The AFL CEO and his cronies would have been wetting their pants as they watched the first quarter of this one.
It was end-to-end footy with both defences rendered almost useless. Both the Hawks and Swans flew through the corridor to deliver inside 50. Don’t get me wrong, the defences tried, but the ball movement of both teams, and their respective “all attack” game plans, gave the forwards every chance to score, and that’s what they did.
At the first break, we were on track for an aggregate score in excess of 240 points, and it quickly became obvious that the team with the defence that made the adjustments would win this contest.
It was the Hawks who responded best.
After a first quarter where the Sydney forwards got hold of the Hawks, a switch up of matchups between Tom Barrass and Josh Battle, combined with the emergence of James Sicily as an intercepting threat, gave the Hawks the stability in the back half to repel the Sydney attack.
Once that was achieved, and the wings started folding back into defensive fifty, the avenues to goal for the Swans dried up.
Let’s jump into a review with a bit of a difference, this time.
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Oh… a Mongrel paywall… the worst of all paywalls. We’re all in on the 2026 AFL season. Player articles, stats, awards, game coverage. Dump the mainstream lip service and dive into articles like this – you will never look back. If you don’t want to, that’s fine. I consider it your loss as we get into the grind of the season, and you’re stuck with the stuff that’s frustrated you for years.
