683 at the MCG.
The Sydney Swans have done the improbable. They have beaten warm favourites Hawthorn to claim their second premiership in seven years, recording victory in a game that, while not high-scoring and often rather dour, was epic in every sense of the word. If this was the first time you turned on an AFL football match, surely you would be inclined to tune back in, because the contest that took place on the MCG, sometimes in sunshine, sometimes under heavy clouds, sometimes in rain, was the epitome of brave, selfless, courageous football, the very sort that is needed to win a premiership.
And the Swans won. A 19 point first quarter deficit became an impressive 16-point halftime lead, eight goals unanswered before Hawthorn stormed back late in the third. There was a stretch where they had five goals in twenty-one kicks. In the final quarter, the Hawks opened the best, looking as though they might run over the Swans, who seemed to be fading, but it was the red-and-whites who kicked the final four goals of the game, including a bouncing goal to Adam Goodes, whose PCL injury did not stop the champ from soldiering on and making his mark on the game, and from Nick Malceski, the last score with a half-minute to go, an unlikely hero. They came from two goals down for a ten-point win that was barely believable had we not seen it with our own eyes. Malceski, for his late game heroics, will now be remembered with the same affection and reverence as another defender was bac in 2005: that man, of course, is Leaping Leo Barry.
If Malceski's two goals were a surprise, the scintillating cameo from former Richmond forward Mitch Morton was nothing short of miraculous. He'd done it against Adelaide, and Grand Final history is littered with fringe players popping up on the big stage to make a huge impact. Now Morton will be one of those, scoring two in as many minutes in the midst of that rampant 8-goals unanswered stretch. It was quite something to see, and exactly why John Longmire left him in the side, despite going somewhat MIA in the preliminary final against Collingwood.
Who was good? Who wasn't, for the Swans. It was a team effort of the highest order, the sort of all-in mentality that had catapulted them to the top of the AFL pile. Led by Norm Smith Medal winner Ryan O'Keefe, the Bloods relied tremendously on their midfield. All the usual suspects dug deep: McVeigh, Kennedy, Richards, Hannebery, Jack, Bolton, Goodes, Jetta, Roberts-Tompson, Morton, Malceski, Shaw, Mattner, Grundy, Johnson...the list goes on. When a giant effort to drag themselves back into the game was required, there was not one man in red and white who didn't step up and dig in. It was thrilling to watch.
There were absolutely no passengers today. Deserving of special praise in this blog - and, indeed, in the wider AFL media - is the Canadian ruckman Mike Pyke single-handedly battled Hawthorn's David Hale late in the final quarter after Shane Mumford was subbed off for the speedy Luke Parker. Canada has it's first ever AFL premier and for those who said Pyke would never succeed, you need only take a look at what he did today and this season.
Hawthorn had their chances. You sensed that, at times in the second half, they were but one accurate kick away from burying the Swans, but it was but errant kicking, particularly from Lance Franklin, cost them - and errant kicking very nearly cost them last week vs. Adelaide. Today, their last five shots on goal were behinds. That just isn't good enough on this stage. Late in the game, when it was up for grabs, after the Swans had stormed back from seemingly nowhere, Jack Gunston hit the post and Brad Sewell, the Hawks' best, snapped badly twice. At the other end, Goodes and Malceski stood up, kicked truly and won their team the game.
Delving deeper, one can see the truck-load of key indicators - shots, Inside 50s, contested possessions, free kicks, scoring shots - in which Hawthorn came out on top. Yet, like three weeks prior at AAMI Stadium in the gutsy qualifying final victory against the Adelaide Crows, the Swans, hobbling to the line with some of their stars in injury trouble, somehow found a way to will themselves across and into a sort of nirvana that most of us will never experience and, therefore, never truly understand.
When something herculean was needed, invariably someone delivered, be it a fierce tackle, well-waited kick or a timely goal. They stood tall in the face of what, at times in the final quarter and a half was immense, nearly game-winning pressure, and have recorded a famous victory in what will surely go down in history as one of the greatest Grand Final contests ever to be played.
At the end of the day, as the sun sets on Melbourne, the Sydney Swans are 2012 AFL Premiers. And that much will never change. What a game, what a year! Go Bloods!
See you in 2013!
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