A BROKEN leg to Gary Rohan soured the Sydney Swans' 36-point win over North Melbourne at the SCG on Sunday as the home side made its best start to a season since 1998.
On a wet afternoon, Ben McGlynn, Andrejs Everitt and Lewis Jetta kicked three goals apiece as the Swans moved to 4-0 with a 17.11 (113) to 10.17 (77) triumph.
It is the Harbour City club's best start since winning its opening five matches 14 seasons ago, but a compound fracture of Rohan's right tibia just two minutes into the game took some of the gloss off the polished performance.
Already playing without Adam Goodes (suspension) and Shane Mumford (back), the Swans lost dynamic young forward Rohan one minute after he kicked the game's opening goal.
Taken from the ground on a stretcher, Rohan gave the crowd a thumbs up, but the 20-year-old is expected to miss the rest of the season.
The home side quickly settled, however, and a match billed as a battle of two up-and-coming midfields was no contest, with Jack Ziebell, Ryan Bastinac, Daniel Wells and Andrew Swallow all well held.
In contrast, Luke Parker, Josh Kennedy, Kieren Jack and Jarrad McVeigh were outstanding for the Swans, while Rhyce Shaw did a masterful job on Brent Harvey, keeping him to just 14 possessions.
Matt Campbell, Jamie MacMillan and Lindsay Thomas kicked two goals each for the visitors, but they were well below the level they showed in last week's impressive win over Geelong.
As they have all season, the Swans got off to a strong start, winning their fourth opening term from as many attempts.
Two brilliant goals from Jetta and McGlynn, the latter's second of the term, helped the Swans to a commanding 26-point lead at quarter-time.
North hit back hard in the second quarter, kicking three goals in the opening 10 minutes - including a superb effort from Thomas right on the boundary line from outside 50m - to slash the deficit to eight points.
Five goals to one in the third term then established the Swans' match-winning 40-point lead at the final change.
With Goodes to return against Hawthorn next week, and Mitch Morton, Tommy Walsh and Trent Dennis-Lane kicking 17 goals between them in the earlier reserves match, the signs are promising for the Swans in 2012.
The Kangaroos, who are now 2-2 for the season, host Gold Coast at Etihad Stadium next week.
SYDNEY SWANS 5.5 9.7 14.9 17.11 (113)
NORTH MELBOURNE 1.3 6.7 7.11 10.17 (77)
GOALS
Sydney Swans: Everitt 3, McGlynn 3, Jetta 3, Bolton 2, Rohan, Malceski, Kennedy, O'Keefe, McVeigh, Armstrong
North Melbourne: MacMillan 2, Thomas 2, Campbell 2, Wells, Cunnington, Harvey, Petrie
BEST
Sydney Swans: Parker, Kennedy, Jack, Shaw, McVeigh, Richards, Everitt
North Melbourne: Thompson, Anthony, Cunnington, Thomas, Firrito
INJURIES
Sydney Swans: Rohan (fractured tibia)
North Melbourne: Nil
SUBSTITUTES
Sydney Swans: Tony Armstrong replaced Gary Rohan in the first quarter
North Melbourne: Kieran Harper replaced Todd Goldstein in the third quarter
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Farmer, Stewart, Mitchell
Official crowd: 21,049 at the SCG
James Dampney covers Sydney AFL news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_JD
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of the AFL or the clubs
