SYDNEY 5.3 8.7 13.10 16.14 (110) RICHMOND 5.3 6.4 8.7 9.9 (63)
GOALS Sydney: White 4, Tippett 3, K Jack 2, Mitchell 2, B Jack, Bolton, Lamb, Pyke, Smith. Richmond: Riewoldt 3, Martin 2, Jackson, White, Conca, Vickery.
BEST Sydney: O'Keefe, K.Jack, Mitchell, Hannebery, White, Mumford, Bird. Richmond: Martin, Cotchin, Riewoldt, Grigg.
UMPIRES Stevic, Meredith, Stewart.
CROWD 29,738 at SCG.
It started rather innocuously, with Nick Malceski clobbered off the ball in the opening minutes - it was a legal bump from Richmond's Ty Vickery, and a good one at that - and it seemed that, in those early stages, the entirety of the Sydney side was suffering from a case of the stumbles and the wobbles as the visitors kicked some early goals to cause a murmur of doubt to go through the SCG crowd, which was plentiful on this first ever Sunday twilight game in Sydney.
Slowly, like a bear emerging from hibernation, the Swans found their legs. Six minutes in and two goals down, things shifted. Little did anyone know, but the best passage of play the Tigers would enjoy all night had come and gone. The game shifted quite noticeably after that early Tiger burst. Sydney's midfield got on top, through steady hands from the veterans like Ryan O'Keefe and Jarrad McVeigh. The Old Guard was ably assisted by the New Guard. Brandon Jack looked as good today as he has at any time in his short career. Tom Mitchell continued his excellent season. Luke Parker, Josh Kennedy, Dan Hannebery, Craig Bird...and the list goes on. It's a list that could take up considerable column inches, and, often, it does.
There were multiple contributors for the Swans today, as there seem to be each and every week. Ted Richards had the best of Richmond star Jack Riewoldt - not an easy feat in Season 2013 - and the Sydney midfield, in the face of a very good group opposing them, looked unstoppable at times, and dominant for much of the rest of the time, too. Surely, the group of mids that the Swans can boast on the field each week is absolutely the best of it's kind going around the AFL at the moment.
Sydney's was a solid, four-quarter effort in most areas of the game - except, in the kicking department, and not for the first time, either; there's been some shocking inaccuracy in some games this season - that allowed the red-and-whites to notch a 47-point win, and to condemn Richmond to seventh straight loss at the SCG. For the Tigers, resurgent in 2013, the Harbour City has not been a happy hunting ground. And it will remain so for at least one more year.
This was an important win for the Swans, who are far from being at full strength. In fact, there's just about a premiership team of players sitting on the sidelines. Goodes, Shaw, Jetta, Reid, Roberts-Thompson and more are still to come back. Yet, the Swans keep on keeping on. It is nice to have such incredible depth, and as premiership stars remain off the field, young kids are gaining valuable experience.
More and more, it is the fringe players who are stepping up and filling the void for those who are missing. As is often said in American sport, next man in. And it's working extraordinary for Sydney. Plug and play. Jesse White played his best game for Sydney today, ending with four majors, and menacing the Richmond defenders often. This in the midst of his best stretch of play, ever. To think that we had been ready to give up on White last year. A powerful stretch of play in the fourth from White helped the Swans really kick clear and a learned and humorous observer I know and love said, "White will win the Brownlow this year!" Not quite, but he's looking good, and will be tough to drop when Sam Reid is ready to come back if he continues in this rich vein of form, that's for sure.
Much the same can be said for Andrejs Everitt, who has enjoyed his best and most consistent month of football. Brandon Jack, mentioned above, is taking his chances and doing good things with them. So, too, Jed Lamb and Harry Cunningham. Dean Rampe is another pressed into service in defence, and coming along in leaps and bounds, making it not seem so bad that the dependable Marty Mattner is no longer with the team.
The end result of a positive night in Sydney: an emphatic win in front of nearly 30,000 fans - a good start for the experiment of Sunday twilight football - against a finals-bound opponent has catapulted them into third position, and with so many good players to come back, the future looks bright as the countdown to the 2013 Finals Series really begins in earnest.
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