2nd Elimination Final: Sydney vs. Kangaroos

First quarter thoughts

Ugly quarter in what's going to be a very ugly match. Terrible, but not really surprising, that only 20, 000 people rocked up. For a final. For a final! The Kangaroos played a solid quarter, although luck certainly helped them. Shocking decision on the Harvey 'goal'. Put that with the Medhurst goal-that-wasn't and that's two potentially devastating mistakes from umpires. In a final. In a final. Swans got back into the game towards the end of the term though. Their three guns, O'Keefe, Goodes and Hall all had relatively easy shots at goal in the final minutes. O'Keefe slotted his, but Goodes and Barry '2 behinds in the 06 grand final' Hall both missed. The Kangaroos look in good shape, and their fans should be feeling confident. All 17 of them.

SECOND TERM

3 minute mark: Wow, another shocking goal umpiring decision. Kangaroo player kicks a clear goal and it's called a point. Stuff like this shouldn't happened three times in a day. In a final too. A final. I guess things even out for the Kangaroos though.
7 minute mark: Nathan Thompson's star really has waned. It wasn't too long ago he was being mentioned as a candidate for the key forward elite. Still takes a good mark, but still can't kick. Done nothing tonight except miss a set shot and nearly paralyse his star teammate. Well done Nathan.
9 minute mark: Ryan O'Keefe is keeping Sydney in this match. Two great marks and two great goals. Really underrated player. You look at the best half-forward flankers in the league (Murphy, Didak) and he's as good as any of them.
12 minute mark: Almost on cue Nathan Thompson drops an easy mark, although gets the free kick and then proceeds to miss from 30 metres out from directly in front. Again, well done Nathan.
17 minute mark: Almost controversial again. This Veszpremi kid has a shot touched on the line by Josh Gibson. Clear touch from Gibson, but the field umpire had to clear it. What's remarkable is that Gibson almost didn't touch it. The ball was about 2 metres off the ground.
19 minute mark: Brett Kirk is great to watch. Just puts his body on the line every single time. Refreshing to see someone with scruffy hair that can't kick, mark or run fast being an absolute champion.
20 minute mark: Shannon Grant hammers home the first Kangaroos goal in... well a while. Directly in front almost, no pressure about 15 metres out. Grant never misses those does he.
23 minute mark: Another Grant goal, Kangaroos leading by 16 now, dangerous times for Sydney.
24 minute mark: The euphoria of those 17 men doesn't last long as Jarred Moore kicks a goal to get Sydney back within a couple of kicks. I really like this Moore kid. He's 22 years old, averaged 15 disposals a game this year and kicked 23 goals. He looks like Daniel Kerr the way he plays. Great lowered centre of gravity. If he was better looking he'd be heralded as a star.
28 minute mark: Brent Harvey pulls a Sam Mitchell and instinctively attempts to trip Lewis Roberts-Thompson. Lucky Harvey's tripping skills aren't as good as his footy skills - he missed Lewis by more than a metre.

HALF-TIME

Extremely uninspiring match from a pair of uninspiring teams so far. The fact that Sydney's best player from the first half had 3 disposals (O'Keefe) tells a story of its own. McVeigh and Buchanan have been alright, and Darren Jolley (21 hitouts already!) has been dominant at the stoppages. Adam Goodes has had the Baades, Hall has done nothing and Kennelley has had no impact. For the Roos Shannon Grant is playing very well. He's playing like he wants to keep on playing. Simpson has held Kirk well and won 10 possessions himself. Apparently Brent Harvey has picked up 12 disposals, but I haven't noticed. He needs to have a more explosive impact.

Sydney have been better with the contested ball, Kangaroos playing a bit smarter and running harder. Kangaroos are the better team, but home ground advantage and the conditions favour Sydney. Hard game to predict really, could go either way. No evidence to really support this, but I'm sticking with my Sydney tip. Swans have got to start taking advantage of that 33-14 ruck advantage.

THIRD QUARTER

1 minute mark: Lewis Roberts-Thompson has to be the ugliest guy in the league. He's not even that good at football either. In the meantime David '15 goals in 3 weeks' Hale just kicked it straight to a Sydney player 10 metres in the clear.
2 minute mark: Some more O'Keefe love coming up, he just took a strong mark against two guys moved the ball on quickly to Hall who kicks his first goal of the game. O'Keefe has basically kicked 3 goals in 4 touches of the ball. Looks like someone wants to be John Anthony.
4 minute mark: Adam Goodes really is a superstar. Just took a Jonathan Brown back with the flight mark mixed with some Dale Thomas athleticism on the leap. Sure enough he slots the goal to put the Swans in front 42-40. Superstar.
6 minute mark: Sydney really taking over now, we'll see what the Kangaroos are made of. Collingwood responded when the home team came hard, let's see if the Roos can do the same. Yep that was just an excuse to applaud Collingwood, although we did come back from four goals down on the road in a final. And we beat Geelong by 86 FREAKIN POINTS!
8 minute mark: Another goal! Jarred McVeigh reads the ball from a stoppage and kicks a terrific goal on the run. Judd-esque. McVeigh another really underrated player. Won't forget how he shutdown Ben Cousins in the 2006 Grand Final, and this year he's added that attacking element to his game. Fantastic tagger and wins plenty of ball himself. The good looking man's answer to Kane Cornes.
11 minute mark: O'Keefe sets up another goal! Gets it to the advantage of Hall once again, Hall uses his strength and kicks a terrific goal on his wrong side. Swans taking over this match now. The guns, Hall, Goodes, O'Keefe and now especially Kirk are all lifting.
12 minute mark: Nathan Thompson kicks a goal on his left too, much needed for the Roos. 54-47 Sydney.
14 minute mark: Classic moment right there. Veszpremi kicks a goal from the goalsquare, runs towards the fans for an O'Loughlin like wild celebration but settles once he realises there are about 12 fans in that part of the crowd.
17 minute mark: Kieran Jack gets this wide-eyed look on his face after every goal he kicks, as though each one was his first. Anyway, Hall is dominating this game he just set up that goal for the youngster. And the Swans lead 66-47.
19 minute mark: Swans are absolutely raping the Kangaroos in the ruck. 41 hitouts from Everitt and Jolly combined. Petrie and Hale have half that. Brett Kirk is reaping the benefits. Meanwhile the Roos just kicked a goal to cut it to 13 points.
20 minute mark: Ed Lower, the kid that kicked the last goal, goals again to cut it to just 7 points. This is followed by the overstatement of the century when Tim Lane calls the match an 'epic elimination final'. Sorry Tim, it's not even the best elimination final of the past 5 hours.
24 minute mark: How much does Jarred McVeigh look like a white James Blake (the tennis player)? Very.
25 minute mark: White James Blake and Brett Kirk are absolutely controlling the stoppages.
28 minute mark: Dagger goal from Adam Goodes, absolute dagger. Plays on after a stupid out of bounds on the full from Harris, and goals from about 35. 78-59, in these conditions that might just be a bit too hard. Although Robert Walls just reminded me that the Swans kicked 8 goals this quarter.
29 minute mark: Goodes just misses an absolute sitter from not more than 20 metres out directly in front on the run. That could hurt, but the way the Roos are playing it's hard to see how.
30 minute mark: After just about being their best player in the first half, Shannon 'Collingwood' Grant has picked up one possession this quarter. Brett Kirt and McVeigh both have 11 touches for the quarter, O'Keefe has 6. Brent Harvey has 2. That tells its own tale for the quarter.
33 minute mark: David Hale slots a massive goal after the siren to cut it to 14, giving the Kangaroos a glimmer. Given Sydney's dominance this term the Roos are lucky to be in this match, let alone this close.

THREE QUARTER TIME

Can't see the Roos coming back, or Sydney blowing it. The dominance in the ruck and at the stoppages is just too great. Yeah, the Kangaroos will probably win by 5 goals now.

Three quarter time music from channel ten sounds more like the theme to a Spiderman playstation game than a football match. This heavy ominous score is laughable. Did everyone forget that this is 6th vs. 7th and only 20, 000 people are here tonight? Amazing.

FOURTH QUARTER

1st minute mark: Brett Kirk's courage back with the flight saves a shot on goal for Nathan Thompson. Probably wouldn't have mattered anyway had Thompson taken the mark. It's Thompson.
4 minute mark: Ed Lower hits the post from 25 metres out, costly miss. 79-67 Swans. Kangaroos looking much better this quarter though, controlling the play.
5 minute mark: Barry Hall kicks another goal. He's having a terrific night. I think he's one every single one-on-one. He kicks his 3rd, and tonight he's probably trippled his chances of staying at Sydney next year. That goal may have been the sealer. 85-68 Swans.
9 minute mark: Great passage of play. O'Keefe takes a remarkable one-handed mark and delivers to Hall who takes a great contested mark. Hall misses the goal though. Roos still alive. Just.
10 minute mark: Kieran Jack snaps out of a pack and goals. His third of the night, and that's game over. Kangaroos aren't coming back from a 92-68 deficit.
12 minute mark: Jarred Moore goals, and that's officially game over. It's remarkable how far from grace the Kangaroos have fallen. Three weeks ago the Kangaroos were touted as Geelong's number one contender. A disappointing showing against the Cats, and a shocking loss to Port Adelaide set the wheels in motion, and now tonight the Kangaroos hit rock bottom.
15 minute mark: Really shocking performance from the Swans fans tonight. 19, 127 is the official attendance, and that's about 19, 127 too few. I can appreciate that the weather is shocking, the Kangaroos aren't bring many of their own supporters with them, and the Swans have not had the best form, but still it's a final at home where your side is the favourite. That statement alone should guarantee at least 30, 000. I think we learnt a lot about the Sydney fan base tonight - they only support winners, and only in conditions they like.
19 minute mark: Goals to Richards (a beauty) and Goodes make it 110-68. Depressing times for those 17 blokes.
22 minute mark: I know I wrote Sydney's obituary about a fortnight ago, but tonight they looked pretty impressive. O'Keefe, McVeigh, Kirk and Hall all fired, and Darren Jolly absolutely dominated. Adam Goodes didn't have a huge impact, but the Swans got by without him. Not sure how much I like their chances against the Dogs. The Dogs are a much more athletic and quicker squad than the Roos, and will trouble Sydney's aging list. The Dogs will go in favourites obviously, but Sydney aren't without a real shot.

FULL TIME

Good win from the Swans, a great all round performance in the second half. Brett Kirk was inspirational in the second half and Jarred McVeigh was brilliant for all four quarters. They controlled the ruck all day, the remarkable disparity in the hitouts the greatest reflection of the match. The Kangaroos were disappointing, never showing the form they had displayed in that six game winning streak towards the end of the season. The three big guns all failed to fire. David Hale kicked a couple of nice goals but didn't live up to the hype. Drew Petrie, probably one of the 10 best players in the league in the 2nd half of the season, picked up just 12 disposals and 4 marks. Brent Harvey's stats (19 dispsoals 2 goals) were servicable, but he should be disappointed in his performance. For an alleged superstar he didn't have the impact he should have. The Roos had a nice season, better than their finishing of 8th reflects, but you can't help but feel that their season ended last week with that loss against Port Adelaide.

Votes

8 - Brett Kirk
8 - Jarred McVeigh
8 - Darren Jolly
7 - Ryan O'Keefe
7 - Barry Hall