Is this the start of our NEW ERA

[strapper]

With such a Great performance by our future YOUNG GUNS today i predict will be the start of our NEW ERA

[Mark Cas]

The new era started at the beginning of the year!

[Cheer Squad]

Our season started today. Let's keep it up Swannies!

[Primmy]

You could see the totally invaluable "knowledge" that evolves amongst players - they know how each other plays. The old guard and the new guard. We have life and liftoff Swannies!

[kangle4]

Just have to look at the top of goal kickers list - Rohan, Reid, Parker

[ScottH]

With such a Great performance by our future YOUNG GUNS today i predict will be the start of our NEW ERA

Only if the same team turns up for the rest of the season!!

[Cheer_Cheer]

I believe this was a 2003 qualifier final moment. I believe that game lifted us to the next level and onto the 2005 premiership. I reckon the team balance was fantastic today. I love how we made Geelong panic and give away stupid undisciplined free kicks. This is indeed a new dawn for the Swannies !!

[swansprincess]

Today showcased promise. In the last 8-10 years the swans have never really dropped off even when they were a bit shabby, but now I think we can be a REAL threat again. I am so excited for the future of this club! Goode times ahead.

[707]

Our season started today. Let's keep it up Swannies!

Our season started at the final siren against Wretchmond. St.Kilda was the first sign of life, Geelong we are up and about.

Let's get a home final by winning next week and see if we can snag a finals win or two.

I haven't seen either of our past two games but it seems like we are ushering in a new group of players who are above average and there are more in the ressies showing promise.

Fingers crossed X

[mcs]

I honestly feel today could be a watershed moment. After that wretched performance against Richmond I thought our season was done and that we really would tread water this season. But a good win last week, and a sensational win today has shown that they haven't given up the ghost. Do the job next week against the Lions at home and we will have an eminently winnable home final after that, and then a 2nd week final that will be very tough (I actually think our best chance would be Wet Coke away) indeed. This season might not come to much, but I think today showed (and also to a point the Collingwood near miss earlier in the year) that we are beginning to make progress towards bridging the gap towards the top teams. What a wonderful win today considering all that has gone on this week!

[Hartijon]

Great win but not the start of a new era.I don't wanna spoil the party but we were helped by Geelong coming off a huge additional training load.My Geelong mates say their strategy was to load up the training now and ease right off during the finals.They were flat and tired and looked slow.We were sharp, fast and hard at it.

The other factor that helped us was good umpiring.I could not believe the umpires not paying the contrived high tackles to Chapman and Selwood and giving us 2 50 metres.The "high fend off" against Stokes was a couragous decision and a much needed goal to us to stop their revival.

Lastly when was the last time we played Geelong on a dry day when it was not slippery underfoot.???
That made a huge difference.

Spangus and White give us a structure and McGlynne and Parker give us some crumbing power. If White could get his kicking right and be a 2-3 goal a game forward he would justify his place .
Winners are grinners and it was a great record breaking win! I don't see it as the start of any new era.

[Yuri H]

I'm with Hartijon - I wish this was The Moment we lit up, came alive, and scattered all before us, but it's more like a step along the road - we're seeing the youngsters come into their own, there'll be more missteps along the way and moments we relax and get stomped (this is the Swans we're talking about), but we're definitely starting to gel better than before. If we can just do this right out of the starting gate next season, not need any "shocking wake-up calls", and improve our kicking (tall order I know), we'll be edging past top-eight and into top-four before long.

[Bayes30]

In a couple of threads a few people have mentioned the 2003 qualifying final against Port, but my mind went back a few months earlier to this game:

Rise of the Lion tamers

From memory, that picture of Schneider with the memorable headline was plastered across the back page of the SMH. It would be nice to see something like that again.

[Industrial Fan]

If that is the game I remember, the Crouch goal was an absolute scrubber of a kick that just found a way to go through.

The tussles with the Lions at the start of the Roos era were pretty well all great games (perhaps with the PF aside)

[Nico]

Great win but not the start of a new era.I don't wanna spoil the party but we were helped by Geelong coming off a huge additional training load.My Geelong mates say their strategy was to load up the training now and ease right off during the finals.They were flat and tired and looked slow.We were sharp, fast and hard at it.

The other factor that helped us was good umpiring.I could not believe the umpires not paying the contrived high tackles to Chapman and Selwood and giving us 2 50 metres.The "high fend off" against Stokes was a couragous decision and a much needed goal to us to stop their revival.

Lastly when was the last time we played Geelong on a dry day when it was not slippery underfoot.???
That made a huge difference.

Spangus and White give us a structure and McGlynne and Parker give us some crumbing power. If White could get his kicking right and be a 2-3 goal a game forward he would justify his place .
Winners are grinners and it was a great record breaking win! I don't see it as the start of any new era.

The training load was reported on TV a few weeks ago and I recall them saying that they were easing back then. They had the bye so you would expect they would come out full of run and freshened. If you get a chance to see Scott's press conference on the Winners tomorrow night you will see his expression is not that of a coach who is not worried going into a final. He said they played a very good team and that maybe his players didn't have much to play for the ladder position but he looked mighty concerned to me.