Tweet
By Roger Vaughan
MELBOURNE, Sept 10 AAP - As the rain tumbled down at the MCG here tonight in the minutes before the first bounce so did Sydney's odds.
The Swans had overpowered West Coast in the wet last Saturday night in their elimination final.
They are masters of the close-in football that is a feature of wet-weather games.
St Kilda, by contrast, was coming off a demoralising visit to the 'Gabba and, like fellow Telstra Dome tenant Essendon, there is a perception that the Saints come down a peg once there is no roof above them.
So the signs were good for the Swans through the opening quarter of this semi-final, as they kicked the first goal and led at the first change.
But one area where the Saints were immediately on their mettle was where it mattered most.
They matched Sydney in the packs and stoppages, giving away nothing.
The fierce, uncompromising play meant the game resembled rugby rather than Australian Rules.
A "rolling maul" of more than a dozen players was often fighting for the ball.
Brownlow Medallist Adam Goodes and newly-crowned All-Australian Nick Riewoldt - two of the most talented players in the game - kicked the ball out of bounds on the full to underline that this was no night for sweet skills.
When you laid hands on the ball, you disposed of it straight away lest two or three opponents tried to belt the life out of you.
St Kilda then slowly, deliberately, started to assert its superior ability.
Even when the Swans led by 10 points early in the second term, there was a feeling the Saints would rebound.
That St Kilda did, kicking the next three goals.
The second of those goals was a passage of play that featured their three newly-crowned All-Australians - Aussie Jones to Riewoldt to Fraser Gehrig, who marked and scored.
Suddenly, Sydney was on the back foot and had Paul Williams, its best player last week, and Ben Mathews off the ground with leg injuries.
Gehrig was posing a big problem for the Swans defence, despite weather not suited to a big-marking forward.
At half-time, the Swans trailed by eight points and needed a big start to the second half.
Instead the rain had ease and they were on the wrong end of three goals.
Despite Sydney's pressure, the greasy ball and last week's hammering, St Kilda had recovered the class that took it to a 10-game winning streak at the start of the season.
Sydney briefly rallied, kicking three goals to trail by 11 points, but a dubious free kick to Jones and his goal broke that momentum.
St Kilda kicked the next six goals either side of three-quarter time to seal the win.
Gehrig kicked four goals in the last quarter, looking capable at one stage of reaching his "ton" for the season.
But he finished two short, kicking six for the game.
On a wet, cold night that summed up all the interstate stereotypes about Melbourne weather, "G-Train" and his side were on fire.
AAP
MELBOURNE, Sept 10 AAP - As the rain tumbled down at the MCG here tonight in the minutes before the first bounce so did Sydney's odds.
The Swans had overpowered West Coast in the wet last Saturday night in their elimination final.
They are masters of the close-in football that is a feature of wet-weather games.
St Kilda, by contrast, was coming off a demoralising visit to the 'Gabba and, like fellow Telstra Dome tenant Essendon, there is a perception that the Saints come down a peg once there is no roof above them.
So the signs were good for the Swans through the opening quarter of this semi-final, as they kicked the first goal and led at the first change.
But one area where the Saints were immediately on their mettle was where it mattered most.
They matched Sydney in the packs and stoppages, giving away nothing.
The fierce, uncompromising play meant the game resembled rugby rather than Australian Rules.
A "rolling maul" of more than a dozen players was often fighting for the ball.
Brownlow Medallist Adam Goodes and newly-crowned All-Australian Nick Riewoldt - two of the most talented players in the game - kicked the ball out of bounds on the full to underline that this was no night for sweet skills.
When you laid hands on the ball, you disposed of it straight away lest two or three opponents tried to belt the life out of you.
St Kilda then slowly, deliberately, started to assert its superior ability.
Even when the Swans led by 10 points early in the second term, there was a feeling the Saints would rebound.
That St Kilda did, kicking the next three goals.
The second of those goals was a passage of play that featured their three newly-crowned All-Australians - Aussie Jones to Riewoldt to Fraser Gehrig, who marked and scored.
Suddenly, Sydney was on the back foot and had Paul Williams, its best player last week, and Ben Mathews off the ground with leg injuries.
Gehrig was posing a big problem for the Swans defence, despite weather not suited to a big-marking forward.
At half-time, the Swans trailed by eight points and needed a big start to the second half.
Instead the rain had ease and they were on the wrong end of three goals.
Despite Sydney's pressure, the greasy ball and last week's hammering, St Kilda had recovered the class that took it to a 10-game winning streak at the start of the season.
Sydney briefly rallied, kicking three goals to trail by 11 points, but a dubious free kick to Jones and his goal broke that momentum.
St Kilda kicked the next six goals either side of three-quarter time to seal the win.
Gehrig kicked four goals in the last quarter, looking capable at one stage of reaching his "ton" for the season.
But he finished two short, kicking six for the game.
On a wet, cold night that summed up all the interstate stereotypes about Melbourne weather, "G-Train" and his side were on fire.
AAP