Congratulations to the Sydney Swans, who were crowned 2012 AFL Premiers on the weekend following their 37-point comeback win over Hawthorn in Tasmania.
They are now the fifth team to have been awarded the flag early this season after Geelong, the Hawks, West Coast and Carlton.
Obviously, I’m being facetious. They don’t give out premierships in May, let alone five of them. But if they did all of a sudden, it wouldn’t really surprise, because this has been a very abnormal year so far.
The natural order has been disturbed, to our horror, and nobody is quite sure what on earth is going to happen from here on out.
Usually we have some sort of idea by now of how the rest of the season is going to pan out.
In seasons gone by, there have been established hierarchies. These allow us to divide the various clubs in the AFL into convenient groups – contenders, pretenders, young up-and-coming sides, Richmond and those who tanking for draft picks. It helps us understand where teams are at in the bigger picture.
Think back to 2004. That was the time of Port Adelaide and Brisbane, when Mark Thompson was still an unproven coach and the Hawks stank to high heaven.
When Port and the Lions fell, nobody could touch West Coast or Sydney. In 2005, the bottom three was Hawthorn, Collingwood and Carlton. Slowly, they’ve risen.
Recently it’s been all about the Geelong and Collingwood juggernauts, while St Kilda and Hawthorn sort of bubbled under the surface while the big boys did their thing.
The point is this – right now, we’re lost. We’ve tried to figure out where we’re going but ended up looking silly.
The narrative so far in 2012 has been that there is a ‘Big Five’. Geelong, Hawthorn, West Coast, Collingwood, Carlton. Outside of them, nobody can win the flag.
That was the plan, anyway.
Hawthorn, the team anointed premiership favourites by an impatient media, have stage fright. The Colliwobbles have been hit by injury and in-fighting. West Coast are up and running, but their true credentials are unproven.
Geelong, annoyingly, aren’t going anywhere. Carlton are terrific, yet nobody will truly accept it until they’ve got silverware in their grasp. There’s your ‘Big Five’, but there are a couple of spanners in the works.
Sydney are the flavour of the week – and rightly so, after their amazing come-from-behind win over the Hawks in Tasmania. Steered by everyone’s hero, Adam Goodes, the Swans went from 20 points down at the interval to six-goal victors after the final siren.
Who needs to bottom out for draft picks when you can stay competitive and play this well?
The momentum will roll along nicely for John Longmire’s side. Just take a look at their next four assignments – Adelaide, Richmond, Melbourne, St Kilda. There’s every chance they’ll emerge from May with their undefeated record still in tact.
On the Crows – they look alright too, and Patrick Dangerfield has taken his game to another level, but they’re way too green to move into the competition’s elite bracket. Apparently.
If we frothed over Hawthorn and overlooked the Swans – not to mention the fact that we were blindsided by the Eagles’ rise last year – what else have we missed?
Will Fremantle have a say? They’ve taken to Ross Lyon’s gorgeous game plan like a duck to water.
It’s hard to imagine them being shoved around by the supposed ‘Big Five’ without hitting back. And what of Essendon and North Melbourne, the two sides who are scheduled to go up a level or two this year?
Who knows. Actually – nobody knows. And there’s no point trying to pretend we do, because it could all change again very quickly.
After so many cut and dried seasons, to have a genuinely, abnormally, excruciatingly open field is a strange feeling. But it’s worth it.
darren
Guest
we don't have to beat the world, just a bunch of AFL teams. If we beat enuf to make top 4 watch out
Jaceman
Guest
Swans and Hunt doing OK but still not world beaters...
Jaceman
Guest
Telegraph coverage improved out of sight with non NSW teams mentioned but this ahppened for soccer when they got the soccer rights to fuel subsciptions but then fell away. The SMH lagging of course and still has other columnists having a dig but I assume NRL money keeping NRL front and centre (as it should) and they suspect the Tele will go "pay wall" soon so they can gain a bit of circulation...
Lost Earthling
Guest
Let's not forget the Mighty Lions. We have just started to warm up and after our next two losses we expect to make it through the rest of the season undefeated.
Redb
Roar Guru
No Fluke - our destiny.
darren
Guest
Only 2 or 3 teams are out of contention for finals at this point, and we all know who they are. To keep popping up with a new flag favourite every week is ridiculous. It's only for the betting public. It would be nice to see some change in the 8 and this looks like the year it might happen, however, injuries suspension and such will still have a big say as the year rolls on
Matt F
Roar Guru
Just like Essendon's win over Carlton ;)
Brian
Guest
Wasn't it the swans who won the flag after being 2-4 after 6 rounds. Its good to have so many contenders and certainly no one has looked unbeatable.
Lachlan
Roar Guru
C'mon guys you can't jump on the bandwagon now. The swans have been the most consistant team in 10-15 years, they said we'd finish last when we won the flag. Personally i love being underdogs year after year, lets stick to the status quo and keeping writting us off.
Redb
Roar Guru
One off fluke.
Anthony
Guest
Both WCE and Hawks were flat after the slog the week before. Luckily for WCE they came up against the Tigers but the poor old Hawks had yet another top 4 contender to deal with.
Jonny G
Guest
The Swans only beat Geelong in Geelong last year, which no team had done in 2 years or so
CC
Guest
If anyone watched the game in Tassie on the weekend they would have seen a sub-standard first half by the Hawks - dropped marks, Cyril/Buddy missing in action, too flashy, the usual barrage of free kicks given away. The fact that the Hawks were 20pts up at half time while playing poorly says a lot about Sydney's stocks. Sure the Hawks were shocking also in the second half but that is only because the Swans found their mojo. The net result is that the Hawks played bad all day, while the Swans played bad for a half. Neither can claim to be a premiership fancy on that form.
Nathan of Perth
Guest
I hate to say it but there seems to be a problem between the ears. The stat I saw going around the Hawk boards was 0-5 for the last encounters decided by under a goal.
Nathan of Perth
Guest
It's a relative prediction: "Above Carlton" If Carlton get seconds, well... :D
Pillock
Roar Rookie
The ALP has it's two speed economy and the AFL has a two speed competition.
hawker
Guest
I thought being behind at 3 qtr time might've been the tonic for last qtr fade outs but even that didn't work....
Redb
Roar Guru
You beat Carlton last year when you finished 4th. Is that your prediction for 2012.
Redb
Roar Guru
see above.
Redb
Roar Guru
They got well beaten by Essendon :)