School holidays. Everyone loves them, right? Well, that is certainly not the case. I woke up at 7:00am on Thursday to my mother telling me to get up and get cracking. I then sit down and get as much done as I can by 5:00. All I can say is, I hope all this bother is worth it, because my maths grades say otherwise.
Anyways, I had the game to look forward to tonight. The one thing I do like about holidays is that I get to watch the footy for as long as I like, without my mum telling me to switch off the TV and go to bed, because it’s a “school night”.
Not only that, I was invited to a restaurant from my good friend Banjo to celebrate his 15th birthday. He is a great friend of mine, and he is a great, agreeable character, except for the fact that he hates AFL and loves rugby. That aside, he is one of my closest friends, and I hope he is happy about the gift I got him (A history of the Rugby World Cup). I wish a very happy birthday to him.
After we dined out and wished him the happiest of happy birthdays, I was dropped back at my house at around 8:00. Perfect timing to watch the footy! Talk about a great night, eh? The Swans did the best they could to keep it going, and then tried to ruin it by gifting the Enemy two goals. My night was looking like it was going to be a bleak one, and I thought it would be when Buddy pulled up sore after a collision with Shannon Hurn. But Harry Cunningham stood tall against Brad Sheppard, and converted. Jordan Foote, who was given the tough task of tagging Sam Mitchell, was pushed in the back, and converted into a great snapped goal. We had fought hard, and managed to go into quarter time on level terms.
The Enemy did all the attacking early on in the second quarter, leading the inside 50 count 5-1 in the first five minutes without booting a major. I started to worry that my boys would give up too easily, but Buddy scored one against the run of play to give us the lead. Unfortunately, the Eagles responded within the next 2 minutes, through Jeremy McGovern. Our defence continued to stifle, as the usually reliable Nick Smith stuffed a kick and gifted JJK a goal from 15 out. I thought we were going to capitulate from there, but the boys replied a minute later with a steadier from Tom Papley, who had been rushed straight back into the team after an interrupted pre-season. But the Enemy got one back, to lead at the main break by two kicks.
The third term started poorly for us, as Mark LeCras kicked a goal within the first thirty seconds. Andrew Gaff then kicked his second, and it was looking all over for us. But the Swans weren’t done yet, with Buddy and Ollie Florent running into open goals to get it back down to two kicks. I start to think that we could actually steal this one, but another sloppy turnover at centre wing costs us dearly. No matter how much we throw at the Enemy, they have all the answers.
That is, until the last quarter. They lead by 18 points, and looked to have the game done and dusted. But, once again, the Swans hit back. Will Hayward kicks a splendid bender, and Jake Lloyd nails a set shot from 50 out. All of a sudden, we are back within a kick. I now have hope that we can win. But West Coast bite back once again. Shuey kicks an unimaginable goal from 50 on the boundary line, and the Eagles kick the next three to ruin any chance of a comeback.
Although we did lose, we could take some positives out of this game. Our youngsters, in particular Will Hayward and Harry Marsh, played quite well tonight. Hayward was our target man for most of the night, while Marsh looked solid in defence. He looks like he can fill in the rebounding halfback role that Nic Malceski left void three years ago. And Jake Lloyd is starting to come of age, establishing himself as one of our ball-winners.I think we are in it to win it. Just wait until we get all our stars back. Soon we will be reborn as that powerhouse that was a constant threat to the premiership. You think we don’t have what it takes? Just look into the crystal ball.
West Coast 2.2 5.9 9.10 13.13 (91)
Sydney 2.2 4.3 7.4 10.5 (65)
Goals
West Coast: Cripps 3, LeCras, Kennedy, Gaff, McGovern 2; Hill, Shuey
Sydney: Franklin, Hayward 2; Cunningham, Foote, Papley, Florent, Lloyd, Reid
Best
West Coast: Shuey, Yeo, Gaff, Hurn, Priddis, Kennedy
Sydney: Kennedy, Lloyd, Parker, Grundy, Marsh, Hannebery
Umpires: Foot, Dalgleish, Jeffry Crowd: 38 065
Our votes: Shuey (WCE) 3, Yeo (WCE) 3, Lloyd (Syd) 1
About Daniel Saunders
Yes, that's my Swans hoodie. Yes, those are swans in London. If you're reading this, I hope you enjoyed the ramble.
Studying in the school holidays? That’s a downer.
Excellent read, Daniel, and much more fun than studying during school holidays. (-:]
Your Swans might need to beat the Giants next weekend to have any remote chance of making the finals.
Sydney traditionally doesn’t “bottom out”, so it’s hard to see how they’ll view missing the eight which would appear almost certain if they lose to GWS.