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Round 3: Sydney Swans 20.11.131 def North Melbourne 13.14.92, Blundstone Arena
North Melbourne loomed as a sterner test in round 3 as the teams faced off in a cool and breezy Hobart Town. Those who feared that the Swans' underdoneness had been masked in the opening rounds by the quality of the opposition would have seen nothing in the first half against the Roos to allay their fears. The Swans struggled to string together clean possessions and were outplayed around the ground, though the Sydney defence held up reasonably well, keeping North to a half-time lead of just 14 points.
As the second half got underway, the breeze intensified, significantly favouring the Swans' end. Mount Wellington scowled away in the background as the Swans finally found some fight and some rhythm. They started to dominate around the ground and got the scoreboard ticking away. Halfway through the quarter they finally hit the lead, courtesy of Dan the Man's second goal of the afternoon. Things were to get worse for North Melbourne, with a stream of Swan goals suddenly turning into a torrent. Sydney kicked five goals in almost as many minutes at the end of the third term, to finish with 11 for the quarter, to a miserly one from the Kangaroos. North threatened to make a fight of things in the final stanza but their comeback fizzled out before it really took hold.
With Reid offsong and Goodes only coming to the party late, it was the midfield that contributed the lion share of the Swans' score. Jude finished with 4, Hanners and McGlynn 3, while Parker and Macca contributed a pair of majors each.
Swans by 39.
Brownlow Medal: 3. D. Hannebery (Syd), 2. J. Kennedy (Syd), 1. J. McVeigh (Syd)
CC: McVeigh 41, Kennedy 41, Hannebery 41
TLM Votes
5 Jarrad McVeigh
4 Dan Hannebery
3 Jude Bolton
2 Nick Malceski
1 Luke Parker
Voters 45
Round 4: Geelong 19.10.124 def Sydney 16.7. 103, SCG
All eyes were watching as two heavyweights - Sydney and Geelong - got round four underway with an SCG Friday night blockbuster. Both teams' form had been modest, despite their unbeaten status. Geelong had fallen over the line - again - against the Hawks and had been forced to dig deep to run over North in round 2. Sydney had played one superb quarter of footy but had generally been just grinding away as they shook the off-season cobwebs away.
It was hard to know what to make of the first term. It's unusual to see 15 goals kicked in any quarter of AFL, let alone a game involving two of the stingier defences in the competition. Midfield pressure was hard to find as the ball bounced from one end to the next. In the stands we were shaking our heads in disbelief, but Scott and Longmire must have been wringing their hands in despair. It was little surprise to see the rhythm of the game change after quarter-time, with both teams paying far more attention to the defensive side of the game. The Swans managed the first two goals of the quarter to open up a handy lead, but that was as good as things got for the home side.
Just as they had done to North in round 3, the Swans were blown away in the third term by a relentless swarm of attack. They were helpless as Joel Selwood led wave after wave of navy blue cutting a swathe through the Sydney midfield. Things levelled out in the final quarter but the damage was done, and the Cats had inflicted the first loss of the season on the reigning premiers. Adding injury to insult, LRT succumbed to a first half knee injury, from which he wouldn't return for the rest of the season.
Geelong by 21.
Brownlow Medal: 3. J. Selwood (Gee), 2. D. Hannebery (Syd), 1. M. Stokes (Gee)
CC: Hannebery 35, Jack 30, Malceski 30
TLM Votes
5 Dan Hannebery
4 Mike Pyke
3 Jarrad McVeigh
2 Nick Malceski
1 Ted Richards
Voters 40
Leaderboard
13 Jarrad McVeigh
9 Dan Hannebery
8 Kieren Jack
6 Ryan O'Keefe
5 Mike Pyke
4 Josh Kennedy
4 Nick Malceski
3 Shane Mumford
3 Luke Parker
3 Jude Bolton
2 Adam Goodes
1 Ted Richards
Jack fails to score a vote, while Hanners (9) and McVeigh (8) move past him.
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Originally Posted by Xie Shan
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