Swans lethal in the second half, win by 39 on a cool afternoon in Hobart
SYDNEY 3.4 5.6 16.10 20.11 (131)
NORTH MELBOURNE 4.2 7.8 8.11 13.14 (92)
Goals: Sydney: J Bolton 4 B McGlynn 3 D Hannebery 3 A Goodes 2 J McVeigh 2 L Parker 2 A Everitt J Kennedy L Jetta R O’Keefe. North Melbourne Kangaroos: L Thomas 3 B Cunnington 2 L Hansen 2 R Tarrant 2 D Wells J MacMillan S Wright T Goldstein.
Umpires: Simon Meredith, Brett Rosebury, Nicholas Foot.
Venue: Blundstone Arena
In Grand Finals, we hear that old - but relatively true - cliche about the third quarter being the Premiership Quarter. Generally, teams who win the third stanza are on top at the end of the fourth. On Saturday at Blundstone Arena in Hobart, the third quarter was the game-winning quarter for the Swans, and the scene of another disastrous breakdown for the North Melbourne Kangaroos.
For the blue-and-whites, a handy, if not game-winning lead at the long break disappeared in a cloud of goals for the team in red-and-white. It was a veritable avalanche, eleven for the Swans, who had, to that point, managed just five. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the reigning AFL premiers woke up in the third, to the detriment of North. Whatever John Longmire said at half time...well, Horse might want to bottle that particular address and use it again. Whatever he said, worked in spades.
Not for the last time - and, Swans fans hope, not for the last - it was the old hands and the big guns who sparked the red-and-white revival. Goodes, Jack, McVeigh, Bolton, McGlynn, O'Keefe...and on the list goes. The same names kept bobbing up, slicing the Kangaroos to shreds. The Swans had all the run. They moved around Kangaroos defenders like they were witches hat. It was a rout, all the footballs going one way. Yes, there was a breeze. No, it wasn't an eleven-goal breeze. At the end, it was party time. Kieran Jack made moves like he was his father on a rugby league field. Ben McGlynn potted a miracle goal from almost on the boundary line.
That's how it went for the Swans in the third. Everything fell their way. Nothing fell North Melbourne's way. By the end, the goal count in the third was 11-1. A dagger-like quarter of football, and the game was, for all intents and purposes, over. Brad Scott's face said it all. The North coach knew it wasn't to do with the breeze. Quite simply, his team were out-played, and he had been out-coached.
It isn't the first time that the Swans have made another team's coach look perplexed and frustrated. Three times out of three games, the Bloods have been tested, and three times out of three games, they've kicked their level of play to another level, running out comfortable victories, scoreboards perhaps not showing the true nature of the way the game transpired. What matters, though, is the Swan's 3-0 record in 2013. It doesn't matter how they win, just that they do.
The onslaught of the third quarter helped most forget about an indifferent first half, which had been dominated by the Kangaroos for the most part, leading to their sixteen-point lead. There were good patches here and there for the Swans, but the ability to put together a full effort for two quarters was lacking. They haven't played a four-quarter game yet in 2013. When they do, you can only imagine where this team, full of talent and depth, might be able to do. A scary thought for opposition coaches. Ironically, the Kangaroos have had the same problem. The difference? The Swans are 3-0, the 'Roos 0-3.
A slight sense of deja vu, in the third, wherein North Melbourne kicked three straight to open, before the Swans got onto the board in any shape or form - a behind to McGlynn, that could've and perhaps should've been a major. Granted, the breeze had certainly stiffened late, and the game was not truly in doubt for the Bloods. Predictably, those same names popped up, O'Keefe and Goodes, booting majors, and it was a case of put down the glasses.
A triumphant day for the midfield. They ran, tackled, pressured and boy, did they kick goals. McGlynn had three. as did Dan Hannebery, the evergreen Jude Bolton 4, to lead the way, with McVeigh and Kennedy also getting amongst the goals. When they weren't kicking goals, they were setting them up. The performance of the engine room overshadowed how good Ted Richards and his corps of defenders were down back, as well as Shane Mumford's work in the ruck. And Goodes, with a handful of touches and two goals, has a habit of bobbing up to inject some added class, not that this Swans team struggles in that department. Nice, though, to have a player like Goodes to just take over the contest when necessary. Long may that continue.
Friday night footy returns to Sydney next week, as the Swans face Geelong. Their SCG tilt last year was one of the games of the season, with Andrejs Everitt kicking a wonderful game-winner late. Let's hope there's less heart-attack material, but as much of a contest, on Friday.
Go Bloods!!
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