The Swans’ grand final hangover will last at least another week after an opening round 20-point defeat to Hawthorn at the SCG, 14.12 (96) to 11.10 (76).
If the Swans needed a gentle reintroduction to the AFL after their disastrous grand final last September, an exciting and fearless Hawthorn side in opening round provided a hard landing.
Hawthorn’s famed “Hokball” is built around rapid ball movement designed to stun and dazzle their opponents.
Will Day was the conductor of everything Hawthorn did well in the first half, finishing the game with three goals and hoovering up 26 disposals.
Ruckman Lloyd Meek was also influential, bullying the Swans’ Brodie Grundy at stoppages and scoring two goals in a dominant display.
By the start of the third quarter, Hawthorn had a lead of 27 points that they looked in little danger of losing.
Jarman Impey of the Hawks and Braeden Campbell of the Swans compete for possession.Credit: AFL Photos
There were numerous painful flashbacks to the grand final defeat; Hawthorn enjoyed far too many uncontested possessions and Sydney were far too loose in defence.
New coach Dean Cox, normally a relaxed and genial character, was seen with his head in his hands as he desperately sent down instructions to his team by phone.
In the post-match press conference, Cox spoke about the challenge of taking charge of his first game in the AFL.
“Previously it [the job] was specifically to a line or a group of players, now it’s to the whole team,” Cox said. “We’ve had two practice games, it is my first official game, so yeah, no doubt I’ve got some things wrong, and we’ll have a look at that.”
The Swans badly missed midfield star Errol Gulden, with Chad Warner and Isaac Heeney forced to carry much of the load themselves. Warner, particularly, had glimpses of brilliance in his darting runs with the ball and two majors.
Paul McCartney and John Lennon struggled without George Harrison when he left the Beatles for five days in 1969; Heeney and Warner have to deal without Gulden’s creative brilliance potentially for three months.
Another maestro needed to step up for the Swans badly and there was a strong response in the third quarter.
If the grand final provides the main painful memory from last year, the Swans could also remember their ability to chase down opponents from difficult positions throughout the home-and-away season.
James Jordon stepped up to clamp down on Day and negated his influence, and Joel Amartey scored his third goal of the evening to set up a furious Sydney comeback with majors from Warner, Tom McCartin, Will Hayward and a long-range effort from Nick Blakey.
Nick Blakey celebrates a goal for the Swans.Credit: Getty Images
Rain started to fall heavily by the final quarter and the free-flowing football from both sides was replaced by long-range speculative efforts. Ultimately, this suited the visitors perfectly. They were able to slow the Swans down and successfully killed the comeback.
Hawthorn’s Finn Maginness got his side’s first major with chances diminishing for both sides struggling to juggle a slippery football.
Connor Macdonald jumped on an opportunity to score his side’s second goal of the quarter to stretch out the lead to 13 points.
Hawks skipper James Sicily showed his ability at both ends of the field with a goal that closed out the game for his side.
The best thing about sport is, regardless of the disappointment, there’s always next season – or in the Swans’ case, next Saturday, when they take on their grand final opponents from last year, the Lions.
Against Hawthorn, 40,310 fans arrived at the SCG to show that they were ready to move on from last year’s grand final at the MCG. The question remains: Can the Swans?
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