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SYDNEY SWANS: 1.2 4.5 7.10 9.13 (67)
BRISBANE LIONS: 4.4 10.6 12.9 15.10 (100)
Ain?t Michael Voss the hoodoo guru? Leigh Matthews failed to notch a win in nine games, but in their first effort under their new coach Voss's young Lions made Sydney look ordinary.
Leading into the round 3 clash, the new man with the Brisbane clipboard did not stop talking about the Swans elephant in the Lions? living room except to shower praise.
Seems the Voss Lions have modelled themselves on the Roos Swans, oblivious to the fact that Sydney has based its game on Brisbane. On a wet Saturday night at the Gabba, the resemblance wasn?t obvious.
The Lions played the Swans game, but it was hard to say what game the Swans were playing. Brisbane were hard at the contest and backed themselves and each other. The Swans turned it over even when pressure was absent.
With all the hoodoo talk, it?s hard not to be superstitious. It begins to rain as I reach my seat in the unroofed stadium pocket. I spot Barlow, picked as an emergency, run out with the side, and I see Roberts-Thompson taking Jonathan Brown. Omens?
The first few minutes are as you?d expect in a contest between the Swans and their alter egos. Half a dozen stoppages. The Lions kick out on the full twice. Mattner takes a gutsy mark. McVeigh kicks a point.
Then Brisbane sweep it into the forward 50 and LRT gives away a free to Brown, who goals. Two minutes later Black finds Notting deep in the forward zone and he boots their second.
We scramble the ball forward, predictably seeking Hall, who predictably is triple-teamed. After more scrambling he takes a mark and plays on to kick Sydney?s only goal for the quarter.
Goodes makes a perfect hospital handpass to Bird, who concedes a free. After a series of poor options by Sydney, Adcock kicks the Lions? third, Barlow hanging back from the contest.
A few minutes later the boy from Bega executes a good smother. Then he has a set shot for goal, changes his mind and centres it, basketball-style, to the top of the 50, where we pass it around a bit before losing it again.
LRT concedes a free after throwing Brown roughly to the ground, but he?s not the biggest problem. The Lions forwards are getting good service by team-mates making space in the midfield and kicking quickly into the 50.
The second quarter begins disastrously, with Crouch pulling up after shooting for a goal on the run. That?s the end of the section for Jarrod.
The following ten minutes are a rare period of Swans ascendancy. In the best passage of the evening, the ball moves with precision along the wing from Richards to Shaw to Hall, who nails it from the boundary. A minute later Meredith wins a free on the 50 and slots it.
Then normal transmission resumes. Brown makes a great sliding mark and kicks the first of six Lions majors for the quarter. Bevan takes a diving mark too, and kicks it straight to Rischitelli.
This is LRT?s quarter ? not. After being towelled up by Brown in the first, he is thrashed by Bradshaw in the second. He also gives away a free to Sherman, allowing him to kick an impressive checkside goal.
At the seven-minute mark, Barlow snaps lamely. He has time, he has Hall as a target, but he unloads anyway. Hall waves his left arm at him. Just before the main break the two combine as Barlow snaps the Swans? fourth. Not much of a return from a half of football.
The second half begins as before, except Bolton, having previously replaced LRT on Brown, is now back to Bradshaw. Ted is on Brown. Lewie is in the forward line.
In any case, Bradshaw kicks truly after three minutes and the Swans are seven goals down.
There?s no way back from here, although Sydney dominated the last ten minutes of the quarter. If Jolly and Jude Bolton had nailed late goals we would have gone in at the final break three goals down. If we can maintain this momentum it could be an interesting final term, I am thinking. We can?t and it isn?t.
The final quarter highlight is White beating three Lions in the forward pocket. He passes to Moore who misses a sitter. As well as everything else, the Swans have the yips again.
We?re the glass jaw team. We can dish out the pressure but can?t cop it. This result puts the Hawks? victory into perspective. We can out-muscle under-sized teams, but we?re vulnerable to our own game style.
It was a day when the Swans crabbed and fumbled for four quarters. They went backward, sideways and occasionally forward. They over-cooked, missed targets, kicked to contests, blazed away.
Stats tell the story. Goodes got his hands on the ball 18 times, but with 44% effectiveness. Jude Bolton played his heart out, but had 29 disposals at just 38%.
Jolly and White smashed almost as many hitouts as in their record-breaking effort against Hawthorn - 62 to 38 ? but Brisbane won the clearances 44 to 40.
The Lions took 75 uncontested marks to 57, a testament to their winners in the midfield and up forward.
The best that can be said was that Sydney maintained their endeavour.
It was hard to find a consistent winner, but Jolly won the rucks and took telling marks up forward, Shaw ran all day, Richards was the best of our besieged defenders and Goodes, Bolton and Jack never stopped trying.
Next week we play Carlton, who haven?t beaten us during Chris Judd?s entire AFL career. Brett Rattan is surely rehearsing his elephant speech.
GOALS
Sydney: Hall 3, Jolly 2, Meredith, Barlow, Moore, White
Brisbane: Bradshaw 4, Brown 4, Sherman 3, Rich, Adcock, Drummond, Notting
BEST
Sydney: Jolly, Richards, Shaw, J. Bolton, Goodes, Jack
Brisbane: Patfull, Sherman, Brown, Drummond, Rich
INJURIES
Sydney: Ablett replaced in the selected side by Barlow; Crouch (hamstring)
REPORTS
Nil
UMPIRES
H. Ryan, S. Meredith, S. McInerney
CROWD
24,984 at the Gabba
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