It was the Sydney Swans who took the win in a mini-version of the Sydney derby at Blacktown International Sportspark, downing the GWS Giants by 12 points on a wet Friday night.
The Swans got a good start to the match courtesy of two first-quarter goals from Lance Franklin, while also managing to hold the Giants goalless in that term.
However, scores were back to level at half-time as the Giants roared into life thanks to a supergoal from Josh Kelly, who was their best until the halfway mark but sat out the second half.
The highlight of the first half was a crunching collision between Lance Franklin and Tim Taranto, with a bit of help from Shane Mumford, which saw Taranto come off the field in no comfortable fashion.
However, you’ve got to give some credit to the kid – he came back on and kicked a great goal in the second quarter, and had 14 touches and six tackles for the match. Cracking into this talented GWS side won’t be easy but he has the tools.
The second half was quieter and was owned by the Swans – they kicked two goals to GWS’ one in the third term, and the only major of the final term, to eventually come out the winners by 12 points.
It was a low-scoring game much affected by the rain – the Giants’ disposal efficiencey ran at 62 per cent for the night and the Swans at 56 per cent, so it became more about grind than class, which played more to the Swans’ strengths than the Giants.
Callum Mills was excellent for the Swans, suggesting he’s ready to improve on last year’s Rising Star-winning season. He had twenty disposals and kept intercepting the footy, showing no shortage of skill even in the wet.
Darcy Cameron also showed a fair bit in the limited time he played, and might be in the mix for a Round 1 berth depending on what kind of ruck combination the Swans opt for. A big mark and goal showed he has the versatility to play forward with an impact.
In the end it was the Swans taking their first win of the pre-season competition, and a good one against a strong Giants side.
Final score
GWS Giants 1.4.9.42
Sydney Swans 0.8.6.54
Maggie
Guest
No, 'Battle of the Bridge' is a silly name dreamt up by the long-gone Kevin Sheedy. In Sydney 'the Bridge' is Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Josh
Guest
Sydney Derby is an A League term, use the correct Battle of the Bridge moniker thanks.
Swannies
Guest
Great effort by Swans last night. GWS will blow away North next week
Maggie
Guest
Thanks for the blog and write-up Josh. It was a good cobwebs cleanout for both teams. Not much to be taken from the result but a few new players on both sides looked very promising, including for the Swans Cameron and Florent, and Melican who is a rookie upgrade. Josh Kennedy took up where he finished last year and Buddy looks very fit and ready to go. Toby Greene has a nasty temper, lucky he didn't land a punch on Marsh or he might have been missing round 1. Ps: why do they still have super goals in this comp.? They serve no purpose as far as I can see, it doesn't seem that the AFL is trialling the concept for the H&A season any longer (if they ever were).
Swanny
Guest
Spot on maggie
Maggie
Guest
'... crunching collision between Lance Franklin and Tim Taranto, with a bit of help from Shane Mumford,' A bit of help from Mumford?? The collision was completely a result of Mumford lining up Franklin with a big bump which then knocked Franklin into Taranto.