Sydney’s youth put on a masterclass of football at the SCG on Saturday afternoon in a comfortable 33-point win against last year’s wooden spooners.
Fresh off an upset win against premiership contender Geelong, Adelaide were expected to challenge Sydney in a hotly-anticipated clash.
The opening stanza lived up to the hype, but before long the match fizzled out as Sydney built a dominating win.
After making a quick start and punishing Sydney’s defensive lapses in the opening quarter with three of the first four goals, Chad Warner (two goals, 20 disposals), Errol Gulden (22 disposals, 11 score involvements), Braeden Campbell (25 disposals, 700 metres gained) and Justin McInerney (20 disposals, one goal) were outstanding.
McInerney, playing his first game for season 2021, grew into the game before becoming a forward-half force in the second and third quarters, before booting his first goal of the season.
Tex Walker played a lone hand for the Crows in the first three quarters, finishing with six majors for the match in a near best-on-ground effort, while Shane McAdam kicked three in the last quarter to finish with four for the match.
(Photo by Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images)
Speaking in the AFL press conference post-match, Matthew Nicks heaped praise on his star forward.
“It wasn’t so much his lead up at the footy, [I think he] had four or five tackles inside the forward 50, and we were kicking goals off of pressure.
“That may have broken the number of tackles that he’s had in the forward 50 over course of his career.”
Lance Franklin made his long-awaited return to senior football – 581 days after his last match – with a goal in the opening quarter.
Swans coach John Longmire was happy his star forward made it through the match unscathed.
“Our expectations were very low today with Lance, to come in and play a role, and hopefully things work out and get through and play the game.
“The good thing is that he feels good now, so we’ll be interested to see how he pulls up this week.”
Despite dominating the play, Adelaide could only muster scoring chances from errors by the Swans defence, coughing up three scoring shots from free-kicks.
A late goal to Tom Hickey – his second for the match – steadied the Swans before they launched their attack on the scoreboard in the second quarter.
Whatever was said behind closed doors in the Adelaide change rooms had the desired impact as their first-quarter pressure returned to elite levels.
Despite Adelaide having more of the ball and forcing the less-experienced Sydney players into turnovers, Sydney were absolutely ruthless on the turnover, scoring an incredible nine goals six to three-quarter time.
Taylor Walker, Rory Laird, Tom Lynch and Shane McAdam (two) missed gettable chances that would have dragged the Crows back into the match, while young Swans Sam Wicks and Chad Warner booted impressive goals on the run late in the quarter to extend the lead to 51 points at the last change.
Rory Laird was once again excellent for the Crows, finishing with a match-high 30 disposals, while Rory Sloane (21 disposals) and Ben Keays (28 disposals, one goal) contributed extensively in the second half.
Sydney Swans senior coach John Longmire conceded that despite the win, his chargers still have a lot to work on.
“You go into the game, thinking you’re going to win by 33 points, and you do well injury-wise, we would have taken it.
“A few things to work on, they ended up having 31 scoring shots – 16 scoring shots from stoppages, but on the balance take that every week.”
Jordan Dawson (corked thigh) and Tom Papley had late injury scares but were able to finish the match.
Next up
The Swans take on premiership favourites Richmond at the MCG on Easter Saturday who may welcome back Bachar Houli and can expect James Rowbottom to make his return. The Crows take on the Gold Coast Suns on Easter Friday at AAMI stadium in another match between two up-and-coming teams.
John Forsyth
Guest
How good would The Swans be if they still had Aliir Aliir , would have traded Franklin to keep Aliir !
AD
Guest
Walker kicked 15 goals for the season last year. He's on track to pass that total in round 3 this year!
Kick to kick
Guest
The Crows will challenge plenty of teams this year. I was impressed at the way they kept at it and by the very end were bossing the Swans in clearances and midfield despite being well beaten on the scoreboard. The Swans were intense precise and dynamic for long stretches but spent a lot of fuel which in part explains the last quarter fade. At the ground it was noticeable that several Swans dropped to their haunches or hands and knees the moment the final siren went, too knackered to even celebrate. A sign of commitment. The Crows looked more composed, though maybe that also says something about which team wanted it more. Coach John Longmire will worry about the fade and more crucially about losing centre clearances 16/10 which helped Adelaide enormously. Centre bounces are very important at the short SCG. The Swans also lost the stoppage clearances. Mind you 4 or 5 of those centre clearances were free kicks to the Crows - all of them unpopular with the crowd. Adelaide also skipped out to its early lead with 3 goals assisted by free kicks. They were probably all there, but oddly for the second week in a row the Crows won the free/kick count 2:1. Is that a record in consecutive matches? The consequence of pressure applied? Does Matthew Nicks have a coaching secret reducing his own team’s mistakes and forcing the opposition into error? I’ll be interested in next week’s tally.
Mooty
Roar Rookie
Two major bonuses out of this game, one is the successful return of Buddy hopefully he can see the season out, the other is the ongoing form of big Tex, if he keeps this up he’s a chance to kick a ton, something everyone thought was well and truly beyond the best forwards today. Maybe the rule changes have been beneficial for big Tex
Chris M
Guest
If the Swans want to be in the game against Richmond, they will need to stop make sure that they don't give their opponents a head start in the first quarter and that they sustain their efforts right through the last quarter. It remains to be seen how quickly they can relinquish the bad habits of the last two games. This may be too much to expect over the course of a full season when you have three first year players who have shown that they are worthy of being in the best 22 but aren't accustomed to the week-in week-out intensity and endurance required at the top level. It was great to see big Buddy banging the ball about in his comeback game even if he is still shaking off the cobwebs. If Buddy has got himself, fit and healthy like Adelaide's Taylor Walker has, and remains so, Tex this year has shown that the autumn of Buddy's career can also be an Indian summer. The Crows' Tex Walker was well rewarded with six goals for his skill, energy and tackling pressure. Although he was rusty after a long lay-off, how are some simple ways Buddy can try to improve his game? Go hunting for the man as much as the ball and get a few free kicks by making as many tackles against Richmond as Tex did against the Swans. You are still the most elite forward in the team, but you need to find a way to be less wasteful of some of your shots for goal. You may have been rusty but you should have had 4 goals against Adelaide. Get help in improving your set shot goalkicking accuracy in front of goal when you are in close range. You miss too many gettable ones. Unless it's a no-brainer for a teammate to handball to you, stop demanding the ball from young players such as Logan McDonald when they have marked reasonably close in front of goal. (I wondered whether Logan McDonald's shanking a set shot for goal may have been due to it playing on his mind that Buddy has just demanded the ball from him and he chose to take a set shot instead.) You got gifted a goal from a Logan McDonald handball. Make sure you return the favour as soon as McDonald is in a better position than you to score (unless maybe you are on 999 goals). Buddy, may you get to 1,000 goals as soon as possible and get another premiership before you retire, maybe with the 2021 or 2022 Swans version of the 2016 Western Bulldogs.
The Sports Lover
Roar Rookie
Thud - that was the sound of the Crows returning to earth. They’re a better team than last year but I’m sticking to my prediction they’ll still finish in the bottom six.