Australian Football

Match Report

A dominant opening quarter has enabled the Sydney Swans to record a resounding 60-point win over Brisbane at the SCG in front of 23,315 fans at the SCG on Sunday. The win was set up with a seven goal to one first term onslaught and Brisbane coach Michael Voss was left to rue another slow start from the Lions, as his team was competitive for much of the remainder of the match.

The Swans got away to a fast start with Adam Goodes strolling into a goal at the two-minute mark after a lovely tap-out from Mike Pyke at a boundary throw-in. Sam Reid took a mark and goaled at the six-minute mark and when Mike Pyke scored a goal of his own three minutes later, the Swans were already 21 points ahead. Dan Hannebery kicked his first at the 14-minute mark and when Sam Reid kicked his second not long after, things were looking disastrous for Brisbane. Pyke kicked his second and as the first quarter moved into time-on, the Swans had a whopping 40-point lead and the Lions had failed to score. Pearce Hanley finally broke the ice for Brisbane with a goal at the 24-minute mark, but Ryan O'Keefe responded just before quarter time and the Swans took a massive lead into the first change.

Brisbane managed to regroup and the honours were shared in the second quarter, with both sides kicking three goals. For a period in the early part of the third term, Brisbane looked like they might even make a game of it, but for a 10-minute period of dominance they were rewarded with just one goal and two behinds. The Swans then recovered and kicked away to lead by 54 points at the final change of ends, before coasting home to win by 60 points.

Dan Hannebery was magnificent for Sydney, with a goal and 32 disposals, while Kieran Jack (29 touches) and Lewis Jetta (21 possessions, two goals) were also excellent. Brisbane were well served by Ryan Lester (27 disposals, one goal) and Jack Redden (21 touches, one goal).

The Swans now head to the MCG to play the Hawthorn, the team they vanquished in the 2012 Grand Final, while Brisbane will be hopeful of a better performance against West Coast back home at the Gabba next Saturday.

GOALS
Sydney: Reid 3; Pyke, Bolton, Goodes, Jetta 2; Hannebery, O'Keefe, Parker, Kennedy, McGlynn, McVeigh
Brisbane: Green 2; Hanley, Lester, Zorko, Redden, Brown, Leuenberger

BEST - SMH.COM.AU
Sydney: Hannebery, Jack, Kennedy, Jetta, Reid, Goodes
Brisbane: Redden, Hanley, Lester, Rockliff, Green

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Sydney: Hannebery, Jack, Malceski, O'Keefe, Reid, Jetta, Parker, Smith
Brisbane: Lester, Adcock, Patfull, Polkinghorne

COACHES' COMMENTS
John Longmire (Syd): It was a really good performance, I thought. We jumped out of the blocks really strongly in the first quarter and really had control of the game from that point. I was pleased with the contribution of almost everyone, I think everyone played a really good strong role. Some of the blokes that have been struggling got a bit of the ball and played quite well and I think to win by 60 points and still have 70 tackles was an important couple of stats.

Michael Voss (Bris): Where are at the moment is that first quarters are letting us down tremendously, so we've got to get that right. Probably inconsistent is the way I'd describe it - up one week, down another, up one quarter, down another quarter. We've got to take that out [of our game].

SUBSTITUTES
Sydney: Jed Lamb replaced Ben McGlynn in the fourth quarter
Brisbane: Josh Green replaced Aaron Cornelius at half-time

UMPIRES: Dalgleish, Pannell, Mollison