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SWANS v TIGERS - MATCH REPORT
Cliff Hammond 1 June 2003
Sydney coach Paul Roos continues to show faith in his young players, and reaped the rewards with a battling victory over Richmond on Saturday at the MCG. The Swans' win was even better considering key players Daryn Cresswell, Jason Saddington and Michael O'Loughlin were all late withdrawals through injury, while the Tigers were without Wayne Campbell, Brad Ottens and Ben Holland.
The game started slowly with some poor kicking at goal. Richmond kicked the first goal of the game in the 10th minute, and Nic Fosdike replied soon after. A mistake from Adam Goodes led to the Tigers' next goal from Ty Zantuck - Goodes kicked backwards across Sydney's halfback line to no one in particular, and Zantuck scooped on the loose ball and goaled on the run from 30 metres. But Goodes bounced back when he goaled on the run from 30 metres just before the first break to leave Sydney 2.4 (16) to Richmond's 2.2 (14).
Swans' forward Nick Davis kicked his first goal two minutes into the second term from just inside the 50 metres on a tough angle, and near the main break he slotted a beauty from 50 metres out right on the boundary line. Otherwise, the second quarter was a dour arm-wrestle, with constant fumbling and missed shots at goal - Tiger Matthew Richardson and Swan Barry Hall were the main offenders. Hall kicked truly in the 22nd minute to put the Swans ahead after Andrew Krakouer and Chris Newman had scored for Richmond, but he missed another very gettable shot soon after. Sydney went to half-time with a 6.4 (40) to 4.8 (32) lead. Incredibly, Sydney didn't record it's first contested mark until late in the second quarter!
Stuart Maxfield and Paul Williams were getting on top in the midfield, with 13 touches each to half-time, and Leo Barry and Tadgh Kennelly were providing plenty of run out of the back line. Craig Bolton had kept Matthew Richardson to just one behind in the first half. Adam Goodes was playing well without dominating, but Jason Ball's tireless work in the ruck, and in defence, meant that Goodes was free to roam the forward half.
Matthew Nicks dealt the Tigers a body blow when he goaled inside the first minute of the second-half, but they regrouped and goals to Tivendale and Krakouer brought them to within two points of the Swans midway through the third term. Then the game swung again as a six minute burst from Sydney firstly saw Davis add his third goal before Jude Bolton, Tadhg Kennelly and Adam Schneider all goaled for Sydney to race to a 26-point lead.
Incredibly, the momentum then swung back to the Tigers as they responded with three unanswered goals through Fiora, Richardson and Stafford to bring the gap back to just seven points at the last change. The Swans suffered a major setback just before three quarter time when defender Ben Mathews was carried off on a stretcher after a collision with Richardson.
The game continued to ebb and flow, and the Tigers looked a real chance when they closed within two points in the final quarter. But once again the Swans kicked up another gear, piling on the last five goals of the match to record a 32 point victory. Paul Roos had taken a gamble by throwing novices Ryan O'Keefe, Lewis Roberts-Thomson and Jarred Sundqvist into the fray when the game was very much in the balance, but they repaid his faith and stood up to the task, and the Swans superior fitness was evident in the final quarter as they ran all over the tiring Tigers.
Mark Coughlan continued his good season for the Tigers and his duel with Jude Bolton was one of the match highlights, but the likes of Kane Johnson, David Rodan and Andrew Krakouer were well held by Kirk and Crouch and they struggled to make any impact. In contrast, the Swans' runners, including Maxfield, Williams, Bolton and Fosdike, continually applied pressure.
The Swans' key forwards had to work hard to escape the close-checking of Darren Gaspar and Andrew Kellaway, but the Tigers too often fell into their old habit of simply bombing the ball long to an out-of-form Richardson. For the Swans, spearhead Barry Hall kicked just two goals, but nine different players kicked the other 14.
THE WRAP
Jubilant Sydney coach Paul Roos rated his side's victory the equal of any Swans win since he took over as coach halfway through last year.
"It's hard to rate wins but certainly in my limited time coaching it was as good a win as we've had," he said. "I thought they were outstanding tonight. It was just a phenomenal effort right across the board. You can go through every player."
"They were just magnificent," Roos said. "To lose the three blokes like we did before training yesterday, you never how the playing group is going to respond but from the captain right down to Lewis Roberts-Thomson and Jarrad Sundqvist, every player played their part."
"Kirky has been terrific this year," he added. "Johnson has been a real key for them and to keep him down to 12 possessions is a real feather in his cap."
"We haven't spoken at all about ladder positions this year even over the last few weeks,' Roos said. "What we need to do is set the club up for the next decade rather than worry about the short-term view.'
Richmond coach Danny Frawley was regretting a missed opportunity -
"We were beaten by a committed side," Frawley said. "They were too good and we just didn't get enough numbers around the ball."
Cliff Hammond 1 June 2003
Sydney coach Paul Roos continues to show faith in his young players, and reaped the rewards with a battling victory over Richmond on Saturday at the MCG. The Swans' win was even better considering key players Daryn Cresswell, Jason Saddington and Michael O'Loughlin were all late withdrawals through injury, while the Tigers were without Wayne Campbell, Brad Ottens and Ben Holland.
The game started slowly with some poor kicking at goal. Richmond kicked the first goal of the game in the 10th minute, and Nic Fosdike replied soon after. A mistake from Adam Goodes led to the Tigers' next goal from Ty Zantuck - Goodes kicked backwards across Sydney's halfback line to no one in particular, and Zantuck scooped on the loose ball and goaled on the run from 30 metres. But Goodes bounced back when he goaled on the run from 30 metres just before the first break to leave Sydney 2.4 (16) to Richmond's 2.2 (14).
Swans' forward Nick Davis kicked his first goal two minutes into the second term from just inside the 50 metres on a tough angle, and near the main break he slotted a beauty from 50 metres out right on the boundary line. Otherwise, the second quarter was a dour arm-wrestle, with constant fumbling and missed shots at goal - Tiger Matthew Richardson and Swan Barry Hall were the main offenders. Hall kicked truly in the 22nd minute to put the Swans ahead after Andrew Krakouer and Chris Newman had scored for Richmond, but he missed another very gettable shot soon after. Sydney went to half-time with a 6.4 (40) to 4.8 (32) lead. Incredibly, Sydney didn't record it's first contested mark until late in the second quarter!
Stuart Maxfield and Paul Williams were getting on top in the midfield, with 13 touches each to half-time, and Leo Barry and Tadgh Kennelly were providing plenty of run out of the back line. Craig Bolton had kept Matthew Richardson to just one behind in the first half. Adam Goodes was playing well without dominating, but Jason Ball's tireless work in the ruck, and in defence, meant that Goodes was free to roam the forward half.
Matthew Nicks dealt the Tigers a body blow when he goaled inside the first minute of the second-half, but they regrouped and goals to Tivendale and Krakouer brought them to within two points of the Swans midway through the third term. Then the game swung again as a six minute burst from Sydney firstly saw Davis add his third goal before Jude Bolton, Tadhg Kennelly and Adam Schneider all goaled for Sydney to race to a 26-point lead.
Incredibly, the momentum then swung back to the Tigers as they responded with three unanswered goals through Fiora, Richardson and Stafford to bring the gap back to just seven points at the last change. The Swans suffered a major setback just before three quarter time when defender Ben Mathews was carried off on a stretcher after a collision with Richardson.
The game continued to ebb and flow, and the Tigers looked a real chance when they closed within two points in the final quarter. But once again the Swans kicked up another gear, piling on the last five goals of the match to record a 32 point victory. Paul Roos had taken a gamble by throwing novices Ryan O'Keefe, Lewis Roberts-Thomson and Jarred Sundqvist into the fray when the game was very much in the balance, but they repaid his faith and stood up to the task, and the Swans superior fitness was evident in the final quarter as they ran all over the tiring Tigers.
Mark Coughlan continued his good season for the Tigers and his duel with Jude Bolton was one of the match highlights, but the likes of Kane Johnson, David Rodan and Andrew Krakouer were well held by Kirk and Crouch and they struggled to make any impact. In contrast, the Swans' runners, including Maxfield, Williams, Bolton and Fosdike, continually applied pressure.
The Swans' key forwards had to work hard to escape the close-checking of Darren Gaspar and Andrew Kellaway, but the Tigers too often fell into their old habit of simply bombing the ball long to an out-of-form Richardson. For the Swans, spearhead Barry Hall kicked just two goals, but nine different players kicked the other 14.
THE WRAP
Jubilant Sydney coach Paul Roos rated his side's victory the equal of any Swans win since he took over as coach halfway through last year.
"It's hard to rate wins but certainly in my limited time coaching it was as good a win as we've had," he said. "I thought they were outstanding tonight. It was just a phenomenal effort right across the board. You can go through every player."
"They were just magnificent," Roos said. "To lose the three blokes like we did before training yesterday, you never how the playing group is going to respond but from the captain right down to Lewis Roberts-Thomson and Jarrad Sundqvist, every player played their part."
"Kirky has been terrific this year," he added. "Johnson has been a real key for them and to keep him down to 12 possessions is a real feather in his cap."
"We haven't spoken at all about ladder positions this year even over the last few weeks,' Roos said. "What we need to do is set the club up for the next decade rather than worry about the short-term view.'
Richmond coach Danny Frawley was regretting a missed opportunity -
"We were beaten by a committed side," Frawley said. "They were too good and we just didn't get enough numbers around the ball."