Swans Review - Carlton (28 June 2013)

Swans do just enough to scrape home on an obscenely wet night at the SCG

SYDNEY 4.6 5.9 6.11 8.17 (65) CARLTON 0.3 1.5 4.10 5.13 (43) GOALS Sydney: McGlynn 2, Tippett 2, Bolton, Parker, Pyke, Mitchell. Carlton: Gibbs, Armfield, Bootsma, Lucas, Tuohy. BEST Sydney: Bird, Parker, Mitchell, Kennedy. Carlton: Henderson, Judd, Gibbs, Bootsma. UMPIRES Findlay, Rosebury, McInerney. CROWD 25,349 at SCG.

It wasn't even close to being pretty, but that hardly matters in comparison to the four competition points that the Swans picked up on Friday night. Really, the big story was the weather. To put it mildly, it was atrocious, and many of the 25,000 fans in attendance at the Sydney Cricket Ground would doubtless have thought back to the corresponding game two years ago, played in very similar conditions. If anything, this Friday night was worse. Even the most diehard of supporters had to admit that there were better things they could have been doing with their time. 

Yours truly (left) enduring a wet, poncho-friendly night at the SCG

Two years ago, it was a Chris Judd masterclass that sparked Carlton to a good win, but the still-brilliant Judd, a real barometer of the fortunes of his team, had no such influence on the contest this time around, and despite a surge in the second half, the Blues fell short on a night where, because of the torrential rain - it felt like we were sitting through a tropical cyclone event at times - even the most basic of skills sometimes seemed beyond players on both sides. 

For Sydney, the trajectory of the game was eerily reminiscent of last week's loss: big lead early, the other side makes a comeback. But the result was different; there was no repeat of the Port Adelaide debacle. Unlike last week, when challenged, the Swans found a way to stand up and deliver something more. Considering the conditions, and considering, also, an Injury List that's as long as my arm, and features names like Goodes, Shaw, Reid, Roberts-Thomson, Johnson, Morton and more, this was a good win, and just what the doctor ordered after last Saturday's failure at AAMI Stadium.

With so many premiership stars out, it was up to some of the newer faces to get the Bloods across the line. Craig Bird and Dean Rampe had perhaps the best games of their season, Kurt Tippet, in his SCG debut, managed two goals, and midfield rookie sensation Tom Mitchell kicked a classy goal at the end, sealing the win for the Swans. 

The old stagers had an impact, too: Ben McGlynn had a double on a night not exactly tailor made for kicking at goal. Jude Bolton's performance was to be expected, given his love of the close-in contest, and on a night where you needed to really scrap for the football, when it was tough to get a kick away, the evergreen midfielder stood up and led from the front. Whenever there was a pack, Bolton was at the bottom of it. 

The less said of the howler of a decision from the umpire to penalise Nick Malceski for rushing a behind late in the first half, gifting Carlton a goal that set them on their mini-run into the third, the better. You can bet, though, that the umpires will have a tough week of answering questions about that ruling, the first of it's kind this season. When even the television commentators are struck dumb by the decision and lost for words...well, you know it was a horrendous decision. Good luck in the VFL next week, Mr Umpire.

In the end, rain and all, the Swans came away with a win, avoiding a two-game slide. The rain doesn't seem so bad when you win. Also worth noting that with Fremantle, the West Coast and Collingwood losing around Sydney this weekend, the Swans are still staring a top four finish squarely in the face, and the quest for back-to-back premierships is well on track. Melbourne next week: Sunday at the MCG.

Go Bloods!!

Book Review: "A Chain of Thunder" by Jeff Shaara

The most interesting thing about A Chain of Thunder, the second installment in a trilogy of stories - and, indeed, was the case with the first outing, A Blaze of Glory - is the light shed on the oft-forgotten 'western' campaign of the United States Civil War. 

Through movies, documentaries and books, some written by Shaara himself, the campaign that seesawed around the  Commonwealth of Virginia, between a Rebel army commanded by Robert E. Lee and a Union army that went through commanders like a soldier went through musket balls, we are well aware of the events of Gettysburg, Antietam, Bull Run/Manassas and of Lee's eventual surrender at the Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia.

What Jeff Shaara has done here, to mark the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, is take us to the other campaign, where men like William Tecumseh Sherman, Ulysses Grant, Joe Johnston and others, rose to fame or infamy - depending on your point of view - and where battles just as bloody and, sometimes, more bloody, than Gettysburg and the other famous engagements further east, were fought, without the corps of newspaper reporters following the armies, like they followed armies further north. There are stories to be told here of valor and sacrifice, courage and defeat. And Shaara has brought many of these to light.

The Western Campaign, in Civil War terms, was a string of engagements originally fought in an area east of the Mississippi River and west of the Appalachian Mountains, though Union armies advanced southeast from Chattanooga, Tennessee later in the war, and so the Western Campaign now recognises those battles fought in Georgia and the Carolina's, too.

Part One in this trilogy, A Blaze of Glory, introduced a slew of characters, some well known - Sherman, Grant, Albert Sidney Johnston, Pierre Beauregard, Braxton Bragg - and others not so much, like the German-American soldier from Wisconsin, Private Fritz Bauer, real men whose movements in the campaigns, meticulously researched by the author, are brought to life as fiction. 

A Blaze of Glory covered the slaughterhouse that was the Shiloh campaign. The middle entry in the trilogy - a better all-around work, by my reckoning - A Chain of Thunder picks up the struggle before the fateful siege of Vicksburg in Mississippi, where a Federal army under the command of Ulysses S. Grant surrounded a Confederate army helmed by the northern-born John C. Pemberton. 

Pemberton, an obvious focal point for the story, as the Garrison commander, provided an interesting entry to Civil War history. He had decided to fight with the South after marrying a woman born there, but was never completely trusted by his colleagues, and much of the Pemberton narrative deals with his continued efforts to gain respect and to lead his army, whilst coming to terms with the fact that there is little hope for salvation. His eventual surrender of the town was seen by some ardent Southerners as a betrayal, a gift-wrapped rebel stronghold, given over to Federal forces on July 4, Independence Day. This, of course, could not be any further from the truth. Yet it is a suggestion that Pemberton struggles with, and you can feel his torment.

The siege progresses, and Shaara paints a brutal picture of death and decay on both sides, but particuarly amongst the southerners, who are at the mercy of the Union guns, with food fast running out. For the first time, Shaara tells the story of a civilian, Lucy Spence, a young Vicksburg native who spends much of the siege tending to the wounded and dying rebel soldiers. The things she does, the things she sees are masterfully brought to life by Shaara. He can portray the horrors of a field hospital as well as the horrors of a battlefield, and it is uncomfortable reading as you consider the things Spence, a girl barely into her twenties, has to do in the name of the Southern cause.

Many pages are devoted to Grant and Sherman, as their relationship grows, and as they together seek not only to beat the enemy in front of them, but to deal with the newspaper reporters and politicians who are jockeying for favour and an inside scoop, and whose writings, skewed one way or the other, could result in Grant's recall to Washington, a new general put in place. The future President of the United States has enemies on his own side, and is dogged by allegations of being a drunk. Grant's struggle against Confederate armies is but half the battle he must fight, a fact well illustrated by Shaara.

In the end, though, the showpiece is the front line battle, in which Private Bauer and his Irish-American comrades are right in the middle of. Despite knowing how the engagement will end - even if you aren't up with the history of the Civil War, it is apparent early on that the Rebel position is hopeless - there is still great tension built up, as early attacks on Vicksburg fail horribly, resulting in a changing approach by Grant, even as Southerners hope that a nearby army will come to their rescue. A momentary truce to bury dead men gives Bauer and his colleagues a chance to come face to face with their enemy, exchanging cigarettes and the like for a few minutes before they go back to killing one another. The irony of that is not lost on the reader.

General Pemberton surrenders to General Grant as word reaches both armies of a fateful battle at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and Vicksburg falls into Federal hands. Now, the focus of Shaara's story, in the third volume slated for May 2014, turns to Atlanta and the end of the war in the west...

Review: Man Of Steel

Starring: Henry Cavill, Russell Crowe, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon
Director: Zack Snyder

In a few words...: A reboot of the Superman franchise, in the vein of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy.
 
Rating: 8/10

Beware: SPOILERS AHEAD 

 

I must confess that I wasn't aware of the critical backlash that Superman Returns received. I enjoyed that film, and was disappointing to read that Brandon Routh, Kate Bosworth and Kevin Spacey would not be making return appearances. Then came news that there would be another reboot, and I was drawing comparisons with Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man franchise being kick-started again so soon after the original. I was skeptical, to say the least.

 

But having watched Zack Snyder's attempt at Superman, Man of Steel, I'm officially a convert. A big-time fan. It was many times better than Superman Returns. Snyder, the director of the bloody 300, and screenwriter David S. Goyer (Blade) and producer Christopher Nolan (director of the recent Batman trilogy) have put together a brilliant film and perhaps the best Superman effort since Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder kicked off our cinematic obsession with the other caped crusader back in the 1970s.

 

For the first time, Superman is portrayed as a loner, an outcast, someone who has had trouble fitting into a world that doesn't understand him and isn't ready to accept someone with such powers. Through well-placed flashbacks to his early days in Smallville, Kansas, which include intriguing scenes with famous characters of the Superman lore like Pete Ross and Lana Lang, we see the difficulties that Clark faces, and valuable lessons taught by his adoptive parents, sensitively portrayed by Kevin Costner and Diane Lane. The flashbacks provide necessary back story to this "new" Superman we're getting to know, for they are experiences that have made him the man he is now, in the film's present.

 

Goyer's story also takes us to Krypton, where Jor El (Australia's Russell Crowe) and his wife Lara put their infant son into a craft that will take him far from their home world, which is imploding both through over development and political angst: General Zod (Michael Shannon) orchestrates an attempted coup, is eventually captured and condemned to the Phantom Zone. Shortly thereafter, Krypton dies in one great fireball. It is spectacular visually, the first of many jaw-dropping sequences. If it's now expected in a superhero movie that a city is demolished, then Snyder succeeds beautifully, laying waste to Metropolis in the last third of the film.

 

On earth, one of the Krypton scout ships is discovered buried in the snow and ice, attracting the attention of the American military and of an intrepid reporter from the Daily Planet. Yep, Lois Lane (Amy Adams) makes her entrance grandly, and is very quickly introduced to Superman/Clark Kent, who saves her life, then disappears, and the worst thing for the newspaper scribe is that no one believes her story. Her editor, Perry White (Laurence Fishburne) refuses to print her story, worried, as he is, about how the citizens of Planet Earth might react to the knowledge that there is a so-called alien amongst them.

 

That's a recurring theme through the story: Superman and the world's trust in him. When General Zod and his cronies - predictably - escape the Phantom Zone and head for Earth, wanting Kal-El to help kick-start a new Krypton on earth, one that will unfortunately mean the destruction of the human race, at first Superman is treated in the same vein as Zod. The general makes a bargain with earth to hand over Superman. It takes time - and a great deal of destruction - for humans to understand that the man in blue and red is not the enemy, but a friend. The events of the back half of the film solidify what's at first an uneasy alliance, but one that will almost certainly grow with each new film - and you have the feeling that this is the beginning of a solid franchise.

 

Henry Cavill plays Superman perfectly, balancing the chiseled all-American/superhero looks - you know, the prerequisite kind - with the right mixture of gravitas and dry humour. The British actor is an inspired choice, and has good chemistry with his father (Crowe), his love interest (Adams) and his adopted mother (Lane). His scenes with Kevin Costner are touching, too. There's some empathy, to a point, with Zod, who exists solely to restore Krypton to it's former glory, and ruthlessness, too.

 

Whilst some of the plot lines are different to the traditional Superman mythology - for example, Lois knows Clark's double identity, he isn't a reporter at the Daily Planet until the end, Perry White is African-American and there isn't a sighting, let alone a mention, of Lex Luthor - what sets this film apart from the others is it's efforts to reinvent everything, and provide a new take on an old legend. It was a brave move by Snyder, and he's made a memorable film as a result. 

 

Looking forward to the next one.

Review: The Internship

Starring: Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn, John Goodman, Rose Byrne
Director: Shaun Levy

In a few words...: Vaughn and Wilson back together...adrift as interns at Google
 
Rating: 7/10

Beware: SPOILERS AHEAD

Much has been made of the new Vince Vaughn/Owen Wilson comedy, thanks to most of the events of the film taking place on the Google campus in Northern California. People have accused it of being basically two hours of infomercial for the internet giant, and whilst there is a great deal of content focusing on the Google brand, it doesn't come off as being a shameless grab for publicity. Google is there, a part of the narrative, but never, in my opinion, is it shoved down your throat like an annoying infomercial.

What you get is a surprisingly funny film. Wilson and Vaughn, whose last collaboration "Wedding Crashers" was fantastic, have rebounded each from some questionable outings, proving, perhaps, that they are best paired together. Their chemistry is certainly there for all to see. They play off each other well, and you can't help but want to cheer for their two characters.

Basically, it's your fish-out-of-water scenario comedy, but done well. As two door-to-door salesman whose company closes down, Billy (Vaughn) and Nick (Wilson) are forced to look to something else in life, and they manage to secure an internship at Google. Put into a team with a group of misfits, they must win a series of challenges to be made full-time employees.

The Google campus is a fascinating place, with slippery dips and sleeping pods, and it's a good background as the two old guys get paired up with young misfits and learn, somehow, the Google world...whilst, at the same time, they try to teach their young chargers about real life, away from computers and mobile phones.On the side, is the Google employee Dana (Australia's very own Rose Byrne, who looks great) who catches Nick's eye - the typical romance ensues, but we all expected that - and there's the leader of the "bad guys", posh English genius Graham (Max Minghella) who is suitably smarmy in trying to trip up Billy and Nick's crew. It all adds up to a good fun film, with some great eighties reference, particularly the Flashdance-inspired rev-up speech. There's a great scene in a questionable "dance club" near the middle and, before that, you get a good laugh out of the X-Men/Professor Xavier sequence at Stanford University.
 
As far as these films go, this one is strangely endearing, with most of the jokes stemming from the lead characters' obvious lack of intelligence when it comes to the internet and their 80's roots, which baffle - humorously so - their younger cohorts. Great turns by Will Ferrell as the manager of the mattress shop where Nick was working, and by rising star/funny man Rob Riggle, as a salesman at a nursing home, though his character was rather disturbing. Can't forget Aasif Madvi as Mr Chetty, the Google employee you want to hate but can't quite manage to do so.

Certainly not going to win an Oscar, but as a good film to enjoy without having to think too much, this is right up there. It's a return to form for Wilson and Vaughn, and an interesting look into the world of Google.

Patrick Kane Scores 2OT Winner vs. LA; Chicago To The 2013 Stanley Cup Final (VIDEO)

SCORE!! Patrick Kane in overtime!!!

It was Patrick Kane vs. Los Angeles on Saturday night and Chicago's #88 won out, scoring three goals - including the 2OT winner that gave him a hat trick and sent Chicago to the 2013 Stanley Cup Final - to end a series which the Blackhawks thoroughly dominated, and ended up winning 4-1.

The 2-on-1 breakaway featured Chicago's superstars, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, and it was as good a pass from Toews as it was a laser-like scoring shot by Kane. #88 scored the goal, but it wouldn't have happened without #19's smooth feed. It was the sort of play that makes hockey just about the most beautiful game to watch on this earth.

Here's how it unfolded:

Super fantastic feed from Toews and a wonderful call from NBC's Dave Strader. How about the crowd at the United Centre? "Chelsea Dagger" is blaring, and people are going all sorts of berserk. Playoff hockey - extraordinary! They don't call it the Madhouse on Madison for nothing!!

For Patrick Kane, who had a quiet series against Detroit, it was fairytale stuff! Nothing better than an OT winner...except maybe a 2OT winner to send your team to the Stanley Cup Finals...or, maybe a 2OT winner that's also your hat trick goal. Without a doubt, Patrick Kane is the toast of Chicago, Illinois tonight.

Chicago vs. Boston for Lord Stanley! Won't that be sensational?!

Swans Review - Adelaide (8 June 2013)

Dan Hannebery leads white-hot Swans in twilight rout of Adelaide

SYDNEY 4.4  10.9  17.12  19.13 (127)
ADELAIDE 1.4  3.4  3.9  6.14 (50)
Goals: Sydney: B McGlynn 3 J White 3 M Morton 3 C Bird 2 J Bolton 2 A Everitt A Goodes D Hannebery K Jack L Parker T Mitchell. Adelaide: S McKernan 2 B Vince I Callinan P Dangerfield T Lynch.
Best: Sydney: D Hannebery K Jack J McVeigh J White R O’Keefe T Mitchell. Adelaide: P Dangerfield R Sloane D Talia B Rutten.
Umpires: Matt Stevic, Robert Findlay, Mathew Nicholls.
Official Crowd: 38,374 at AAMI Stadium.


Simply extraordinary. That's what the Swans were tonight. If there's been a more thoroughly complete effort on an AFL footy field this year then, please, point it out to me because the Swans were unstoppable tonight. They were so good that Adelaide, who weren't exactly lying down and letting the red-and-whites run all over them, were left hopelessly reeling, the victims of a football team that was absolutely unstoppable. The Swans were just too good, a pack mentality at every contest, the silky smooth movement of the football through the midfield, the occasional party trick and, most importantly of all, scoring potency. It led to a 77-point hatchet job of Brenton Sanderson's men that, sometimes, was almost beyond belief. A red and white hurricane hit AAMI Stadium tonight, and it didn't let up until the Crows were battered into submission.

This was the complete effort from Sydney, on the back of impressive wins against Collingwood and Essendon in the last two weeks. Heading into their bye week, Sydney, whose record at AAMI Stadium hasn't been great over the years, are perfectly placed for a run deep into September. Another premiership flag is not out of th question, not based on their form of the last few weeks. And, scarily for anyone not aligned with the Swans, will only get better with the likes of Rhyce Shaw, Lewis Jetta, Lewis Roberts-Tomson and the suspended former Crow Kurt Tippett to come back in the next few weeks.

There was so much to like about this Swans effort that it's hard to know where to start. But, really, can you go past the ball-magnet Dan Hannebery, who, time and time again, week after week, bobs up with a game that just makes your jaw drop. This kid has all the skills, and, even more, possesses that rare ability to make good players put on him look like no-talent hacks from some bush league. The Crows might've tagged him in the first half. Who knows for sure? Guys who ran with him were blown away, clear away, and Hannebery set about amassing a ridiculous 28 disposals to half time. He was checked somewhat in the second half, but the damage was well and truly done, and he finished with 42, easily best on ground, and he must be right up there in Brownlow voting.

Particularly impressive tonight were the fringe players, guys in the side because of injury or suspension. Jesse White played the best game that I can remember from him, booting three goals. Andrejs Everitt was solid, also, and the mercurial Mitch Morton, this squad's version of the equally mercurial Nick Davis, came on in the second half, and is proving to be just the goal sneak the Swans need. Key to his continuing place in this team, his pressure on the defensive side is improving week by week. Another success story for the Swans: a player discarded by another club becoming a role player in Sydney.

Debutant Brandon Jack looks the goods. He showed impressive flashes in the final quarter after coming into the game as the sub, relieving Shane Mumford, who also had a strong game, and set up a goal early in the fourth quarter, which pushed the lead into the nineties. The thing for the younger Jack is to get used to the pace of the game at AFL level, but the signs are there. Put it this way: if he proves to have half the talent his brother does, the Swans are onto a good thing. Kieren was amongst the Swans' best today, notching 32 touches, his usual gritty effort. You're never surprised now, to see #15 at the foot of all the packs, in there, fighting hard, maximum effort all the time.

Speaking of being onto a good thing: second-gamer Tom Mitchell looks for all the world like a 100-game player for the Swans. He goes about his work quietly for the most part, in the way of so many great midfielders at the club - Jarrad McVeigh and Jude Bolton, to name just two - but he has an influence. 31 touches and a goal today after a great debut from out of the substitute vest last week, and you wouldn't count out the youngster for the NAB Rising Star. At this rate, he'll street them. Just another midfielder to slot into this team. It's an embarrassment of riches destined to give opposing coaches headaches during the second half of the season!

Really, it was hard to find a bad player. McVeigh was the epicenter of many attacking raids, Ben McGlynn took advantage of a midfield that beat Adelaide's version to a bloody pulp, and the back line were, as ever, towers of strength. Dane Rampe looks ready to slot straight into the hole left by the sad retirement of Marty Mattner during the week. There doesn't look like being a drop off. It's quite a testament to the Swans' system.

For Adelaide...well, the looks on Brenton Sanderson's face said it all. He probably realised that his team had run into a buzz-saw and, in that situation, there isn't much that you can do about that. From a preliminary final run last year, to a scenario where they'll likely be struggling to play any sort of part in September will probably spell trouble - at least in the press - but tonight was one of those nights where everything he did was countered by Sydney. The ball bounced the right way for the Swans. It never did for the Crows. Unfortunately, it happens.

The Swans have the bye next week and they enter it in the best possible way. Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium in a fortnight, and in the interim, the hardest task for John Longmire is going to be deciding which players to leave out when the likes of Tippett, Shaw and Jetta come back. On tonight's form, no one deserves to be demoted, though Tippett's power forward status almost demands he gets a game straight up. It's a nice problem to have, though. And one that Longmire will no doubt grapple with during the week off. All will be revealed soon.

Go Bloods!!

Swans Review - Essendon (1 June 2013)

4 Adam Goodes majors leads the Swans to a decisive wet victory against Essendon in Sydney

SYDNEY 3.4 6.7 11.10 17.13 (115) ESSENDON 1.4 3.7 7.9 10.11 (71)
GOALS Sydney: Goodes 4, Malceski 2, Everitt, McGlynn, Bird, Kennedy, Jack, Jetta, Parker, Pyke, O'Keefe, Mumford, Mitchell. Essendon: Goddard 2, Carlisle 2, Crameri 2, Melksham, Winderlich, Hibberd, Bellchambers.
BEST Sydney: Kennedy, McVeigh, Malceski, Jack, Goodes, Mitchell, Bird. Essendon: Stanton, Hibberd, Heppell, Zaharakis, Watson, Carlisle.
UMPIRES Donlon, Dalgleish, Rosebury.
CROWD 29,792, at SCG.

It was the week from hell for Adam Goodes, but he turned hell into something more like heaven, albeit a wet one, on Saturday afternoon at the MCG, kicking four majors, and picking up 15 disposals to just about be the best on ground. Certainly, it was an effort, at times belying the fact that it was wet and that he'd had an emotionally draining week, probably like no other before in his life. 

What we saw on this rainy afternoon was vintage Goodes. Yes, he had a slow start, but when he got going, he played a giant part in the Swans ousting a very good Essendon team by 44 points. Up and about, Goodes is a sight to see, and his celebrations, exuberant at the best of times, came with a little something extra on this night. The crowd rose to their feet pretty much every time he touched the football, which was frequently in the second and third quarters, when Essendon were close enough to challenge.

Goodes, however, was not the only one who played a brilliant game. The rain was kind to the Swans. It always is, as it should be for a team named after a bird who exists mostly on the water. Tonight was a flashback to the Swans of 2004-06 under Paul Roos, the famously "ugly" football - remember that Andrew, Demetriou? - that was apparently casting a pall over the AFL at the time. The lock down, stoppage-heavy brand that was the norm then has been mostly replaced by a game full of attacking flair, courtesy of Messers Jetta, Hannebery, Jack, and others, but the Swans of 2013 proved that they could play like their premiership-winning cousins from that era, completely shutting down a very good Essendon team. 
 
Admittedly, there were times when the Bombers got close, but never close enough in the second half to give Sydney supporters and the coaching staff too much of a fit, and too many recollections of the last time the Swans had played on the Sydney Cricket Ground - the draw vs. Fremantle after a final quarter fade-out. It was a midfield battle in the trenches on a wet and greasy night, where there were almost as many behinds kicked as goals. 

Essendon's dangerous and inspirational Jobe Watson didn't trouble the scorers on this night, and was held to a meager-by-his-standards 23 touches. His match-up with Josh Kennedy didn't eventuate, and Essendon fans must wish that it had, for Kennedy, who was reasonably quiet last week, dominated the game, kicking a goal to go with his 37 touches. Skipper Jarrad McVeigh was brilliant in the midfield again, with 34 touches, and the corps of back-men, led by Nick Malceski, did a solid job on a tough night, holding the Bombers to ten goals. Against his old team, Ted Richards was a pillar of strength. When is he not, though?

Debutant Tom Mitchell looks the good. His numbers playing for the Swans reserves had been extraordinary leading up to today's first grade debut, including a ridiculous 56-disposal game recently, and his early entry into the game after the Tommy Walsh injury - about the only bleak point for the Swans this night - was certainly worth the wait. He ended up with 16 disposals and a goal, and looked very much at odds with his rookie status. Another gun mid for the Swans to plug in and send off to the races. It's an embarrassment of riches at the moment, and it must drive opposition coaches crazy.

Every post was a winner tonight for the team wearing red and white. It wasn't a pretty game in most respects, but for the Bloods, whom the scoreboard favoured by 44 points when it was all said and done, it was pretty enough - and a message-sender to the rest of the League. A seven goal win in the wet against a team spoken about as premiership contenders in 2013? They'll take that every day of the week, and you can imagine that they played for their teammate Goodes tonight, and they did him proud. 

Go Bloods!

Album Review: Richie Sambora - "Aftermath Of The Lowdown"

Aftermath Of The Lowdown

Artist: Richie Sambora
Release Date: September 2012
Label: Dangerbird
Producer: Richie Sambora / Luke Ebbin
Length: 12 tracks / 51:25

Kitch's Rating: 8/10

Here I am, stepping on the toes of my good friend Ben Carter's blog (read Ben's Music Blog by clicking HERE) by releasing a review of an album I first listened to a few months after most of the rest of the world, and I stumbled upon this guy's work almost by accident. It's the third solo album (and the first on an independent label, an interesting choice) by the man who currently isn't what he usually is, and that's lead guitarist of seminal New Jersey rock band Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora.

"Aftermath of the Lowdown" was released late last year, and is the first solo effort for Sambora since 1998's "Undiscovered Soul." Plenty has happened since then, of course. Aside from a stint in rehab that forced him to miss some Bon Jovi dates in 2007 and again in 2011, both of which followed well-publicised split with wife Heather Locklear in 2006, so there's plenty of real-life material for the twelve-track release. 

Recorded with a very talented backing band, and featuring the collaborative songwriting talents of Sambora and Luke Ebbin (the duo also produced the album), this is a solid outing from a guy more known for backing vocals and guitar solos, and features a lot of stuff you wouldn't hear on Bon Jovi releases, which helps set this body of work apart from Sambora's regular day job. Of course, one thing you can be guaranteed of is plenty of guitar work, and it doesn't disappoint. Currently, Sambora has to be acknowledged as one of the best guitarists in rock and roll. 

More impressive here is Sambora's voice. It's seldom-used in Bon Jovi gigs and albums, apart from harmonies and choruses, but is given all the room in the world here to shine, and shine it does. He's very impressive, a gravelly, powerful kind of voice that makes you sit up and take notice.

This is a great album - better, I think, than the latest Bon Jovi offering - but it doesn't quite scale the very lofty heights that Sambora's debut solo album, 1991's Stranger in This Town, recorded on the heels of the mega Bon Jovi album, New Jersey. If you're looking for some catchy blues-rock, check out that one. The title track of that album is one of my favourite songs ever. Even so, this is an impressive work, showing that Sambora is still creative as a solo artist.

Aftermath of the Lowdown has some very good tunes, amongst them, my favourites: Every Road Leads Home To You, Taking A Chance On The Wind, Seven Years Gone & Backseat Driver. Also definitely worth a listen is Weathering The Storm, co-written by Sambora and Bernie Taupin, of Elton John fame.

In the week before Christmas, as part of the promotional effort for the album from the indie label Dangerbird, Sambora and his band were the first ever house band on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, during which, Richie performed a searing rendition of the Bon Jovi hit "Wanted Dead or Alive".



Epic stuff!!