There are a lot of things that must come together to make you a good footballer. These include good skills and physically ability, which means the modern-day footballer must be able to run and run and run. There are also the mental attributes required to play the game at the highest level. Our game on the weekend was certainly a physical slog against the top-of-the-table UWS, but it was our mental/emotional ability that dragged us over the line.
At the SCG for the last time this year, the boys were looking forward to testing themselves against an opponent that had a 2-1 winning record over us during the home and away season. Like we have managed all year, we started well and our pressure was up, which saw us make lots of tackles. UWS also had their pressure right up and in the early stages both teams were rewarded with a goal apiece. We missed a couple of opportunities after that, while our opposition made the most of their opportunities by adding a couple of goals. We managed one more goal for the quarter before UWS kicked two late goals of their own to lead by three goals at the first break.
We hadn’t played that poorly, so the message at quarter-time was to continue to pressure the opposition, make the most of our chances up forward, and to do whatever it took to restrict the opposition in our defence. The challenge was made a little tougher as we already had one player unable to come back on through injury.
The second quarter was again a tough contest. Both teams missed opportunities before UWS struck kicking two consecutive goals and going out to a 33-point lead. We had also sustained another game-ending injury, meaning we were down to only two on the bench. The boys rallied towards the end of the quarter kicking two goals right on half time, but also allowed another goal to the UWS, who had extended their quarter-time lead out to 26 points. We made some changes structurally at half-time, which we had to do as we were missing a couple of players which had changed the balance of the side, so our changes had to reflect that.
One of the most rewarding things as a coach is seeing players execute a plan that allows them to turn the game around, and allows them to start putting the goals on the board. We had a great quarter kicking five goals to UWS’s one to be behind by only three points at the last break. We had the momentum but had another two players struggling with injury. They spent a lot of the third quarter on the bench but hadn’t been ruled out for the rest of the game. Unfortunately it didn’t take long for that to happen, with that moment coming within the first five minutes of the last quarter, meaning we had no rotations for the final 25mins of the game. In that same period UWS kicked two quick goals to go out to a 15-point lead.
I mentioned at the start about the physical skill requirements to play our game at the highest level, but this last quarter was all about the mental and emotional side of the game. The total desire to will yourself to a contest when your body is tired. To never give in and have that will to win. Even at our level you can’t simply turn up to work and go through the motions to play good football, you must get emotionally involved, and that’s what we saw. At 15 points down in the last with no rotations left, we held our opposition scoreless for the last 14 minutes of the game and kicked 2.4 to win by a point. It certainly wasn’t the best football we had played all year in terms of great ball movement, but it was our best emotional win, and it was great to see it on the faces of the boys as they hobbled of the SCG for the last time this year.
Our challenge this week is to bring the same intensity and that same emotion as we head away from the SCG and out to the north-western suburbs of Sydney to take on the Hills Eagles in the last match before the finals series.
Player Focus:
Each week, the Sydney Swans development coaches, Josh Francou, Jared Crouch and Nick Davis will highlight the performances of some of the Swans’ NEAFL players.
These players are those who contributed well on game day, made improvements or played a significant role for the Swans.
NEAFL Player of the Week – Tom Mitchell
Tom was very good on the weekend. He has been progressively playing more game time in recent weeks after a layoff with a knee injury and he was back to his best with 11 clearances and six inside 50’s. As we have come to expect, his inside work was good, and he was able to get more outside ball this week and have a big influence on the game.
Key Stats: 15 kicks, 12 handballs, four marks, 11 clearances, six inside 50s
Tommy Walsh
It was another very solid performance from Tommy this week. He started a little slowly but was able to work his way into the game. He was strong defensively with numerous spoils and intercepts, while offensively he was able to get involved and help with the movement of the ball from our back half.
Key Stats: 11 kicks, 10 handballs, five marks, six rebound 50s
Ryan O’Keefe
Pebbles played mainly forward this week with some time on-ball in the second half. He was involved in hitting the scoreboard on five occasions with two goals. He was at his best with some strong work in and around the stoppages and was able to affect some good centre clearances in the last quarter.
Key stats: 15 kicks, six handballs, six marks, four clearances, seven inside 50’s
Harrison Marsh
Harry was solid down back against UWS. He makes good decisions as to when to defend and when to attack and was able to manufacture numerous inside 50’s with good offensive running. A couple of kicks missed their intended target in the first half, but overall Marshy played a good, strong game.
Key Stats: Seven kicks, nine handballs, three marks, five inside 50’s
Jordan Lockyer
It was another good game from Jordan this week. He was strong in the contest, both aerially and at ground level and generally made good decisions by hand and foot. At times we would like to see Jordan use his legs more with run and carry and be more penetrating with his kick. In saying that, he did have a very positive overall influence on the game and the result.
Key stats: 10 kicks, 12 handballs, five marks, six clearances, four inside 50’s
Daniel Robinson
Dan was given the job to run with former Swan Jed Lamb and held him to just three possessions in the first half, which was a very pleasing result. The tag was released after half-time as we were down on midfield rotations and Robbo was able to impact the game with a very good last quarter. He looked strong overhead and read the ball very well.
Key stats: Eight kicks, eight handballs, four marks, six clearances
