July 09, 2006

You've Just Seen The Premiers People

And it isn't us thats for sure going by today match, the Crows are far and away the best side in the competition today and will take over our Premiership crown without too much trouble come September. Us, well we are just shocking at the moment and to be frank a match report by me wouldn't sum up how bad we really were on Sunday. Error after error, mistake after mistake, turnover after turnover - this team has given up the goast and has finally decided that 2006 isn't going to be seen as the year where the Swans went Back to Back because we are a running joke at the moment. Too few are trying and to me thats a joke. Anyway here's the AFL's Official match report:

Swans fall to ladder-leaders

Sydney was unable to answer an onslaught from the Adelaide Crows on Sunday, going down by 39 points - 15.11 (101) to 8.14 (62) - in front of a sell-out crowd at the SCG. Adelaide, which has looked a class above the rest of the competition in recent weeks, was again in supreme touch after having to overcome a dogged Sydney outfit in the opening term. But once they found their feet, there was no stopping Neil Craig's men.

It was another even team performance from Adelaide, although Simon Goodwin (27 possessions), Mark Ricciuto (16 possessions and two goals), Trent Hentschel (three goals) and Graham Johncock were all outstanding. For the Swans, Michael O'Loughlin provided a target in attack all day, while Jarrad McVeigh and Luke Vogels provided some rays of light ahead of the Swans' tough road trip to the west next week.

From the opening bounce it was evident the Swans had come to play, and were determined to restrict the Crows' run off half-back which has been such a weapon in recent weeks. In a low-scoring but enthralling opening term, neither side could assert itself on the contest and gain any real supremacy. The Swans were playing it tight and in close early, and were rewarded in the sixth minute. In a sight to warm the heart of all home fans, Sydney's big guns all got a touch as Barry Hall found O'Loughlin, whose high ball found the sure hands of Ryan O'Keefe.

Hentschel answered O'Keefe's major mid-way through the opening term to get the Crows on the board, but O'Loughlin replied following a strong mark a minute later. Ricciuto, without kicking a goal in the first quarter, was looking dangerous for Adelaide, who despite not having many clear winners was right in the contest and trailed by just four points at the first break. It didn't take long for the Crows to take the lead in the second term. After a Swans chip on the wing failed to find the target, Adelaide pounced and from the resulting turnover Ricciuto kicked a long bomb from just outside 50.

Three goals in three minutes from the eight-minute mark further silenced the Sydney faithful, as the Crows running machine started to click into gear. Johncock cleared the pack and bounced one through from a long way out, and then Rhett Biglands showed his mobility from the ensuing centre bounce to dob one on the run from 45. When Goodwin did the same a minute later, the visitors had skipped out to a 19-point buffer and Sydney was in trouble. Johncock was awarded his second after a dubious soccer - which the home fans thought had already crossed the goal line - and it wasn't until time-on before the previously unsighted Nick Davis booted the Swans' first of the term.

But Adelaide hit back through Hentschel, who somehow managed to sneak through his second amid a host of defenders just nine seconds before the half-time siren. The Crows led 7.7 to 3.5 at the long change and the Swans needed to manufacture another of their famous SCG comebacks if they were to take the points. Sydney did manage to stem Adelaide's run in the third term and actually looked the better side in patches throughout, but converting was a problem. Jude Bolton had a moment he would prefer to forget, as Ricciuto swooped on the Swan's dropped chest mark 30 metres out from the Crows' goal to boot his team further ahead. McVeigh goaled at the 17-minute mark to lift Sydney and his major looked as though it might rally the reigning champs.

They seemed to have the momentum and could have edged inside a three-goal margin, but O'Loughlin's horror miss from 20m out in front might have killed off any sniff Paul Roos' men had of pinching a win. Matthew Bode goaled deep in time-on to make it a 28-point ballgame - and with Sydney having just four goals on the board at the last change - the fat lady began warming her tonsils. The two teams traded goals in the last quarter but the Crows were able to extend their margin, making it look easy at times while the inaccurate Swans have some work ahead of them if they are to force their way into the top four.

Next week Adelaide returns to AAMI Stadium for a meeting with Hawthorn while Sydney travels to the other side of the country for a Grand Final replay against West Coast on Saturday night.

SYDNEY: 2.2, 3.5, 4.10, 8.14 (62)
ADELAIDE: 1.4, 7.7, 9.8, 15.11 (101)

GOALS: McVeigh 2, O'Keefe, O'Loughlin, Davis, Buchanan, Williams, Goodes 1.

Best Swan On Ground: Adam Goodes.
Rising Star: Jarrad McVeigh

Posted by robbieando at 10:27 PM | Comments (0)

July 02, 2006

Lackluster Swans Beat Even Worse Freo

Good to get a win despite playing yet more weak football for three quarters and letting a side like Fremantle get close to us though poor play, poor kicking at goal and allowing Fremantle to play the game on their terms for most of the early part of the game. Better sides are going to rip us apart if we keep playing into their hands like we have over the past month of football and with West Coast and Adelaide coming up in the next fortnight we might as well kiss a spot in the top four if we don't come away with at least one win.

On to the players last night and it was great to see Magic continue on with his form from the week before and take out the BOG and turn back the clock in what was clearly a Magic vintage performance of 98 and 99. Nick Davis and Adam Schneider were the next best two with 7 goals between them and plenty of possession as well. Moving LRT into the ruck was a master stroke and turn the balance of the game on its head and Kennelly was the best of the defence once again with his darting runs out of defence.

All in all not much to write home about until the final quarter, but when we turn ourselves on, we looked ready to send a message to the rest of the competition. Barry Hall is hurting by being forced to play so close to goal, thus having 2 or 3 men drop back on him when we kick the ball to him (plus rumors of injury don't help) and Ryan O'Keefe is nothing of the playing he was last year and in my opinion should be looking at time in Canberra if he form doesn't improve his form.

Of the players brought in Luke Vogels MUST keep his spot and so should Jarred Moore. Sean Dempster and Paul Bevan in truth are keeping their spots warm for the returns of Nick Malceski and Jared Crouch from injury. Once we get those two back then we have a full side to take on the final two months of football.

Here is a proper match report for those who want one:

Swans shake feisty Freo Ben Broad Exclusive to afl.com.au

A scintillating eight-minute burst at the start of the final term has allowed the Sydney Swans to shake off Fremantle and record their eighth win of the AFL season. There was nothing pretty about the Swans' 12.19 (91) to 9.4 (58) win, but a withering four-goal burst was enough to get the reigning premiers home by 33 points at the SCG on Saturday night.

Best for the winners were Adam Schneider, the lively Michael O'Loughlin, Paul Bevan went everywhere with Jeff Farmer and the surprising Lewis Roberts-Thomson whose effectiveness in the ruck was a revelation. Matthew Pavlich was his usual classy self for the Dockers while the rugged Troy Cook was solid and Shane Parker, with some help from his team-mates, did a great job on Barry Hall.

It took until the final term for the Swans to shake themselves clear of the Dockers after the visitors had led for nearly all of the first three quarters and held a one-point advantage at the final break. But the opening minutes of the final term was all one-way traffic. Three minutes in, Luke Vogels evaded a defender and booted truly to give his side the lead, and then a few minutes of Adam Schneider brilliance killed off the Dockers' hopes.

He ran in and kicked truly from 25m at the five-minute mark, then chipped beautifully into the square to find a running Jarrad McVeigh who goaled before slamming home another on the run from 45m to make the margin 25 points. It would prove too much for the visitors. Early in the contest Sydney's poor home record in 2006 had looked like it might continue. Sydney looked remarkably flat from the opening bounce, with the Dockers taking it right up to the reigning premiers.

Stung by criticism after their round 12 belting at the hands of Geelong, Fremantle made all the running early with Pavlich looking dangerous inside 50. Sydney's midfield struggled to get their hands on the ball despite Darren Jolly's supremacy at the stoppages, while Hall missed two relatively simple chances from set shots to make matters worse. At the other end, Ryan Murphy floated forward to boot the game's first while Pavlich's second - a brilliant snap from the pocket - stunned the home crowd when Freo opened up a 19-point lead.

Schneider finally kicked the Swans' first at the 22-minute mark, but at the first change it was the Dockers by 13 points. Fremantle skipper Peter Bell was showing no signs of the calf injury that had kept him sidelined, and his left foot snap five minutes into the second term restored his team's 19-point advantage. But the Swans started to lift mid-way through the quarter with Nic Fosdike giving them run and Nick Davis looking dangerous when isolated inside the forward arc. After O'Loughlin broke free to boot one from the top of the square at the 20-minute mark, the Swans were back within a kick. Docker Ryan Crowley replied two minutes later courtesy of a free kick, but Davis's second for the term again cut the deficit and Fremantle led 5.4 to 4.7 at the long break,

Sydney's usual ball magnets such as Jude Bolton and Brett Kirk were having quiet nights, while Fremantle's Shaun McManus and Paul Hasleby, who had been searching for form, were enjoying their night's work. Neither side could make the break they needed in the third term as scrappy football prevailed and possessions were at a premium. After the Dockers' defence made a meal of a marking contest at the top of the goalsquare - two men in purple flying with neither successfully clearing the ball - Sydney's McVeigh goaled to put his side in front 10 minutes in.

But three goals in five minutes to the Dockers had Sydney on the ropes. Pavlich dobbed his third from a free kick, then booted truly from 50 after finding himself on the end of a pass from Bell from the ensuing centre bounce. When Josh Carr marked Bevan's attempted clearance out of the Sydney defence and goaled at the 17-minute, Fremantle had steadied. But O'Loughlin, who had become the go-to man as Hall continually found himself swamped with Dockers, goaled from a tight angle to cut the deficit to the smallest possible margin at the final change.

Sydney coach Paul Roos admits he is concerned about the Swans' wasteful kicking after having 31 scoring shots to 13. "The inaccurate kicking we have seen in lots of games comes up and really hurts you," Roos said after the game. "At three-quarter time we had 21 scorings shots to 12 and were still one point behind and up until the 20-25 minute mark of the game we were still a chance to get beaten. "It is a concern definitely when you end up with 12 goals 19 because you know at some point it can hurt, but thankfully we came out of it with a good solid five goal win."

Fremantle coach Chris Connolly was disappointed his team had missed an opportunity to move alongside the Swans on the ladder, but was pleased with his players' endeavour. "It was the most intense we've been for probably a month," Connolly said. "I'm sure if we maintain that type of intensity and tidy up some other aspects of our game we'll win more games than we lose moving forward."

Next week the Dockers return to Subiaco to host Friday night football, a clash against the struggling Bombers, while Sydney hosts Adelaide at the SCG on Sunday.

SYDNEY: 1.3, 4.7, 6.15, 12.19 (91)
FREMANTLE: 3.4, 5.4, 8.4, 9.4 (58)

GOALS: Davis 4, Schneider 3, O'Loughlin, McVeigh 2, Vogels 1.

Best Swan On Ground: Michael O'Loughlin
Rising Star: Luke Vogels

Posted by robbieando at 08:26 PM | Comments (0)

June 28, 2006

The Missing Link MkII

Yes I know I promised I would keep the place updated more up as all plans go, the World Cup and Australia's magical run has fucked all that up so with another 3 matches of missing reports to do and me not willing to do anothing about it, that and the fact the Swans have been shit also has a part in it. Any here for you viewing is The Missing Link MkII:

Round 12 vs Collingwood

Sydney down to Magpies Ben Broad Exclusive to sydneyswans.com.au

Sydney's bid to improve its indifferent 'home' record in 2006 came up short against Collingwood at Telstra Stadium on Saturday night as the Swans went down by 13 points. Playing in front of 60,307 fans at Telstra Stadium the Swans fought hard before going down 14.11 (95) to 11.16 (82). Collingwood had to fend off a spirited third-quarter charge from Sydney, but once they had snuffed out that challenge the result was never in doubt with only late goals making the score look respectable after the Pies had led by as much as 40 points in the final term.

On a night the Swans would prefer to forget, Amon Buchanan, Leo Barry and Barry Hall (three goals) all tried hard. Collingwood was best served by Rhyce and Heath Shaw while the lively Alan Didak (four goals) and hard-working Scott Burns were also handy. Collingwood could not have got off to a better start, silencing the red and white crowd with two goals inside the first two minutes. A clever Didak snap opened the scoring 50 seconds into the contest, and when Ryan Lonie bombed one on the run from outside 50 the Pies took an early lead.

The Swans steadied but were being forced to chip it across half back as they struggled to penetrate their forward arc. Collingwood, meanwhile, dominated most of the possession and looked far more dangerous when going forward. Adam Schneider set up Michael O'Loughlin for the Swans' first mid-way through the term to cut the margin to a goal but Lonie's second, a snap from a tight angle which bounced through after beating a lunging Sydney defender, restored the two-goal advantage.

When Paul Licuria also bounced one through the visitors were out to an 18-point lead, although a beauty from Jarrad McVeigh on the 50 cut the deficit. Not much went right for the Swans in the second term as Collingwood controlled the early part of the quarter but couldn't quite put the score on the board. It took until the 10th minute for the Pies to get the reward their ascendancy deserved, with Anthony Rocca's set shot from a tight angle raising two flags.

Mid-way through the term Sydney veteran Paul Williams looked set to kick his side's first of the quarter but his set shot from 25m out directly in front skewed off the side of his boot. Moments later Pies big man Josh Fraser goaled from a tight angle at the other end and the Pies led by 20 points. Hall, who despite being hounded by Simon Prestigiacomo was providing a good target for the Swans, dropped an easy mark in front but looked to have recovered to snap a goal only for a desperate Magpie defence to lay a finger on his kick.

At the break the Swans' had failed to kick a goal for the quarter for the second time this season, managing just six behinds as the Pies led 6.7 to 2.10. Collingwood was enjoying an even spread of contributors while the likes of Craig Bolton, Barry and Tadhg Kennelly were the leading ballwinners for Sydney, emphasising not only Collingwood's ability to push back but where the ball had spent most of its time. Whatever Paul Roos told his men at the long break, it had an immediate effect as the Swans came out firing.

Buchanan combined twice with Hall inside the first four minutes and when O'Keefe, and then Hall again, booted his third suddenly the Swans were in front. But that burst stung the Pies into action. Ben Johnson roved one off a pack to regain the lead, and when Didak's deadly left boot found the mark Collingwood had steadied. Perhaps the Swans thought once they'd hit the lead the hard work had been done - but the Magpies hit back.

Rhyce Shaw kicked a gem, Didak's superb vision set up late inclusion Chris Egan and when Rocca goaled after the three-quarter time siren, the Pies had fought off the challenge and kicked out to a 25-point lead. O'Loughlin booted the first of the final term to give the home fans hope, but two to Didak quickly killed off any light that remained.

Sydney coach Paul Roos believes the loss was a culmination of the Magpies' good form and his players' failure to perform, and was typified in the second quarter when the Swans managed just six behinds. "Any time you lose a game the opposition plays well, but in the second quarter in terms of attack on the footy and the way we wanted to play, we just slaughtered the footy," Roos said after the game. "You kick six points and under normal circumstances you win the quarter 8-2 but if you are kicking it to the opposition, dropping marks and hitting the posts 15-metres out, you are sitting up in the box and thinking this is going to be a struggle. "The second quarter was a good summary of our game."

Next weekend the Swans will try to bounce back when they host an out-of-sorts Fremantle at the SCG on Saturday night.

SYDNEY: 2.4, 2.10, 6.13, 11.16 (82)
COLLINGWOOD: 4.3, 6.7, 11.8, 14.11 (95)

GOALS: Hall 3, O'Loughlin, O'Keefe, Goodes 2, Schneider, Williams 1.

Best Swan On Ground: Buchanan
Rising Star: Lewis Roberts-Thomson

Round 11 vs St Kilda

Swans sink to Saints Ben Broad Exclusive to sydneyswans.com.au

Sydney's winning run has come to an end with a thrilling two-point loss to St Kilda at a slippery SCG on Saturday night. In what turned out to be a thrilling finale, the Saints held off the fast-finishing Swans to win 7.10 (52) to 7.8 (50). The Saints had looked to be cruising all night as they maintained a comfortable three-goal lead for the majority of the evening. But the Swans, in a finish reminiscent of last year's famous semi-final win over Geelong, made a late charge.

Leading by 13 points at the last break, Brett Kirk kicked the opening goal of the final term at the 19-minute mark, and when Adam Schneider kicked his third at the 29-minute mark he cut the deficit to just two points. But that's as close as the home side got. There was to be no fairytale finish this time, as the Saints held firm in the dying minutes despite Sydney throwing everything at them.

The much-anticipated rematch between Matt Maguire and Barry Hall was a lopsided affair, with the Saint enjoying a night out over the unusually quiet Hall. Sydney was best served by Adam Goodes, Brett Kirk and Jude Bolton, while Schneider helped lead the Swans' revival. Sam Fisher, Nick Riewoldt and Luke Ball, who copped a heavy knock and was stretchered from the field early in the final term, were other standouts for the winners in a victory that lifted them back into the top eight.

Goals were always going to be as precious as diamonds on a night when persistent drizzle made it tough for either side to play the kind of free-flowing footy they are accustomed. And it was the Saints who acclimatised the better early on in the greasy conditions. Debutante Michael Rix, one of three ruckman the visitors took into the game despite the weather, posted the game's first goal in the third minute, joining that exclusive club with a major with his first kick in the big time.

Riewoldt was effective in his role playing a kick behind the play as St Kilda seemed to be matching the home side at ground level, an area in which the Swans had been so dominant the previous six weeks. It took until the 22nd minute for the term's only other goal. Fraser Gehrig found space to mark and kick truly and when the siren rang, the Saints had kept Sydney goalless for a quarter for the first time since the third term of last year's grand final.

The rain eased slightly in the second term and with it, the Swans looked a better team. It took them just 14 seconds to register a goal in the second stanza, with Barry Hall slamming one home from the goal square although Brendan Goddard answered for the Saints after a wayward Leo Barry kick out of defence proved costly. The teams traded goals but Sydney couldn't bridge the quarter time margin.

Gehrig continued to look dangerous and some of his more unheralded teammates - the likes of Fisher and Mark McGough - led an even and committed Saints outfit at ground level. Regular performers Goodes, 150-gamer Bolton and Kirk were doing plenty of hard stuff around the packs but with the ball like a cake of soap at times, the 14-point deficit at the long change might have seemed double that.

The Saints seemed to have the answers during the third term. Schneider answered Jason Blake's goal but when Leigh Montagna dribbled one through from 30m, St Kilda was back out to a 20-point lead and looking well on its way to the four points. But Schneider's second goal late in the term reduced the margin to 13 points, giving the home side a sniff and setting up the exciting finale.

Sydney coach Paul Roos admitted his team was outplayed in the early stages of the game. "The first quarter was significant - 2.3 to 0.1. In those conditions any sort of multiple break was going to be really important and, in the end, it was two more points than we could recover," Roos said.

The Swans have a week off during the split round before they meet Collingwood in a round 12 blockbuster at Telstra Stadium.

SYDNEY: 0.1, 3.3, 5.5, 7.8 (50)
ST KILDA: 2.3, 5.5, 7.6, 7.10 (52)

GOALS: Schneider 3, Hall, Roberts-Thomson, McVeigh, Kirk 1.

Best Swan On Ground: Brett Kirk
Rising Star: Jarred McVeigh

Round 10 vs Kangaroos

Swans charge down Roos Jennifer Witham Exclusive to afl.com.au

Sydney has staged the second come-from-behind victory in round 10 with a thrilling seven-point victory over the Kangaroos at Manuka Oval on Sunday afternoon. A day after the Eagles' stunning win over the Cats on Saturday, the Swans employed a similar never-say-die attitude and defeated the Roos in a cliffhanger after trailing by 32 points in the third term. The Roos had returned to their 'home away from home' with dark memories of their last trip to Canberra, when they were upended by West Coast by 24 points in round four this year.

And, in front of a crowd of 14,922 – a new venue record for Manuka Oval, surpassing the previous record of 14,891 who attended the Kangaroos-Sydney clash in round four, 2004 – the nightmare was re-enacted as the Swans powered to the 16.9 (105) to 14.14 (98) victory. Led by co-captain Barry Hall – who was awesome in booting six goals - the Swans lifted considerably in the final term to kick five goals to two, denying the Roos the opportunity to snap a three-match losing streak.

The Swans lost veteran midfielder Paul Williams before the bounce with calf soreness but Craig Bolton was sensational after spending last week in the grandstand with a hamstring strain. Sydney co-captain Brett Kirk was prolific in the middle. The contribution of Hall couldn't be ignored as the big man powered through the forward line with Adam Goodes providing solid support from the wing. Kangaroo Jade Rawlings was impressive in his first senior game in the blue and white with one goal and 17 possessions while Glenn Archer was serviceable as always in defence with 17 disposals and nine marks.

Daniel Harris and Brent Harvey worked hard through the midfield with 23 and 20 touches respectively with skipper Adam Simpson collecting 22. The game started with Kangaroos coach Dean Laidley stacking his forward line with talls Nathan Thompson, Hamish McIntosh and Jade Rawlings, while David Hale periodically drifted into attack, the move outweighing the Swans' small defenders. But it was an even contribution from Sydney's workmanlike midfield that brought that game plan quickly undone and the Swans were as quick as they were devastating running the ball from the Roos' attacking 50.

Sydney took advantage of the breeze in the first and banged on five goals to none - the Roos managing only six behinds for the term, and consequently took a 27-point lead into the second quarter. The Kangaroos came out fired up in the second and the tall structure began to pay dividends with quick goals to Rawlings, Thompson and Hale - Brent Harvey and Shannon Grant also chipped in with majors of their own. Within 15 minutes, the Roos had whittled away the Swans' lead and the boot of Grant put the side in front, much to the delight of the club's Canberra supporter base.

Shortly after, Adam Goodes kicked truly and put through the Swans' first for the second term - and the first goal kicked at the Manuka end of the oval - to bring the scores back to level. The big Roos ruckman Hale nailed his second after the siren and the 'home' side took a seven-point lead into the rooms, although their second-term onslaught was soured briefly when Troy Makepeace was helped from the field. The tough midfielder came off second best in a collision with Jared Crouch and went straight up the race before returning late in the term. Thompson also appeared in trouble with a shoulder complaint after a hefty tackle but managed to play on.

The wind dropped after half-time and the Roos were quick to capitalise on the still conditions with four straight goals that blew the margin out to 32 points – the game's biggest lead. But the bustling Hall ignited Swans and kicked two in the third term, and along with an impressive running goal to Jarrad McVeigh and a long bomb to Amon Buchanan, the Swans were back in it and down by 11 points at the last change. In a thrilling final term, the Swans didn't look back after they regained the lead in time-on, despite several serious challenges by the Roos, and the premiers went on to complete their sixth consecutive win.

Sydney coach Paul Roos admitted his team wasn't the best afield yet he praised the way it went about obtaining the win when playing below its par. "I think it was a reasonable sort of game, I think it was the conditions and look, to be honest, I thought the Kangas were the better team for most of the day," Roos said after the match. "Credit to our guys to be able to play probably 50 minutes maximum of good footy but the last quarter they really turned around, our boys, and hit in and our forwards started to become a lot more aggressive and lively. "Look, to get over the line today was great when not playing too well."

KANGAROOS: 0.6, 7.10, 12.11, 14.14 (98)
SYDNEY: 5.3, 7.3, 11.6, 16.9 (105)

GOALS: Hall 6, Schneider 2, Dempster, Kirk, Ablett, Goodes, McVeigh, Buchanan, O'Loughlin, O'Keefe 1.

Best Swan On Ground: Barry Hall
Rising Star: Sean Dempster

Posted by robbieando at 12:32 AM | Comments (0)

June 06, 2006

The Missing Link

OK, now we missed four matches in Swanblog's downtime and the Kangaroos match will be done in full tomorrow in due course. However before I can get to there I need to fill you folk in on the missing link of three matches between where I left you against Brisbane and of course Sunday against the Kangaroos. Here are the scores, the best on ground and rising star.

SYDNEY: 8.0 15.4 21.6 28.12 (180)
RICHMOND: 4.2 6.6 8.7 9.8 (62)

GOALS: Hall 5, O’Keefe 4, Malceski, O’Loughlin 3, Ablett, Goodes, McVeigh, Buchanan 2, Davis, J Bolton, Richards, Kirk, Williams 1.

Best Swan On Ground: Adam Goodes
Rising Star: Nick Malceski

SYDNEY: 6.3, 10.5, 16.9, 17.14 (116)
WESTERN BULLDOGS: 4.0, 8.4, 10.6, 14.6 (90)

GOALS: Hall 5, Davis 3, McVeigh 2, Buchanan, Schneider, Kirk, Fosdike, Roberts-Thomson, Goodes, O'Keefe 1.

Best Swan On Ground: Jude Bolton
Rising Star: Nick Malceski

SYDNEY: 5.2, 7.3, 14.3, 19.5 (119)
HAWTHORN: 0.3, 3.6, 6.11, 7.12 (54)

Best Swan On Ground: Adam Goodes
Rising Star: Jarrad McVeigh

Posted by robbieando at 05:43 PM | Comments (0)

May 09, 2006

Swans Bitch Slap Lions in Easy Walk in the Park

With the season back on track and the heading to to Brisbane which had become a happy hunting ground under the coaching of Paul Roos the Swans came into the match against the Brisbane Lions expecting to win. In the build up to the match the Lions game plan had been leaked to the local media and reports had the side split in two between those loyal to the coach Leigh Matthews and those loyal Jason "I cry like a little girl" Akermanis.

For the Swans the game started on a great note which the late withdrawl of Ben Mathews for Sean Dempster who had some impact on the match including his first goal in League football. The Swans led most of the day and really weren't pressed at any stage despite the Lions getting within two goals half way in the last quarter. Sydney was particularly dominant in the second term but led by only 26 points at half-time thanks to Barry Hall missing a pair of gettable set shots.

However, the Swans were able to build on their advantage in a third quarter when Jason Akermanis blew up and gave in to his "serial pest" Jared Crouch. First the he gave away a free kick that resulted in a goal to Crouch, then he tangled with Crouch which saw him get reported and conceded another free which resulted in the goal to Sean Dempster from 60m's out on the run.

Thanks Aker

The last quarter was a task of getting to the 100 point target for the second week in a row and hold the Lions at bay, which the Swans did with ease. For Sydney, Jude Bolton, Nick Fosdike and Adam Goodes were prominent with Goodes getting 28 possession alone to wrap up Best on Ground honours. In defence Lewis Roberts-Thompson did a fine job standing Jonathan Brown, while Crouch kicked two goals, had 19 disposals and won his running battle with Akermanis. Hall was good early kicking three goals until young first gamer, Jason Roe was put on him. The kid was outsized but put up a great fight and stopped Hall for ripping the Lions apart any further.

All in all a good win, but we'll face better sides in the coming weeks. This Lions side isn't what it was.

BRISBANE LIONS: 3.4, 4.4, 8.7, 10.10 (70)
SYDNEY: 5.2, 8.6, 13.10, 15.12 (102)

GOALS: Hall 3, Goodes, Crouch, Bolton, Ablett 2, Kirk, McVeigh, Dempster, Malceski 1.

Best Swan On Ground: Adam Goodes. That's more like his Brownlow winning best.

Rising Star: McVeigh. His Best. Game. Ever.

Posted by robbieando at 06:19 PM | Comments (0)

May 03, 2006

Swans Take Another of the Cats Nine Lives

They came into the match wanting revenge and they came wanting to get their season back on track, but the Geelong Football Club failed on Saturday Night to do either and as a result has clear found itself in a position many would of found impossible 3 weeks ago. Still for the Swans they welcomed the return home to Telstra Stadium to win their second match of the second season and prove to the football world that they aren't going to give up their premiership crown without a fight.

Jude Bolton got his side's first eight minutes in after a 50m penalty while a strong mark to Mooney allowed Charlie Gardiner to put the Cats back in front a minute later. Hall was giving Matthew Scarlett the slip and he had plenty of it in the first quarter as well as booting a goal. But Geelong, with Gary Ablett and Paul Chapman looking creative, led by a goal at the first break.

The Swans went on to gain the ascendancy in the match during the second quarter. Hall booted the first of the second term from a free kick. Mooney then pulled in a ripper and repeated the dose with a handball to Gardiner who booted his second to give Geelong back the lead. The goals soon dried up but the Swans were doing all the attacking and it was only time before they got on top.

A costly turnover from Scarlett, who was moved off Hall mid-way through the quarter gave Goodes his first goal, and when Schneider and Craig Bolton booted late goals the Swans led by 20 points at half-time. The Cats were struggling to penetrate their half-forward line as the Swans, with Tadhg Kennelly starting to return to his attacking best, charged from defence at will.

Hall continued his outstanding night less than a minute into the second half, booting his third to make Geelong's task that much harder. Chapman replied with a great set shot from a tight angle but two quick goals to O'Loughlin and Craig Bolton had the margin out to 32 points. The Cats didn't lie down though, with Ablett dribbling one through while Jarad Rooke and Mooney also added majors. Hall and O'Loughlin could have put Geelong away before the last change but missed easy chances. Still the Swans led by 24 points at three-quarter time.

The Cats booted two early goals in the last term through Mooney, the Cats' only real tall-marking threat, and Chapman to cut the deficit to just two goals. But Hall booted his fourth to spell the end for Geelong, and two more goals to Schneider and another to Goodes ensured the Swans celebrated their second win for the year and quite clearly their best.

SYDNEY: 3.3, 7.11, 11.16, 15.17 (107)
GEELONG: 4.3, 5.3, 9.4, 13.7 (85)

GOALS: Schneider 4, Hall 4, C. Bolton 2, Goodes 2, J. Bolton, O'Keefe, O'Loughlin.

Best Swan on Ground: Tadhg Kennelly. Sure not our best per say, but heck he was our most important player out their on the night thanks to the run he provides coming out of defence.

Rising Star: Nick Malceski. Again. Just keeps on improving with gametime.

Posted by robbieando at 10:52 AM | Comments (2)

April 23, 2006

It's Happening Again.........

........Ben Mathews made a mistake and I'm feeling like shit as a result.

When will Roosy and a hell of a lot of fans get the message that this guy is PAST IT. One poor handpass into space late in a match and we lose by a goal when we should of been more than able to have worked the ball down the ground for a score and a win to go 2-2 and match our record from the same point as last season.

Still on a brighter note, we as a team played our best match of the season, we got alot of the ball but allowed Melbourne to win via some pretty poor use of the ball going forward and letting Yze, Davey and Robertson do as they liked up forward. How we also allowed them to outstay us when they have one fit player for the entire second half is beyond me. Again its down to the lack of work from our midfield group.

A pisspoor start to third term didn't help and some umpiring that wasn't paid both ways to both sides again cost us dearly. We nearly got lucky and we go away with a loss but today we showed that we are at least nearly hitting form and with Tadhg back in at least we close to 100% team wise.

Good to see McVeigh and Malceski also put in good showings, pity about their last two shots at goal. McVeigh ripped off and Malceski unlucky at the end. Also good to see Unco FINALLY get some possessions. Hall needs to really pull his finger out and impose on matches more and for the love god - O'KEFEE AND GOODES JUST DO SOMETHING. Good to see Schneider and Buchanan play well.

But thats pretty much it. We lost a match we should of won and frankly we are now 1-3 because of a group of lazy footballers, one or two who put in no matter what and no luck whatsoever. We need to move onto 2006 now boys from 2005. What's been done is done, time to re-load and try and do it again.

SYDNEY: 4.2, 6.6, 9.10, 13.14 (92)
MELBOURNE: 3.3, 7.5, 10.6, 15.7 (97)

GOALS: Hall 3, Schneider 2, Richards, O'Keefe, O'Loughlin, Buchanan, Davis, Malceski, Ablett, McVeigh

Best Swan on Ground: Buchanan or Schneider - take your pick, they as good as each other to me.

Rising Star: Nick Malceski - His star keeps rising.

Posted by robbieando at 10:54 PM | Comments (0)

April 18, 2006

Ah Finally A Win

Well I knew we wen't that bad we would lose to Carlton, but hell thanks to Carlton uber-flood tactics it was close. Still Carlton if you want to play with fire, expect to get burnt. Seriously how did you expect to beat us at our own game when you knew we more than likely would have the ball for most of the last quarter???

Most Swans fans I have talked to, felt nerves late in the match, while I just sat their knowing full well, Carlton couldn't beat us. Anyway we won and the season is back on track in a sense. We move onto the Demons who now are 0-3 (unlucky to be that I must say) at home and get Tadhg Kennelly back from injury. Thing's are starting to look up.

As for the match well, the Swans had the wood on Carlton for much of the first half, until a stupid free kick to Fevola which should of been paid to us resulted in a advantage goal to Eddie Betts with all but Betts stopped for the free kick. That allowed Carlton to believe in themselves to come out in the third term and take the game Sydney more while easing up on Noah's flood.

Davis' got his second shortly after the restart and Fevola's night took a turn for the worse when he was reported nine minutes in for charging Brett Kirk. It then looked like Carlton might be done when O'Loughlin got his third soon after, but two young guns sparked a Blues revival that saw them roar back into the contest on the back of five unanswered goals.

The Swans were reeling, but managed to get control of the game again and though expirence got some telling hands to the ball and restored a 13-point lead at the last break with the last two goals for the quarter. Carlton wasn't done yet, though. Fevola bagged his second and Dylan McLaren stood tall to mark and goal with just eight minutes elapsed in the last.

Jude Bolton made the task difficult when he goaled soon after and Hall looked to have sealed it when he put through his only major of the night. Fevola's third from 55 metres out gave the Blues hope, but Sydney used the ball masterfully in the dying minutes to see off the challenge. Leo Barry was a huge presence in defence for Sydney - pulling down a whopping 18 marks and gathering 29 possessions - and Michael O'Loughlin was the chief scorer on the night with four.

Sydney coach Paul Roos said the club's first win of the season eased the pressure on the group.

"At 0 and 3 you start to lose a lot of confidence, but you're 1 and 2 and you're hoping you get a bit more confidence out of the win … and for your players, the pressure valve is off a bit, because you've actually got on the board," Roos said after the win. "So we're certainly hoping that we can continue to play better, as we did tonight, compared to last week."

So finally a win and against the scum that is Carlton, who we official now OWN on the field and boy doesn't it feel great.

CARLTON: 1.3 3.4 8.6 11.8 (74)
SYDNEY: 4.3 6.4 10.7 12.9 (81)

GOALS: O'Loughlin 4, J.Bolton, N.Davis 2, Hall, Mathews, McVeigh, O'Keefe 1.

Best Swan on Ground: Leo Barry. Had the ball so much, means he had to be good.

Rising Star: Nick Malceski. Pity he is going to be dropped for Kennelly this week however.

Posted by robbieando at 06:08 PM | Comments (0)

April 12, 2006

Bright Day Turns into Dark Day

Having finally won the Premiership after 72 long long year it was finally time for the Swans first home game of the season and that meant for the first time since 1934 the Swans would begin a home opener with a flag unfurling to mark such a major feat. For such such a sunny day and fantastic pregame unfurling of the premiership flag that saw the flag passed around many of the club important comtributers in the past 72 years since we last had the honor to do this.

Then came the players turn to do their jobs and put away what on paper looked liked a weak Port Adelaide side. How wrong could we be. Port just blew us off the park and the Swans couldn't cope. The sunny start to the day turned into a dark finish and even a late flood of goals couldn't hide the fact we were no match for the Power from the moment we put our second goal though the middle. Even the umpiring went against us again, but it had no impact on the result unlike last week.

Yet another sad ending to what should of been a proud for our, just like 2003 and the game against Hawthorn the night after the Team of the Century was named, a habit this club seem to have. Anyway onto last years wooden spoon winners Carlton, surely not even we could lose that????

SYDNEY: 11.14(80)
PORT ADELAIDE: 15:16(106)

GOALS: Hall, O'Loughlin, Davis, Fosdike 2 Buchanan McVeigh, Crouch 1.

Best Swan On Ground: They were all shit, but forced to pick one out, I would go with Fosdike who at least won some of the ball and slotted home a few goals to boot.

Rising Star: McVeigh again, mainly because he had no one to challenge him this week. Richards and Chambers failed to even show up I believe and Dempster got caught out too offen.

Posted by robbieando at 05:45 PM | Comments (0)

April 03, 2006

Screwed Over. It Just Never Ends

Well we might finally be premiers of this League, but going by the performance put on by the umpires on Saturday Night, we still are going to have to earn the respect of more than just the football media and football fans in general. Despite a bright start that led to a Michael O'Loughlin goal, a flood gates were opened by umpire Michael Avon with the first of three free kicks that allowed Matthew Lloyd to put in a fine attempt at his impression of an Commonwealth Games diver.

Along with 3 goals from free kicks we saw him put Leo Barry to the sword with another 3 goal (including it must be said some fine efforts from out wide). The Swans just had no answer to the amount of ball coming into the defence and the left Leo Barry wide open to be man handled like a man of his size should against Lloyd. Therefore Roosy took the brave decision to move Leo off him and put Ted Richards on his former teammate. The move paid off has Leo was freed up to set up attacks and Ted allowed "only" two more to be kick by Lloyd.

After a dust up quarter time where certain Essendon players decided to rough up Barry Hall, the game became a tighter affair with the Swans slowly getting back into the game only to allow Essendon to get the goal to take some pressure off. Therefore the Swans despite the hard work of Barry Hall with 7 goals, Adam Goodes racking up the possessions, Amon Buchanan playing to his 2005 midfield level and Ted Richards keeping Lloyd quiet once moved on him, could only get within 3 goals before the Bombers kicked again.

This proved the killer blow in the last quarter when Scott Lucus kicked two quick goals from beyond 50 to put the game out of reach and despite and late charge, the game just played out to a pretty easy 27 point win for the Bombers, not thanks to multiable questible umpiring decisions that were 50/50 at best (but always get paid to Lloyd or against us, surprise, surprise).

Oh well on to Round Two and the Unfurling of the Premiership Flag. A day for the true believers thats for sure.

ESSENDON: 9.1 11.3 13.6 17.6 (108)
SYDNEY: 2.2 8.4 10.6 12.9 (81)

Goals: Hall 7, O'Loughlin 2, C.Bolton, Goodes, Mathews

Best Swan on Ground: Despite kicking 7 goals this award doesn't go to Barry Hall it goes to Adam Goodes who put in yet another one of his "Best Of" games to go along with the Port final and Adelaide last year.

Rising Star: McVeigh, finally appear to show signs of what he CAN become. A strong bodied midfielder who can brake packs, win the ball and run all day. We certainly need a few of those going on Saturday Night.

Posted by robbieando at 06:50 PM | Comments (0)

March 18, 2006

Swans Finally Win Again

Yes, its only a practice match but a win is a win and today the Swans managed to put away the Saints by 17 points to cap off our pre season series of matches which until today had seen us lose 5 in a row to start the season and premiership defense. With most of the senior players available save for the injured Kennelly, Dempster and the Leo Barry who pulled out late the Swans managed to beat the team many predict will take our mantle from us.

Seeing as again I wasn't there and therefore unable to see what happened LIVE, here is the afl.com.au match report:

Swans edge Saints in Newcastle Karen Collins

Sydney has won the battle of the pre-season strugglers, overcoming St Kilda by 17 points in Newcastle on Saturday afternoon. The premiers ended their five-game losing streak to run out 12.19 (91) to 11.8 (74) winners for a confidence boost heading into round one against Essendon at Telstra Dome.

Nick Davis booted four goals in a great display with Ryan O'Keefe and Barry Hall adding two apiece, while Fergus Watts, Nick Riewoldt and Stephen Milne landed two goals each in strong performances for the Saints. With most of their senior players having only their second outing for the year, the Swans played strongly from the opening bounce and dominated for three quarters. The score could have been more damaging for the Saints had Sydney been more accurate.

The Swans conceded a minor score before dominating the opening term with 12 scoring shots to two, however, wasteful kicking let them down. Davis (10 kicks), O'Keefe and Hall caused headaches for the Saints defenders, Jude Bolton and Darren Jolly dominated in the middle while Lewis Roberts-Thomson and Ted Richards stifled Nick Riewoldt and Fraser Gehrig.

Davis registered the first goal of the game and could have had another four by quarter time, O'Keefe soccered a beauty off the ground from 35-meters out on the angle to thrill the small crowd before Hall increased the lead to 3.9 (27) to 0.2 (2). Riewoldt shrugged off last week's woes in front of goal by polishing off a 40-metre effort in front, and Fergus Watts could have further reduced the deficit with a set-shot from 15-metres in-front but it was touched.

Adam Schneider replied with a solid 45-metre major, but then the game turned in the matter of two minutes when Watts booted two goals and Allan Murray a third to narrow the margin to four points. Davis responded with a goal, the Saints hit-back through Lenny Hayes before Davis had the final word, booting his third six-pointer for a 6.11 (47) to 5.7 (37) lead at the main change.

Watts proved to be a strong target up front, Riewoldt ran hard around the ground and provided plenty of kicks into the forward-50 and Troy Schwarze provided plenty of run in a solid effort in the backline. In the second half Riewoldt was rested with Matt Maguire moving forward while the Swans replaced ruckman Jolly with Paul Chambers and Stephen Doyle who spent most of his time at full-forward.

The Swans' inaccuracy continued in the third term as they booted 2.7, with Stephen Powell, Nick Dal Santo and Lenny Hayes kicking majors to maintain a ten-point deficit into the final change. Sydney's accuracy improved in the final stanza, the Swans managing four goals from their five scoring shots to St Kilda's three straight to improve the margin to 17 points at the final siren.

Leo Barry was late withdrawal with a sore shoulder giving draftee Kristin Thornton his first opportunity to play with a full-strength side. Sydney coach Paul Roos said the result was a bonus given what the Swans achieved from the game. "That was pretty much two sides at full strength and we got out of it what we wanted to, and that is what you want with the last practice game," Roos said. "We wanted to play good footy, get plenty of game time into our players and no doubt we got back to playing the style we did last year. That is the style we want to play and that is the most important thing."

SYDNEY: 3.7, 6.11, 8.18, 12.19 (91)
ST KILDA: 0.2, 5.7, 8.8, 11.8 (74)

GOALS: Davis 4, O'Keefe 2, Hall 2, Schneider, Moore, Ablett, Williams
BEST: Davis, J. Bolton, Jolly, Richards, Roberts-Thomson
CROWD: 3,203 at the Newcastle

So all in all good signs heading into Round One, with the boy's now having 2 weeks to rest up before confronting Essendon for the third time this year in the season opener at Telstra Dome. Good to see Nick Davis hit some really good form, likewise Ted Richards and LRT who together held down the fort in defense against the likes of Gehrig, Riewoldt and Watts.

Only bad news is the reported injuries to Buchanan's shoulder which forced him to sit out the second half and Ted Richards who from reports did some sort of leg injury late in the game. No comfirmation of these injuries have come though with the afl.com.au report used above not listing them, so God only knows what's going on here

So finally a pre season win to give Roosy a 33% winning record in his time at the club (OK couldn't resist) and the next match finally counts for something.

Bring it on.

Posted by robbieando at 04:45 PM | Comments (0)

March 11, 2006

Swans Go Down Again

Come on fess up, this is the one result that surprised even the most optimisic fan, we finally had our best possible squad out there and even Magic got a pre season start, so we must of been shoe in's for a win, right???

WRONG

For the second week in a row the Swans failed to put up a fight in the second half after braking even in the first half with what seemed to be only a 80% effort. Sure its clear we are keeping something back, but gee its starting to get down hearting (which for me is a bad thing considering I'm due to put in an appearance at the first three matches of the season).

As for the match itself, I clearly wasn't going to make the effort to make the trip to Cararra, so in place of my own match report here is the AFL.com.au match report:

Tigers defeat Swans comfortably Andrew Browne

Richmond has continued its positive build-up to the premiership season by easily defeating the Sydney Swans by 40 points in their NAB Challenge match at Carrara on Saturday night. Following a slow and inaccurate start, the Tigers - through their tall and more effective forward line - eventually overcame a slightly disappointing performance by the reigning premiers to triumph 13.11.(89) to 7.7.(49) with spearhead Matthew Richardson booting four goals and big man Greg Stafford two.

The Swans remain winless during the 2006 pre-season and remarkably have now lost 13 pre-season matches under Paul Roos since he took over the coaching job in 2002. The Tigers established a 16-point lead by half-time courtesy of two quick goals to Richardson - who proved a handful for former Essendon player Ted Richards - at the top of the quarter and then late goals to Kayne Pettifer and Nathan Brown gave them the momentum at the main break.

An even third term saw both teams score three goals apiece before the Tigers broke away to a six-goal lead at the start of the final quarter with three goals in as many minutes to Coughlan, Stafford and Richardson to put the game beyond the Swans' reach. Brown would be pleased with his form in his second game back since breaking his leg last season with coach Terry Wallace confident enough to give him a bit of time on the ball as well as around the goals underneath the taller forwards Richardson, Stafford and young improver Daniel Jackson.

Besides Richardson and Stafford up front, the Tigers were well served by players such as Kayne Pettifer, Shane Tuck and Richard Tambling who were amongst 25 players and an interchange bench used like a revolving door by Wallace in the confidence-boosting hit-out. The Swans had few players who stood out, especially after half-time but Luke Ablett, Ryan O'Keefe and defender Craig Bolton could hold their heads high.

Michael O'Loughlin, playing his first game since last year's grand final, was given a solid work out by Roos by spending all but a few minutes of each quarter on the field. He at times ventured away from the goal square where he picked several touches up the field and will no doubt benefit from the run. Besides the Tigers' poor kicking for goal, the opening term was marred by a sickening collision between Swans utility Nic Fosdike and Tiger young gun Brett Deledio on Richmond's half-forward line just prior to the break.

Both players showed tremendous courage as a high ball was kicked from a centre bounce after second-year player Adam Pattison had finally shown his more experienced Tiger teammates how to kick straight following six behinds - all from set shots. Fosdike ran in from the wing with pace and Deledio from the forward line when the players met heavily. The Swans player was momentarily knocked out and with blood streaming from a broken nose, was carried off on a stretcher and took no further part in the game.

Deledio showed no ill effects from the clash to stay on the ground and be useful contributor along with fellow youngsters Brent Hartigan and Nathan Foley who displayed plenty of dash and Andrew Raines, who no doubt enjoyed kicking a goal in the final term in his return to the Gold Coast in front of family and friends. For their final tune-ups before the premiership season, the Swans will attempt to regain some winning form against St Kilda in Newcastle next Saturday while the Tigers meet Essendon in Mildura on Friday night.

A couple of injury concerns to Swans Fosdike (concussion) and premiership hero Leo Barry (bruised shoulder) - who came off in the third quarter - has given Paul Roos something else to think about as the Swans try to find some winning form in 2006. "Leo (Barry) would have come back on if it was a game for premiership points and Fossy doesn't know where he is but he looks OK," was Roos' relaxed way of viewing the injuries and left it to the medical staff to decide if Fosdike would be available next week.

"There is an obvious difference in fitness and how advanced you are in your game plan, but that does make the next two weeks quite important." The coach also conceded that O'Loughlin played more of the game than planned but had little choice following the injuries. "That does throw your plans a little bit," said Roos. "He (O'Loughlin) got through really well though which is a bonus and he looked sharp and fit so he looked further advanced than what we thought."

So all in all not a good result, once again and a few injuries to boot. Seems like we can add Fosdike to the list of outs from our Premiership side, leaving 4 spots open sure to be taken by Vogel, Richards, Chambers and Malceski.

Well one more match before the real stuff begins.

SYDNEY: 2.1, 3.3, 6.4, 7.7 (49)
RICHMOND: 1.6, 5.7, 8.10, 13.11 (89)
GOALS: Hall 3, O'Keefe, Ablett, Malceski, Davis
BEST: O'Keefe, Ablett, Hall, C.Bolton

Posted by robbieando at 11:53 PM | Comments (0)

February 26, 2006

Swans Lose, But Is Anyone Surprised

Come on fess up, the result surprised not even the most positive of Swans fans (and for a club like ours, fans like that a as rare as hens teeth). All week (and certainly most of the lead up to this match during the summer) I've written off the chances of the Swans knowing that Roos does like these games and that the make of the side would be mainly that of a TAC Cup team. Even I believed we had no shot of winning this match and decided to spend the day driving the country back roads of Central Victoria instead of making the effort to watch what was always going to be a sure fire loss to the Roos.

Still in matches like these you look for small glories and from what I've bothered to watch on Fox Footy and from what match reports I've read, some things did make it a worth-while exercise. For the match report here is the AFL.com.au match report:

Kangas too good Andrew Wu

A seven-goal to two first half has helped the Kangaroos record a comfortable 31-point victory over reigning premier Sydney in the first round of the NAB Cup at Manuka Oval on Saturday.

While the Kangaroos had eight of their top 10 from last year's best and fairest available - the only two missing were Glenn Archer and the retired Leigh Colbert - the Swans ran out with only six members of their premiership team. The Kangaroos set up their 1.8.11 (68) to 0.5.7 (37) win in the first half, kicking four consecutive goals either side of quarter-time as they roared to a 37-point buffer at half-time before the young Swans showed more dash in the second half.

While the Kangaroos' stranglehold on the game was never threatened, the Swans looked better in the second half and drew within 19 points late in the final term but the scoreboard did not accurately reflect the gulf in class between the two teams. Nuggety rover Daniel Harris was the Kangaroos' best under the packs with 20 possessions and was well supported by Brady Rawlings with 18 and veteran Shannon Grant, who kicked two goals to complement his 15 touches and seven marks. Of the Kangaroos youngsters, defender Josh Gibson showed promise deep in defence, gathering 16 touches and impressing with his poise under pressure.

For the Swans, David Spriggs found the ball 17 times, while premiership duo Jude Bolton and Ryan O'Keefe both gathered 16 touches. Adam Prior linked up well across the middle with 16 touches, while Matthew Laidlaw provided good run from half-back in the absence of Tadgh Kennelly.

With both sides showing signs of rust early in the Canberra heat, it was the Kangaroos who drew first blood after more than seven-and-a-half minutes with Harris goaling. Ben Mathews replied at the 13-minute mark but the Kangaroos slammed on four goals either side of quarter-time, including a nine-pointer to Ben Schwarze, opening up a 28-point break at the 11-minute mark of the second term. A clever snap by rookie Ryan Brabazon broke the Kangaroos' run but Brent Le Cras and Nathan Thompson both kicked truly after marking inside 50, helping the Shinboners to a 37-point break at half-time.

With experienced midfielders Grant, Rawlings and Adam Simpson starting the second half on the bench, the Swans made a promising start to the third term. A strong contested mark and goal to Stephen Doyle, who out-muscled Jonathan Hay, followed by a clever snap from Heath Grundy saw the Swans draw within 23 points at the 12-minute mark of the third term. But the return of the Kangaroos' veterans stopped the Swans' run with Brent Harvey booting a fine running goal, stretching the margin out to 29 points at three-quarter time, but it could have been more had he not hit the post after the siren.

Goals were again a precious commodity in the final quarter as both teams started to wilt in the heat. The Swans missed an opportunity to make things interesting when O'Keefe sprayed his set shot after marking strongly against Michael Firrito before Drew Petrie let himself down from 40 metres out directly in front. A snap by Jarred Moore reduced the margin to 20 points at the 12-minute mark but rookie Adam Prior blew a chance to reduce the margin to 14 when he missed from point-blank range after being awarded a free kick. And when Grant converted in the dying minutes, the Kangaroos were through to the second round to play either Carlton or Geelong.

KANGAROOS: 0.3.0, 1.6.5, 1.7.6, 1.8.11 (68)
SYDNEY: 0.1.0, 0.2.2, 0.4.4, 0.5.7 (37)
Swans Goals: Matthews, Brabazon, Doyle, Grundy, Moore
Swans Best: Bolton, O'Keefe, Spriggs, Buchanan, Ablett.

So while the loss is a good thing to write home about it appears that the senior level players that did play, played well in particlar Jude Bolton and Ryan O'Keefe, while Matthew Laidlaw impressed in his first game for the club and Jarrad Moore claims for a senior birth come Round One. From what I saw LRT looks to have taken a bit of confidence from his Grand Final effort and stepped up a gear and Heath Grundy can certainly make the ball. So not the end of the world by any means.

So there it is, another Pre Season loss and it off to the country circut we go (if you can call Princess Park, country) a meeting a Essendon for the second time in three weeks. Details when I get them later in the week. But at this stage it appears to be 4pm Friday at Princess Park.

Might help the Save Carlton Fund while I'm at it.....

Posted by robbieando at 05:17 PM | Comments (0)

February 18, 2006

Swans Lose Battle But Gain More From Match

Well it certainly wasn't the one-sidered slaughter that Paul Roos predicted, but it was a loss all the same. However in going down by 19 points to the Bombers in the Swans first competitive hit out on Australian soil since their premiership success against West Coast just over 4 months ago, they showed that even with 4 of the Premiership team lineing up that they will still be competitive this coming season and having solid relief in the junior ranks to boot.

The Swans pulled no punches in their line up save for the trial use of Luke Vogels at Full Back on Matthew Lloyd and Vogels did well body on body to suggest he could hold down this position in the future if ever required. Up forward for the Swans, Ted Richards was the stand-out against his former club, showing the way with 21 touches, three goals and solid marking that went someway to show that he might just become a valuable part of the Swans already well-stocked forward line.

Lewis Roberts-Thomson with 18 touches picked up from where he left off in the Grand Final playing strongly on Scott Lucas to suggest that he is now ready to match it with the big gun Centre Half Forwards of the competition.

In the midfield Jude Bolton played well as always and David Spriggs showed some form to suggest that he just might make more of an impact on the senior side this season (God help us). For me the news Nick Malceski performed strongly in the midfield, suggests I might be right in my thoughts that he is in for a big year and might be the brake out rookie/young kid of 2006.

Luke Ablett put the home side in front with the first goal before Lloyd snagged a major for the Bombers. Heath Grundy then showed why he was promoted from Sydney's rookie list with a solid mark and goal from 40 metres to give supporters hope of a competitive game. However the Bombers piled on the last three goals to take an 11-point lead into the first change.

Spriggs reduced the gap soon after the restart before the Bombers once again quashed any hopes of a close contest with four unanswered goals. It was then time for Ted Richards to make his impact on the game when he posted his first goal to get the crowd excited and although Lucas nailed his second, the Swans posted the final two goals to trail by three goals at the main break.

An uninspiring third term saw the Swans out-score the Bombers two goals to one, with Richards adding his third, to peg back the deficit to 13 points at the last change. Jobe Watson booted his second soon after the centre bounce before Sydney draftee Ryan Brabazon ensured the game would be a close finish. However Chris Heffernan and Ricky Dyson sealed the victory for the Bombers with a goal each. To make the result look even more repectable Swans rookie Paul Currie slotted through a beautiful curler from the boundary line to leave the final result being a Swans 19 point loss.

"The score was obviously a really pleasant surprise for us, and we are all really excited the way the kids played," Roos said.

"We played some great footy and the kids attacked the football and even the improvement from LA (last month) to now is just dramatic."

SYDNEY: 2.5, 6.5, 8.8, 10.11 (71)
ESSENDON: 4.4, 9.5, 10.9, 13.11 (89)
GOALS: Sydney: Richards 3, Currie 2, Ablett, Grundy, Spriggs, Thornton, Brabazon. Essendon: Lucas 2, Lloyd 2, Watson 2, Monfries, Dempsey, Welsh, Lovett-Murray, Ryder, Watson, Heffernan
BEST: Sydney: Richards, Roberts-Thomson, Spriggs, Bolton, Malceski, Vogels. Essendon: Bradley, Winderlich, Lucas, Welsh, Monfries
INJURIES: Sydney: nil Essendon: nil
REPORTS: nil
UMPIRES: Troy Pennell, Matthew Head, Mathew James
CROWD: 8461 at North Sydney Oval, Sydney

Posted by robbieando at 06:07 PM | Comments (0)

January 17, 2006

Swans Lose Season Exhibition Opener

Well the Swans have travelled to LA for the season opener exhibition hit and giggle against the Kangaroos and lost by a fair margin. I can’t be bother doing a match report on a match I didn’t see and about a match I could care less about. Yes Swans loses always hurt, but these are just warm ups for the important matches that begins at the end of March. Most important thing to come out of the match is the fact no player were injured and thats good to hear.

Those interested a match report go here and check out one slightly more inform than I could ever provide.

KANGAROOS: 2.3 7.5 10.8 13.8 (86)
SYDNEY: 1.1 3.1 3.2 6.2 (38)

Goals: Currie 2, Bevan, J Bolton, Ablett, Dempster

Crowd: 3,000 at UCLA

Posted by robbieando at 07:23 PM | Comments (0)

September 27, 2005

FINALLY!!!!!

For those who have been living under a rock for a week I have some very proud news to report - THE SWANS HAVE WON THE 2005 PREMIERSHIP. After supporting this club for so many years and having been brought up as a Swans fan in the late 80's, early 90's I thought this day would never come, but by heck it has and boy was it worth the wait.

While the match won't be remembered as a highscoring shootout that mnay fans like to see, it will be remembered for being one of the toughest Grand Final's for many a year and one where accountable teamwork won out over flashy football. But for me that isn't important, what is important is that the Swans finally have a premiership after 72 years and I was alive to see it (despite my tombstone post early in the season).

Basically there isn't much one can say about the match other than the fact it was a close match and the Swans won out , but I will say that Leo Barry's heavily contested mark in the West Coast forward line in the dying seconds will go down as one of the great Grand Final moments and will live with me forever.

The match itself saw the Swans trail the Eagles out of the blocks but managed to keep the Eagles to only two goals and allowed themselves to work themselves back into the match and kick two late goals thanks to Schneider and Hall to add to an early goal from Jolly. This allowed the Swans a 2 point quarter time lead and let the Eagles know that they would allow them room to move.

The second term saw us bounce out quickly with 3 goals to thanks to Goodes, O'Loughlin and Kennelly before the 16-minute mark, gaining a 21-point lead which turned out to be the biggest margin of the match. The rest of the quarter saw the Swans hold the Eagles down and saw them go into halftime with no goals in the second quarter and looking gone. But the Eagles had other ideas and turned the tables and held us scoreless in the third term while kicking five unanswered goal into the early stage of the last quarter. This included Luke Ablett's brain fade (all is forgiven Luke) and Adam Hunter's "touched" goal.

At that stage things looked gone for the Swans and the Eagles fans near me had started their premiership party. But a quick Barry Hall goal from outside 50 quickly ended them and put the Swans back into the hunt. Once that door was opened the Swans took off and started attacking like no tomorrow.

This is where things got crazy, Magic got the ball but missed normally easy shots at goal and when five points down an Amon Buchanan goal put the Swans in front for what turned out to be the last time and as we moved the lead out further and the Eagles started to attack looking for a winning goal the nerves started playing up, but never fear when things counts Leo Barry stood tall.

At the ground I saw the mark and relief went though my body as I knew we would be able to clear the ball once more, but all of a sudden the noise level picked up and seeing people dancing and crying I knew the siren had gone and the premiership was won.

The whole presentation and lap of honor was a blur but I managed to spend it with my friends and found out and hugged everyone I needed to hug. Found my Dad, who got me into this at Punt Road, watch the team being presented and then went off to Clarendon Street for a feed and a few drinks at Patony's (which saw us take turns at waving JF's 10ft flag at the passing traffic), then moving onto Bell's at about 1am (throwing cut up and docket rolls as we went) to watch the 2nd half on replay and drink out of the premiership cup.

After getting kicked out of there after the replay finished because we kept them open an hour pass their closing time, it was off too Crown where we managed to find a quiet bar which had these great chairs and rested our legs and enjoyed a few more quiet drinks until 4am when they closed the bar. After that it was off to Collingwood for 2 hours sleep via a feed at McDonald's and then the family day at Lake Oval. Since then I've just rested up and let the moment sink in.

But no matter how hard I try its hard to accept the Swans finally are premiers of the AFL and have finally won our 4th Premiership.

Thanks to the 22 players who gave their all and to Paul Roos for getting the mix right. We fans are always in your debt.

1909 - 1918 - 1933 - 2005

Sydney: 8.10 (58)
West Coast: 7.12 (54)

Goals: Hall 2 Buchanan, Goodes, Jolly, Kennelly, O'Loughlin, Schneider 1.

Best Swan on Ground: Lewis Roberts-Thomson/Amon Buchanan/Nic Fosdike/Leo Barry/Barry Hall/Craig Bolton.... I could go on and name the 22 players but I leave that for another post. To be honest they all played their part in particular the first three.

Posted by robbieando at 01:36 PM | Comments (5)

September 17, 2005

"We 'jis Got to Keep it Goin' "

Stary, stary night.

Yet another last quarter charge has seen the Swans move within one win of the long awaited promised land. Nine years since our last chance the Sydney Swans are finally, finally back on football's biggest stage and we couldn't go in any more pumped than we already are. Sure it was a good win tonight and one that would of shocked most of the football world, but I won't get ahead of myself like I did in 96. I'm just happy to finally have another shot at football's biggest prize and a prize that hasn't been in Red and White hands since 1933.

I tell you one thing however unlike last week where I felt sorry for the Geelong supporters, I couldn't give a stuff to the cocky St Kilda supporters who already were discussing things such as "what jumper the team should wear in the GF" and "who should play the GF to win a premiership medal". These fools deadset thought they would just have to show up tonight and next week and the premiership would be their's. Well you have to wait longer now.

Still enough of my bitter (if you could call them that after winning) rantings and onto the match itself. The threat of rain held over the city of Melbourne all week and most of today, yet my gametime only a small amount had fallen and clearly not enough to effect the match like it did in last years semi final against St Kilda. From the outset the Swans didn't take any backward steps and attacked the Saints more than anyone expected and got 5 first quarter goals thanks to 2 goals each to Willo, Hall and a single from O'Keefe and jumped out to an 12 point lead at the first change.

The only down point of the first term was the off-the-ball incident Barry Hall had with St Kilda defender Matt Maguire and as a result Hall now faces a nervous wait ahead of the grand final. The incident was captured by the television cameras and showed Hall appearing to make contact with Maguire in the stomach with the Saints defender doubling over in pain, much to the fury of the Saints crowd. I think its soft, but it certainly could go either way.

In the second quarter it was mainly end to end stuff with packs forming offen, as a result the Swans only managed the one goal to Davis and allowed St Kilda to get 2 of their own to cut the lead 4 points at half time. In the third term it was more of the same from the Swans, but St Kilda put it all on the line as they charged to a 15 point lead going into time-on despite an earlier Amon Buchanan goal. Things were looking dire and the Swans badly needed a late goal if they were to stand a chance in the last quarter.

Just when we needed Barry Hall the captain to stand up, he did it by not only kicking the much needed goal which got us within 7 points at three quarter time, but at going over to the umpires upon the siren to give them a blast over their performance (which I predicted) which had at one point in the third term seen the Saint on the receiving end of an 8-1 free kick count. If only we could be that lucky.

While the Swans for the second week running started the last quarter behind on the scoreboard, they had the legs and thanks to a last second pep talk from Brett Kirk (who played most of the match with a nasty cut to the head) to the will to take the Saints on and win themselves a play in the Grand Final.

Our hero of the last quarter onslaught was Adam Schneider who kicked three goals after having a poor match up to that point with three kicks to his name. His run and belief of 2003 was back as the Swans made their move. Schneider kicked the first two goals of the final term to help the Swans regain the lead by the seven minute mark this was followed by a goal from O'Loughlin with a great snap at the eight minute mark. This was followed by 3 goals from Hall, O'Keefe and O'Loughlin which sent Swans fans crazy and dashing off to get Grand Final tickets.

By the time Schneider kicked his third on the run at the 18-minute mark, the Swans were 27 points up and celebrating their first finals victory at the MCG since the 1936 Preliminary Final and first in Melbourne since 1945.

While the forwards always get the credit one must not forget the efforts from the defence and again the underrated Craig Bolton was magnificent at centre-half-back thrashing a disappointing St Kilda skipper Nick Riewoldt who yet again proved that his abilty on the big stage is questionable at best. Jared Crouch barely allowed Saints' goalsneak Stephen Milne near the ball and set up much of the Swans drive across half back as he did last week. And Leo Barry never stopped trying to give the Swans run out of defence even though Fraser Gehrig kicked four goals.

So the Swans have made the Grand Final and after the bagging Paul Roos copped early in the season (including from myself I will admit), he has earnt the chance to have a final say in who is right and shut up those who bag the club's style of play. The following quote I feel sums up the season and the clubs turn around.

"It was a phenomenal effort by the guys. We were 2-4 early in the season, and copping it from everywhere. All credit to the players and the assistant coaches for remaining steadfast."

Anyway the Prelim Final is past us and now its onwards to the Grand Final and a chance at the clubs fourth ever premiership and as Manny always says:

"we 'jis got to keep it goin'"

SYDNEY: 15.6 (96)
ST KILDA: 9.11 (65)

Goals: Hall 4 Schneider 3 Williams, O'Loughlin, O'Keefe 2 Davis, Buchanan 1.

Best Swan On Ground: Ryan O'Keefe for the attack and Jared Crouch for the defence

Posted by robbieando at 08:20 AM | Comments (3)

September 13, 2005

Harbourside Robbery

In what can only be discribed as harbourside robbery the Swans on Friday Night pulled off what will go down as one of the biggest steals in AFL/VFL history. With only seconds left on the clock Jason Ball tapped a throw up down to Nick Davis who without taking control of the ball, kicked the match winning goal and in the process sent the Swans into the promised land of a Prelim Final.

I know its four days since the great escape, but I promised you readers a report and a report you shall get, now that I have fully recovered from Friday Night's match.

Sitting in my seat at the SCG during the last quarter I had given up all hope after Geelong put though their 7th goal of the night and would force us to put though 4 goals of our own in less than 20 minutes to stay alive in season 2005, no way was that even possible when in over 3 quarters of the match we had bearly managed 3 goals and didn't even look like kicking 1 goal more let alone 4.

Still when there is a will there is a way with this club and that will happened to transport itself in the form of Nick Davis. Like a gift from above Nick was sent to us to run riot in the Swans forward line in the fourth quarter as Geelong started to get tired and the belief started to return to my body following a wonderful roving goal from a ruck contest 30 metres out running away from goal.

From that moment the SCG crowd started to turn up the volume and start to roar everytime the Swans went forward and when this happened at the halfway point of the last quarter, who ended up with the ball and an easy shot at goal??? Nick Davis. Goal and game well and truely on. For the next 5 minutes the Swans and Cats sent the ball crashing end to end like a pinball machine hoping either for the killer blow or a way within a goal. When time looked like it would run out up stepped Nick Davis yet again to snap a goal from 40 metres out.

Was this happening??? You bet it was.

By this stage my seat like most other in my Bay was useless as we all stood to chant and cheer on the boys to get the ball forward. It happened once, only for Brendon Sanderson to chip in and snag the mark. It happened twice only for the Cats to rush it out towards the boundry on the wing and then it happened for a third time and this was where the match was won and it was lost.

As time was running out the Swans though Leo Barry thumped the ball forward in hope rather than planning, as it rolled to the boundry line Steve Johnson of the Cats left it ran thinking he has seen it out only of Luke Ablett to punch it forward towards Barry Hall to who held Matthew Scarlett off from knocking it out of bounds. He then toe poked it towards the top of the goal square hoping for a Swans player to pick it up and get a goal, but the Cats held strong and kept the Swans out and forced a ball up 15 metres out from goal and as we all know Jason Ball tapped the ball down to Nick Davis who somehow managed to snap it though and spark massive crowd celebrations that went on for nearly 30 minutes afterwards. Hell, I somehow managed to end up 2 bays away from my seat. It was like I was at a Soccer match.

It was a remarkable win over the Cats in the dying seconds, but step forward Nick Davis (who as the banner that got plenty of coverage on the night said) to save us from a certain death. It won't go down as the most glamous of matches but it will go down as the most heart-stopping and I'm sure for those Cats fans who were there heart braking. You certainly felt sorry for those who made their way North for the match.

Still a final's win is a final's win and this means we earn the right to keep on going or as Manny would say (don't ask) "we 'jis got to keep it goin'". That means the team I feared going into the finals in St Kilda, but after last Friday Night, ANYTHING can and IS possible.

Sydney 7.14 (56)
Geelong 7.11 (53)

Goals: Davis 4, O'Loughlin 2, O'Keefe 1.

Best Swan On Ground: As if Nick Davis wouldn't win this one this week.

Posted by robbieando at 06:57 PM | Comments (0)

September 10, 2005

WOW, Just WOW

What more can I say than WOW.

Match report to follow tomorrow. Saints here we come

Posted by robbieando at 08:17 PM | Comments (0)

September 04, 2005

Gutsy Swans Lose Close Match

Its been the best part of 2 days since the game finished and still I feel as gutted as I did at 11.15pm Friday Night. To go all the way to Perth and take the game up to the Eagles and lose in that manner hurts. One can't help but think that has cost the Swans its chance at a premiership, but alas things keep on moving and we move onto next weeks home final.

I won't speak too much on the game except to say that I think Nick Davis is hitting good form, Kennelly and Dempster were good out of defence and Jude, Ablett and Kirk stood up again.

West Coast 10.9 (69)
Sydney 10.5 (65)

Goals: Davis, O'Loughlin 3 Hall 2 Schneider, O'Keefe 1

Best Swan On Ground: Nick Davis

Posted by robbieando at 07:43 PM | Comments (2)

August 28, 2005

Swans Secure 3rd Spot

Well I made my way out to the MCG yesterday in the knowledge that the Swans were going into a match that we couldn't lose because we were playing a team that we knew didn't want to win and put their extra 1st Round draft picks at risks.

Therefore the main focus of interest was whether the Swans could win and wrap up 3rd spot on the ladder, see if Barry Hall could get the 5 goals he needed to tie for the lead in the race for the Coleman Medal and most important of all if we could get though the match injury free.

Safe to say that we managed to deliver two of the three, thanks to the self-less performance of best on ground Barry Hall who put team glory in front of personal prizes. He could of got to 5 goals quite easy, but he decided early on that he didn't want that Medal and allowed Nick Davis and others in the forward line to feast upon the Hawks weak efforts (clearly they were saving themselves up for Mad Monday tomorrow).

Clearly not much needs to be said about the match other than we won, played well in getting our best score for the season and got though with only Willo suffering a minor leg injury that won't be a problem going into Friday Night.

All in all a good day and a good result.

SYDNEY SWANS: 20.9 (129)
HAWTHORN: 11.9 (75)

Goals: Davis 4 Hall 3 O'Keefe, Goodes 2 Fosdike, Schneider, O'Loughlin, Ablett, Ball, Crouch, Kirk, Buchanan, Vogels 1.

Best Swan on Ground: Big Bad Self-less Barry Hall.

Posted by robbieando at 04:55 PM | Comments (0)

August 22, 2005

No Slip Up This Time - Swans Wrap Up Top 4 Finish

The Swans yesterday managed to do 3 things that most of us humble fans expected, 1) win the match and wrap up a Top 4 finish. 2) come out of the match without suffering a major injury and 3) honor the memory of our former head trainer Wally Jackson who passed away during this fixture last season. But in doing this they also did a 4th thing that I'm sure we all dreamt of, but weren't expecting - wiped the Roos off the park.

In producing their best first half performance of the season the Swans sent another warning to the rest of the competition that we are to be taken seriously and are more than in the hunt come September. What also must be worrying for many teams and pundits the Swans did this without Magic and Barry Hall having a major impact on the result and showed that we can win without them staring (even though it always makes the job that much easier).

The Swans broke fast out of the blocks thanks to the midfield winning the majority of the ball and delivering it with ease to the forward line to set up the match winning 37 point lead at quarter time. From there the Swans just controled the match with ease, not allowing the Roos' to make any sort of come back short of a few late goals in junk time towards the end of the match.

Despite clearly taking the foot off the pedal after quarter-time, the Swans made it clear they were getting close to their best form by playing accountable football when challenged but also displaying enough attacking brilliance to show that they are far from being the "negitive" side people in the Melbourne media have painted them.

As I pointed out above this match was not won by the Magic and Barry show as in past weeks but though the brilliant first half of Nick Davis getting 4 of his 5 goals for the match and show what damage he is capable of doing come September. What also impressed me was his committed efforts at the ball and the amount of it he won before having Glen Archer put on him at half time. Brett Kirk starred in the midfield as did Jude Bolton at times, while again Tadhg Kennelly showed his improvment staring in the first half running time and time off half back, setting up goals and attacks for us.

The only down point was the report of Ryan O'Keefe that hopefully will get thrown out as there was nothing in it at all.

The win as I said to start with wrapped up a spot in the top 4 and moved us up to 3rd a game clear of the Saints, which could mean that if we beat Hawthorn this week a trip to face the loser of the West Coast vs Adelaide clash on Saturday, a prospect that seems more appealing than before this week.

SYDNEY: 15.11 (101)
KANGAROOS: 9.10 (64)

Goals: Davis 5 Hall 3 O'Loughlin, O'Keefe 2 Goodes, Fosdike, Schneider 1.

Best Swan on Ground: Nick "Finger Licking Good" Davis.

Posted by robbieando at 10:32 AM | Comments (0)

August 15, 2005

Swans Crush Lions

What more can a football fan wany. A sunny day, mixed in with a good ground and the Swans putting the Lions finals hopes though the mixer with what will go down as the Swans best win of the season so far. I must say that therefore it was worth every cent I paid to be at Telstra Stadium to witness the biggest mauling the Swans have put a team though for quite some time. The fact my brother is a Lions fan play no bearing whatsoever (well I guess a little).

From the outset it was clear that the Swans were the only team out there trying to win the match thanks to the Lions run of injuries that forced them to play without most of their tall player options in particular Jonathan Brown, a midfield that was without Simon Black and a few others that would of done a better job than the 22 that ran out at 1pm Sunday afternoon.

Still the Swans could only play the team that is in front of it and to that end did what they needed to do and they did it as well as they could of hoped for. After 3 hard fought matches in as many weeks the Swans got the easy match they needed and at the same time proved to the football world that they could take apart ANY side at ANY time.

The signs shown by the players themselves were quite impressive, in particular that of Barry Hall who for the second week running kicked a bag of goals and had a hand in a few more, this led to Magic and O'Keefe kicking goals as decoy full forward's who worked off the lack of pressure that is the result of Hall taking up defensive pressure. The midfield led by Adam Goodes, Paul Williams, Adam Schneider and Luke Ablett in particular ran riot like never before. Even the defence had an easy time with LRT putting in his best ever game and Leo and C-Bolt having easier matches than expected.

The Swans led by 50 points at halftime after opening with 11 goals first half goals to the shellshocked Lions 3. Again the Swans kicked with the accuacy that was missing early in the season and with Adam Goodes and ruckman Darren Jolly dominant in the middle things were going well. You knew how the Lions were going when they moved Bradshaw to Hall in an attempt to not only replace the injured Mal Michael but at the same time try their last roll of the dice at stopping Hall from ripping the game apart. Sadly for them, it didn't work as well as they hoped with Hall kicking 6 goals before being rested for most of the last quarter. Sydney's five-goal second term included two each from Hall and O'Loughlin.

Hall and O'Keefe each goaled in the opening five minutes of the final term before Hall and O'Loughlin were rested on the bench, however as a 100 point win looked possible the Lions flooding started to turn the match into a boring drawn out game and the crowd reacted to this with antics that have been taken out of context (ie the Mexican Wave during the stoppage in play to treat Nigel Lappin's broken leg)

Still the party had started and the Swans didnt allow any comeback from the Lions to make the score look repectable.

SYDNEY: 19.10 (124)
BRISBANE: 6.4 (40)

Goals: Hall 6 O'Loughlin 4 O'Keefe 3 Crouch, Davis, Jolly, Mathews, Kennelly, Buchanan 1.

Best Swan on Ground: Barry Hall

Posted by robbieando at 06:32 PM | Comments (0)

August 08, 2005

The Wait Is Over.............

.......sadly now all that us Melbourne based Swans fans have to live for now is waiting for the unthinkable to happen and see the Swans win a Premiership sometime in the next 60 odd years (only asking for one, God).

What the hell is this shit your asking yourself right??? Well this is the match review of the the Swans first win in Melbourne against Essendon in 16 years and in my case the first time I've ever seen the Swans beat those smug fools from out Essendon way "LIVE". Never mind the Swans didn't play to their best (well what's new in that I suppose) and that we struggled to put away a side that is having its worse season in over 25 years.

Still I guess the fact we were playing away from home, had this little jinx against us and faced an Essendon side that managed to have all three umpires in their pockets all night (more on that later) meant it was hard for the club to get into the match as they would of hoped. Still it was pleasing therefore that the Swans managed to play poorly and still soak up all the pressure the Bombers could throw at them and run away with a hard fought 20 point win.

Early in Saturday Night's match the Swans were in deep trouble. Essendon were getting the ball forward at will and Leo Barry was clearly struggling to contain Matthew Lloyd who managed to outmark Leo, or got Leo to commit the sin of holding on (despite most of them being soft in the extreme).

Three goals down quickly, the Swans turned to Barry Hall as he led from the front in the Swans march back to the lead shortly before quarter time thanks to goals from Hall, O'Keefe and then Ball. But just as it looked like the Swans would manage to take a lead into quarter time the Bombers got 2 goals within the final 30 seconds of the quarter and the good work of the Swans was undone.

Essendon started the second quarter off with yet another goal and the Swans were looking goners, however just like the first quarter the Swans though Hall managed to work their way back into the match and back in front of the match. Started by a goal to Hall, followed more goals to Goodes, Buchanan, Vogels and Hall. At this point it basically was goal for goal with the Swans looking like going into Half Time less than a goal down, only to again fall victim to a last minute goal to Essendon and therefore were 10 points down at the long break.

Knowing that they had to make a charge at the Bombers and quickly the Swans started the third quarter off quickly and moved within a goal quickly thanks to Hall followed by further goals to Goodes, Ablett, Hall again and then O'Keefe to make it a 5 point Swans lead again going into three quarter time.

However in a match highlighted by a lopsided free kick count in favour of Essendon, the umpires made sure they made themselves look stupid with what will go down as yet another sign that the umpires hate us. Scott Lucus managed to get a free kick in front of goal right on the break for what appeared to be a normal marking contest with no player holding or pushing. Either that or the umpires got fooled by an Olympic Style dive. That meant Essendon were up by 1 point.

Still that didn't stop the Swans as they got a quick goal soon after play re-started thanks to Michael O'Loughlin's freakish trap and goal off the outside of his right foot in the final quarter. However this was followed up by a moments of magic from Andrew Lovett. The sickening roar from the Bomber sheep felt that the game was slipping from us but thanks to some hard work from the midfield and goal to Ryan O'Keefe meant the Swans were 7 points up and looking like they had seen off the Bomber challenge.

Even when Nic Fosdike's clever goal was replied to by Essendon the Swans stood tall and saw off the Bombers with 2 goals from Barry Hall that put the game beyond the Bombers and allowed those Swans fans lucky enough to be at the ground to start their party.

SYDNEY 18.10 (118)
ESSENDON 15.8 (98)

Goals: B Hall 7 R O'Keefe 3 A Goodes 2 L Ablett, J Ball, A Buchanan, N Fosdike, M O'Loughlin, L Vogels 1.

Best Swan On Ground: Barry Hall

Posted by robbieando at 04:56 PM | Comments (0)

August 01, 2005

Now THAT was boring

Well normally I would write a match report of the highest (possible) quality so readers can get an idea about how the match went for the Swans but after Saturday Night, I can't bring myself to do so because we basically lost a match we should of won and in doing so lost all hope of finishing 2nd.

Really challenged the 2002 Draw against St Kilda as the most boring Swans match I have seen, but I guess at least this match was played hard and saw mistake after mistake let the Swans down, not a team playing 17 men in front of the ball.

We had enough of the ball to kick a winning score and in the last 10 minutes of the match we rained down inside 50's that went no where near the Top of the square or a player in Red and White for that matter. So as a result we lost a game by 7 points when we should of won (thanks Amon). Clearly the best player on the ground again was Goodes and again Hall went to sleep, thus meaning I believe the captaincy should go to Goodes long term, because he was the only one of the 6 "captains" who tried to lift the team late in the game.

Still after what I went though crowd wise at AAMI Stadium on Saturday Night at least things can't get much worse feral-wise. Bring on the Teenie Boppers that are the Essendon supporter base.

Swan Adam Goodes dishes off a handpass under pressure from Crow Brett Burton in Adelaide last night.
Photo: Getty Images

ADELAIDE 8.6 (54)
SYDNEY 6.11 (47)

Goals: M O'Loughlin 2 N Davis, B Mathews, A Buchanan, A Goodes 1.

Best Swan On Ground: Adam Goodes

Posted by robbieando at 07:26 PM | Comments (0)

July 24, 2005

Swans Finally Deliver Notice To The Football World

Well while many expected that the size of the SCG would get to the Eagles, by beating the Eagles with a full 4 quarter effort the Swans did more than anyone expected by braking down the Eagles and exposing their weakness in a manner that only Collingwood before us has managed to do this season.

It also managed to add some life to the competition that had been lacking over the past few weeks and more than wrapped up the Swans 3rd finals series in a row under Paul Roos and making a Top 4 spot seem more likely than not. Now just a small matter of a trip West to AAMI Stadium and a match against the 2nd placed Crows.

Still nothing can take away from the performance put together by the Swans against this seasons yardstick team. From the outset it was clear that the Swans were out for blood knowing the importance of the result.

An early goal to Jolly from a free kick was cancelled out by an Eagles goal to Lynch and followed by a few near misses as the Eagles tried to get away early, but a neat snap from Buchanan put the Swans back in front and soon after put the ball on the chest of Magic who goaled and the Swans were away to a handy lead at quarter time.

Cousins put the Eagles second on the board to start the second quarter before Barry Hall took on the Eagles defence single handed to boot his first goal of the match. From there it was the Dean Cox show as he put the Swans to the sword by booting 4 goals for the Eagles which were matched by a sole goal in reply from Luke Ablett from the 50 and things at half time looked grim, with the Swans looking worn out and the Eagles on top of everything.

But like so offen this season the Swans came out after half time and won themselves a match. An early goal to Magic and miss of the season to Judd within the first two minutes of the half and it was clear the game had swung. Soon after a captains goal to Captain Jude from the boundary line and the Swans were back in front. Even a goal to Fletcher couldn't stop the Swans from making their move as Schneider wound back the clock with a 2003-like running goal to lift the side further and then a goal to Davis resulting from good teamwork from an advantage decision from a ruck contest. Going into the last term the Swans had the game under control and a 10 point lead.

Knowing the Eagles would make a charge the Swans put the foot on the gas and got two quick goals to Magic and Schneider who clearly was proving here was back to his confident best. From there Hall and Jolly iced the match with two goals from marks and the Swans withstood a late Eagles 2 goal charge to run out easy 21 point winners.

Now onto the Crows

SYDNEY 13.10 (88)
WEST COAST 9.13 (67)

Goals: M O'Loughlin 3 B Hall, D Jolly, A Schneider 2 L Ablett, J Bolton, A Buchanan, N Davis 1.

Best Swan On Ground: Brett Kirk/Jude Bolton tie (Even I can't split them)

Posted by robbieando at 06:47 PM | Comments (0)

July 18, 2005

Hall Leads Swans To Best Win Yet!

After months of winning ugly and slowly but surely moving up the ladder the Swans in back to back weeks have turned popular belief on its head and beaten two teams above them on the ladder for the first time all season, played near all out attacking football and moved into a prime position to claim a spot in the Top 4 and the Double Chance that goes with it.

After last weeks massive win over a injury hit Geelong outfit the Swans came up against the free falling Demons at Telstra Dome and went in believing that they could do away with the team that flatters to descive on a yearly basis.

All night the Swans had the match under control, kicking out to handy leads early in quarters, withstanding a late charge back from the Demons before kicking a handy late goal to put the Demons back on the back foot going into the games three brakes. The Swans started the game with a 6 goal quarter which showed that the player were swiched on in particular Barry Hall kicking two goals and clearly having no trouble with his man - Ryan Ferguson. But thanks to David Neitz and his fantastic diving show (should of been in Montreal for the Diving World Champs - better chance of winning something) the Demons managed to go into quarter time 11 points down.

The second quarter was the complete opposite to the first quarter with the game slowing down from its somewhat fast begining. Nick Davis and Ben Mathews managed to kick two goals in the first 15 minutes of the quarter and again the Swans were out to a handy 25 point lead. Thats where things went black for me (had a seizure therefore couldn't see what was going on). But as I was out of it, David Neitz shocked the football world by kicking a goal without the help of an umpire and as I was in the Rest Room he kicked yet another by fair means (I know shock horror), that meant the Swans went into Half Time only up by 10 points and looking like a match was about to brake out.

Alas I was wrong, a match didn't brake out, but a trashing did as the Swans put the Demons to the sword with another 6 goal quarter, sparked by two quick early goals from Barry Hall on his way to a four goal quarter, the first after a brilliant effort from Buchanan, re-established a four-goal break.

Then came the funny moment of the match when Phil Read was paid a free just outside the Demons forward 50 when ridden to the ground, but instead of getting up and taking his kick he decided to slap around his tackler Amon Buchanan around the head right in front of the umpire - cue the free kick being reversed and from that play the Swans got the ball forward to Magic who passed to Captain Kirk for a goal and what effectively was a 12-point play. Two more goals to Hall and one to Nick Davis saw the Swans charge out to a 31 point Three Quarter Time lead.

The Last Quarter saw the Demons put in a late effort to get something from the match first with a brilliant goal from Aaron Davey, followed by two two goals from Neitz with the later from yet another free kick that should NOT of been paid. All of a sudden the Swans were stuggling and the Demons were within two goals. For the next ten minutes the Swans slowed down the match and made sure that it would be them who would get the next goal so to brake the Demon spirit.

Step forward Barry Hall to claim his 7th goal for the night and soon after Amon Buchanan topping off his night's fine work with a goal and the Swans had the match all wrapped up and that was all she wrote as the game ended with the Swans winning by 26 points.

On to West Coast with confidence.

SYDNEY: 16.8 (104)
MELBOURNE: 11.12 (78)

Goals: Hall 7 Davis 2 O'Loughlin, Goodes, Mathews, O'Keefe, Jolly, Kirk, Buchanan 1.

Best Swan On Ground: A Tie - Adam Goodes for his work around the ground and Barry Hall for finishing the good work off.

Posted by robbieando at 06:48 PM | Comments (0)

July 09, 2005

Swans Tear Apart Injury Hit Cats

Well things finally clicked for the Swans tonight as we ran away with a comfortable 54 point victory over a Cats side that was hit by injuries before, during and after the match, leaving them unable to even match the Swans across the park. That being said the Swans did manage to run away with what must go down as the Swan’s best win of the season so far.

A cagey start to the match from the Swans must have had people thinking we failed to turn up for the second week running. But thanks to Geelong’s piss poor set shots at goal the Swans managed to stay within 3 points at quarter time despite only kicking the one Nick Davis goal for the quarter, but that wasn’t for a lack of trying. Despite the low scores the match was played at a fast pace with the game going end to end with the defense of both sides holding up very well to the extreme pressure placed upon them. Looking at the scoreboard one wouldn’t be blamed for thinking the Swans had gone the flood.

Having said all that, it was a matter of time before one side’s defense fell apart and it was no surprise to see the Cats just fall right away in the opening first 15 minutes of the second quarter. What was the surprise is that the Swans for once took full advantage of this and kicked 7 quick goals started off by two majors from O’Keefe in the first minute of the quarter followed quickly by goals from Crouch, Kirk, Goodes and Hall who ended up kicking 4 goals in the 9 goal second quarter romp. Most of this good play was set up by the hard and often inspiring work from Amon Buchanan (who has become quite the handy rover in the past two months), Adam Goodes getting back to his Brownlow winning form and Luke Ablett who was playing it both ways to great effect. Even two quick goals from the helping hands of the umps could spoil the quarter and at half time the Swans had the match all wrapped up.

But the Swans being the Swans couldn’t help but try and allow the Cats a chance to play their way back into the match and gave up three quick goals to have the Cats back within 22 points and on the charge. But no sooner had the third goal gone though the Swans swung back into action and kicked a steadying goal to Barry Hall and a quick goal from Kirk had the Swans back on level pegging for the quarter before Luke Ablett took advantage of the lack of Cats in the goal square to bomb though a goal right on 3 quarter time and gave the Swans a 41 point lead going into the last brake.

The Fourth quarter was used just to add icing to the cake and allow the Swans to gain some valuable percentage points, which we did thanks to early goals from Magic, Davis and a third for O’Keefe to see the Swans run out quite easy 54 point winners.

Sure the Cats were injury hit and that had a huge impact on the outcome of the match, but at the end of the day you can only beat what’s out there and do so in a manner that doesn’t make you look worse off than the losers. We did that tonight thanks to outstanding matches from Hall, Buchanan, Goodes in his 150th match, Barry, Davis, Kirk and Jude Bolton. We are hitting form and we are coming into a tough few weeks, but if we can keep on winning by playing the way we did tonight we should be able to put up a huge fight in the race for the Top 4 and beating for the first time a team that was above us on the ladder and doing so in a manner that would beat ANY side sends the message that we are the real deal if we can hit our straps in the coming weeks.

Sydney 16.9 (105)
Geelong 7.9 (51)

Goals: B Hall 5 R O'Keefe 3 N Davis, B Kirk 2 A Goodes, L Ablett, M O'Loughlin, J Crouch 1.

Best Swan On Ground: Amon Buchanan (Most will say other's on the team played better tonight, but Amon was the REASON why we kicked away with the 9 goal second quarter)

You are the weakest link GOODBYE: In a first for "It's Never Rains, But It Pours" I have to say that after his game tonight, LRT has finally earnt his return ticket to the Magoo's.

Posted by robbieando at 11:46 PM | Comments (2)

July 04, 2005

Missing Swans Turn Up Too Late To Win

An astounding thing happened on the weekend, the Sydney Swans football team missed their flight and did not arrive for the game against Richmond until three quarter time, forcing look-alikes plucked from the ground to play in their place.

At least, I assume that’s what happened

The boys looked thoroughly disinterested until late in the third quarter, when they realized that if they wanted any chance of four points out of this game, they’d better get their skates on.

The last quarter was all Swans – Richmond couldn’t get a hand on the ball, and the question must be asked – why didn’t this happen earlier The end result is, regardless of their spirited last quarter, the Swans fly back without the points, the late charge falling agonizingly short in the end. Much the same way Collingwood’s last quarter charge did last week.

Had the Swans actually managed to pull off the shock comeback, it would have been a very undeserved victory – plus I think there is some kind of AFL rule that only allows a team to come back from the dead once in a season, and we already used ours against the Lions earlier this year.

So hopefully next week – and for the remainder of the season – the Swans will have learned their lesson, and play four quarters of quality football. It’s high time we pumped a team, I can’t remember the last 100 point win we had.

And against a top 4 aspirant would be the perfect way to do it.

A man can dream can’t he?

Posted by ert at 07:38 PM | Comments (0)

Match Report vs Richmond

The Match Report itself this week has been written by It Never Rains, But It Pours new writer, Dan or as most of you will know him off RWO and Big Footy as "Ert".

My views on the match are that we were lucky to comeback like we did, but the result was fair in the end. We didn't earn a victory and a loss is what we got. Anyway here are the scores and goalkickers and my Swan's BOG.

RICHMOND 12.13 (85)
SYDNEY 12.12 (84)

Goals: N Fosdike 3 M O'Loughlin 3, A Buchanan J Crouch N Davis A Goodes J McVeigh P Williams 1.

Best Swan On Ground: Nic Fosdike (Welcome Back indeed)

Posted by robbieando at 06:59 PM | Comments (0)

June 28, 2005

Swans beat Magpies - All is right with the world

Ah there is nothing like better Collingwood by a point, its even better when the timekeepers call the game early and thus take away a last possible Collingwood chance for a win. Still for the Swans while the win is welcome the fact they stuggled to put away a weak Collingwood side and allowed them to nearly run away with the game is something of a concern. But I'll take an 8 and 5 record over an 7 and 6 record anyday of the week.

The game started unlike so many of the Swans past few matches with Collingwood taking the game up to the Swans and were unfortante that the Swans kicked stright early while they missed chances that could of put the game out of reach early. For the Swans goals to Davis and Hall had them in the match, but Collingwood to some very soft and crazy umpiring managed to get two goals they didn't deserve and took them to an 8 point quarter time lead.

The Swans needed to settle and settle fast and with the umpires making that task impossible the Swans went back to what they do best with lock down football putting pressure on the Magpie midfield and forwards and held them to one goal. Goals to Magic, Hall and Goodes put the Swans in front at the half by 5 points.

The work the Swans started in the second quarter was continued in the third quarter with a steady bag of four goals, again from Hall and Magic, with Davis and Mathews bobbing up with goals to send the Swans into three quarter time up by 17 points. The last quarter started with the Swans pushing forward quickly to give Barry Hall a shot at goal that he put away to give what seemed at the time a winning brake of 23 points.

However it was then the match turned on its head with Collingwood led wonderfully by Nathan Buckley and Scott Burns kicked 3 quick goals thanks to Burns, Lonie and Woewodin to trall the Swans by only 4 points with still 10 minutes to play.

The Swans managed to control themselves and set about locking down the game and wasting time to get the game out of reach if they could get another goal. This goal arrived thanks to Adam Goodes soccering the ball off the ground for a goal with 7 minutes to play and the lead appeared to be enough until Collingwood got a late goal to but the game in the balance and the two side split apart by 2 points.

This is where the game got interesting thanks to a late late rush forward by Shane Wakelin who bombed the ball long towards goal. For there the ball bounded towards goal and a open goal beakened for Alan Didak, but instead of picking the ball up and slotting it though he decided to chip it in front of himself, only to have it over run for a point and the scores only a point the difference in favour of the Swans.

From the kick in the ball was chipped to Amon Buchanan who held on for as much time as he could. When he held his leg to waste time the umpire called time off to check if he was alright, but that signal was missed by the timekeepers and they blew the siren 14 seconds early with the ball still in the hands of Buchanan. The Swans had won, but it was close and needed a bit of luck in the end

SYDNEY 11.11 (77)
COLLINGWOOD 10.16 (76)

Goals: B Hall 3 N Davis, A Goodes, M O'Loughlin 2 B Mathews, R O'Keefe 1.

Best Swan on Ground: Paul Williams

Posted by robbieando at 01:58 PM | Comments (0)

June 12, 2005

Swans ease to 5th Win in 6 matches

Just when things were looking black a fortnight ago the Swans come out and put together solid back to back wins, including today's win against Fremantle. While Freo were under strength, the Swans managed to put together a performance that contiunes to answer our Melbourne based critics for the second week in a row.

The game started on a sour note while Jude Bolton being a late withdrawal after injuring his hamstring during Friday training session and with the week off next week the club decided not to risk him (which shows they have learnt from the Nick Davis affair in Round 7). Anyway on a bright sunny day the Swans like they so do offen got the jump on Freo and got out to a quick lead thanks to some inspired work from Jarrad McVeigh who was starting the game forward. Two goals off his own boot and one goal assist for an O'Loughlin goal had the Swans flying away with the match. Despite a late goal from Troy Longmuir the Swans headed into quarter time with a 13 point lead.

The second quarter was goal for goal with Freo managing to get their small forwards into the game and look like they might over run the Swans, but everytime they landed a punch the Swans landed an even more telling blow. Two of the Swans three second quarter goals came from link play which resulted in Davis and Goodes running into easy goals and when Ben Mathews managed to bob up with a goal from a set shot the Swans looked more in control of the match than the scoreboard suggested. So the Swans went into Half Time with a 14 point lead and looking as if they had just put Freo's main challenge out.

Therefore it was no surprise that the Swans opened up in the third term to kill the game off. Lead by Barry Hall's 3 goals the Swans managed to put the foot down, which saw Hall's 3 goals joined by solo efforts from Davis, Buchanan and Saddington. But the quester belonged to Hall who should of at least matched his goal output from last week except for some pretty poor misses, but despite the misses the Swans weren't in a forgiving mood and Freo never had the chance to get back into the match mainly down to Paul Williams return to the midfield giving the Swans an extra outlet going forward and as also a defence that is so under-rated that you have to wonder if they are rated at all.

The last quarter really was about both sides playing out the match with the Swans not really putting the boot into Freo and Freo hardly made the score seem respectable. At the end of the day the Swans ran out 38 point winners, scored 100 points in their second stright match and most important of all improved their record to 7-5 going into the split round.

Clearly the Swans forwards were too much for the Dockers kid defence and the Freo midfield didn't manage to break the Swans tags to hurt the Swans going forward. Dempster did well in a tagging role Health Black up to this week Freo's leading possession getter and Craig Bolton took Pavlich right out of the match. Also good to see was the first quarter form of Jarrad McVeigh and the return form of Paul Williams who in my eyes was best on ground (not bad for 7 weeks out of the game). Buchanan had his best ever game for the Swans take over Jude Bolton's role in the midfield and Goodes seemed to be everywhere when it counted. Good signs heading into the business end of the season.

Still kind of makes you think what all the fuss was about after the St Kilda (but then again it did bring out into the open what many see as the main fault of the Swans). Still since that match the Swans have really opened up attack wise with now too big wins in a row against what you could call lesser opposition, but at least the Swans aren't relying on the lockdown tactics to win matches and should at least give Roos the confidence to pull a more open gameplan when needed, knowing that the Swans are capable to play it.

Signs looking good and who would of thought a fortnight ago that we would be in a position to challenge for a Top 4 spot come September.

SYDNEY 16.13 (109)
FREMANTLE 10.11 (71)

Goals: B Hall 4 M O'Loughlin 4 N Davis 2 J McVeigh 2 A Buchanan A Goodes B Mathews J Saddington.

Best Swan on Ground: Paul Williams

Posted by robbieando at