The Swans, despite playing the first quarter with only 2 available men on the bench due to resting McGlynn and Mills, shot out of the blocks and booted the first 6 goals of the game before Redland manage to sneak one in reply before the quarter time siren. The Bombers struggled to deal with the physical pressure of the Swans forcing them into turnovers from hurried kicks or handballs. The Swans hurt them hard on the turnover as exemplified by goals to defenders Newman and Aliir running from defence and finishing on the run.
With McGlynn injected into the game at the commencement of the second quarter it seemed things would get uglier for the Bombers but as the sky darkened and the temperature dropped a few more degrees the Swans struggled going forward, especially in the final third of the field. Redland battled hard and kicked 3 deserved goals of their own with small forward Luke Rogerson getting 2 of them.
Mills came into the match a few minutes into second half but it was the Bombers who hit the second half running full of vim and vigour and their excellent pressure managed to contain the Swans but couldn't reward themselves for their efforts as the majority of their forward 50 entries were impotent ones. The Swans dropped numbers back and around the contest to try and stem the flow but this came at a price - when going forward ourselves McLaren and the topups around him struggled against a spare man or two and the greater numbers usually won out. The Swans finally broke their state of torpor when a blind but fortunate tumble kick forward by Derickx bounced kindly for McLaren who tapped it to Heeney's advantage and the Swans number 5 made no mistake with his finish.
The ensuing centre bounce saw McGlynn emerge from the middle with a clear run to the 50m arc where he sent a low but accurate drop punt bouncing through the big sticks. Those 2 goals against the run of play dampened the Bombers' intensity and with a 44 point lead going into the last quarter it looked as though the Bombers had given it their best shot. Perris was taken off (managed time) for the last quarter and Derickx who looked troubled by an upper body injury throughout the third quarter finally pulled the plug himself a few minutes into the last. Hewett also came off some time during the quarter (although I didn't notice when and for what reason but he say on the bench with his tracksuit top on) and when Newman was hit hard on the head with a few minutes left the Swans were left with no fit players on the bench.
But it didn't impact the result at all as the Swans cruised home in total control kicking 4 goals to 2 in the last quarter and were never threatened.
Sydney Swans 6.1 9.3 12.8 16.9 (105)
Redland Bombers 1.1 4.5 5.6 7.8 (50)
Swans Goals: Darcy Baron-Hay 3, Lachlan Behagg 2, Isaac Heeney 2, Sean McLaren 2, Jack Hiscox 2, Abe Davis 2, Aliir Aliir, Ben McGlynn, Nic Newman
Swans Best: Nic Newman, Isaac Heeney, George Hewett, Dan Robinson, Sean McLaren, Abe Davis
Bombers Goals: Luke Rogerson 4, Sam Michael, Blake Grewar, Adrian Williams
Bombers Best: Luke Rogerson, Hayden Bertoli-Simmonds, Josh Smith, Darcy Cameron-Reeves
Heeney was the comfortably the best Swan on the ground for me. He started the game as an inside midfielder and the one thing that stood out was how clean he was. Clean in his disposal (adept at using either foot), clean in picking up the loose ball, and strong hands when marking it. He also tackled effectively and always seemed to pick the right option without hesitation. Also wasn't afraid to step into a few mini-fracas to help out his teammates. When McGlynn came on in the 2nd quarter he shifted and played predominantly as a half-forward but also with stints in the midfield (probably an an indicator of his position in the seniors when he returns). McGlynn was all action, tried to barge his way through a few tackles, scrubbed a few of his kicks, and kicked that nice running long goal. He will need at least another week in the NEAFL as I think they will be very conservative with his injury history.
Newman used the ball well off the half back flank both by hand and foot and for long periods of the match played as the loose defender. He collected a heap of the ball due to a combination of Redland's poor kicking inside 50 as well as a lack of genuine tall forward targets for the Bombers. Hewett and Robinson both dominated the midfield, Hewett a little better in the clearances while Robinson was better in his run and carry when the Swans attacked from the back half.
Derickx did well in the taps but struggled with some of his general play. A lack of a footy brain leading to some poor decisions when he had the ball. He has a bit of a deer-in-the-headlights syndrome about him and that extra half a second he requires to dispose of the football makes him liable to turn the ball over. McLaren still struggling to come to terms as being the number 1 tall target forward. I like to see him be more aggressive and go looking for the football, but when he does get it he is generally a good (and unselfish) user. He shouldered the ruck load in the last quarter after Derickx's withdrawal and played well with his tackling and chasing a highlight for me. I believe he played most of this junior career as a backman so it's still very much a steep learning curve for him in the NEAFL.
Rose started the game well and along with Heeney, the two blondies found a lot of the ball on the wing or half forward area and proved quite the handful with their tricky evasive moves and deft handballs. He wasn't quite as prominent after that, got into a few scraps and generally would have been disappointed to go goalless for only the 2nd time in his 11 NEAFL games. Davis was used as a wingman again and proved useful as an outlet option on the wings where his height and leap provided a useful target. He also showed his wares forward at times, and outmuscled a Bomber defender one-on-one in an impressive display of strength, kicking the resulting set shot.
Richards was solid in defence but in reality only had a handful of contests to deal with. Aliir caused more than a few heart palpitations with some of his kicking out of defence (including kickins), due to many of his kicks having a little more airtime than was necessary and inviting Redland players to spoil the ball. But like Richards was often up against smaller and weaker opponents so wasn't tested in that regard. The Swans like using him as a rebounding defender often encouraging him in his forays out of the defensive 50.
Perris was used mainly as a half forward pushing hard up the ground. Didn't get his hands on it too many times but it's still early days in his comeback. Towers was used on the wing today but seemed to find more of the ball in the defensive half than his usual forward half. Took some a couple of nice marks through the middle of the ground and sparked a goal or two but not enough impact on the game. Hiscox also used in a similar manner to Towers but had greater scoreboard impact with two well taken goals - one was a fantastic left foot step to get around a lunging defender and the other where he used a combination of gut running and speed to create a clear cut opportunity 30m running into goal.
Mills looked nervous in a couple of contests (including one ambitious jump-gather and handball in one motion that failed), perhaps waiting on the bench for the entire first half built up the nerves. He started off a wing but as the Swans numbers tailed off in the last quarter he started centre bounces as well. He collected most of his possessions in the defensive half of the ground.
One of the co-coaches was always on the sidelines with the other (presumably) in the box. Crouch was on sideline duty for the 2nd quarter with Mattner doing the job for the other 3 quarters. Injured players Melican, Laidler and Rohan were there to support and offer advice during the breaks.
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