The Sydney Swans came away with a thrilling two-point victory over Geelong at the SCG last night, with forward Tom Papley securing the victory with a match-winning goal with 91 seconds remaining on the clock.
Sydney trailed for most of the match but they were able to claw their way back into the clash with great spirit.
See some of the key quotes from the post match press conference with John Longmire following the game.
The fightback from quarter time
"We were in a lot of trouble at quarter time, there is no question about that. Whether it was contested footy, uncontested footy, scoring shots.
"We were in a bit of trouble at quarter time, but certainly for the next couple of quarters, we were able to slowly get back into the game through a few different ways.
"We had good belief that we could keep hanging in there and keep pushing away. They were pretty good the Cats, because if you look at the stats, after the first quarter they were right out of the box but the belief to keep going, keep working and some big efforts by some players got us over the line."
Character building victory
"You wouldn’t want to come back with that stat sheet every week and expect to win a lot of games of footy. But sometimes you can get over the line and find a way.
"They [Geelong] are a very experienced team, with only a couple out, had a massive win last week and got off to a flyer so to be able to come back and claw your way back into the game, it showed great spirit.
"Our boys did a good job with being able to hang in there and claw back,"
Hayden McLean
"We went in with a bit of a different forward set up, when you consider Hayden and Callum Sinclair as our two key forwards, and fortunately we took our chances and kicked straight because that helps a lot and makes you more efficient but those guys tonight did a really good job."
Tom Hickey’s return
"I am still scratching my head a little bit about it to be honest.
"Certainly how Hickey did it today, to be able to play in the ruck coming off a significant long term injury initially, it showed great character.
"Players across the board do it a lot, they play with injury a lot and get on with it every week, and players across the competition have great guts to be able to get out there and do it and certainly Hick showed that."
Tom McCartin & Lewis Melican in defence
"Tom was playing on one of the superstars of the competition. He got a lot right and got a couple of things wrong which is what you expect when playing on some of the best.
"Certainly after quarter time we were able to halt a bit of that service in there. It lifted in the back of the last quarter, we couldn’t get it out of our defence, but I thought he did a pretty good job.
"Lewis Melican as well, he was able to bat on even though he had a couple of knocks but he kept going which showed great character.
"Lewis hurt his hamstring, and I think he has a sore groin as well. I think he got it early and kept going, he played a 100 minutes in the end so is a bit sore. It’s not ideal for him, because he gets himself back and starts to play some good footy and gets a little set back again which is unfortunate."
Tom Papley’s winning goal.
"It was pretty good! He is a good player and he got around the hunt a bit today and it was a quality kick. It was good for the crowd and a great feeling after the game.
"Today, he did some really selfless stuff and he was fantastic. He has been really selfless this year, he has been terrific, he is squaring the ball up and being able to bring other players into the game. For a smaller stature player in our front half, he has a big presence because he is not only full of energy, he brings other players into the game and gives them an opportunity."
