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| Another journey north. Another hard fought win. A few years back it was the toughest road trip going, yet one the Swans always handled creditably. Now the Lions? roar isn?t as fearsome and the remarkable non-losing streak against Matthews? men means that games like this are seen as very winnable. Even ?should winnable? for a team that believes it still has a year or two of top class football to extract from its wearied bodies. So a 17 point win almost seems like an anti-climax. It shouldn?t. Brisbane is still a team with a formidable core of senior midfielders, some rapidly developing young talent, and, of course, the imposing figure of one J Brown up forward. And yet on reflection ? and unusually for the Swans ? the performance seems somewhat less than the sum of its parts. It?s not uncommon to witness a comfortable victory and yet be unable to pinpoint players who?ve had stand-out games. In contrast this week, the elite running trio of Goodes, O?Keefe and Kennelly were all influential. Kirk was in total command in the midfield and, with help from Ablett, Jack and Bird, successfully blanketed the Lions? experienced ball winners. Craig Bolton had the measure of Brown, albeit with the help of some uncharacteristic fumbles from the great centre-half forward. Meanwhile, Hall toyed with the gallant Merrett and was in command everywhere other than on the scoreboard. Of the Swans most important players, only Leo Barry was comprehensively beaten by his opponent, the strong-marking, straight kicking Bradshaw. Add in a hard-running and creative performance from McVeigh and two super pieces of play each from Barlow and Moore, and it is slightly puzzling why a possession differential of over 100 resulted in less than a three goal win. It could easily have been even closer. The Lions tightened their pressure after half-time and never stopped believing they could snatch the game. Some uncharacteristically basic errors from the likes of O?Loughlin and Buchanan while emerging from defence opened the door for Brisbane, and it was left to desperate efforts such as Richards? outstretched fingertips to maintain a comfortable lead. Just as vital was Barlow?s perfectly executed run-from-behind tackle on Lappin. One sensed that this was the act that finally burst the Lions? bubble of belief that they might win. The glaring deficiency at the moment is clearly in the ruck. On odd occasions Jolly managed a tap to advantage and the Swans midfield capitalised to good effect. But sadly these were few and far between, and it would be folly to expect immediate improvement even when Spida returns from his longish lay-off. Oh to have an emerging ruck on the list of the quality of Leuenberger. It is impossible not to be impressed by the immense promise of this young giant. As it was, the Swans coped well with the dominance of the Brisbane rucks but many of their clearances were scrambled. And there is certainly further room for improvement in bringing the ball forward to the advantage of Hall and O?Loughlin. At least Swans fans can, once more, bask in the excitement of its team?s own ? smaller ? young brigade. For a side that struggled to use the ball efficiently through much of 2007, it is heartening to see some players with truly outstanding kicking ability force their way into the line-up. Three goals scored, and another created, by the coolness, ingenuity and foot skills of Barlow and Moore have surely already found their place on the 2008 season highlights reel. Let?s hope it?s a very long reel! |
| SURPRISING STAT OF THE DAY Disposal stats are mostly of interest to Dreamteamers or fans wanting to do meaningless comparisions between otherwise uncomparable players. They rarely show a full picture of what happened in a game. But every now and again they show an oddity of interest to trivia buffs. It can't be often that the only player on a team not to take a mark lands up as the top possession winner of that game. And even more bizarrely, that player was none other than our hard-running marking machine - Ryan O'Keefe. |
| Goals: Brisbane: Bradshaw 5 Hendersen 2 Brown Notting Sherman Sydney: O'Keefe 2 Hall 2 O'Loughlin 2 Moore 2 McVeigh 2 Kirk Barlow Buchanan Best: Brisbane: Bradshaw Adcock Patfull Merrett Leuenberger Sydney: O'Keefe Kirk Hall McVeigh Kennelly Goodes C Bolton Injuries: None Reports: None Umpires: SMcBurney Stevic Chamberlain Crowd: 29.061 at the Gabba. |
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