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Leigh's short reply hard to fathom
By Jeff Wells
May 12, 2003
SOMEBODY asked Leigh Matthews, the grand panjandrum of the pigskin, the big question. Had the Swans played any different to last year?
The toughest footballer ever to run through opposition like a human bowling ball, a man who expects his team to do the same, an1d a man who has assumed the role of AFL sage, he who cannot be ignored after two straight premierships, assumed an expression upon which rocks could have been broken.
"No," he said. End of discussion. And which dressing room was he standing in to address the stupefied media in such a manner? The losing dressing room at the SCG yesterday.
I am still trying to work out whether this is a massive compliment to Rodney Eade, former Sydney coach, or Paul Roos, current Sydney coach. Matthews did beat both of them last year.
And Sydney hadn't beaten Brisbane since 1998, which includes his term since he took over in 1999 and started working the sort of miracles that elevate a man to the pantheon -- deeds which make some critics believe that he would have won more than one flag during his 10 years with Collingwood if he hadn't been mired in such a culture of swelled-headed gibberish.
The scoreline read Sydney 15.8 (98) d Brisbane 11.13 (79) even though the Lions had made their customary move in the third quarter and charged to within three points in the last.
Sydney had, therefore, beaten last year's grand finalist Collingwood and the premiers in straight weeks.
Did Matthews simply mean that his own team has been down, even though he had to admit that they had been outrun early and that the Swans had kicked so well that they scored 15 goals with only 37 visits inside the 50m line?
Or did he mean -- something that Roos would agree with -- that the competition has been evened up by the salary cap so that there are no more gimmes?
Or did he mean -- something that Roos also agreed with -- that Sydney, like it was last year, are a team who have to keep running every week until they drop?
Whatever he meant it wasn't going to Roos' head.
"We don't have the top end talent to carry a team," he said.
He had a team in which his boys had to run from the first minute to the 120th.
He doesn't have Matthews' luxury of moving weapons -- like Michael Voss, Jason Akermanis, and Nigel Lappin -- around the battlefield until one of them bombs their way to victory.
But yesterday Roos taggers Jared Crouch, Paul Williams and Brett Kirk were the grenades in those skirmishes. Not even the old standby of moving Justin Leppitsch to the forward line was enough -- even though it was his two goals which got Brisbane to within three points within 17 minutes to go.
There wasn't a Swan who lost his cool in the first half. They ran off each other like marauders. Their handball and kicking seemed magnetised.
And with Barry Hall opening up space at centre half forward Michael O'Loughlin, who has his old touch, if not his top fitness, kicked four goals.
THEN, as Sydney stopped running in the third term, Brisbane began to man up and dominate the packs and claw their way back.
But then, after three crafty chip kicks, Jared Crouch had a mark way out near the boundary on the 50m line. Bookies were breaking wrists rushing to twirl knobs out to 100/1.
Crouch averages a goal every five games. But not this sort. And it was ugly. But it was straight. Then Jude Bolton found Jason Ball with a great cross. Then it was Hall to Williams to O'Loughlin for his fifth and the sealer.
And Sydney are now 4-3 -- with which any team with finals aspirations should be pleased, Matthews said.
And with Geelong and Kangaroos to come they could be 6-3. Hell, they could be genuine finals contenders within a month.
But even then Roos wouldn't have the luxury of the Matthews "big picture" plan -- in which he sees only one-game cycles -- of accruing enough wins with mere consistency to be ready for the finals.
And, Roos said, he wouldn't be changing his long term plans for the sake of "scraping into the eight".
There would probably be a new player in next week. And a few more before the end of the season. And there wouldn't be a quarter any time during the season where any player could afford to relax -- he is just isn't expecting the luxury of the blowouts of the Plugger days, even though Barry Hall is playing great team football, and will get a few stacks.
So maybe that is the real meaning of Matthews' cryptic comment. Eade's team needed to run more on adrenalin than superior talent last year and so does this one.
But this is a team which is beginning to deserve a much better turnout than the 23,276 it got yesterday. It would have left a lot of ladies smiling on Mother's Day.
They might even cram the press box if they return the traditional half time party pies. Depriving pie-eaters of pies is a symptom of deflation, not elation.
By Jeff Wells
May 12, 2003
SOMEBODY asked Leigh Matthews, the grand panjandrum of the pigskin, the big question. Had the Swans played any different to last year?
The toughest footballer ever to run through opposition like a human bowling ball, a man who expects his team to do the same, an1d a man who has assumed the role of AFL sage, he who cannot be ignored after two straight premierships, assumed an expression upon which rocks could have been broken.
"No," he said. End of discussion. And which dressing room was he standing in to address the stupefied media in such a manner? The losing dressing room at the SCG yesterday.
I am still trying to work out whether this is a massive compliment to Rodney Eade, former Sydney coach, or Paul Roos, current Sydney coach. Matthews did beat both of them last year.
And Sydney hadn't beaten Brisbane since 1998, which includes his term since he took over in 1999 and started working the sort of miracles that elevate a man to the pantheon -- deeds which make some critics believe that he would have won more than one flag during his 10 years with Collingwood if he hadn't been mired in such a culture of swelled-headed gibberish.
The scoreline read Sydney 15.8 (98) d Brisbane 11.13 (79) even though the Lions had made their customary move in the third quarter and charged to within three points in the last.
Sydney had, therefore, beaten last year's grand finalist Collingwood and the premiers in straight weeks.
Did Matthews simply mean that his own team has been down, even though he had to admit that they had been outrun early and that the Swans had kicked so well that they scored 15 goals with only 37 visits inside the 50m line?
Or did he mean -- something that Roos would agree with -- that the competition has been evened up by the salary cap so that there are no more gimmes?
Or did he mean -- something that Roos also agreed with -- that Sydney, like it was last year, are a team who have to keep running every week until they drop?
Whatever he meant it wasn't going to Roos' head.
"We don't have the top end talent to carry a team," he said.
He had a team in which his boys had to run from the first minute to the 120th.
He doesn't have Matthews' luxury of moving weapons -- like Michael Voss, Jason Akermanis, and Nigel Lappin -- around the battlefield until one of them bombs their way to victory.
But yesterday Roos taggers Jared Crouch, Paul Williams and Brett Kirk were the grenades in those skirmishes. Not even the old standby of moving Justin Leppitsch to the forward line was enough -- even though it was his two goals which got Brisbane to within three points within 17 minutes to go.
There wasn't a Swan who lost his cool in the first half. They ran off each other like marauders. Their handball and kicking seemed magnetised.
And with Barry Hall opening up space at centre half forward Michael O'Loughlin, who has his old touch, if not his top fitness, kicked four goals.
THEN, as Sydney stopped running in the third term, Brisbane began to man up and dominate the packs and claw their way back.
But then, after three crafty chip kicks, Jared Crouch had a mark way out near the boundary on the 50m line. Bookies were breaking wrists rushing to twirl knobs out to 100/1.
Crouch averages a goal every five games. But not this sort. And it was ugly. But it was straight. Then Jude Bolton found Jason Ball with a great cross. Then it was Hall to Williams to O'Loughlin for his fifth and the sealer.
And Sydney are now 4-3 -- with which any team with finals aspirations should be pleased, Matthews said.
And with Geelong and Kangaroos to come they could be 6-3. Hell, they could be genuine finals contenders within a month.
But even then Roos wouldn't have the luxury of the Matthews "big picture" plan -- in which he sees only one-game cycles -- of accruing enough wins with mere consistency to be ready for the finals.
And, Roos said, he wouldn't be changing his long term plans for the sake of "scraping into the eight".
There would probably be a new player in next week. And a few more before the end of the season. And there wouldn't be a quarter any time during the season where any player could afford to relax -- he is just isn't expecting the luxury of the blowouts of the Plugger days, even though Barry Hall is playing great team football, and will get a few stacks.
So maybe that is the real meaning of Matthews' cryptic comment. Eade's team needed to run more on adrenalin than superior talent last year and so does this one.
But this is a team which is beginning to deserve a much better turnout than the 23,276 it got yesterday. It would have left a lot of ladies smiling on Mother's Day.
They might even cram the press box if they return the traditional half time party pies. Depriving pie-eaters of pies is a symptom of deflation, not elation.
