It’s time to go….. Barry Hal… is a post from: worldwormweb

Spurred on by a partisan crowd of 44, 235, the Swans had victory well in hand at the long break with a 39-point advantage after a dominant first-half display.

The undermanned Eagles simply had no answer for the in-form Swans who continued to employ a more direct approach with good effect on their way to a 62-point victory.

New recruit Martin Mattner continued his impressive start to the season with 25 touches but he was not alone – Ted Richards (23), Tadhg Kennelly (21), and Michael O’Loughlin (four goals) among the pick of an impressive bunch.

In contrast West Coast’s big guns had minimal impact – Daniel Kerr managing just 15 touches as he was well held by Kieran Jack – Ben McKinley’s four goals as well as the performance of Matt Rosa (23), the only bright spots on a dismal night for the 2006 Premiers.

The Swans’ emphatic display was tarnished, however, by a moment of madness from Barry Hall who was reported for striking Brent Staker with a fearsome blow to the jaw which left the 23-year-old badly shaken late in the first-term.

Staker played no further part in the match while Hall faces a lengthy vacation, although the Sydney spearhead would probably have been absent regardless, having injured his wrist during the last-quarter after slamming into the boundary hoardings and some metal bars behind it.

O’Loughlin was sharp early booting the first two majors as the hosts skipped away early in the contest.

The Swans continued to dominate with goals to Hall and former Adelaide Crow Mattner – his first major for the Sydney siders.

McKinley gave the Eagles’ faithful a glimmer of hope with a goal in the shadows of quarter-time to cut the deficit to 18 at the first break.

The Swans were full of running in the second quarter adding three goals to their tally with Jarrad McVeigh, Adam Goodes and Ryan O’Keefe all getting in on the action.

As he had done in the first-term, McKinley answered for the Eagles just before the break before Brett Kirk kicked his first to re-establish the Swans’ 39-point advantage at half-time.

The hosts had plenty of contributors in the first-half with Tadhg Kennelly (15 possessions), Mattner and Kirk (14 apiece) leading the way.

But the second-term belonged to Adam Goodes who grabbed eight touches and added a goal in a dominant display while, for West Coast, Rosa gathered 10-first-half possessions as Kerr was well held with just six.

Two-goals in the first-four minutes of the third saw the Swans extend their advantage to 51-points.

The Swans added to the Eagles misery with four unanswered goals to start the final quarter before McInley booted his fourth goal for the Eagles in the final minute.

SWANS: 4.2, 8.6,12.8, 16.11(107)
EAGLES: 1.2, 2.3, 4.5, 5.15(45)

GOALS: Swans: O’Loughlin 4, McVeigh 2, Barlow 2, Hall, Mattner, Goodes, O’Keefe, Kirk, J.Bolton, Jolly, Jack,
West Coast: McKinley 4, Armstrong,
BEST: Swans: Mattner, Kirk, Kennelly, Goodes, O’Loughlin.
West Coast: Matt Rosa, Ben McInley.
INJURIES: Swans:
West Coast: Brent Staker (jaw),
REPORTS: Barry Hall for striking Brent Staker in the 26th minute of the first quarter.
CHANGES: Luke Brennan in for Heath Grundy (foot).
UMPIRES: Donlon, Kennedy, Wenn.
CROWD: 44,235 at ANZ Stadium.

Source – Sportal.com.au

Swans punish dismal Eagles is a post from: worldwormweb

The Swans’ hard, contested style of footy was back on show as they subdued a disappointing Port winning 22.14(146) to 11.12(78).

Barry Hall, with a game-high five goals, showed he was back with a confident display harking back to Big Barry’s golden days.

The win was set up by a dominant third quarter from the Swans who rolled a tiring Port 7.5 to 0.1 to take a 62 point advantage into the final break. The Bloods were never going to lose it from there as their superior fitness shone through as they kept their feet on the pedal in the last quarter.

Best for the home side were Hall, Michael O’Loughlin with four goals, Ryan O’Keefe, Marty Mattner and Jude Bolton while youngsters Kieren Jack, Jarrad McVeigh, Craig Bird and Ed Barlow used the ball well and ran hard all day in 25 degree heat.

In defence, Leo Barry kept small forward Brett Ebert very quiet.

An even spread of scorers throughout showed the Swans weren’t as “Hall-focused” as they have been in the past, a stat that would’ve pleased coach Roos.

And even though Port dominated the hitouts, the Swans’ won the clearances. However, an ankle injury to ruckman Darren Jolly mid-way through the second quarter will be a worry for Paul Roos. The return of big Spida Everitt in a fortnight will be most timely.

On a balmy day, the Swans led at each break to delight the 24,700 crowd. The Swans began kicking to the Paddington end and Roos, coaching from the bench, witnessed a seesawing first term.

The Swans scored the first major after two minutes. Barry Hall marking confidently on his chest just outside the 50m found a running Kieren Jack who blasted home from 30m to get the home side on the scoreboard for the game’s first major.

But the Power using the flanks well booted the next three goals to take the sting out of the Bloods. The Swans kicked the next five to take the lead into the break.

Despite the talented Port ruckman Brendon Lade dominating the hitouts against the tag team of Jolly and Roberts-Thomson, the Swans held their lead going into the main break going in 22 points to the good.

However, if spearhead Warren Tredrea had been more accurate, the margin could’ve been much closer.

The Swans started the second half strongly but four points from the first four shots at goals kept the home side’s lead within Port’s grasp. However, McVeigh’s snap from 40m pushed the lead out and the Swans sensed the win was in their grasp.

For Port, two losses from their first two games is not the ideal lead up to next week’s grudge match against the Crows.

Shaun Burgoyne, however, stood up today with a dominating disposals stat with 19 and four goals.

Nevertheless, the victory will give the Swans a much-needed shot of confidence ahead of next week’s match against the Lions in Brisbane, whose coach Leigh Matthews was watching.

The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.

Sydney Swans 6.2 10.5 17.10 22.13 (146)

Port Adelaide 4.1 6.7 7.8 11.12 (78)

GOALS
Swans: Hall 5, O’Loughlin 4, Bevan 2, Kirk 2, McVeigh 2, Goodes, Jack, Roberts-Thomson, Grundy, Barlow,, J. Bolton. Barry
Port: S Burgoyne 4 D Motlop 2, Tredrea 2,, K Cornes, Pettigrew, Rodan
BEST
Swans: Hall, O’Loughlin, Mattner, J Bolton, Jack, McVeigh
Port: Lade, S Burgoyne, Tredrea, Rodan, Salopek

INJURIES
Swans: Jolly (ankle)
Port:Nil

Reports: Nil

Umpires: McLaren, Rosebury, Stevic

Official crowd: 24,700 at SCG

Author: Aidan Ormond

Source AFL.com.au

Swans smash Port is a post from: worldwormweb

“Yeah, no worries, mate. Do what you like,” came the drawl from the other end of the line down on the farm in Wagga Wagga.

Kelly had just been told that after five years in moth balls, the club had decided to bring his famous No.14 jumper back out and present it to rookie Craig Bird.

The No.14 is significant at the Swans, having adorned the back of two of the club's legends – Kelly and Bob Skilton. Skilton spent 237 games in the jumper, 165 of those as captain, winning nine best and fairests and three Brownlow medals. Kelly played 234 games in No.14, was captain in a club record 182 of those games, won four best and fairests and the 1995 Brownlow medal.

It hasn't been seen since Kelly retired at the end of 2002, with some thinking it may have been retired permanently.

“I spoke to both Kell and Bobby Skilton and they are both excited about seeing the jumper running around again,” Roos said.

“If you're a guy who played in it and you don't see it running around it almost leaves a bit of a void. Bobby was just extremely happy to think: 'Gee, it's great I'm going to have a young kid to follow who's going to be wearing my jumper'.

“Kell was down in Wagga: 'What do you want, Roosy? Yeah, no worries, mate, do what you like'. He wanted to know a bit about Birdy as a player and I told him … they are both rapt and happy for the club to make the decision, but out of respect for them I wanted to call and make sure they were both comfortable with it.”

Roos said he felt it was significant that Bird – from Nelson Bay – take the jumper, as he was the club's first recipient of the AFL's NSW Scholarship (a program focused on developing NSW talent) and, like Kelly, is also a NSW youngster.

He said the club believed that Bird's “pedigree” is very good.

“It's a pretty big honour to be given the No.14, and I'm really excited to be given the opportunity, but I was pretty stunned, to be honest,” Bird said of being told the number could be his.

“I didn't think I'd be given the chance to wear it. It took me a few days to decide whether I wanted to take it or not. I knew there was a lot of history behind it but I got my head around it and decided to take it.

“I spoke to a lot of the coaches to see what they thought about it, and I spoke to my dad and a few of the other players and they thought it was a good idea and about time the jersey got brought back out.”

Roos said that there would naturally be some pressure with the jumper, but the longer you wait, the more that pressure builds. He added that he needed to check to see if there was a reason why he couldn't bring the No.14 back onto Sydney's list.

“I went to Andrew [Ireland, general manager of football] and said, 'Are we allowed to use that jumper?' and Andrew said, 'I think so', so then I went to the board and the board said I don't know why you couldn't use it,” Roos explained. “It's probably one of those things where certainly for the first 12 months-two years, it was a conscious thing [not to use it], then I think everyone got a bit scared about bringing it back out and no one spoke about it.

“But everyone, the board, Andrew, all said let's get it back out there.

“Obviously it's a bit daunting if you're aware of the history of the jumper, but once he's out on the field and once he's running around and people see it [the jumper], then it becomes a number and it's his number and he's got to make his own name.”

Rookie Swan to fly high in jumper No.14 is a post from: worldwormweb