SYDNEY 4.4 10.8 12.9 17.11 (113) WEST COAST 3.4 5.6 6.8 11.13 (79) Goals: Sydney: K Tippett 3 D Hannebery 2 J Lamb 2 K Jack 2 M Pyke 2 B Jack J Bolton J Kennedy J White L Parker S Mumford. West Coast: J Kennedy 4 B Dalziell C Masten C Morton D Cox J Darling N Naitanui S Wellingham. Umpires: Simon Meredith, Dean Margetts, Nicholas Foot. Official Crowd: 35,166 at Subiaco.
Daniel Hannebery said it best in his post-game interview with Cam Mooney on FOX: the trip across to Perth to play the West Coast Eagles is one of the toughest tests in all of football, perhaps second only to the Death March down to Skilled Stadium to play Geelong. Given that, it would be appropriate here to award the Swans full marks. Or, at least, an A-, for their performance today - aside from a ten or fifteen minute period in the fourth quarter - did what the corresponding game last year did: it really announced Sydney as serious premiership contenders.
The game was won in the second quarter, when the Swans did to John Worsfold's Eagles what they've done to so many teams this season: they opened them up, relying on a dominant midfield machine to create scoring opportunity after scoring opportunity, most of which were converted, which gave Sydney what turned out to be a match-winning lead. In days gone by, the Eagles had a midfield that boasted, amongst others, Chris Judd and Daniel Kerr, with plenty of other firepower around them, and their midfield was likened to a Ferrari.
Fast forward a few years, and that's the Swans, who boast some formidable strength through the guts of the ground. Consider the names: Hannebery (who had his sixth game of 40+ possessions in 2013, and 2 nice goals), Parker, Jack, McVeigh, Bolton, Kennedy...and the list goes on. Hannebery, who had the ball on a string for most of the game, must be an outside chance at the Brownlow Medal, still. And Kieren Jack, who popped up with deft moves and incredible speed, were the chief destroyers. It was a thing of beauty to watch.
It's a tough ask to pick the best midfielder in that team. One thing is for certain: They are a serious problem for opposition teams, for there are so many to shut down. Tag one, and another one or two step up. Consider Tom Mitchell: that kid looks like he's approaching his hundredth game. He's a perfect example of the "plug and play" mentality that the Swans are lucky enough to have. Stick a player into the midfield, around those superstars, and you can almost guarantee that he'll become a superstar himself. Certainly, in Mitchell's case, he's well on the way.
For the most part, the Swans were dominant at Paterson's Stadium, which isn't something that a lot of teams can say. A slow start gave way to outright dominance in the second and third quarters, and a period ensued where, it seemed, Longmire's men took their foot off the accelerator. West Coast stormed back to within 20 points, then Josh Kennedy waded into the fray. He was the man with the Midas Touch there for a cruicial ten minutes, in which everything he touched seemed to turn into a six-pointer and the Eagles challenge was snuffed out.
Impressive today, also, were the defenders. Grundy, Rampe, Richards and co are as good as there is in the AFL. Their pressure is extraordinary, and, for the most part, the big guns Jack Darling and the other Josh Kennedy were well held, and renowned goal sneak Mark Le Cras hasn't kicked a goal against the Swans in his career. In the ruck, Mumford and Pyke had the better of the Cox/Naitanui pairing, and even when one of the Eagles got the tap down, like as not there was a Swans midfielder waiting to snatch it away again. And so it went for most of the game.
With so many injuries, the Swans have been particularly impressive in that they've rarely faltered, and you can only imagine how good a unit they'll be when Goodes, Reid, Roberts-Thomson, Shaw, Jetta and co are back in the team. Stop-gap options at the moment had spectacular games today. It might've been Jesse White's best in red and white, Andrejs Everitt continues to impress in his best season yet, as does the newcomer Jed Lamb, whose influence over the proceedings this afternoon had a major impact on how the game went. Kieren's brother Brandon Jack had his best game, too. The wide open spaces of Paterson's seemed to suit a lot of the Swans team. There are good signs for the continued development of an already impressive team. As for West Coast, the loss today ends their slim Finals chances.
Elsewhere, Harry Cunningham, the sub today, had an immediate impact, setting up a Kurt Tippett goal late, and the key forward looked as good as he has in a Swans uniform, blessedly kicking straight, and well supported in the scoring department by two of the gun midfielders, Jack and Hannebery. It's like a tide, that midfield. They sweep forward, cashing in on the scoring chances that they've created.
In the wash-up of a very interesting round - how about the Garry Ablett Show last night against Collingwood - the Swans sit in fourth on the Toyota AFL Premiership Ladder, and must be glad of Geelong and Fremantle losses this week, with Richmond heading to the SCG next Sunday afternoon for some twilight footy. The Tigers, on their day, are as good as anyone in the League, and will likely provide a stiff test for the Bloods. It's a match-up that has Trap Game written all over it...
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