Matchday: Swans vs. Dons (battle for first dibs on the turkey leg at McVeigh xmas)

[liz]

The atmosphere was great towards the end of the game, despite how wet and miserable it was.

When Goodsey nailed that last goal, the roof would have come off had there been one there to start with!

And yes, LRT was brilliant - arguably our most important player in securing the win given how he guarded the goal line in the final quarter.

[KirkysSocks]

Pyke is doing great things as a tap ruckman..just useless at anything else.

Please can Roosy please drop the spud that is Playfair. sheesh.

Frustrating game to watch but good to come away with a win..and against the bummers too.

[swansrule100]

mumford smashed the in form ruck duo with good support from pyke. Seaby and mumford would of been awesome to have against them. We wasted chances and should of won by more, i think we are a lot better side than them playing our best v their best. But a win was the important part and im happy with that

[monopoly19]

Pyke's attempted handball was a highlight, too.

Ha! You could see him trying to think his way through it but...d'oh. I thought it was quite apt given the article that someone posted where he mentioned how tricky handballing is for someone foreign to the game.

[dimelb]

Pyke was pretty good in support in the rucks. He gave a great tap to McVeigh for that goal in the 2nd qtr, which had the commentators saying how good Mumford was, until they realised it was Pyke.

Lovely piece of work. His tapwork was excellent too.

Pyke's attempted handball was a highlight, too.

The hand is quicker than the eye!

[swansrule100]

our forwards wasted so many chances today, couldnt take a mark.

I thought LRTs game was good today he was a rock down there.

To me the only passengers in todays side are bevan( adds nothing) and playfair (who was good previously).

Playfair needs an early mark in a game to get going i think.

Bevan seems to have lost the confidence of the coaches anyway, doesnt see much of the action

[ugg]

Some crazy stats 56 clearances to 30, 62 inside 50s to 46.

[Xie Shan]

The hand is quicker than the eye!

Just ask Simon Black!

Scrappy game, but I felt we started to gain the ascendancy in the second half - partly due to the Bombers' lack of rotations, but didn't really put it on the scoreboard. Tension was unbelievable at the end, sounded like a lot more than 29,000. Don't know what it is about Swans v Bombers at the SCG. We looked more dangerous with Rohan and White in the forward line (thought Jesse suffered from a case of Nick Davis syndrome when we were Goodes-centric early), Jarrad won the battle of the McVeighs, Mumford terrific again. terrible conditions at the SCG, glad I was undercover!

We still haven't lost five in a row under Paul Roos

[swansrule100]

how much will essendon fans sook after this game?

[mcs]

Well a win is a win, and an exciting one at that! Was a really good tough game of footy, and we should have won far more comfortably, but the main thing today was the 4 points.

Lots of positives today. Mumford was immense- Darren who?? Absolutely fantastic again, and he is going to be a star for us for a long time.
- Bolton put in arguably one of the performances of his career. He was simply sensational- 26 contested possessions. Take a bow Jude- you have your critics (Me included) but it is performances like today that we will miss when you do retire.
- Mcveigh was fantastic- last couple of weeks he has been running himself into some good form. I'm very hopeful that the form of 2008 is beginning to return.
-White in trying conditions had imo the best game in seniors so far. He is finally learning that you need more than one effort. Kicked well, did some very clever things and impressed me.
-LRT was excellent all day I thought. Dare I say it really clever and excellent play from him in the last quarter in terms of his positioning. Was very good today, and while he will never be a world beater, you always know what you are going to get.
- Rohan is destined to be a sensational player. It didn't show so much in the stats, but I thought he was fantastic again.
-Great to see Bird back. A bit rusty, but he adds just a bit more class to that midfield.

Every week I have watched the Swans this year, the more excited I get about the next few years. This year might not amount to anything, but we are building the basis of a team that can challenge for the flag again very soon. The future is very bright indeed.

[KirkysSocks]

how much will essendon fans sook after this game?

who cares about time we get some 50/50s go our way against those ahats.

[CJK]

Sweet day at the footy. Despite the horrid conditions in the 2nd half.

And those Bomber nerds. They were lame.

[Dogzbody]

Well a win is a win, and an exciting one at that! Was a really good tough game of footy, and we should have won far more comfortably, but the main thing today was the 4 points.

Lots of positives today. Mumford was immense- Darren who?? Absolutely fantastic again, and he is going to be a star for us for a long time.
- Bolton put in arguably one of the performances of his career. He was simply sensational- 26 contested possessions. Take a bow Jude- you have your critics (Me included) but it is performances like today that we will miss when you do retire.
- Mcveigh was fantastic- last couple of weeks he has been running himself into some good form. I'm very hopeful that the form of 2008 is beginning to return.
-White in trying conditions had imo the best game in seniors so far. He is finally learning that you need more than one effort. Kicked well, did some very clever things and impressed me.
-LRT was excellent all day I thought. Dare I say it really clever and excellent play from him in the last quarter in terms of his positioning. Was very good today, and while he will never be a world beater, you always know what you are going to get.
- Rohan is destined to be a sensational player. It didn't show so much in the stats, but I thought he was fantastic again.
-Great to see Bird back. A bit rusty, but he adds just a bit more class to that midfield.

Every week I have watched the Swans this year, the more excited I get about the next few years. This year might not amount to anything, but we are building the basis of a team that can challenge for the flag again very soon. The future is very bright indeed.

Great post MCS...... I totally agree with your points about todays game and where we are in general.
Scratching out these sorts of wins is VERY important for the young players. Their maturity is going to grow exponentially from this. Mumford is just fantastic, and will be the premier big man in the middle for years to come. Lurch may be massive, but he doesnt have the heart of our big fella. Last 2 weeks he's been just sensational.

The point I make to all RWO'ers is that if we can scratch out some tight and well fought wins, when we get to the pointy end this year with Seaby, McGlynn and Bradshaw back we could well be a force to be reckoned with. Combine that with Jude finally now being unconcussed (he was just massive today, that head over the ball free with 2 minutes to go was immensly courageous 1% = nobody else in the AFL has the balls to do that considering his recent head knocks). Combine Rohan with Goodes, Bradshaw and White with Jetstar crumbing and running towards the end of the H&A could be fantastic!!!!!

Very proud of the boys today. Kirky had his mongrel on. Eski should have kept the beard.... I think he wont be playing like that again or else Canberra will be calling.

ROK looked heaps better today also, and the BIRD is back, he makes a massive difference, especially for Macca... always seems to have more prescence/space when Bird is around.

Well done boys! "Swans flew in to motors of the Essendon Bombers, the wreckage is now spread all over the SCG!!!!!!!!!!!"

[erica]

Just home from the game - how GOOD was LRT? Fabulous game, it sounded like 50,000 in that last quarter.

[Dogzbody]

LRT was absolutely sensational!!!