It was a beautiful sunny day at the SCG as North Melbourne travelled north to take on the team formerly known as South (just writing that hurt my brain).
The Kangas had been on the improve coming into this one, beating Gold Coast the week before and running more fancied opponents to closer scorelines. Sydney came in off the back of two close losses, and were missing one of their best players, in Isaac Heeney.
The first quarter was a tight affair, with Sydney’s notoriously slow starts in games giving the Kangas a sniff, but from quarter time onwards it was all one way traffic as the Swans piled on the goals on their way to their highest score of the season.
In the end, the scoreline was what you would expect from the current flag favorite, playing at home against a young team with only two wins to date this season. This was a pretty comprehensive win from the Swans and a scarily good performance from some of their key players – how good, you ask? Let’s take a look:
Logan McDonald
There has been a lot of eyes on McDonald over the last few weeks. He had the chance to win the game against Freo before re-signing with the Swans for another four years, and then again had the chance to win the game against St Kilda.
Based on the way he started this one, I reckon he might have been reading a bit about himself on social media and decided enough was enough. He led up to the ball really well in the first quarter and kicked 2.1 with Papley the only other Swan to score a goal in the quarter. But more than his goals, he attacked the ball aggressively and was involved in more than just taking marks. At one point in the first quarter, he had the most disposals of all Swans on the park, almost like he was single-handedly not wanting to accept another slow start, and had a point to prove to his detractors.
When the Swans put the foot down in the second quarter, McDonald added a couple more scoring shots, as well as unselfishly allowing Grundy to mark in front of him for an easy shot at goal.
He would finish the game with 4.2 from his seven marks and 16 possessions – that is a great day out for a key forward, he was easily the best of the big Swans in the forward half today. Prior to his re-signing, there were rumors that the Pies were looking at a monster offer for him. I mentioned to my fellow Mongrels that I didn’t think he was worth huge dollars, perhaps this was a bit of recency bias from myself as he had just missed two opportunities to win matches off his own boot. The kid is only 22 and should only get better from here, and being a Pies supporter myself, I’m now regretting my comments – he would have been a very handy addition!
Grundy v Xerri
As mentioned earlier I am a Pies supporter, albeit a very miserable one currently (please don’t hold it against me) and I’ll always have a lot of love for Brodie Grundy. I thought the way he was treated by both the Pies and then Melbourne was rough, and I was really looking forward to seeing how he would go at the Swans as the number one ruck, which is his best and only role.
Those of you who read The Mongrel’s pre-season predictions may remember I tipped Sydney for the flag, with Grundy to get back to his best and finish in the top-ten in the Brownlow. While he may not finish that high in the Brownlow due to the sheer embarrassment of riches in the Swans midfield, he is certainly back to his best and at this point in the season he would be vying with Gawn for another AA guernsey.
Xerri is perhaps the heir apparent to these two. He is having a great season, and is thriving as the sole ruckman at North. His work after the tap is where he has massively improved, often leading North stats for tackles and/or clearances at the end of a game. This is also where Grundy excels, he is almost like a midfielder once the ruck contest ends, so I was really keen to see how the two big men would go against each other today.
Both big fellas played well today, but I think Xerri got a bit of a lesson around work rate when it comes to Grundy. While Xerri picked up 18 possessions, these were generally in and around the stoppage immediately after the ruck contest, whereas Grundy was able to spread and be involved in handball chains on his way to 20 disposals, while also drifting forward for a goal in the second quarter. Grundy also won the hitouts, giving the Swans onballers first use more often than not. Chocolates go to Grundy today, but Xerri is not far behind.
The Swans midfield:
Is this the most dangerous and deep midfield group in the competition currently? Imagine that one of your best players, in Heeney, is unavailable for a week, in a season where you are top of the ladder and the premiership favorite, and you have the luxury to go “I guess we’ll just replace him with Mills and Parker” – ridiculous!
Mills eased back into it today after a long hiatus and while he didn’t set the world on fire, he will be better for the run. His versatility is a real weapon for the Swans, as he played all over the ground today, finishing up forward in the last quarter and jagging himself a goal on his return. Parker started as the sub and came on halfway through the third after a suspected PCL injury to McInerney. In just 38% game time, he managed to lead the Swans for tackles with six (tied with Grundy) and kick a couple of goals. He is going to add more grunt to this Sydney midfield in the run home, and his experience and leadership will be vital come finals time – he’s also pretty handy as a forward.
I’ve so far talked about Heeney, Mills and Parker and I haven’t even got to the best players in this midfield yet – it’s actually an embarrassment of riches at the Swans. Gulden and Warner ran the show today, combing for over 70 possessions, 29 score involvements, 21 inside 50’s and 2.5. Is there a more dangerous one-two punch in a midfield in the AFL currently?
These guys hurt you when they have the ball. Gulden’s kicking is elite, and when the Swans got going, it was often his kick inside 50 that resulted in a mark and/or a goal. Warner is something else, the way he picks up the ball in traffic and is able to get around players – it almost reminds me of Pendlebury but with more power. I lost count of how many times today he picked up a ball, stood still, waited for his opponent to commit to a direction, and took a half step to the side or to the back and then he was off. Sure, he got caught a couple of times trying to break one too many tackles – but when your name is Chad, that is the sort of shit you are allowed to try.
Although McInerney (who has had a very good season thus far) will now miss some weeks with his PCL injury, that just makes room for Heeney to fit into this absolute piss take of a midfield. While it’s hard to find a weakness in this Swans team currently, it certainly won’t be found in the midfield.
What of North?
Honestly, there wasn’t a lot to take out of this game from a North perspective. They were comprehensively beaten by a much better team. It’s not even that North were really that bad. Sydney were just THAT good.
Simpkin looks like he is getting back to his near his best, and he is much more valuable to North in the midfield than that half forward role he was playing earlier this season. LDU had a couple of moments in the second quarter where he refused to let Sydney have it all their way and tucked the ball under his arm, breaking through tackles and creating – he is great to watch when he is in full flight like that (and hard to stop). Zurhaar competed well today both up forward and when he was moved into the centre in the last quarter – he adds another big body in there and eases some of the physical burden on LDU, I’d love to see him in there more.
We all know where this North team is at, and if kids like Sheezel, McKercher, Wardlaw, Powell and Comben can continue in an upward trajectory, this team is going to be very dangerous at some point, it’s just not there yet and they came up against a team that is probably in their prime and the final score reflects that.
Other Bits:
Tommy Papley was great today, he was bit stiff not to get his own section, but I went with McDonald instead. Having said that, 4.2 and 19 touches is a fantastic return for a small forward, and I love the way he celebrates!
Interesting that neither team went with a tag today, with North actually dropping Phillips, who has done some big jobs over the last couple of weeks. I don’t know which of the Swans you could tag and if it would have made a difference today, but surely there was job for him somewhere.
Two goals for Amartey, who has been quiet since his nine-goal bag earlier this season. The three tall forwards for the Swans are a fascinating mix in McLean, Logan and Amartey, and each of them can hurt you in different ways.
Brynn Teakle was vying for a spot on the Pies list in the pre-season and was passed over. He looked very good last week, but I think this week is more like the baseline of expectation for him. He didn’t really impact this contest at all today, mind you, it was a tough day to be a North forward.
And that’s all she wrote. The Swans just reminded everyone why they are the premiership favourite with their highest score of the season – about the only thing that can stop them winning the flag at this point is about ten injuries, I reckon. North were just outgunned and outclassed.
