Greased Lightning
Danger – A Swans Warning to Opposition Teams – Danger
McInerney runs through the centre square and kicks a low dart bouncing goal from 55m out.
The Lizard runs through the centre square and kicks a low dart bouncing goal from 55m out.
Warner runs through the centre square and kicks a low dart bouncing goal from 55m out.
Heeney runs through the centre square and kicks a low dart bouncing goal from 55m out.
Such is the Swans ability to rebound from their own defence, their running players are slotting goals from 55 metres out bouncing the ball through a vacant goal square. It is beautiful to watch, but it is very painful for opposing players and coaches.
How to stop the bleeding?
The answer is kinda obvious but harder to achieve, as pressure needs to be placed on the Swans runners to kick the ball over someone’s head in the goal square rather than just watching them stabbing goals from distance.
The time might have arrived for opposing coaches to appoint one of their backs as a stay-at-home goalkeeper. At the moment it is too obvious, the Swans start a lightning run from defence through the corridor, with a designated player on the end of the charge to kick the goal, while all the Swans forwards to a man lead out wide leaving the goal square totally exposed.
Sydney kicked ten goals straight from defensive turnovers against the Giants in an awesome display of taking on the corridor with players overlapping each.
All teams are now on notice, leave the Swans goal square unattended at your own risk.
YOU HAVE BE WARNED.
Back to the Greased Lightning Review
Sydney beat the Giants, running away by 41-points come the final siren, however, the Giants were always in the game until they weren’t. The Giants just didn’t have enough star players on the field to steady the nerves of their charges when opportunities arose and they neglected to take charge when the game was in the offering.
Regardless of what anybody says, injuries to certain players like Tom Green, Sam Taylor and Jesse Hogan hurt and hurt more than is often given credit. I am not suggesting the Giants would have won if Green, Taylor and Hogan were all on the ground and fully fit, but it didn’t help, especially when their undermanned Giants closed the gap to 13-points early in the last quarter.
Due to inclement weather and lightning in the surrounds of the SCG, the second half was delayed by over an hour, and as such this match was like two matches in one, with greasy wet football in the first half and running polished football in the second half.
This review is broken into two distinct halves of football.
The Wounded Giants
The Giants just can’t get their best players on the field for any extended period of time this season, with Stephen Coniglio OUT, Brett Daniels OUT and the unlucky Aaron Cadman OUT from the team that pantsed the Tigers last weekend, adding to their injury woes. The injured trio from last week join other automatic selection players who are still OUT; including Sam Taylor, Tom Green, Josh Kelly and Darcy Jones.
Apart from Errol Gulden, the only other injured Swan who might be an automatic selection is Braeden Campbell.
Touch wood, but the Swans are almost at full strength while the luckless Giants have one third of their best 23 watching from the bleachers.
Why has the AFL fixtured two top class games starting at nearly the same time the Friday night primetime? I cannot figure out the thinking at the AFL at times.
The Giants are Cursed, Danhausen Style (WrestleMania reference)
Parenthesis: the first half
Need I say it, the Giants lost another star just before the bounce with Jesse Hogan ruled OUT, with Callum Brown replacing him in the selected team. No offence to Callum, but losing Jesse before the game had even started was just another major injury setback for the Giants whose season might be over before it gets started.
I’ve started writing this at halftime due to a weather delay so this review may seem a bit disjointed.
Sydney’s Ill-Discipline Problems
The Giants’ first two goals came on the back Matt Roberts and Nick ‘The Lizard’ Blakey both giving away stupid 50 metres penalties, resulting in goals to Jake Riccardi and Phoenix Gothard. There is stupid and then there is very stupid, and allowing any team to get two easy walk-up goals is unforgivable. The Swans have started the season well, but they have demonstrated some ill-disciplined acts in each of the first six rounds which hasn’t hurt them yet, but eventually it will cost them a game if they don’t stop their dumbass acts.
A Tale of Two Jake’s
With the cursed luck the Giants have had this year, especially the latest setback of Jesse Hogan not being able to take the field, the pressure of attempting to score in his absence has fallen on the shoulders of the two Jakes, Riccardi and Stringer.
Hats off to Jake Riccardi who stepped up from being the Giants third option forward to presenting as the primary forward option. Jake of the ‘R’ variety kicked two of his team’s three goals in the first half as he looked the most likely Giants to keep them in the game at the main break.
Jake of the ‘S’ variety had six possessions to halftime, but he tried hard without any reward. Stringer is capable of turning a game in half a quarter, so if play does resume, he might be ‘the man’.
The extended halftime could work in Jake’s favour as he is renowned for doing the spectacular in unusual circumstances.
If play resumes after the lengthy break, then the Giants can play the rest of the match like it is a ‘lightning premiership’ game, throwing caution to the wind with nothing to lose.
The Sydney Swans
The Swans were in front at halftime due to being the better team with a touch more class on the paddock, but they were sloppy at times, and it looked like they were cruising a bit.
I was interested by David King’s comments about Justin McInerney playing a similar role to Errol Gulden, to which I don’t necessarily agree. Yes, McInerney has been a star on the rise this year, especially in the absence of Gulden, however, he is playing a totally different style of football to Errol, and he has taken his game to a new level.
When Errol returns it will be the icing on the cake, but other players like Angus Sheldrick and Corey Warner have lifted in his absence and taken their opportunity. Further, the once inconsistent Sam Wicks who is now a settled backman, and is another who has quietly taken his game and consistency to a new level this season.
Play is resuming now at 10:02pm, so back to the game.
For the record, the halftime score was the Swans 7:03:45 to the Giants 3:08:26.
The Third Quarter
As is often the case after a major delay the team which is behind comes out pumped up attacking the game with the freedom of having nothing to lose.
In nearly every facet of the game the Giants were all over the Swans in the third quarter, however, they couldn’t kick a goal to save themselves, with the main offender being Toby Greene with five points.
This is the bit where I am meant to say bad kicking is bad football, and with two goals and eights behinds to three straight goals for the term it might be a fair enough comment, however, when a team is gutted by long term injuries the newbies tend to play with a lot of nervous energy, while the stars try to over compensate by taking on too much.
In other words, mistakes will occur.
Jake Stringer was mentioned early as nearly being there in the first half, and in the third quarter and half of the last quarter, he was even closer to nearly being ‘the man’, but not quite. It seemed like he was carrying an injury, but nobody could question his effort as he busted a gut to keep the Giants alive.
Jake of the ‘R’ variety continued to be dangerous up forward in the second half and he finished the game with a respectable three goals.
Also, Leek Aleer started to at least break even with Brodie Grundy in the ruck, with Clayton Oliver, Toby Greene, Toby Bedford and Lachie Ash reaping the rewards and keeping ball locked in the Giants forward arc.
Leek Aleer, playing his first game for the season was great, especially when the Giants were coming strongly at the Swans. Leek is a special talent who needed the run as Brodie got back on top of him by game’s end, but he showed enough to remind the football world why he was such a wanted commodity at the end of last season.
Mention needs to be made of Toby Bedford who was everywhere in the third stanza and the ever-reliable Lachie Whitfield who is as solid as rock up back.
The Giants Young’uns
In the absence of the stars some of the Giants youngsters proved they are made of the right material, and while their performances may not ease the pain of defeat, it must give heart to the fans that the club is in a healthy position with the next generation of the Orange Tsunami coming through.
Pheonix Gothard (who I have raved about early this season) continues to improve. Gothard kicked a couple of nice goals, and he looked dangerous up forward for the entire match.
Oliver Hannaford looked likely and he will only improve with more games under his belt.
Nicholas Madden, playing in only his fourth match did some really nice things in the ruck, and he will learn a lot from being opposed to Brodie Grundy. When the game was still on the line early in the last quarter, he clunked some nice intercepts marks down the line proving the adage, the longer the match goes a big man is still a big man when others start running on tired legs.
Harry Rowston and Joe Fonti have developed nicely, and they are now at the stage in their careers where they need to get as many games as possible under their belts to go from being a talent on the rise to a solid consistent member of the team.
Jayden Laverde teases he has a lot to offer, however, for an experienced player he made a number of mistakes in the second half of this game. Sometimes stats lie, as the stats show Jayden had 20 disposals with a 75 percent disposal efficiency, but that’s not how it looked to the naked eye.
While I’m still on the Giants it would be remiss of me not to mention Finn Callaghan who was one of the Giants best on the night. Early in the last quarter Finn broke the Giants goal drought by kicking a goal of one step from outside the 50m arc. It was a superb goal.
The Final Quarter
While the Giants had the better of the Swans in the third term without putting them away, the Swans broke their back in the last and eventually ran away with a comfortable win.
Both teams went goal-for-goal in a very entertaining last quarter of football, until the inexperienced Giants ran out of steam and the professional Swans ran away with the game.
A couple of times the Giants got to within a couple goals in the last stanza, however, each time the Swans would do enough to thwart any hope the Giants had, and when all hope was gone the Swans went bang, bang, bang, bang and finally bang as they stamped their authority on the game.
The impressive side of this Swans outfit compared to incarnations of previous Swans teams is their ability to be ruthless to the very end. In years past the Swans would have held on for a two or three goal win, but this Dean Cox-coached team plays flat out right to the final siren.
Ryan Angwin v Issac Heeney
Issac Heeney is one of the top three players in the game at the moment, so it was refreshing to see a coach task a player to try and tag him.
Ryan Angwin was tasked with nullifying the in-form Heeney, and while it can’t be said he nullified him, he did enough to knock a bit of the shine of the usually polished Heeney in the first half.
The first half seems so long ago now, but after the long, long half time lightning show, Angwin was relieved of his tagging duties on Heeney in a move that seems hard to comprehend. If putting pressure on Heeney each time he had the ball, ensuring he had trouble delivering the ball with his usual precision, then Angwin was doing the task assigned to him.
Clayton Oliver
Clarrie is a bloody ripper who is relishing life in Sin City. Along with the other Giant standouts for the night, Lachie Ash and Lachie Whitfield, he has settled into life at the Giants with a renewed spring in his step.
Come season’s end Clarrie may well be considered the recruit of the year if he maintains the same level of skill and enthusiasm he has displayed in his first six games at Homebush.
Jai Serong and Malcolm Rosas
Some clubs have been very successful recruiting specific role players to fill a gap or three in their club. The best example I can think of is when the Pies recruited Billy Frampton and Oleg Markov who both played pivotal roles in the Pies’ 2023 Premiership success.
Jai Serong and Malcolm Rosas are repaying the faith the Swans recruiters have put in them with both players having very strong starts to the season.
It will be interesting to see how the season unfolds for the pair.
Toby Greene was almost the Hero
Toby Greene has broken the hearts of the Swans on many occasions in years past, however for whatever reason, try as he might, he wasn’t able to finish the job, especially in the third quarter.
Around the ground Toby was on fire, but the goal posts were his kryptonite as each attempt he tried at the big sticks found its way through the behind posts. If you play the game long enough there will be a game where no matter how hard you try things just don’t seem to work.
Brodie Grundy
If the Bobby Skilton Medal was decided tomorrow based on the first six games of the year Brodie Grundy would be well in front.
The new ruck rules for 2026 have benefitted Grundy immensely and he is yet to play a bad game thus far. Strange, because he was one of the players the experts told us would struggle under the new rules. In fairness to Grundy, it would be too simple to say Grundy’s rise this season is due to a change in rules as that would be neglecting the role he is playing around the ground as an old-fashioned ruck-rover in the same mould of Adam Goodes.
Grundy is arguably the most important player at the Swans this season.
The Swans Back Six
The Swans no-name back six have morphed into one of the tightest, stingy, but attacking defensive units in the competition and in small part it has coincided with the return of a fit and healthy Callum Mills.
While Nick Blakey, Sam Wicks and, to a lesser extent Riley Bice, look the goods launching attacks from the half back line, more often than not Mills is the instigator creating room with his deft touches freeing up the runners, while Jake Lloyd and Harry Cunningham are freed up to play forward of the ball this year with Mills, McCartin, Hamling and others being the brick wall.
A lot has been said and written about the Swans ability to score heavily; however, the Swans blue-collar backline has only conceded a miserly average of 66-points per game this year.
Charlie, Joel and Logan
In short, the Swans are developing a triple headed monster up forward with Curnow, Amartey and McDonald all contributing on the scoreboard this year. While Amartey has shouldered the majority of the weight this year, Curnow (the newbie) and McDonald (returning from serious injury) are getting better and better the longer the season goes.
There has been much criticism thrown at Curnow this year, especially from those outside of the club, but he is playing his role and if that means he takes the heat to free up Amartey or McDonald so be it. And all this occurring while the hungry, hungry Tom Papley is happy to sweep on the crumbs after Charlie busts a pack open.
The Shane Mumford Medal?
The Power of the Mummy
For a rivalry to be taken seriously it must have some legendary shared history from the past that enrages and inspires both teams, so who is the one common denominator between the Sin City teams?
If the heading didn’t give away the answer, it is pretty obvious I am referring to the great Shane ‘Mummy’ Mumford.
While it is easy to understand why the best on ground in the Wests v the Easts Cup is awarded the Brett Kirk Medal (now the Kirk/Ward Medal), predominately for his playing days at the Swans and his coaching roles at the Giants, however he has never strapped up the boots and played in a Giants jumper, unlike Shane Mumford (all power to the Mummy).
Big Shane Mumford is a 2012 Swans Premiership player, and he played in the Giants 2017 premiership loss to the Tigers.
He is a legend at both clubs.
Big Mummy always played his best football against the Swans after he headed down Parramatta Road to play for the Giants, being one of the major players that helped to create the rivalry between the two clubs.
With no disrespect to Brett ‘the spiritual one’ Kirk and his assistant coaching stint at Homebush, Mummy has been the player who has gotten under the Swans’ skin, and he always saved his best for the Battle of Anzac Bridge (formally known as the Glebe Island Bridge). It has been a few years since Shane hung up his boots, but such was his ferocity at the contest and his brutal bone jarring strength that has many current and former Swans players still nursing bruises and suffering from PTSD and recurring nightmares because of the Mummy’s revenge.
Food for thought: Shane Mumford, without peer epitomises the rivalry between the Swans and the Giants especially as the brute strength enforcer and maybe a second medal can be minted for the fiercest player on the field.
Back to reality, congratulations to Callan Ward having his stellar career franked by being co-named with the great Brett Kirk to have his name added to the medal for the best on ground for the Battle of the Bridge aka Darby/Derby games – the Kirk/Ward Medal.
I still like the sound of The Mummy Medal for the fiercest player on the field.
Fin
It is currently 2:47am so I am a bit gaga (damn that lightning storm), but while this wasn’t a classic battle between the two clubs, both can walk away feeling they got something out of the game. The Swans will be happy for the win, while the Giants can take solace their inexperienced team never gave up the fight and until the last ten minutes, they were only ever one goal short of really scaring the Swans.
Next week, the Swans take on another injury riddled team, the Western Bulldogs at Marvel on the Thursday night, while the Giants can lick their wounds until next Sunday night when they host the Kangaroos at Corroboree Group Oval in Manuka – it is to be hoped it is not snowing in Canberra next week.
Thanks for the read, and there probably is a name or two spelled wrong, but given The Mongrel Punt does their best to post their reviews as soon as possible as the final siren an error two may occur.
Ps: Buy HB Meyers a coffee – he works bloody hard putting up multiple articles each week as well as reviewing up to four games each weekend. (Five this weekend – HB)
