The Roar
The Roar

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Swans dominant, Hawks lucky to scrape through

Roar Rookie
23rd September, 2012
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Roar Rookie
23rd September, 2012
16

What a weekend of sport. Two fantastic preliminary finals, and we now know who will contest the 2012 AFL Grand Final – Hawthorn and Sydney. But the finals didn’t pan out as expected.

On Friday night everyone expected a classic close-encounter between the Swans and the ‘Pies, but it wasn’t to be. Sydney raced out to an early lead, and kept it for the rest of the game.

Sydney’s midfield of Josh Kennedy, Kieron Jack, Adam Goodes, Daniel Hannebery and Ryan O’Keefe dominated all game.

Collingwood just didn’t have any answers. They panicked. They made mistakes they normally wouldn’t, and just couldn’t keep up with Sydney.

On Jude Bolton’s 300th AFL match, it was his teammate who delivered: none-other than one Lewis Jetta, booting three goals to make it a memorable occasion his teammate.

It was Jetta’s devastating 100-metre run from the Swan’s defensive half that the game will be remembered by. Picking up the ball from the backline he ran.

And ran.

And ran.

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Jetta then proceeded to kick the goal that took the life out of Collingwood.

In Chris Tarrant’s final game, Collingwood just simply didn’t have it in them.

After a strong season, the better team progressed through to the grand final where they will meet Hawthorn.

South of the border, the twilight game at the ‘G’ had it all. It was a result no one was expecting. It was meant to be a blowout win to Hawthorn but it was Adelaide who attacked the Hawks and didn’t stop.

The Crows started the better of the two sides, hanging on to a five point lead at the half-time break. The Hawks were wasteful in front of goal, ending the game with 19 behinds.

To Adelaide’s credit, they kept at Hawthorn right to the end, but it wasn’t to be. Taylor Walker’s final quarter goal closed the gap to five points but it was just too late.

Patrick Dangerfield made the difference to Adelaide in the final quarter with a memorable performance. He completely dominated around the ground, setting up an exciting finish.

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They hit the lead with five minutes to go, so what did Hawthorn do?

They turned to their main-man: Cyril Rioli.

Rioli kicked a six-pointer straight away to put the Hawks back in the lead, before providing Franklin with the killer blow.

Rioli finished the game with 26 possessions, and in the last quarter gifted Hawthorn with a grand final berth.

Next Saturday, Sydney will take on favourites Hawthorn in the grand final. The two best sides all season have deservedly booked their places in the grand final and what a game we have on our hands.

So who will it be, Hawthorn or Sydney?

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