Time to sit back, take a deep, deep breath, and reminisce, enjoy, and let it sink in. I’m not sure that’s the result I was expecting. I was always hopeful, but I was realistic – it was going to be hard to beat the Cats at their fortress. But these Swans, they showed they can really football, and do it very, very well.
I think this should also pretty much kill any plan B discussion, thanks AFL for running an article about it before the match.
B: Harry Marsh, Heath Grundy, Nick Smith
HB: Jake Lloyd, Dane Rampe, Robbie Fox
C: Harry Cunningham, Luke Parker, Callum Mills
HF: Jarrad McVeigh, Gary Rohan, George Hewett
F: Tom Papley, Isaac Heeney, Will Hayward
FOL: Callum Sinclair, Kieren Jack, Josh P. Kennedy
I/C: Zak Jones, Oliver Florent, Ben Ronke, Daniel Robinson
 | 3: Jarrad McVeigh | Old man’s got legs. Give him another contract! | |
 | 5: Isaac Heeney | Not afraid to get his hands dirty, crack in and cop of a fair old knee to the back. Was really good when we needed someone to stand up. | |
 | 7: Harry Cunningham | A genuinely good run-with performance, won plenty of his own ball and provided that link between defence and attack that we’ve sorely missed | |
 | 9: Will Hayward | 3 goals and provided a great forward target. He’s showing he can really be something good for us. | |
 | 10: Zak Jones | Another great game from Jones. Snagged a great goal and provided a lot of cut and thrust in the midfield when the Swans struggled to maintain possession. Fast becoming a critical player. | |
 | 12: Josh Kennedy | Won the game for the Swans, was ridiculous in the last quarter and silenced his critics. One of his best games and arguably one of his best ever quarters. | |
 | 13: Oliver Florent | Another good game, he’s getting better every time he plays and provided a lot of dash in the third quarter when we were sorely needing it. | |
 | 14: Callum Mills | Defensive stalwart, shifted forward and midfield in the second half and made a significant impact. He has just about proven he can play midfield as good as anyone now. | |
 | 15: Kieren Jack | Much, much better. He was well down last week, about as bad as I’ve seen him, but cracked in, niggled like a prick and even gave Tuohy a whack after the third quarter siren. Love it, that’s EXACTLY what we need. | |
 | 16: Gary Rohan | Great presence in the forward line, presented superbly, kicked a goal in the first quarter and probably should have kicked more. Important in the last quarter too. | |
 | 18: Callum Sinclair | Arguably his best game. We needed him to do it, all on his own, and he did it. Destroyed the Cats rucks with 39 hit-outs, won his own ball (18) and clearances and gave his midfield almost exclusive first use in the final quarter. We don’t win without him, simple. | |
 | 24: Dane Rampe | Pretty good considering he gave away a heap of height and weight. There’s things you notice at the ground, and he’s a chirpy one. | |
 | 25: Ben Ronke (R) | Great debut, great goals. He can play, that’s for sure. Looking forward to seeing what else he can do, but to play the way he did in an intense pressure match, well done. | |
 | 26: Luke Parker | A bit of a strange game playing full forward for most of the match. Didn’t have anywhere near as much impact as he usually does, but still won his own ball when he had to, and proved that he can fly as good as Jordan. | |
 | 27: Dan Robinson | Not a bad return to the senior team. He had to win his own ball and lay tackles, and he did both. | |
 | 29: George Hewett | Better, won his own ball and did a great job in the midfield, curtailing the influence of Selwood and Duncan. | |
 | 31: Harry Marsh | Defensively a bit better, still can’t compete with strong forwards, but his pace was critical to shutting down or spoiling on the long leads. | |
 | 39: Heath Grundy | Hawkins didn’t have much impact and looked to be the best defender with the ball in his hands in the first half. Pretty good game really. | |
 | 40: Nick Smith | Clone him, stat! There’s no better small defender in the league, and this guy can take on guys that look almost twice his size, and still beat them. | |
 | 11: Tom Papley | A great game from the small forward, didn’t kick any goals, but provided a genuine marking contest and plenty of forward half pressure | |
 | 42: Robbie Fox (R) | Really good game, superb mark and played second fiddle in the ruck. Grew into it as the game wore on and provided a genuine contest and target. | |
 | 44: Jake Lloyd | Had his ‘oh lloyd’ moments, but moved the ball superbly and was very clean when the Swans really had to be. There were a few turn overs in the third quarter that were costly. |
Like what you’re getting? Want more Swans Blog, and the chance to have your input into our site and what we create? We have additional content weekly on our Patreon Service. This is your avenue, what are you waiting for? Sign up today and get more content like this.
If you'd like to support us, you can head over to our Red Bubble Swans Blog Shop, and purchase one of our hideously overpriced mugs, stickers or notebooks. Help keep The Swans Blog alive.
Since you're here...
... we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading The Swans Blog than ever, but we don't accept advertising, and don't want to do so in the future. Unlike many other news and media organisations, fan forums and fan media, we haven't put up a paywall, or displayed ads - we want to keep our content as open as possible.
The Swans Blog is an independent fan blog and community platform. Our content takes a lot of time and hard work to produce. We do it because we love what we do and we believe our perspective matters - because it may be your perspective too.
If everyone who reads our blog, who likes it, is supporting it, our future would be much more secure.
Want instant access to the latest blog and news content from The Swans Blog?
Download our Android App from Google Play today.