Swans fade badly late, get out of jail and are a part of the first draw in 2013 against Fremantle in Sydney.
SYDNEY 3.0 7.2 8.3 11.4 (70) FREMANTLE 3.6 3.8 5.12 9.16 (70)
GOALS: Sydney - Hannebery 4, McGlynn 2, Everitt, Bolton, Jack, Jetta, Pyke. Fremantle - Ballantyne 2, Fyfe 2, Mayne, Johnson, Suban, Duffield, Clarke.
BEST: Sydney - Hannebery, Jack, Kennedy, Goodes, Malceski. Fremantle - Fyfe, Barlow, Johnson, Mundy, Duffield.
UMPIRES: Stevic, Rosebury, Ryan.
CROWD: 22,546, at SCG.
It was a worrying start for Swans fans on Saturday night at the Sydney Cricket Ground, when the visitng Fremantle Dockers, with an injury list as long as your right arm, kicked the opening three goals and looked dangerous. They were dominating all of the stats, and, most importantly, of course, on the scoreboard, and there were nervous looks on the faces on the Swans faithful. Ross Lyon, as much a disciple of the Paul Roos School of Tactics as John Longmire is, seemed to be winning the battle of the former assistant coaches. You can see so much of the old Swans, the 2005-06 vintage, particularly, in the grind-it-out style that Fremantle play.
Then, something clicked. It was as though the Swans were a hibernating bear, poked awake and roaring back to it's old self. Somehow, someway, the light had turned on, and it was a welcome return of the Swans of old. The red-and-whites played the sort of football we all knew they could play - basically, the kind they didn't play last week, when Hawthorn shut them down expertly.
The Dockers did not have the same ability. Their accuracy in front of goals was shocking, and perhaps that is putting it kindly. Shocking, also, was the Dockers use of the ball. If they weren't spraying the Sherrin left and right in front of the sticks, they were turning the football over, ugly kicks that showed poor judgement. Their forward fifty entries were nothing short of torturous at times. Where the Swans could roll with their midfield, piercing the 50m arc with reguarity, the Dockers seemed to have great trouble spotting up targets. It was equal parts ugly and confounding.
A lot of the strangulation of the Dockers was thanks to the Swans rediscovering their pressure, lock-down, contested possession brand of football that is so suited to the smaller confines of the SCG. And, on this night, they did it well. Fremantle's dearth of big targets up forward didn't help either. Nor did kicking over the head of Nick Suban, and expecting that man to get the better of Ted Richards. Rarely does that ever happen. Rarely did it happen on Saturday night, either.
It helped that the Swans had Dan Hannebery, too. Particuarly in the first half, the twenty two-year-old midfielder, who seems like he's been around forever, it felt like it was Dan Hannebery Night. Everything he did seemed to turn to gold. Four first half goals, and a tonne of possessions, and those in attendance at the SCG wondered if the nuggety midfielder hadn't actually brought his own footy. It seemed that way.
As bad as Fremantle looked in the second and third quarters, trying - and, mostly, failing - to create scoring drive and opportunity, they came alive late in the last, and it felt like the first ten or twenty minutes all over again. What looked like a stroll-home win that might have had viewers turning over the furious finale in Melbourne between Collingwood and Geelong, was suddenly a game again. And the finals-like atmosphere was there for all to see.
The Swans looked like they were home for all money. First half hero Hannebery largely went missing, and what had served the red-and-whites so well suddenly disappeared, and it was the Swans who had trouble trying to score, whilst Fremantle, through some unlikely players, came back from four goals down and almost won. The Dockers were murdering the Swans down the middle of the ground. The fade-out will not please John Longmire and the Sydney coaching staff.
Perhaps they should have won - though they had their chances earlier in the game and could not capatalise - and it was there for them to grab, right on their fingertips, and they might have taken it, had it not been for Sam Reid in defence, much-maligned during this game and during the season, saved the contest for the Bloods with a strong mark right on the goal line, when it looked as though Fremantle would win.
It was a lucky, lucky escape for Sydney, who had stopped to an absolute walk late, and probably didn't deserve the W. No one likes a draw, but two losses in a row with Collingwood and Essendon coming down the pipe over the next few weeks would have made the race for a top-four position that much more difficult. It's a crowded ladder now, with lots of good teams around. In that context, two points are better than none at all. Still, as they say, a draw is like kissing your sister: no one's happy about it. But, be happy about this, Sydney fans: the Swans are in the top four. And that's something.
Down in Melbourne, Collingwood got over the top of Geelong, after Geelong, the last undefeated team in the AFL, threatened to get over the top of the Pies, and it sets up an intriguing Swans vs. Magpies game at the MCG next Friday evening. A ground where the Swans don't play well, and a team against whom the red-and-whites have had their well-documented problems on the big stage and bright lights of Friday night football, poses an interesting challenge for the Bloods when they next take the field...
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