WOW. What a heart-stopper, what a win. Essendon came to town with a plan. They executed it, almost beautifully, and gave themselves almost every chance of a win.
It wasn't pretty by any standards... no it was occasionally bloody ugly. The pressure from both sides was phenomenal, with Essendon running out the match, ranked elite.
Their last quarter, in particular, was manic, desperate, and incredible, and the young Swans didn't wilt. They went to work, they burrowed, they worked, and they won.
Blakey burning Buddy will be talked about and laughed about no doubt, but it was McInerney's stunning work rate to get up and down the wing that really turned the match for us. The contest he won on the wing with James Bell was the sole reason why Buddy Franklin had a shot for a goal with 2 minutes left.
It wasn't without stress though! Cale Hooker bagged a goal with a little over a minute remaining, but Hickey saved us with beautiful ruck work, then two more contests where he could have been holding the ball.
What a way to win, and what a way to do it! These close matches with Essendon knock a solid 5 years off every time.
B: H. Cunningham, D. Rampe, G. Hewett
HB: J. Dawson, T. McCartin, J. Lloyd
C: O. Florent, C. Mills, C. Warner
HF: E. Gulden, I. Heeney, J. McInerney
F: S. Reid, L. Franklin, S. Wicks
FOL: T. Hickey, J. Kennedy, T. Papley
INT: L. McDonald, B. Campbell, N. Blakey, L. Parker, J. Bell
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.