Swans see off a determined first half St Kilda challenge for a comfortable win
SYDNEY 2.3 6.6 13.9 18.10 (118)
ST KILDA 2.3 4.4 5.6 8.11 (59)
Goals: Sydney: K Tippett 5 J White 3 B McGlynn 2 J Bolton 2 J Lamb 2 K Jack 2 M Pyke 2.
St Kilda: J Steven 2 N Riewoldt 2 D Minchington T Curren T Hickey T Lee.
Best: Sydney: J Kennedy L Parker R Shaw K Tippett K Jack J McVeigh.
St Kilda: J Steven N Riewoldt L Montagna T Curren D Armitage.
Umpires: Ben Ryan, Jacob Mollison, Jason Armstrong.
Official Crowd: 26,730 at SCG.
The Swans got what they really needed today: a nice, confidence- and percentage-building win over fairly poor opposition heading into the final two, very tough weeks of the season (next week, at Geelong, and the following week, home against Hawthorn) before reloading to defend their 2012 premiership.
Even so, the win didn't come easily for Sydney, and that was entirely due to a very plucky St Kilda side who made life difficult in the first half, maintaining close contact on the scoreboard through a combination of experienced old heads like Nick Dal Santo, Nick Riewoldt and ex-Swan Adam Schneider, and a fleet of kids who look like they'll be the (fairly promising) future of the St Kilda Football Club, like Jack Steven, who fought hard with Sydney's Josh Kennedy for best-on-ground honours this afternoon.
It was a different story in the second half, where the Swans kicked clear, producing a blistering display of hard-running and well-executed ball movement, spearheaded by Kennedy and his midfield cohorts, chief amongst them, Jarrad McVeigh, who, it seems, cannot play a bad game. He's the steadying presence in the engine room, and the lightning rod for so much of what the Swans do offensively. Behind him, Ted Richards battled Saints spearhead Riewoldt to a draw, with able assistance from Dean Rampe and Rhyce Shaw. The Swans are an infinitely better team when Rhyce Shaw is running and carrying from the backline. There are few who can do it as well as he does.
In the third quarter, which blew the game wide open, the Swans played breathtaking football at times, and ruthless, too. In every facet of the game, they put the Saints to the sword, showing glimpses of form which the Sydney faithful really hasn't seen for two straight weeks, after the majority of the team had sub-par performances against Collingwood last Saturday night. Kieran Jack was his usual self, Luke Parker returned to form, Jesse White looked menacing once more (and will be tough to drop as the run to the finals commences) and Ben McGlynn, fresh off of perhaps the worst performance he's ever put in as a Swan, returned to form, a very pleasing thought for the Swans Nation ahead of September action.
Generally, the Swans acted as though last week's game was but a speedbump, and they would want to hope so. It took a while to happen, but the Sydney machine was up and rolling smoothly by three-quarter time, the dreaded Magpie cobwebs blown right out of the water. Swans fans, remembering last week's effort all too well, can only hope that they don't reappear throughout the next six to (hopefully) eight weeks of football still to come in Season 2013.
With five goals to his name before the bell for three quarter time, impressive spearhead Kurt Tippett was subbed by John Longmire in favour of Gary Rohan, whose return to the Swans line-up - and, indeed, to the field - was warmly welcomed by the SCG crowd of more than 26,000 people. Few can forget the horrible vision of Rohan breaking his leg early last season. It's been a tough road back for the red-headed youngster, but, ultimately, a rewarding one. He will be better for a quarter's worth of footy.
It was a smart move both ways for Longmire. Player management is absolutely key at this time of the year. Tippett will be well-rested for Geelong next week, and Rohan was given a chance to find some form heading into the finals, when he will, without a doubt, be the sort of wild card option that could turn momentum at crucial moments in big games. Tippett has looked unstoppable over the last few weeks (and was arguably the only bright spot in last week's loss to Collingwood), but Jesse White, in career best form, impressively stood up and shouldered the load late in the game.
A fifty-nine point win was about a fair indication of how the game went, the Swans doubly better than St Kilda, who noticeably faded late. Next week: a much tougher test, against Geelong in Geelong. It's the hardest assignment in footy, and will be a very good litmus test as to where the Swans are at.
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