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Hello and welcome to the sixth instalment of the 2004 Troy Luff Medal countdown! After tonight, the countdown will be half over; we will be halfway to knowing who is redandwhiteonline.com?s best and fairest player. Before we get that far, however, we still have twelve matches to cover. Tonight, we will review two very different matches. The stirring victory over then undefeated St Kilda, and the admittedly less enjoyable thrashing at the hands of Port Adelaide.
Before we get on to those matches, a quick recap of the leaderboard as at round ten:
30 ? Barry Hall
20 ? Brett Kirk
19 ? Paul Williams
13 ? Leo Barry
8 ? Adam Goodes, Ben Mathews, Ryan O?Keefe
6 ? Paul Bevan
5 ? Amon Buchanan, Nick Davis, Heath James, Jason Saddington
The Swans went into the home match against the Saints as underdogs, but with a quiet buzz about their chances. In the past two years, the club has gained a reputation for playing very well against the best teams, and in the first half of 2004 the Saints were certainly the best. Nobody was willing to completely rule out a Swans boilover on their own turf, but at the same time the questions kept popping up. Who would stop Gehrig? Even if somebody was up to that challenge, who?d control the rest of their forwards? How could the Swans midfield match up to the Saints? rising stars?
Luckily for us, we had the answers. The Swans jumped out of the blocks and were twenty-one points up at quarter time. The second quarter was about square, the Swans raced away in the third, and put the icing on the cake. The lead was at one stage greater than 50 points, junk-time goals at the death keeping the margin to ?only? 36 points. Wherever you looked, the Swans had match winners. Barry Hall returned to early season form after a brief hiatus from the best lists, and Leo Barry was dominant in defence against Fraser Gehrig, who didn?t get a kick. Jared Crouch controlled Milne, and Paul Williams and Brett Kirk led the way in the middle. The game was a welcome reminder of the way the team could play on their day, and the best win of the season. The game wasn?t without it?s down side, though, with Jason Ball and Leo Barry both sustaining injuries that would rule them out the next week.
The votes:
5 ? Leo Barry
4 ? Barry Hall
3 ? Brett Kirk
3 ? Paul Williams
1 ? Stuart Maxfield
Hall inches another vote ahead in a week where the old guard led the way. Congratulations to all five, in a game where there were many unlucky to miss out.
It was a battered but proud Swans team that travelled to Adelaide the week after to play Port Adelaide. As mentioned, Ball and Barry were unable to play, and the news would only get worse during the game with Paul Williams, Amon Buchanan and Nick Davis amongst the players sustaining injuries during the match. It was one of those games where nothing went right. The opposition got the break, it got worse, and then it got even worse. Some players worked hard and could be excused after the match, and others appeared to go missing for the day. Amongst those that were excused was captain Stuart Maxfield, who had one of his best individual performances of the season to date.
The votes:
5 ? Stuart Maxfield
4 ? Jude Bolton
3 ? Paul Bevan
2 ? Barry Hall
1 ? Matthew Nicks
Congratulations to the five, particularly Matthew Nicks who polls for the first time this year. Nicks has worked hard to prove those who wrote him off wrong this year, and I?m happy to say that he?s done a good job of it.
That brings me to the updated leaderboard, as at round 12. For those barracking for Kirk, Williams or someone even further back, the news isn?t good. Alternatively, if you?re supporting Hall, you?ll be pleased to see that he?s extended his lead back to 13 votes.
The top ten:
36 ? Barry Hall
23 ? Brett Kirk
22 ? Paul Williams
18 ? Leo Barry
9 ? Paul Bevan
8 ? Jude Bolton, Adam Goodes, Ben Mathews, Ryan O?Keefe
7 ? Jared Crouch
Join me after the Grand Final tomorrow night for the seventh instalment of the Troy Luff Medal countdown! Please feel welcome to post any comments and thoughts below.
Charlie
Before we get on to those matches, a quick recap of the leaderboard as at round ten:
30 ? Barry Hall
20 ? Brett Kirk
19 ? Paul Williams
13 ? Leo Barry
8 ? Adam Goodes, Ben Mathews, Ryan O?Keefe
6 ? Paul Bevan
5 ? Amon Buchanan, Nick Davis, Heath James, Jason Saddington
The Swans went into the home match against the Saints as underdogs, but with a quiet buzz about their chances. In the past two years, the club has gained a reputation for playing very well against the best teams, and in the first half of 2004 the Saints were certainly the best. Nobody was willing to completely rule out a Swans boilover on their own turf, but at the same time the questions kept popping up. Who would stop Gehrig? Even if somebody was up to that challenge, who?d control the rest of their forwards? How could the Swans midfield match up to the Saints? rising stars?
Luckily for us, we had the answers. The Swans jumped out of the blocks and were twenty-one points up at quarter time. The second quarter was about square, the Swans raced away in the third, and put the icing on the cake. The lead was at one stage greater than 50 points, junk-time goals at the death keeping the margin to ?only? 36 points. Wherever you looked, the Swans had match winners. Barry Hall returned to early season form after a brief hiatus from the best lists, and Leo Barry was dominant in defence against Fraser Gehrig, who didn?t get a kick. Jared Crouch controlled Milne, and Paul Williams and Brett Kirk led the way in the middle. The game was a welcome reminder of the way the team could play on their day, and the best win of the season. The game wasn?t without it?s down side, though, with Jason Ball and Leo Barry both sustaining injuries that would rule them out the next week.
The votes:
5 ? Leo Barry
4 ? Barry Hall
3 ? Brett Kirk
3 ? Paul Williams
1 ? Stuart Maxfield
Hall inches another vote ahead in a week where the old guard led the way. Congratulations to all five, in a game where there were many unlucky to miss out.
It was a battered but proud Swans team that travelled to Adelaide the week after to play Port Adelaide. As mentioned, Ball and Barry were unable to play, and the news would only get worse during the game with Paul Williams, Amon Buchanan and Nick Davis amongst the players sustaining injuries during the match. It was one of those games where nothing went right. The opposition got the break, it got worse, and then it got even worse. Some players worked hard and could be excused after the match, and others appeared to go missing for the day. Amongst those that were excused was captain Stuart Maxfield, who had one of his best individual performances of the season to date.
The votes:
5 ? Stuart Maxfield
4 ? Jude Bolton
3 ? Paul Bevan
2 ? Barry Hall
1 ? Matthew Nicks
Congratulations to the five, particularly Matthew Nicks who polls for the first time this year. Nicks has worked hard to prove those who wrote him off wrong this year, and I?m happy to say that he?s done a good job of it.
That brings me to the updated leaderboard, as at round 12. For those barracking for Kirk, Williams or someone even further back, the news isn?t good. Alternatively, if you?re supporting Hall, you?ll be pleased to see that he?s extended his lead back to 13 votes.
The top ten:
36 ? Barry Hall
23 ? Brett Kirk
22 ? Paul Williams
18 ? Leo Barry
9 ? Paul Bevan
8 ? Jude Bolton, Adam Goodes, Ben Mathews, Ryan O?Keefe
7 ? Jared Crouch
Join me after the Grand Final tomorrow night for the seventh instalment of the Troy Luff Medal countdown! Please feel welcome to post any comments and thoughts below.
Charlie