Round 18 – Sydney Swans v North Melbourne
Best on Ground
Issac Heeney with Daylight Second
It’s all in the Numbers
Rarely would I start a review highlighting a single player. However, in a very lacklustre game, Sydney Swans superstar Issac Heeney played a game for the ages.
Purely on the numbers:
5 goals and 1 behind.
34 Disposals.
81 percent kicking efficiency from 22 kicks.
13 Clearances – THIRTEEN.
166 Dream TeamPoints.
I stand to be corrected, but five goals and 13 clearances is the best performance (based on numbers) since the inception of the AFL. Nobody else has ever done that, right?
He is also the first man in a few years to register 30+ disposals and 5+ goals in a game. This has only been achieved by 30 men in the history of the game.
Heeney was humble when interviewed by Alastair Lynch post-game, yet his candour when Lynch asked specific questions about the game and where the team is at presently (in an era where players are trained to only talk the company line), was superb.
When Lynch asked him about the game and the Swans performance, Heeney said, “We are still pretty patchy… and we are a little off…” It was a refreshingly fresh and frank response.
Well played Isaac, you made a bloody forgettable game watchable. An absolute honour to witness a game like that.
The Game
Swans: 03:03:21 / 07:05:47 / 07:09:51 / 12:12:84
Kangaroos: 02:03:15 / 04:05:29 / 05:09:39 / 7:11:53
Goals:
Swans: Heeney 5, Buller 2, Warner 1, McInerney 1, Campbell 1, Gulden 1
Kangaroos: Harvey 2, Sheezel 1, Darling 1, McKercher 1, Simpkin 1, Teakle 1
Best:
Swans: Heeney, Grundy, Blakey, Mills, Hamling, Wicks, McInerney, Hamling
Kangaroos: Sheezel, McKercher, O’Sullivan, Davis- Uniacke, Teakle, Logue
The Moment – The ARC Strikes Again
With one minute and 24 seconds left on the clock at the end of the third quarter, from a throw in, Paul Curtis seemingly kicked the ball off the ground for a goal. The soft call was a goal, however, Justin McInerney’s hand also was somewhere close to the action, as well.
Off to the ARC.
After about three minutes, Curtis’ goal was overturned, but only after the last angle was shown, and it could be argued that even that angle was not clear enough to overturn the soft call.
Instead of the Roos going into three-quarter time only seven-points down and with some momentum after keeping the Swans goalless for the quarter, the negative ARC decision seemed to deflate them.
The Roos were flat at the start of the last quarter, and the Swans went bang, bang, bang to put the game out of North’s grasp. All the remnants of the old “shinboner spirit” which was on show for the first three stanzas, seemingly making an upset possible, was gone. It went missing after the ARC decision. All the demons of the last couple of years returned and, in the end, North surrendered meekly.
For young teams on the rise, handling micro adversity and letdowns that rattle their momentum is a lesson often learned the hard way. If Curtis’ goal had been allowed and the Roos went into the last break with momentum, then possibly the result of the game may have been different.
Yes, a remote possibility, but still a possibility?
The negative, and possibly wrong ARC decision, was a clear demarcation line between the Roos on the rise (and I believe they are), and the bad old Roos – one perceived howler sapped their confidence.
Tristan Xerri, or the lack thereof
In the first half Tristan Xerri’s replacement for this match, the very unlucky Callum Coleman-Jones was injured and ruled out for the rest of the match, and it highlighted how damaging suspensions can be.
It was a one/two punch and suddenly plan C was needed in the form of Brynn Teakle.
A very fit and healthy Tristan Xerri watched this game from the sidelines because of his reckless suspension from last week, and it certainly had a bearing on this match.
Brodie Grundy versus Tristan Xerri is a really tasty matchup, however Grundy versus Coleman-Jones and later, Brynn Teakle, was like lambs to the slaughter given the form Grundy is in. Heeney had a staggering 13 clearances, but he was given silver service by Brodie Grundy, who was easily one of the better, and more influential players on the ground as he fully controlled the ruck.
The suspension of Xerri hurts the Kangaroos as they endeavour to find some form they can carry into the post-season and next season.
On a brighter note, North Melbourne may have discovered a diamond in the rough with the journeyman Brynn Teakle. Yes, Grundy took him to school with his ruck craft, but Teakle never gave up, and he finished the game with 17 possessions, as well as five marks as he made his presence felt around the ground. Well played.
A Very Entertaining First Half
On a weekend which has already provided three forgettable matches, it was refreshing to watch a half of football where the stars shone, and some new faces got a taste of the good stuff.
The Swans’ usual suspects; Heeney, Gulden, Warner, Grundy, Blakey were on fire the first half, while the Kangaroos’ usual suspects, such as Sheezel, Simpkin, McKercher and the man known as LDU, also displayed their wares. It made for entertaining viewing.
While the stars did what stars do, some younger players (and a fringe player or two) for both clubs feed off the starts of the game and gave the viewing public an insight to their true potential.
Brynn Teakle has been mentioned already, but his mark and goal in the first quarter was a trip back to the old days when a big forwards would lead and crash a pack to take a mark and then go back and kick straight through the ball for a goal. As a fill in player for Larkey, he shows potential, but I feel he is going to be used in the ruck for the rest of the year, given the injury to CCJ and Xerri’s continued stint on the sidelines.
Not every father/son recruitment is as fruitful, successful as heralded the two brothers at Collingwood, or the born ready to play two brothers at Brisbane, but from what I have seen from Cooper Harvey, son of legend Brent, in the last two weeks suggests he has the potential to be a regular in the Roos lineup in the coming years.
Cooper is a little goal sneak, and while he didn’t set the world on fire with some ridiculous number of possessions, he did kick two handy goals for the Roos, and he was their leading goal kicker on the day.
Jack Buller, another mature aged player, is making the most of the extended game time he is getting this year. Each week, he looks more like he belongs as a permanent third or fourth wheel in the Swans forward line. Ten possessions, two goals and five marks for a player in only his fifth game is very serviceable.
The Third Quarter in 10 Words, a Hyphen, and an Exclamation Mark
Under no circumstances attempt to watch this quarter – absolutely terrible!
Little Bits
Issac Heeney put on a clinic in the final quarter with a hand from Brodie Grundy, as the Swans overran the battling, but improving, Kangaroos in an all too familiar scenario for North fans
They’re thereabouts, but… nit close enough to be taken seriously by good teams, just yet.
Nice to see Luke Parker at the SCG again. Parker’s worth to the inexperienced Joeys cannot be measured by possessions alone, as his on-field leadership and mentoring roles have been invaluable. Surprisingly, as I thought he was finished last year, Jack Darling’s recruitment has been an inspired move by the Roos for the same reasons as Parker. While I am at, Caleb Daniel has also brought his on-field senior leadership to Arden Street, but he has been more hut-and-miss in terms of impact.
Cam Zurhaar, you have more ability in your little finger than the average player, but when are you going to step up to the next level and be the leader North Melbourne are looking for with some consistency from week to week? Last week, he turned in an amazing third quarter and was then borderline invisible for the rest of the game. This contest was similar, only he didn’t have a burst of form at any point, at all.
Justin McInerney, 22 possessions and a goal is probably your best output for the year, but you would probably owe the locker room a few more after your early season suspensions.
HB Meyers will probably disagree with me, but I am liking what Braeden Campbell is bringing to the table this, especially his exquisite left foot. The next step for Campbell is to get his possessions average to about 15 to 20 per week, instead of the low teens.
No, I absolutely agree. He is a massive talent and we’ve only seen glimpses of what he can do – HB
Did I mention Brynn Teakle?
How about Jy Simpkin? We saw so much of the good about him in this one, but sometimes, that kicking lets him and his team down so much. Ten turnovers in this one – it almost undoes the good stuff.
The second-straight good outing for the year from Captain Mills. Like McInerney, he owes this team a bit. It’s for vastly different reasons, but it is good to see him start to string good outings together.
Conclusion
Sydney banks the win, North Melbourne again wonder what could have been, and the rest of the competition is probably nervous until the Swans lose a match and their season is cactus. I am aware, even the slightest chance of the Swans making another decider raises the blood pressure of the average neutral supporter, but for Sydney supporters… we may start to see a team take shape that has learned not to peak too early (maybe a team that peaks too late) and one that would send shudders through potential opponents if it started playing its best footy.
Next week North Melbourne will get belted up by Geelong, while the Swans must travel down Parramatta Road to Engie Stadium to face the in form Greater Western Sydney.
This is probably the shortest review I have written, but like Fearless Leader, I am under the weather with a cold or something.
