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Round 9. Collingwood 8 7 55 Sydney 15 12 102 MCG
...and so to Round 9, where Sydney headed to Melbourne, desperate to protect their winning streak against Collingwood, which now stood proudly at one match. The first quarter was a tight affair, with some early wastefulness from Sydney looking like it might be costly when the Magpies kicked a couple in a row. The Swans quickly steadied however, hit the lead late in the first quarter and were not headed again. From late in the first quarter to early in the fourth, Sydney only allowed Collingwood one goal, while scoring steadily at the other end themselves. It was arguably Sydney's finest and most complete performance of the season to date, with supporters confident that the Premiership hangover and early season heavy legs now appeared to be behind the team.
Adam Goodes was in the headlines during and after this game. His on-field performance was outstanding, and, to this observer, the best he has played in several seasons. His running game was back and he dominated all over the ground. Lewis Jetta was also a very strong performer, and kicked a wonderful running goal. Mike Pyke was very solid throughout, and the Swans' midfield, led by Daniel Hannebery, were well on top. Nick Malceski played the loose man role so well that he soon began to draw attention from opposition taggers. Only a few late goals for Collingwood in "junk time" added some false respectability to the scoreline. The only injury lowlight was a quad strain to Sam Reid that virtually ended his season.
After the game, however, the talk was all about the now infamous racial slur that was delivered to Goodes by a young Collingwood supporter over the fence late in the match. It is not the purpose of these reports to talk further about the incident here, as it has been well documented elsewhere, but it did serve to detract from what was a wonderful performance from both Adam and the team. Goodes handled the post-incident furore with class, and represented himself, the club and, most importantly, indigenous Australians in an honourable and proud fashion.
Goals: Goodes 3, Pyke 2, McGlynn 2, Hannebery 2, Reid, Bird, Morton, Jetta, Jack, Bolton
Brownlow: A Goodes (Syd) 3 D Hannebery (Syd) 2 N Malceski (Syd) 1
Bob Skilton Medal: Adam Goodes 48, Dan Hannebery 42, Kieren Jack 41
TLM Medal
5 Adam Goodes
4 Dan Hannebery
3 Nick Malceski
2 Mike Pyke
2 Ben McGlynn
49 Voters
Round 10. Sydney 17 13 115 Essendon 10 11 71 SCG
Back to the SCG for Round 10 at the end of what had been a very trying week for the club and for Adam Goodes. No one was sure if he would play in this match after a midweek incident involving Eddie McGuire on his radio show had followed the racial slur he received during the Collingwood match. The supporters turned out in force to show their support for Goodes and he demonstrated to all that he was the classy and incredibly strong-willed man that we all know he is with the way he played. A moment during the match when he sprinted 70 metres to chase down Michael Hibberd and effect a copybook tackle was incredible and the reaction from the crowd was spine-tingling.
As to the match itself and it was yet another wet home game, much to the frustration of the fans. Sydney started the stronger team and were never headed at any stage as they demonstrated superior class all over the park to an Essendon team that was just starting to go off the boil after dealing with a host of controversies of their own.
The match also featured a couple of serious injuries. Tommy Walsh sustained one of the worst hamstring tears I have ever seen and did not play again in 2013. Essendon's Courtney Dempsey also sustained a nasty injury during a collision with Nick Smith. Walsh's injury opened the door for highly regarded Tom Mitchell to make his senior debut. Swans fans were very excited to see Mitchell finally get a chance after a season of injury setbacks in the reserves and he did not disappoint with a stunning performance. Mitchell would become a regular in the side for the rest of the season and promises big things in 2014.
Sydney were too good all over the park for the Bombers and ran away with a convincing seven goal win, including four goals from Goodes.
Goals: Goodes 4, Malceski 2, Parker, O'Keefe, Mumford, Mitchell, McGlynn, Kennedy, Jetta, Jack, Everitt, Bird, Pyke
Brownlow: 3. J Kennedy (Syd), 2. J McVeigh (Syd), 1. A Goodes (Syd)
Bob Skilton Medal: Jarrad McVeigh 45, Josh Kennedy 45, Nick Malceski 45, Adam Goodes 42
TLM Medal
5 Jarrad McVeigh
4 Adam Goodes
3 Josh Kennedy
2 Nick Malceski
1 Kieren Jack
42 Voters
Leaderboard
27 Dan Hannebery
22 Jarrad McVeigh
16 Kieren Jack
16 Adam Goodes
15 Mike Pyke
14 Josh Kennedy
13 Nick Malceski
8 Luke Parker
6 Ryan O'Keefe
4 Ted Richards
4 Ben McGlynn
3 Shane Mumford
3 Jude Bolton
1 Sam Reid
Hanners retains his lead although it is cut by 1. Goodes moves into contention with 9 votes and Malceski is the other big mover on the leader board.
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