Grand Final: Sydney Swans (91) def Hawthorn (81), MCG
A Grand Final. Away. At the MCG. McGlynn didn't make it back, allowing Morton to play. Early rumours were that Mumford was out, but these proved untrue, although he was doubtful. Hodge was in, but was he fit? Weather was clearing. Fans were a mix of nerves and excitement!!
In a game where a good start is critical, it was the Hawks who drew first blood, through a quick snap by Ellis out of a crowded pack. Hodge was already off the ground getting attention to a cut head. Next goal was a miraculous snap from Malceski from the boundary. Hawks threatened to break the game open but multiple behinds were not helping. Buddy was struggling in front of goal, but managed to sneak the next one in from a tight angle. A clever goal to Breust, followed by a long bomb from Gunston a minute later and things were not looking good, as the swans could only manage behinds. Jetta brought the crowd to life with a sprint down the wing chased by Rioli. 19 point lead to the Hawks.
A mark to Joey who did not let us down and kicked truly within a minute of the term starting. Goodes then landed the ball on Jacks chest in the goal square, and then Goodes pulled up sore in a marking contest, Jetta pounced on the loose ball, found McVeigh almost in the goal square. Suddenly it's a 1 point ball game. Suddenly the Swans were finding loose players all over the ground and Reid goaled from outside 50. Morton then finished off the quarter with 2 goals to give the swans a 16 point lead. Hawks managed 1 point.
A lovely centred ball from Jetta found Jack, who fed off to a running Kennedy for another, and LRT gave the swans their 8th goal in a row to lead by 27 points 8 minutes into the 3rd term. Hale finally kicked truly and broke the drought for the Hawks, The Franklin, Gunston and Smith scored the next 4 to give Hawthorn a 4 point lead. The momentum was with the Hawks before a brain fade by Mitchell gave McVeigh a 50m penalty to break give the swans back the lead. Swans by a point. 1 quarter of the season left.
Breust was on the end of a Rioli handball for the first goal of the quarter. A minute later Hale snapped one. 11 point lead to the Hawks. What followed was 10 minutes of tussle and bustle and points. It took a hard at it Jetta to get the ball to Hannebery, who was playing the game of his life, and goaled to breathe some life back into the game. Minutes later Morton found himself against 2 defenders, but managed to get an awkward handball out, and Jack managed to toe poke it to his advantage, before gathering and goaling. SCORED TIED!! Moments later, a long bomb into the forward 50 and Goodes stayed down and the ball literally fell into his hands, he turned and rolled it through for another. 7 point lead. The ball then seemed to spend an eternity in the Hawks forward line, but they could only manage 3 points, Gunston missed a gettable shot, whilst both Sewell's snaps went wide of the mark. 4 point lead with minutes to go. The ball is then buried in the swans forward line. Everyone is marked. Hannebery fires out a ball to Malceski, whose opponent has stepped away from him, and again snaps truly, to seal the game.
10 points with half a minute left on the clock. Wild celebrations begin on the ground. Note most of the players celebrating with Malceksi in the Forward line are defenders!! But the job is not yet over.
Exhausted players throwing everything at the ball for 34 seconds, Johnson boots the ball way down the ground as the siren sounds. VICTORY is OURS!!
SYDNEY SWANS 2012 PREMIERS!! Now everyone goes wild.
What a day. What a game. What a finals series. What a season. What a team. What a club. THIS IS GREATNESS.
We are all so proud!!
Hannebery (29), O'Keefe (28) and Kennedy (26) possessions. 2 goals to Kennedy, McVeigh, Morton, Malceksi, Jack and Goodes. 15 tackles to O'Keefe. 29 hitouts to Pyke who had to ruck solo in the last quarter when Mumford was subbed out, also 3 contested marks and a great kick out of the air which led to Malceski's last goal.
Swans by 10. Grand Final Heroes. Premiers 2012!!
CC: Ryan O?Keefe 45, Jarrad McVeigh 45, Dan Hannebery 45
Norm Smith Medallist: Ryan O'Keefe. First ever Swan to win it.
Even though not all players received votes. It was one of the most even team performances of the year. Well done boys.
19-0-6
TLM Votes
5 Dan Hannebery
4 Ryan O'Keefe
3 Jarrad McVeigh
2 Mike Pyke
1 Lewis Roberts-Thomson
1 Alex Johnson
(55 Voters, 14 players received votes)
Final Leaderboard after 25 Games
68 Josh Kennedy
48 Kieren Jack
41 Ted Richards
33 Dan Hannebery
33 Ryan O'Keefe
28 Jarrad McVeigh
26 Lewis Jetta
15 Lewis Roberts-Thomson
15 Jude Bolton
13 Adam Goodes
12 Rhyce Shaw
10 Alex Johnson
9 Luke Parker
7 Ben McGlynn
6 Sam Reid
5 Mike Pyke
4 Nick J. Smith
4 Craig Bird
3 Nick Malceski
3 Tony Armstrong
2 Martin Mattner
1 Shane Mumford
1 Heath Grundy
No votes for the top 3, so nothing changes there. Hanners slips into equal 4th after an outstanding Grand Final, and McVeigh moved past Jetta into 6th spot.
Not quite the close finish we were hoping for, but also not an unexpected result. 2 of the top 3 were All Australians. While the next group were the engine room for much of the season. Morton was the only Premiership player not to get a vote, although he was voted for in Rnd 21 (Dogs), the EF and the GF.
McGlynn and Armstrong were the only other 2 to receive votes.
O'Keefe scored the most votes in the Finals series with 12, three 4 votes. Hanners, Josh, and McVeigh got 6, followed by Goodes (5), LRT (4), Ted (3), Pyke and Jetta (2), and AJ on 1.
Thanks to all who voted. 114 people voted, at an average of 37 people per game.
The most number for any game was the Grand Final with 55, and Rnd 3(Port) with 49.
4 people managed to vote in every round. Well done and Thanks for your efforts.
Another 4 missed only 1 game.
If you wish to put your own message in the presentation, please put it in this thread and I'll include it in the final version!!
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Originally Posted by Meg
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