Well, it wasn’t pretty, and at times it was enough to have me alternately biting my fingernails and pulling my hair, but the Sydney Swans did enough during a dour struggle under rainy skies in Perth, defeating the hometown West Coast Eagles by twenty-eight points.
I had a bad feeling heading into this game: the combination of the arduous trip across to Perth – still the toughest and longest in footy – and the forecast of rain for Sunday in the west.
If you remember, the Swans opened their season a miserable 1-3 and those three defeats came in conditions where it was apocalyptically wet (GWS), raining and windy throughout (North Melbourne) or greasy (Collingwood), and didn’t look particularly good in any of them. The thought of this being a trap game eight days after notching ten straight wins weighed heavily on my mind throughout the week.
Those early season losses are a long way in the past now, though whether the slow start comes back to haunt the Swans remains to be seen. For the moment, it’s a case of no-harm-no-fowl because Sydney sit atop the AFL Premiership, following losses to frontrunners Port Adelaide on Friday night and Hawthorn yesterday, and seem to be primed for a run deep into September.
Yet, I was nervous, because rain is the great equaliser and a mediocre West Coast Eagles team had their best shot at an AFL-shaking win in wet conditions. It wasn’t the greatest day for big forwards, with Buddy Franklin worn like a glove – more often than not, an illegal glove – and his compatriot Kurt Tippett, with knee soreness, didn’t even make the game, replaced late by Gary Rohan.
Perhaps that was a fortuitous out, because it was the fleet of small midfielders and forwards who did the damage for Sydney – and one big guy by the name of Adam Goodes, who capitalised on the extra attention on Franklin by kicking three superb goals. It’s the mark of a brilliant player when they can make dry-weather plays in the middle of a downpour. Goodes did it time and time again today, and, also time and time again, showed amazing skill by hand and foot.
Around Goodes, the likes of Luke Parker, Craig Bird, Jarrad McVeigh, Josh Kennedy and Ben McGlynn. Parker seemed like he had his own footy out there at times, collecting a career-high 32 touches. Bird was close behind, the little man flying in the wet, netting 27 possessions, a mark equalled by the cannonball-like McGlynn, and the steady McVeigh, whose cool head under pressure never fails to impress.
It was something to see those players – and others, like Kieran Jack and his brother – throw themselves around almost with reckless abandon, swamping the Eagles midfield at times, and harassing the West Coast runners when they did have the footy. It was like watching the Swans of old, when men like Brett Kirk and Jude Bolton ruled the centre of the park, and made life incredibly difficult for opposing clubs.
Now, it’s the new breed of players, Parker, the Jack brothers, Nick Smith, Dane Rampe and others who have picked up where those famous Bloods have left off. To Sydney’s credit, they stood tall when challenged by the Eagles in the third. It was a ferocious run by the West Coast, who closed to within a goal in the shadows of three quarter time, but the combination of heavier rain and the fact that they’d obviously spent a lot of petrol tickets to get within a kick of the Swans put an end to the Eagles challenge.
The game was all over bar the shouting about ten minutes into the final term when McGlynn, a tough guy to slow down on the best of days, ran away from an Eagles defender, breaking that man’s hold on his jersey, to run into an open goal and steady the ship. Prior, Parker and Goodes had converted, and Sydney seemed destined to head to the top of the Premiership ladder.
Now, the question is: how far can Sydney’s run extend? Well, they have Carlton next Saturday night and will be odds-on favourites to defeat Michael Malthouse’s squad, who languish in the bottom half of the ladder after a disappointing season, and record their twelfth straight win, surpassing a record dating back to South Melbourne’s glory years in the 1930s.
Then, a sterner test: Hawthorn. The two teams battled through an epic game at ANZ Stadium a few months back, and there’s no reason to think that the return clash won’t be just as exciting. The way the Swans are playing, it’s not inconceivable that they will start favourites against the defending premiers down in Melbourne, and against Essendon at the SCG and maybe even in three weeks’ time against Port Adelaide at the foreboding Portress, Adelaide Oval.
After that, St Kilda, surely locks for the wooden spoon, follow, coming into the SCG, and although there’s no guarantee that the consecutive win streak will stretch past the Blues next Saturday, the Swans appear to be setting themselves up nicely for the all-important Top Four finish – and, if things fall well, maybe even a Top Two berth – for a double chance come September and finals football.
Sydney, prepare for the bandwagon to explode over the coming months. Some stern tests ahead, and a chance to be something approaching bulletproof when the finals roll around.
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