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Thread: Match Reviews

  1. #1
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    Match Reviews

    Hi all. This season, I have been writing some Swannies match reviews for the Footy Almanac. I was wondering if it would be appropriate, or if there would be any interest in me posting them on this forum. I am really enjoying writing about the boys' performances and just thought I might be able to share them with fellow Bloods!

  2. #2
    Senior Player ernie koala's Avatar
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    Go for it Joe.

    Look forward to reading your insights.
    Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect... MT

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    Great. Cheers, Ernie. I'll post a few of them from throughout the season, then may be post each new one on this thread. Any feedback/criticism is more than welcome! Go Swannies!

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    AFL Round 15 ? Sydney v GWS: Headaches, Hot Toddies and Heroes past and present

    Not since the halcyon days of The Lake Oval in 1935 have the South Melbourne/Sydney/Bloods/Swans won ten matches straight. Tonight at the sparkling SCG, the modern-day Sydney Swans will attempt to match this magnificent feat. The opponent tonight truly are ?The Enemy?. A brash, cavalier and sometimes imperious football club who have swaggered their way into old Sydney town with a boldness and nerve not to my liking. For the first time since their inception, I feel myself building with tension usually reserved for more formidable rivals. I can also feel an horrific dose of man flu building, which is akin to armageddon for the male of the species. A cold sweat and thumping headache is soothed by the magical potion of a ?Hot Toddy?. First sampled by yours truly in a cosy Dublin public house in the depths of an Irish winter, the healing powers of whisky, lemon, honey and cinnamon never cease to amaze!

    The VFL season of 1935 fell smack bang in the middle of South Melbourne Football Club?s golden era. A premiership was attained two years earlier, and the Bloods would fight out four Grand Finals in a row between 1933 and 1936. Ten consecutive victories in a season is an outstanding achievement. The fact that it was achieved in such a tumultuous season made it even more impressive. South?s captain-coach was the great Jack Bisset. In the pre-season, Bisset and brilliant defender Hugh McLaughlin engaged in fisty cuffs and McLaughlin left for Footscray. Peter Reville confronted team mates after the 1934 Grand Final loss with accusations of match fixing and was subsequently delisted. Finally, champion fullback Ron Hillis spat the dummy and left for Fitzroy after missing selection in the previous year?s decider, before returning to the Bloods on the eve of the new season. Interestingly, South lost their first match in 1935, just as the Swans lost their first of 2014?.to ?The Enemy? who await tonight.

    In 1935, the Bloods were spearheaded by superstar full-forward Bob Pratt. Tonight, the new superstar of the Swans, Buddy Franklin kicks the first goal of the match. Big Tippo knocks out an opponent and boots the second and this combination must be considered as lethal as Pratt and Laurie Nash were throughout the golden era. The Enemy are a physical young bunch and the addition of the herculian Mummy, an all-time favourite of Swans supporters, has made them even more so. Kizza absoultely runs amok with fourteen possessions and a goal in the first quarter and the Swans take a three-goal lead into the second. I suspect football has changed a little in the seventy-nine years since we last won ten matches straight. Any suggestion of players having tattoos, wearing fluorescent orange boots and taking part in one hundred and twenty interchanges a match would have been enough for one to end up in the loony bin during the era of the great depression. However, I imagine the splendidly stately moustaches which appear to have been expertly manicured and sported by Tim Mohr and Dane Rampe would have been perfectly acceptable.

    The second stanza begins and Bugg is living up to his surname, annoying the life out of McVeigh. The Swans are dominating through their tackle pressure and superior finishing as the lead extends to thirty-two thanks to a typical Joey Kennedy show of brute strength which results in another major. Mistakes and turnovers begin to mount as The Enemy attempt to hang in the contest and the Swannies struggle to maintain composure in the face of some good old fashioned niggle which is too often non-existent in footy these days. The Swans propensity to defend is admirable however, and when Mal produces a goal-saving spoil that Bisset would have been proud of, they once again display the disciplined nature of their football these days. Buddy continues to show the kind of form that has catapulted him into Brownlow discussions, the young kids, Harry from Wagga, Lloydy from Ballarat and Jonesy from Dandy, are developing beautifully and amazingly, this man flu is showing signs of dissipaiting. The third quarter continues to be a scrap and memories of that Round One loss are distant.

    The final term produces some glimpses of decent footy, but as the margin hovers between forty and fifty points until the final siren, the sting has gone from this contest. A match that never really reached any dizzying heights, results in a forty-six point victory to the Sydney Swans and the first time since ?35 that we?ve notched up ten on the trot. The Bloods of ?35 had their streak snapped at twelve, so the chase is on. Ironically, it was the Blues who broke that run of victories and in two weeks, the Swans will face off with the Blues back at the Sydney Cricket Ground. With any luck, that is where the similarities between 1935 and 2014 will end. Two nights before the 1935 Grand Final, club legend Pratt was struck down by a truck driver who failed to stop as he stepped off a tram in Prahran. He would miss the big game, the Bloods would lose by twenty points and club president Archie Crofts assured Bloods supporters to remain patient as he began speculative talk of a ?dynasty?. Hmm, not quite Archie! As we all know, the Swans would not win another flag for seventy years. But alas, there are no trams in Sydney, so I mix another ?Hot Toddy? to celebrate and to toast the Bloods, both old and new.

    Sydney 15.16 (106)

    GWS 8.12 (60)

    Best:

    Sydney: K.Jack, Franklin, Kennedy, Pyke, Grundy, Smith, Malceski

    GWS: Smith, Shiel, Bugg, Treloar

    Goals:

    Sydney: Franklin 5, Tippett 2, Kennedy 2, K.Jack, McGlynn, Jones, Reid, Jetta, Bird

    GWS: Bugg 2, Cameron 2, Whitfield, Ward, Smith, Hoskin-Elliott

    Crowd:

    27, 778 at SCG.

    Umpires:

    Fisher, Burgess, Pannell

    Votes:

    3 ? Kieren Jack (Sydney)

    2 ? Buddy Franklin (Sydney)

    1 ? Josh Kennedy (Sydney)

  5. #5
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    AFL Round 13 ? Sydney v Port Adelaide: It?s Not About the Footy (Ari?s debut)

    Michael J. Fox, the man who should have won an Oscar for his performance as Teen Wolf, nailed it when he once said ?Family is not an important thing. It?s everything?. For close to fifteen years now, my family have made an annual pilgrimage to the picturesque Sydney Cricket Ground for a weekend that never, ever disappoints. This year?s trip saw a record number of the ?Moore Swannies? attend, as we filled fourteen seats in the Victor Trumper stand. We were lovingly joined by another 41,303 of our extended Red and White family. Mum and Dad were joined by a son, a daughter in law, two daughters, two sons in law, three grandsons, two granddaughters and a mate to us all who is absolutely one of the family. Apologies were passed on from my brother and his Blues-barracking family?.perhaps we can all attend a grudge match next year? Another special occasion to be celebrated was the debut of my two-year old nephew Ari. Decked out in his woollen Swans guernsey and Swans scarf, the little man played a blinder!

    All week, my thoughts were with the good folk from the Bereau of Meteorology, as rain was forecast. I did not want another Soggy Sydney Saturday! Apart from that, I knew I would be a happy man no matter what the result of the game. Now, Michael J. Fox not only understands the value of family, he is also a little man who had a big year in 1985, which entertained the masses in the same way these Swannies are entertaining the faithful in 2014. In that year, he not only played a basketball playing, slam-dunking wolf-boy, but he also gained rave-reviews for his portrayal of Mr. Marty McFly in Back to the Future. This year?s version of the Bloods are filling the stands and providing their very own weekend box office smash hit that takes me right back to those heady Teen Wolf loving days.

    After a quick pint at the Bavarian Bier Cafe, we meet up with the rest of the crew outside the greatest sporting arena in the universe (in this writer?s humble opinion, of course). Everyone is decked out in their red and white, hugs and kisses all round and we are all set! This weekend truly is not about the footy. My favourite memories as a kid, were always the ones that involved us all doing something together as a family. As each year passes, I realise the importance of this weekend and what it means to me. The beaming smiles from adorable nieces and nephews, the togetherness and the unspoken love that is felt by all, make this annual gathering something that I will forever cherish.

    We settle in to our seats, and quickly the conversation turns to which of our favourite players will run amok today. The kids nominate the usual suspects ?Goodesy? ?Jets? and ?Teddy?. We take a moment to reflect on the absence of long time idols ?Ryano? and ?Two Dads?, before the ball is bounced. The Swannies burst out of the blocks with two quick goals to the Co-Captains, Kizza and Macca. We would dominate the rest of the opening stanza, however some wayward kicking for goal leaves us only two goals to the good.

    This Port Power have won the respect of football lovers across the country, and with good reason. From the depths of the competition only two seasons ago, they have transformed themselves into a formidable foe, one that I am sure we will face again as September draws to a close. They hit back sharply in the second term, briefly taking the lead. Robbie Gray is in everything for The Enemy and his feats are only matched by our 150-game man, Kizza. Tackles, gut-running and handball chains are in abundance as this match between the two best teams in the land is living up to expectation. As the grand old man of the grand old SCG, Adam Goodes snaps his third major, the crowd erupts and Ari takes evasive action, placing both hands over his ears until the thundering roar subsides.

    The third term sees the Swannies get out to a 21-point lead as Buddy comes to life with two goals in a minute. But, as they have done all day long, The Enemy hit back and stay within striking distance of completing another barnstorming final term comeback, for which they have become well renowned. The final quarter is a see-sawing battle that has the home of the Swannies absolutely rocking! The million dollar man lives up to all expectations, with a final term that had to be seen to be believed. As the Bloods were tiring, Buddy Brilliance got them over the line and I feel as though this family may have just found another favourite to add to the list. A rousing rendition of Cheer, Cheer the Red and the White echoes around the ground, and as Joe, Harry, Ella, Milly and little Ari join the adults in song, we are all resplendent in victory.

    Kick to kick on the hallowed turf and a boisterous night out in Coogee provided a stunningly delightful end to a day where family and friends were all that mattered. Before the farewells on Sunday, more excitement as we stumbled across the boys? recovery session at Coogee Beach. And so, as the Sydney Swans and the Moores literally crossed paths, I found myself contemplating whether this was in fact the most enjoyable Swannies weekend so far. I answered my own question in the affirmative and could not have imagined a more fitting end to a weekend that proved family IS everything. For a family who reside in parts of New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania, gatherings such as this are not only extremely special, they are quite simply, a necessity.



    Sydney 14.14 (98)

    Port Adelaide 13.16 (94)

    Goals:

    Sydney: Franklin 5, Goodes 3, McVeigh 2, K.Jack, Jetta, Kennedy, Hannebery

    Port Adelaide: Schulz 4, Monfries 3, White 2, Wingard 2, Ebert, Westhoff

    Best:

    Sydney: Franklin, Shaw, K.Jack, McVeigh, Grundy, Malceski

    Port Adelaide: Gray, Ebert, White, Schulz, Cornes

    Umpires:

    Meredith, Ryan, Jeffery

    Crowd:

    41, 317 at SCG.

    Votes:

    3 ? Buddy Franklin (Sydney)

    2 ? Rhyce Shaw (Sydney)

    1 ? Robbie Gray (Port Adelaide)

  6. #6
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    AFL Round 8 ? Sydney v Hawthorn: Worth The Wait

    It has taken eight weeks of the new season, but on Friday night, the Swans unveiled the much vaunted forward line combination that until now has posed more questions than answers. I for one, think it was certainly with the wait. Bloods supporters all over the nation have been salivating at the prospect of Tippett, Franklin, Goodes and Reid all playing together. Last night, it all culminated in a performance which at last provided answers to all of the questions which centred around whether or not this expensive experiment would work. The modern-day football fan craves attacking football that exhilarates through a blur of movement at break neck speed. The Swans, at their best, attack through their swarming team oriented defensive acts which in turn allows the speed merchants the space and time to go to work. Tonight, apart from some wayward kicking at goal, these Swans exhilarated once again.

    The cavernous ANZ Stadium masqueraded as an AFL venue once again as The Enemy came to town as the reigning premiership holders. The evening began with the slightly unnerving scene of the quartet of power forwards introducing themselves to each other in the goal square. ?Hi, I?m Lance?.?G?day Lance, my name is Kurt?. Adam and Sam have met before. The stands are filled with red and white and there is an air of expectancy from the faithful. The match begins and the Lemon Sherrin remains entrenched in the Swannies? froward fifty for the best part of fifteen minutes. The forward line appears to be functioning well and minds are instantly eased. Time to settle in and enjoy the show.

    The first goal of this heavyweight fight is kicked by the bulky Tippett. A confidence booster just two minutes in, this was indeed a good sign for Bloods supporters. Franklin kicks a point, Goodes sets up the second goal for Jack and Sammy Reid is clunking them! A dazzling start to the match from the Swans sees them kick three of the opening four goals and inaccuracy in front of the goals is seemingly the only factor keeping The enemy in this contest. Tackling, smothering, pressure acts and one-percenters are the trademark of the Bloods. Tonight, the trademark traits are evident for all to see. The midfield of this team had been heavily criticised over the first month of the season. Over the past month, this very same midfield has muscled their way back into scintillating form, this improvement in form climaxing in the first quarter tonight. A mammoth forty-four possessions between Hannebery, Kennedy, McVeigh and Jack highlights the dominance in this crucial area of the ground.

    The second term begins with our most improved player, Parker, marking and kicking truly. This is a young player destined to uphold the values of the Bloods culture for the future generation. The Enemy are working their way back into the contest somewhat, but I feel a sense of alleviation not often apparent in matches against the team formerly known as The Mayblooms. Hannebery has snuck his own footy through security and Langford applies the tag. Kennedy is playing as he always does in a big game: bloody well. Buddy has kicked six behinds on the bounce, but is moving well and finding plenty of it. Tippett has switched into best-mode and is monstering defenders close to goal. Despite the dominance, errant goal kicking has left the door ajar, and The Enemy show their class in fighting their way back to get within seven points at the long break.

    A hamstring is pinged, a substitution is made and The Enemy are looking a little shaky. Mal drives a long bomb through the middle and we?re away again. Hang on, two quick goals and an obvious lift in intensity and The Enemy have hit the front! they are playing well with Burgoyne leading the charge. I find comfort in the fact that we have doubled their scoring shots and surely we will start to kick straight. Surely. Buddy kicks his seventh point, Parker chases a man who has a lovely little ponytail and goals from the ensuing free kick. Goals are traded all term and we enter the final stanza with The Enemy holding a three-point lead.

    A final quarter filled with intensity around the contest is six minutes old when Franklin marks (that?s right, the man CAN mark) and slots through his first major for the night. The Bloods are back in the lead, and this functioning forward line is as comforting as my fluffy ugg boots on this chilly Hobartian night. Hannebery is headed for forty and is quite simply a running machine. Jetta is revelling in his new quarterback style role and hitting targets left, right and centre. A match winning six goal final term blitz, included Buddy and Mal?s second each, Hannebery topping off a terrific game with a left foot snap from a stoppage and McVeigh unselfishly assisting Jetta for a tap-in goal that he roosts high into the stands. The war is won and this team again produces the goods when it matters most.

    Cheer, cheer the Red and the White rings around the ground and around my lounge room as I burst into a rendition of gleeful song and dance, combined with some energetic pseudo banjo and trumpet playing that my wife uploads to the social media world! At this point in time, I am still awaiting some form of recording contract now that my talents have made it out of the living room and into the general public. About time. What a night, well worth the wait.

    Sydney 15.17 (107)

    Hawthorn 13.10 (88)

    Goals:

    Sydney: Tippett 4, Franklin 2, Parker 2, Malceski 2, Jack, Bird, McVeigh, Hannebery, Jetta

    Hawthorn: Roughead 3, Breust 3, Simpkin 2, Birchall, Puopolo, Hale, Suckling, Duryea

    Best:

    Sydney: Kennedy, Hannebery, Parker, Jack, Tippett, Franklin, Jetta

    Hawthorn: Burgoyne, Roughead, Duryea, Lewis, Hill

    Umpires:

    Ryan, Jeffery, McInerney

    Crowd:

    34,506 at ANZ Stadium

    Votes:

    3 ? Josh Kennedy (Sydney)

    2 ? Dan Hannebery (Sydney)

    1 ? Luke Parker (Sydney)

    - - - Updated - - -

    AFL Round 5 ? Sydney v Fremantle: The Troy Cook Medal

    I owe my love for this great game to two great men. These two men are Derek Kickett and Troy Cook. Both were extremely influential in my embryonic days as an AFL fan. Having grown up in the heart of the NSW countryside, I was stuck in the middle of League Land. My family followed Rugby league, my friends followed Rugby league, I followed Rugby League. Then, one glorious Autumn?s day back in 1994, Mr. Derek Kickett came along with Little Jamie Lawson in toe, magically appearing at my school with one sole purpose (I have convinced myself of this). That purpose was to show me the light! Derek taught me to handball, Derek taught me to kick. Derek played for the Swans, and so it was decided?. I would follow the Swans!

    My mate Derek retired on the very day that I first had my heart broken, the 1996 Grand Final. Bloody hell, what have I done to deserve this? My team has lost the big game and my favourite player has hung up the boots! I need a new hero. Enter Mr. Troy Cook. Drafted with pick 26 of that very off-season, he would become the 1277th player to debut for the Swans. It soon became apparent that I had found my new Derek. Cook even curated a similar dreadlocked hairstyle. This boy caught the eye. He would tackle anything that moved and was tough as nails. My type of footballer, very much in the mould of the modern day Blood. Cook played 44 games wearing the no.41 with pride. The second heartbreaking experience of my life involved the trade that saw my mate Cooky move to the Fremantle Dockers. A move, that for some reason, I have always blamed on the Dockers. And so, the new millennium arrived with me having vacated League Land, only to find myself smack-bang in the middle of No Man?s Land.

    As time passed, my sadness subsided and the love for my team returned. Round five of the current season, saw my team take on The Enemy at the SCG. That?s right, that very same Enemy who stole my Cooky! I have never forgiven you, Fremantle, and every time we oppose each other, I am reminded of the turmoil that you caused! However, as a man of integrity and good will, I urge the Purple Army to join me in introducing a great initiative that will bring our clubs closer together (I know Kirky will be all for it). I would like to propose that a Troy Cook Medal be struck in honour of the great man. It is surely overdue. My votes for this match will be the first instalment of the Troy Cook Medal.

    Now, a week is a long time in footy as we all know. I left the grand old SCG last week hastily adjusting my lofty pre-season expectations. Norf had flogged us. As this match drew closer, I had possibly over reacted to that loss and did the unthinkable. I had tipped against us! The match would be played in unusually dry conditions for Sydney these days, and whilst we started the match clumsily with skills reminiscent of the previous week, our intensity was back. We tackled, we chased, we ran, we smothered. This was footy Troy Cook style. And, although Jets and Buddy both showed uncharacteristically hesitant signs during the first quarter, we stayed with The Enemy and went into the break just one point down thanks to a trademark left footed bullet from Mal and a trademark right footed snap from Mighty Mouse McGlynn.

    If the first quarter was promising, the second was wondrous. A four-goal term in a low-scoring match which felt as though we were dominating. McGlynn was everywhere, Kennedy as strong as an ox and Super Ted had returned to vintage form. Recent history does however indicate that matches between these two teams and specifically between these two coaches are agonisingly close. I remind myself of this fact as the second half commences. Cooky would?ve loved this! I wonder if he?s watching?

    The premiership quarter begins in an unusual fashion. It?s a shootout! Three goals in the opening four minutes of a term is unheard of against this lot. Buddy kicks his first goal on this hallowed turf and the crowd erupts, little Kenny included. This would be the first of four goals in a performance to ease the hearts and minds of all Bloods brethren. The Swannies look comfortable from this point on and would never surrender the lead. Twenty-two points up at the last change and the signs were encouraging. The debutant Lloyd looks poised and fluent, Jets explodes from a pack and bombs through the big sticks from the arc. Does all this mean that I have to ramp up the expectations again?

    The Bloods prevail by seventeen points and I am joyous. We are not done with yet. As I consider my votes for the inaugural Troy Cook Medal, I reflect on the type of player that Cooky would like to see win this prestigious award. As the Swans racked up an impressive 100 tackles, a number that the Carnarvon Kid would?ve been proud of, I decide that the illustrious honour would go to Benny McGlynn, just ahead of Joey Kennedy. In a great team performance, these two amassed sixty-two possessions between them, but McGlynn?s twelve tackles were a thing of rare beauty at a time when it was most appropriate.

    Sydney 13.14 (92)

    Fremantle 11.9 (75)

    Goals:

    Sydney: Franklin 4, McGlynn 2, Malceski, Kennedy, McVeigh, Roberts-Thomson, Parker, B.Jack, Jetta

    Fremantle: Pavlich 4, Johnson 2, Ballantyne 2, Mzungu, Mundy

    Best:

    Sydney: McGlynn, Kennedy, Franklin, Hannebery, Parker, Richards, Rampe

    Fremantle: Pavlich, Mundy, Fyfe, Johnson, Sandilands

    Umpires:

    Daigleish, ,Mitchell, Mollison

    Crowd:

    25,376 at the SCG

    Troy Cook Medal Votes:

    3 ? Ben McGlynn (Sydney)

    2 ? Josh Kennedy (Sydney)

    1- Buddy Franklin (Sydney)

  7. #7
    On the Rookie List Jewels's Avatar
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    Wonderful read Joe, a real delight, you bring the games to life!
    Keep up the good work, looking forward to the next chapter

  8. #8
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    Thanks Joe...very enjoyable read ????.

  9. #9
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    Great reads Joe! Your love of the game shines through.
    All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

  10. #10
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    Thank you Jewels, Mel and Erica for your very kind words. I'm really enjoying putting a few words together about the Swannies, and the way that we're playing at the moment is making it even more enjoyable! I will certainly continue to post a match review each week for the rest of the season on RWO if Swans supporters like yourselves find them to be good reads. Thanks again.

  11. #11
    Can you feel it? Site Admin ugg's Avatar
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    Fantastic writing Joe

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    Great stuff Joe - thanks for sharing.

    I'm sure Ugg appreciated the reference to his woolly relatives.

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