When Will Hayward kicked his first goal for new club Carlton, eight minutes into the first quarter of Thursday night’s AFL season opener at the SCG, the former Swans favourite turned to the crowd and gestured at them to be quiet.
They hardly needed to be told. A silence had already fallen over the home supporters, as everything that could go wrong for the Swans did.
Isaac Heeney had taken an accidental knee to the head from former teammate Oli Florent and was not certain to return for the second half, as his team went into the break 10 points down.
But Heeney reappeared after the interval, joining his teammates for a stunning 12-goal, 75-point third quarter that changed not only the game, but perhaps the Swans’ season. This is how the Swans turned the match on its head.
Cox’s measured messaging
Dean Cox is could have sprayed his players at halftime, but Heeney told this masthead after the game that while the coach had been firm, he was “also pretty measured.”
Cox’s side missed out on finals in his first year, and he used that experience to motivate his team when everything was going wrong. Ultimately, he knew his midfield had to find the football consistently to unlock the goals that would later come.
“I thought early our midfield were beaten, and convincingly,” Cox said. “You had [Cooper] Lord, [Patrick] Cripps, [Sam] Walsh, [Jagga] Smith, they all had eight or nine touches each, and some of our blokes hadn’t touched it.
“So the response after half-time from them, especially like Errol [Gulden] had a lot [of the football] early in the third, Isaac did what he did, Rowy [James Rowbottom] got his hands dirty like he always does. So they responded really well.”
McInerney magic
Justin McInerney is a footballer loved by his teammates for doing the unglamorous parts of the game well. But in the third quarter, he took centre stage, providing the Swans with the inspiration they desperately needed.
McInerney kicked six goals all last season, but it took him just three minutes to boot two in the third quarter, setting off a remarkable chain of six majors in a row for the Swans.
The spotlight had been on Charlie Curnow before the game, but McInerney finished the night with 31 disposals at 84 per cent efficiency, 14 score involvements, six score assists and three goals that provided the catalyst for a remarkable comeback.
Heeney’s ‘brickhead’ comes good
Heeney shook off the knee to the head from Florent, jokingly referring to himself after the game as a ‘brickhead’.
Beyond his two crucial goals, the vice captain also started to find the football that had proved so elusive in the first half.
Heeney’s 13 disposals helped the Swans find handball chains to created a devastating attack that Carlton ultimately could not handle.
Curnow’s first goal sets SCG alight
Before the first bounce, Curnow was shoved aggressively by former teammate Marc McGovern, setting the tone for a difficult first half. Curnow had faced Jacob Weitering hundreds of times in training for Carlton, but as a live opponent, he struggled.
With the Swans midfield finally dominating the corridor in the third quarter, Curnow got the service he needed and his first goal sparked the largest cheer of the night from the SCG.
Heeney had watched the pressure build on Curnow before the game, and said the Swans’ exuberant celebration was simply an acknowledgement of how much the star full forward meant to his teammates.
“I’d say it wasn’t pre-planned, no, I think it just shows you the passion the boys have got for him and for [fellow debutants] Malcolm [Rosas] and Jai [Serong] as well,” Heeney said. “There’s new boys coming in and playing their role and having such a presence like Charlie is unbelievable.”
Curnow finished with two goals in the quarter, from two kicks, showing his devastating ability to feed off scraps.
A night for the supporting cast to shine
The goal-kickers in the third quarter read like a laundry list: McInerney (3), Heeney, Curnow, Matt Roberts (2), Joel Amartey, Logan McDonald and Tom Papley.
The spotlight had been on Curnow before the game, but the Swans proved goals can and will come from anywhere in their line-up.
In four seasons at the Swans, Matt Roberts had kicked a total of four goals. In the third quarter alone, he kicked two. Roberts’ second major of the night, 25 minutes into the third period, highlighted that anything was possible.
Taking the ball from his feet, Roberts kicked outside the 50 on his left foot. It was a remarkable goal and not part of Roberts’ normal job description. It was that kind of night. In the Swans’ magical third quarter, anything was possible.
“He’s really one of the most selfless players we have,” Heeney said. “You look at his transition running, it’s next level and his skills have really improved. He had a massive night, and he was probably our most impactful player.”
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