Tweet
Pictures by Norris LurkerIt was another Swans ? West Coast game to remember, though not for the usual reasons. Instead of the close and hard fought contests of recent years, the Swans smashed the injury depleted Eagles outfit by 62 points, though the outcome became irrelevant with 3 minutes and 43 seconds to go in the first quarter.
The Hall incident. The king hit/left hook/fend off/gentle tap ? whatever you want to call it became the focus of the game and with the Swans in control for the entire game, the result was never in doubt.
It was close, hard and tough with Dean Cox (in the words of Robert Walls) ?courageously? taking the field with an injured foot and Luke Brennan a late inclusion for Heath Grundy. The Eagles kicked and hoped into their forward line but no one stood up, marks taken by C. Bolton, Richards, Mattner and Barry constantly.
They flooded the Swans forward line but Ryan O?Keefe stood tall, taking contested mark after contested mark. Three 50m penalties to the Eagles within the first 10 minutes were wasted by West Coast and for the Swans' O?Keefe was awesome in the air but his set shots on goal were terrible.
Michael O?Loughlin, playing much of the game on Eagles debutant Matt Spangher, broke through with the first major of the match after a great contested mark. A perfect cross by Hall to O?Loughlin and a bouncing goal told the Eagles that the Swans were out for blood. A rare free kick to Hall extended the Swans? lead to an 18-point advantage.
Mattner then bagged his first goal in red and white after wandering down from the back line. Hurn missed for the Eagles and then IT happened. We all know what happened and there has been endless debate over the magnitude of the act and the multitude of the punishment. So, let?s get back to the footy!
The incident though, rattled the Swans for a while, creating some scrappy play and poor skills all round and contributed to a horrible Brennan cross in the back line being intercepted by Ben McKinley for the Eagles first goal of the game. The Swans headed into the quarter time scuffle leading 26-8.
Replays of the Hall incident shocked the 44-odd thousand at ANZ stadium but, after quarter time, the spite went out of the game and the Eagles just fell apart.
Goodes dominated for all of 5mins in the beginning of the first quarter with three blinding runs resulting in a McVeigh goal, a miss and a goal to the big man. Goodes? opponent Stenglein was then moved to O?Keefe where he didn?t have much fun either. Another contested mark to O?Keefe and he finally kicked straight extending Sydney?s lead 47-9.
The Swans? run and carry through the midfield by the youngsters in Bird, Moore, Barlow and Jack was awesome to watch and great signs for the future. The Swans were all over West Coast before they were caught napping by a quick turnover and Seaby marked for the Eagles on the 50m line. A clever kick over the top resulted in third-gamer McKinley?s second goal of the night. A free kick and goal to Kirk capped off a stilted and, compared to the first quarter, almost uneventful second quarter and the Swans took a 54-15 lead into the main break.
Two quick goals to the Swans at the opening of the second half immediately extended Sydney?s lead to 41 points and, like it had been the whole night, the Swans were never troubled by the Eagles. The Eagles third goal of the night came through Armstrong ? the only one he slotted after multiple attempts.
Kieran Jack was phenomenal tagging West Coast gun Daniel Kerr and kept him to just 6 possessions mid-way through the third quarter while laying hard tackles and creating run himself and awesome play by Moore led to a Jack goal.
McNamara was good for the Eagles, chopping off silly Swans kicks and pushing them forward but they never had a proper structure or any real threat in their forward line. Lynch had the ball only a few times and sprayed every shot he had while Hansen was virtually non-existent.
McKinley was the only shining light for the Eagles, popping up again after a great contested mark to boot his third and the Eagles fourth of the night. J. Bolton, Jolly, Jack and O?Loughlin again were the Swans goal-kickers for the term, which finished 80-29.
The Swans pulled back in the final term with not as much intensity as they had showed previously though still managing another 4 goals with McKinley adding just one more for the Eagles for a final score of 107-45. A frustrated Barry Hall threw his weight around like someone who has booked a long holiday out of the game and broke his wrist after slamming into the signing at the stadium.
O?Loughlin was the star forward for the Swans with 4 great goals and Ben McKinley for West Coast booted an amazing 4 out of their 5 goals. Inaccuracy hurt the Eagles as did many injuries to a few key players but in reality, it was always going to be a thumping ? as Barry Hall so willingly demonstrated.
O?Keefe, Jack, O?Loughlin and Kennelly were my best for the Swans while Jolly did a great job on Dean Cox who, though he was injured, was still well held out of the game. McKinley was the only shining ray of light in a big, dark, grey, stormy mess the Eagles find themselves in despite their coach's delusional thoughts.
With Hall out for a long while whether through injury or suspension, Davis? 8 goals in the reserves should book him a spot for the flight to Skilled Stadium next week to face the undefeated Cats. It is not the end of the world to lose Barry Hall and hopefully the Swans put on a good showing. Judging from what we saw against West Coast and have seen thus far this season there is cause for great optimism as we march towards September yet again.
 |  |  |  |
| Goals: Sydney: O'Loughlin 4 McVeigh 2 Barlow 2 Hall Jack Kirk O'Keefe Jolly Mattner J Bolton Goodes West Coast: McKinley 4 Armstrong Best: Sydney: O'Keefe Jack O'Loughlin Kennelly Jolly West Coast: McKinley Rosa Armstrong Glass Injuries: Sydney: Grundy (knee) replaced in the selected side by Brennan; Hall (wrist) West Coast: Staker (jaw, concussion) Reports: Hall (Sydney) for striking Staker Q1 Umpires  onlon, Kennedy, WennCrowd: 44,235 at ANZ Stadium |
Comment