NSW/ACT Notebook: Round 21 review

By Michael DiFabrizio

Sydney Swans 19.13 (127) def. St Kilda 8.8 (56)
 
Nine goals to Lance Franklin headlined a comfortable 71-point win for the Swans over St Kilda on Saturday.
 
The win boosted Sydney’s percentage buffer ahead of Hawthorn, who are now a game behind the Swans after losing to Fremantle.
 
If the Swans win their last two matches, they will be minor premiers. If they drop one, a home final in week one is still practically locked up.
 
The afternoon got off to a good start with the Swans opening the match with a 6.3 first quarter – holding the Saints to just one goal.
 
St Kilda showed some fight in the second, but goals were still hard to come by. The Swans were able to continually add to their lead.
 
While the stats were even in clearances, free kicks, contested possessions and hitouts, and the gap in disposals was minimal, the Swans were simply able to get the ball forward.
 
Inside 50s were 66-38 and to make matters worse for the Saints, there was a bloke inside that 50 doing a lot of damage. Franklin had 19 disposals – all kicks – and 13 marks – all inside 50 – to go with his 9.4 in front of goal.
 
In terms of other notable performances, Luke Parker had 33 touches and a goal, Kurt Tippett kicked three, Jarrad McVeigh had 28 touches and a goal, and youngster Jake Lloyd impressed with 21 touches, seven tackles and a goal.
 
The Swans face the Western Bulldogs this week at Etihad Stadium.
 
Melbourne 3.16 (34) def. by GWS GIANTS 15.8 (98)
 
The GIANTS overcame an injury crisis to register a dominant 64-point win over Melbourne on Sunday.
 
The win marks the GIANTS’ first in Victoria.
 
The sad news was Jonathon Patton re-injured his ACL and will now miss another large chunk of footy, while co-captains Callan Ward and Phil Davis suffered a calf injury and concussion, respectively.
 
Despite having just one available man on the bench for a lot of the match, the GIANTS looked the better team. Each side had two goals at quarter time but from there, the Dees weren’t able to score again until the fourth quarter.
 
Meanwhile, the confidence of the away side grew. Three goals late in the second quarter built a nice buffer and the momentum carried on from there.
 
The Dees will be ruing their inability to capitalise on opportunities – they won the inside 50s yet kicked 3.16 – but the GIANTS will be celebrating their composure under pressure.
 
Remarkably, the GIANTS were only able to interchange 67 times – just over half the number of allowed interchanges.
 
Devon Smith was a leader with 31 disposals, 10 marks, six inside 50s and two goals. Josh Kelly also booted two and had 27 touches plus seven tackles.
 
Tomas Bugg (33 disposals) and Toby Greene (29 disposals) also saw plenty of the footy while Rhys Palmer led the goal kicking with four majors. Will Hoskin-Elliott had three.
 
The GIANTS now face Collingwood in a suddenly winnable game at Spotless Stadium this Saturday.
 
NSW/ACT Notes
 
Jarrad McVeigh (Pennant Hills) had 28 disposals, 10 marks, eight inside 50s and a goal for the Swans. Kieren Jack (Pennant Hills) had 25 touches, five tackles and four inside 50s.
 
Dane Rampe (UNSW-ES Bulldogs) had 21 touches at 90 percent efficiency. Harry Cunningham (Turvey Park) kicked a goal and Craig Bird (Nelson Bay) managed 15 disposals.
 
Lenny Hayes (Pennant Hills) picked up 17 disposals and five marks for St Kilda in his Sydney farewell game.
 
Adam Schneider (Osborne) had 20 touches and four tackles. Sam Gilbert (St George) had 19 touches.
 
Sam Rowe (North Albury) helped keep Tom Hawkins goalless and took nine marks in Carlton’s narrow loss to Geelong.
 
Hamish McIntosh (Lavington) had 18 hitouts, eight marks and a goal for the Cats. Tom Hawkins (Finley) also took eight marks.
 
Will Langford (East Sydney) had 24 disposals, 11 clearances, seven tackles and four inside 50s for Hawthorn in their loss to Fremantle. Luke Breust (Temora) took six marks and kicked 2.1.
 
Isaac Smith (Temora) had 20 touches, five marks and three inside 50s. Taylor Duryea (Wahgunyah) took seven marks and had 17 touches.
 
Mark Whiley (Finley) had a career-high 19 disposals, as well as seven marks and eight clearances, for the GIANTS.
 
Daniel Cross (Albury) picked up 18 disposals and laid four tackles for the Demons. Aidan Riley (Figtree) had five clearances.
 
Anthony Miles (North Albury) picked up 26 disposals, had six clearances and delivered six inside 50s for Richmond in their crucial win over Adelaide.
 
Taylor Walker (North Broken Hill) kicked 2.2 and took four marks for the Crows.
 
Jarrod Witts (St Ives) had 25 hitouts and six tackles for Collingwood in their loss to the Brisbane Lions.
 
NEAFL (Round 20)
 
Sydney Swans 11.12 (78) def. UWS GIANTS 11.11 (77)
Gold Coast Suns 5.5 (35) def. by Brisbane Lions 14.11 (95)
Belconnen 16.11 (107) def. Southport 13.8 (86)
Aspley 10.16 (76) def. Eastlake 0.2 (2)
Redland 9.8 (62) def. by NT Thunder 11.7 (73)
Queanbeyan 9.10 (64) def. by Ainslie 12.9 (81)
Sydney University, Hills Eagles – bye