What a difference a premiership and 250 days can make
Two hundred and fifty days from last Thursday night, it was the all conquering Western Bulldogs who achieved their first AFL premiership in 62 years. Sydney on that day were unable to match the sheer intensity of the Bulldogs who were irresistible in the finals campaign. On Thursday night it was the exact opposite as Sydney were red hot at the football and left the Dogs in their wake. I haven’t seen a Western Bulldogs side play so poorly in several seasons. They looked burnt out, lacked direction and cohesion and they have a coach who’s more interested in getting angry about Tom Liberatore than actually playing him. When asked at the post-game presser about the issue of Liberatore being out of the side, Luke Beveridge snapped back at the reporter “Have you seen him play recently?”. I thought that point was irrelevant. There’s obviously something going on between the two. After watching Travis “The Ghost” Cloke put in a shocker of a game. Cloke was nowhere to be seen. Jason Johannisen also had a terrible game with only 9 disposals. Last year he beat the Swans off his own boot and went on to be the Norm Smith medalist in the grand final. How could Beveridge leave Liberatore out of the side? Sometimes wallowing in lower level football isn’t the solution. It’s time for Tom Liberatore to be back in senior football which will wake anybody up.
Have you seen Tom Liberatore lately? Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge. Photo: Jodie Newell
Is Sydney back on Track?
Are Sydney back? Can they make the 2017 AFL finals? It’s a hard question to ask. They have been so inconsistent thus far. Dropping those early games, stringing together some wins, lose a shocker to an average Hawthorn side, then beat the reigning champs. I think this question will be answered next weekend when Sydney take on the Tigers at the MCG. If they can beat Richmond away, it will be a massive confidence boost. The Swans hunted in groups. Josh Kennedy had a score to settle after last years grand final loss which saw him weeping in dismay. His 37 disposals were superb. The future stars of the club in Isaac Heeney and Tom Papley took up the cudgels and played some tough, uncompromising football. Sure the Dogs were flat, but they were also beaten by a much better side. When the Sydney team walked into the rooms at half time they were fiercely united. They were team. Unlike last year at the grand final half time break. They looked like a deer in the headlights, stunned and shocked. Compare the two images below, the first being the grand final of 2016 and Thursday night. Some folks have remarked to me did you take that pic after they lost the game to which I said “No”. It was only at half-time and they had the lead!. It’s all fine and well to square up in winter when 4 premiership points are up for grabs. The real vindication for Sydney is to go back to the grand final and win a premiership. It’s going to be a very tough ask, but if they show and maintain the intensity they displayed on Thursday night, as Jim Kerr from Simple Minds once crooned “Anything is Possible” from “Promised You A Miracle”
Swans circa 2016 AFL Grand Final. Photo: Jodie Newell
Fired Up! Sydney at half time on Thursday. Photo: Jodie Newell
Dogs Flat as Pancakes
Premiership hangover has been applied to the Western Bulldogs and I’m sorry to say but it’s a term that’s been devised for a reason. The Bulldogs looked so flat. The crazy, wild, intense football I observed last year in the finals and home and away seasons was missing big league on Thursday night. I guess you can’t always be on top of your game. But honestly it was a shocker. What on earth is going on with the Bulldogs ruck department? An insane 65 to 16 hit out count in favour of Sydney. Are you kidding me? The ruck problem for the Western Bulldogs have me confused. They have had Lin Jong play ruck for goodness sake. I’m not doubting his ability, but he’s not a ruckman. Okay so coach Beveridge is trying something “innovative” but that experiment is exploding in his face. You cannot play a game of AFL football and have such a bad ruck tally as did the Dogs have on Thursday. Time for the ruck department to don white coats and start tipping the beakers back and forth they need a new formula otherwise they will truly become the “Igors” of the ruck skill scene. Just on rucking coaches, one bloke who had a massive grin post-match was Sydney’s ruck coach Stephen Taubert. Always been a big fan of Taubo’s work. He was in the inner sanctum of the Sydney rooms and I jokingly quipped to him “Are you going to hold the press conference” to which he laughed”. Sam Naismith and Callum Sinclair were red hot and provided plenty of ball at the stoppages. If these two can work well like they did on Thursday, then they will be a significant part of the reclamation the Swans are trying to apply to season 2017.
One of those nights Bulldogs acting skipper Easton “Chesty Bonds” Wood. Photo: Jodie Newell
