NAB Cup Round 1
17th February 2008
Swans versus Hawthorn
Aurora Stadium Launceston
| Hawthorn | 1.0.3 | 2.1.4 | 3.2.9 | 3.2.13 | (52) |
| Sydney Swans | 0.1.2 | 0.4.6 | 0.6.7 | 0.7.8 | (50) |
by Satchmopugdog
The Swans get to play in Tasmania for the first time since 1997 and the fans turned out in their droves. A beautiful sunny day saw an equal share of the crowd for the Swans with the unofficial cheer squad lead by JF, Mrs. Pebbles and Simon doing their best to match it with the drums of the well-drilled Dawks supporters.
The early highlights of the day started before the game with the condition of the playing surface and the sight of people who had obviously travelled from Hobart with their oxygen tanks strapped to their back to cope with the lack of rarefied air of the Capital city.
Old Royboy had two strokes of luck with an accommodation upgrade to a fantastic hotel at no extra cost and free drinks at a pre-game meal with myself and my brother and sister-in-law. Launceston is good to him.
The warm up gave us our first viewing of this season?s ridiculous haircuts. What is that called Daniel O?Keeffe?anew age Bruce Doull! I marvelled at Nick Malceski?s kicking as we were so close to the players and just as well I did as that is the last I am going to see of the bullets for this year.
Onto the game.
A tiny team captained by Ryan O?Keefe ran bannerless onto the ground and lined up with the ruck duo of LRT and Jesse White. They did an admirable job. LRT was more your bang and crash style but Mocha White displayed some very good palming to our crumbers after good use of his strong body. He held his own against the lumps of Campbell and Taylor for Hawthorn. Their work around the ground was very good, with LRT reading the play and blocking off passes to the Hawks forward line. Mocha?s chasing and second efforts resulted in a goal at one stage.
Our midfielders were there in their thousands and melded into one clone after a while, but a few things stood out. Craig Bird had every one reaching for their records around me in the Pulpmill Stand. He is class. He has time and creates space and has that Greg Williams awareness of people around him. Not in the same class, but there is a touch of it. Amon, Jude and Jared McVeigh looked accomplished and it was obvious they were toppish players. Kieran Jack had an excellent game and was prepared to push forward and at one stage use a beautiful sidestep action that would have gladdened the hearts of Rugga supporters.
The forwards had a difficult job but they did a good job considering the lack of experience bringing the ball to them. Nick Davis made the most of limited opportunities and sported a new short haired look. Daniel O?Keeffe popped up regularly as my least favourite Hawks player, Hodge, paid him little respect.
The backline were very busy, as was the Hawks backline. It was that type of game! Mattner looked like a good pickup and ran out of the backline with speed and class. His one effort into the forward line ended in an embarrassing fumble as he could see his name in lights at the Railyards end. Faulks was a pleasant surprise. He showed a lot of guts for a skinny kid. He is surprisingly tall. I think he is a keeper. Grundy did a good job on Buddy Franklin even though Buddy was his own worst enemy. He had help from other players dropping back but he still provided a lot of pressure on Franklin.
The coaches looked far fitter than the Hawks group that walked passed me in the Pulpmill stand. Some of them look as they could still play.
The inexperienced kids showed some pleasing glimpses. The smooth run of O?Dwyer, the work rate of Brabazon, and the nous of Moore.
The game itself was to me only a background for the hitout for our players. We were in front in the first quarter and deservedly so. The Hawks benefited from 9 pointers that were taken inside the fifty arc due to free kicks and in the end that made the difference. Both teams tired in the last quarter and made lots of mistakes such as kicking out on the full. It ended up being a tight exciting finish and left the crowd thinking they got their money?s worth.
Obviously the lowlight was the injury to Malceski. He was playing well until then and was trying to get the run out of the backline happening with both handballs and his beautiful kicks. A Hawk tackled him whilst a free kick was being given further back in play and that was it. Just like that!
| Hawthorn | 1.0.3 | 2.1.4 | 3.2.9 | 3.2.13 | (52) |
| Sydney Swans | 0.1.2 | 0.4.6 | 0.6.7 | 0.7.8 | (50) |
Hawthorn: Nine-point goals: Birchall, Morton, Moss. Goals: Crawford, Morton
Sydney Swans: Nine-point goals: Nil. Goals: Beckmans, Bolton, Bird, Davis, Mathews, Moore, O?Dwyer
BEST
Hawthorn: Birchall, Murphy, Muston, Ellis, Hodge, Murphy, Taylor
Sydney Swans: Mattner, Buchanan, Roberts-Thomson, McVeigh, Bird, Jack
INJURIES
Hawthorn: Nil.
Sydney Swans: Malceski (knee)
Reports: Jack (Sydney Swans) reported by field umpire Meredith for rough conduct against Hodge (Hawthorn) in the second quarter.
Umpires: S Meredith S McBurney S Stewart
Crowd: 14,778 at Aurora Stadium, Launceston
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