On a beautiful Sunday in Sydney, the Swans learned how to win ugly. The Swans came back from 33 points down to defeat St Kilda by two points at the SCG.
Jai Serong kicked the winning goal with just 15 seconds left on the clock to stretch his team’s unbeaten streak at the SCG to seven. It was Serong’s fourth goal of the season, and by far his most important.
The Swans battled back after losing two of their best players to injury; key defender Tom McCartin removed from the game after a worrying head knock that will ensure he misses next week’s game against Port Adelaide and Justin McInerney to a hamstring strain.
Undermanned for much of the second half and poor for most of the game, the Swans ultimately still found a way to win. No doubt, they will play far better football this season, but the character of this performance will provide motivation for the rest of their season.
St Kilda forward Liam Ryan, picked up from West Coast in the club’s highly spruiked off-season recruiting spree, was the spark for the visitors, kicking five majors, but ultimately his efforts were in vain.
On face value, the Sunday afternoon was custom-built for the Swans to play their fast-flowing brand of football. The sun was shining, there was no wind and their opponents were so far yet to impress or find consistency this season. But someone forgot to tell Saints coach Ross Lyon, who designed the perfect game plan to frustrate the Swans.
Inspired by the return of star midfielder Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera, who enjoyed sparring with Isaac Heeney, St Kilda played fearless football in the first quarter and most of the second, silencing a Sydney crowd that had arrived with the expectation of a comfortable home win in the sun.
Swans coach Dean Cox has been at pains in his press conferences this year to state that his team remain an unfinished product, and for most of the first half it was clear what he has meant.
The Swans were inaccurate with their disposals, sloppy in defence and squashed by the pressure of St Kilda.
It took just 40 seconds for Justin McInerney to kick the Swans’ first goal after a sloppy handball from St Kilda’s Darcy Wilson. But after that, the Swans’ reputation as slow starters was enhanced.
After returning from a calf strain, Callum Mills kicked poorly from defence, gifting the ball to St Kilda’s Liam Ryan, who outpaced the Swans captain and kicked a simple goal. Ryan then kicked St Kilda’s second major.
The Swans were wasteful in front of goal, with Charlie Curnow completely missing a shot at goal, but it was the unlikely figure of midfielder James Rowbottom who bobbed up to kick just his second goal of the season.
Three consecutive goals followed for St Kilda, two to Cooper Sharman and one to Max Hall, giving the visitors a 17-point lead, which few could have predicted.
The Swans were getting their share of possessions; they were just wasteful with them, and when St Kilda’s Jack Sinclair cancelled out a fortuitous Isaac Heeney goal, they were being kept at arm’s length.
This was a team (St Kilda) that last round against Hawthorn failed to kick a goal in the first half, but against the Swans, they managed 11 majors by half-time.
St Kilda extended their lead to 33 points through majors from Mitch Owens, Darcy Wilson and the returning Wanganeen-Milera.
St Kilda were in danger of running away with the game before Hayden McLean and Malcolm Rosas Jnr kicked successive goals for the Swans to start a potential comeback. But St Kilda again managed to find the answers, with goals to both Tom De Koning and Ryan.
Chad Warner had been poor throughout the first half. Inaccurate with his disposals and running into St Kilda defenders. But when the Swans needed him, he kicked beautifully from a sharp angle for his first major to help pull back his team.
Swans forwards Joel Amartey and Charlie Curnow both registered their first majors of the afternoon to cut St Kilda’s lead down to eight points.
But Sydney’s efforts late in the second term to bridge the margin was quickly undone by early in the third quarter when Ryan nailed his fourth goal of the game.
It wasn’t just on the scoreboard where Ryan was doing damage to the Swans. Midway through the third quarter he flew fairly for a mark, colliding with McCartin, who’d turned into his path to intercept. His exclusion from the game under concussion protocols will be a concern for all given his – and his family’s – history with concussion concerns. After all, the career of his older brother, former No.1 draft pick Paddy McCartin, was cut short in 2023 because of an extensive history of head knocks.
No undermanned, the Swans found their second-quarter fightback had been unravelled when De Koning kicked his second goal to complement a strong game at the stoppages.
But when Heeney, Curnow and Rosas Jnr each chimed in with their respective second majors, the Swans had set up a grandstand finish.
In the final quarter, McLean kicked his second major and pulled the lead back to one point before Ryan’s fifth goal – to go with a mark of the year contender – and a major to Bradley Hill restored St Kilda’s lead to 11 points.
Chad Warner then got his second major to pull the Swans within a goal with five minutes left. With the game on the line, Nick Blakey had a chance to give Sydney the lead, but his searing, low drop punt was marked desperately on the goal line by Saint Jack Silvagni.
But Sydney got one more chance. Heeney finding space to calmly work the ball clear of a stoppage in the goal mouth to Jai Serong, who kicked a late left-footed snap to steal the game and a memorable victory for the Swans.
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