And that's the Sydney style

by LES EVERETT

SPEAKING on ABC Radio prior to the preliminary final between West Coast and Adelaide, 1994 Norm Smith Medal winner Dean Kemp made light of the deficiencies in the forward line of the Eagles.

swans 2005

The Swans leave the SCG earlier this year. Now they are the premiers. Photo by Les Everett

His point was that you don't finish second on the AFL ladder if you can't score. West Coast accordingly scored more than Adelaide and made the grand final. So did Sydney's four point grand final win prove Kemp, and therefore John Worsfold, wrong?

The answer is. Who knows?

The Eagles, with a kid at centre half forward - Ashley Hansen, who did reasonably well, and a ruckman at full forward - Michael Gardiner, who didn't do well, kicked seven goals for the game while their two leading goal scorers for the season watched on from the crowd.

The Swans, with the player considered by the AFL coaches as the best in the competition at centre half forward (or thereabouts) - Barry Hall, who took 10 marks and scored two goals. And a highly talented player at full forward (or thereabouts) - Michael O'Loughlin, who created numerous opportunities but kicked with concrete boots and would have found himself at the bottom of the harbour with a certain Mr Ablett had Sydney not won, kicked eight goals for the game.

In a truly great grand final between two worthy participants, the best team won. The margin no longer matters but it should have been greater.

There were periods of the game where the Swans should have put their opponents to the sword. They led by 20 points at half time. Early in the third quarter Hall and O'Loughlin dropped chest marks inside 50 and Hall and Amon Buchanan missed relatively simple set shots at goal. The chance to build an insurmountable lead was lost and the Eagles took the invitation to get back into the game.

O'Loughlin's stiff knee or doubting mind robbed the Swans of the chance to put a seal on the game in the last quarter and again West Coast accepted the gift. (It's since been revealed O'Loughlin was concussed in the first quarter, that's enough to put doubts into anyone's mind.)

However the Sydney win wasn't about individuals it was about the way the team plays. It's about every player doing the right thing all the time. When it comes to the basics - running, tackling, chasing, smothering, positioning and, it bears repeating, running - the Sydney style allows for no slackers.

Nick Davis was a forward who kicked no goals but watch the last few minutes of the game and see the contributions he made to soaking up time and denying West Coast possession and you'll get a feel for what it meant to be a Swan in 2005.

In the first quarter and again in the last the Eagles had the chance to take control but generally it appeared the Swans were dictating the terms.

The 2005 grand final was played the way Sydney wanted. It's a style that must be exhausting to execute and, in 2005 at least, proved impossible to combat.

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