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The King is dead. Long live the King.
The Sydney Swans, widely thought to be the best team in the competition, and rightly so given their record since coming off a 0-6 start to the season, were knocked out of the 2017 finals series by a Geelong outfit stung into action after their humiliating loss to Richmond last week.
» Five talking points from Geelong vs Sydney
» AFL Finals forecast GWS vs West Coast
This was a story of coaching.
Chris Scott, who had over-thought selection against the Tigers and made a mistake dropping Dan Menzel, wiped the floor with John Longmire, who has always been more astute man-manager than tactical genius.
The first surprise for the Cats was Patrick Dangerfield not just starting forward, but staying there for the entire first half. The Swans would have been expecting him to spend five-minute periods inside 50, but not the first hour of the game.
Dangerfield kicked a couple of early goals, the first from a mark and the second to a free kick against his opponent, Dane Rampe. All of a sudden, he was shaping the game from the goal-square, and the Sydney defence was rattled.
Rampe, normally so composed, was shaken by Dangerfield’s early scoring opportunities, and his confidence ebbed away. All of a sudden, he had to focus on an opponent that was beating him, rather than helping out his fellow defenders and providing rebound from the back half as he usually does so well.
(Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
Mark Blicavs was used as a tagger on Josh Kennedy, and wore the Sydney inside bull down. Blicavs had a match-high 14 tackles, Kennedy kept to a season-low three clearances. Huge win to the Cats.
All week, Chris Scott had been positive in the media. Talk wasn’t of an opportunity blown against Richmond. It was about the opportunity still in front of them, with a premiership to win.
The most important thing for the Geelong players was keeping the game on an even keel in the first term, and were always going to come out fired up after a week of feeling the media heat. A siege mentality and being whacked all week still provides a lift, even in finals. Psychology is a funny thing.
In the second term, they broke the game open, kicking six goals to one and taking a match-winning 36 point lead into half-time.
What was evident in the first quarter, and continued on as the game evolved, was the patience of the Cats whenever they took a mark or won a free kick. Chris Scott and his team had clearly watched a lot of tapes of Hawthorn games against Sydney at the MCG, who we know have had a stranglehold on the Swans there.
The Hawks control the ball, and spread Sydney better than any other team, forcing them wide and into space, away from their natural environment of contested ball and team defence. The Geelong players executed this perfectly.
By half-time, Sydney were -22 in contested possessions and -55 in uncontested, which are enormous numbers to be down. Geelong were winning it on the inside, despite not having Dangerfield in the middle, and were killing them on the outside. By the end of the match, both of those figures were even bigger.
Geelong took 129 marks to Sydney’s 53. That’s one team playing perfectly to a plan, and the other with no answers.
Scott’s plan to leave Dangerfield couldn’t have worked unless his lesser-light teammates picked up the slack and raised their games. To a man, they did, especially given Joel Selwood was struggling for influence.
(AAP Image/Julian Smith)
Mitch Duncan should have been an All-Australian wingman, and showed why with his 36 touches, most of them precise, to go with a couple of goals. Steven Motlop was superb, breaking the game open with twinkle-toed movements and laser passing, complemented by pressure and tackling.
Sam Menegola was back to his best after a poor first final. Scott Selwood was as hard as ever, out-pointing the Sydney inside mids. Darcy Lang played the match of his career. Jed Bews and Jake Kolodjashnij were better for last weeks experience.
In opposition, the Sydney coaches and players were soundly beaten. Funnily enough, the year ended as it started for the Swans. Their best players were down, their depth players unable to pick up the slack.
Questions must be asked about why John Longmire can’t convert the most talented top end players in the competition into a premiership. The next time he wins a match-day coaching battle, will be the first time.
However, Sydney’s season is over. They are now yesterday’s news.
Geelong heads over to Adelaide, for Patrick Dangerfield to take on his old side in a preliminary final, a story that will dominate headlines all week. Chris Scott will be sure to have more tricks up his sleeve, but Don Pyke has proven himself an exceptional coach in his two years at the helm of the Crows.
I’d watch.