Five days after taking on the Kangaroos, the Swans made their way north to face the other half of this year's obvious Premiership chances, the New England Nomads. Greeted by a surprisingly pleasant day, the Swans were once again looking to make their opponents earn any victory. Some late omissions caused the Swans to rethink their structure, especially across key positions.
The Nomads had the run of the early clearances, however the Swans intensity around the ball starved them of their favoured free running possession and caused some hurried disposals. The better mobility of the Nomads outfit saw them dominate inside fifities, but dogged efforts through the Swans back six saw the Nomads forced to kick from awkward positions. This, combined with a tricky breeze, restricted the Nomads scoring to just three major scores to go with a series of behinds. Hard run from the Swans centre and half forward line saw them promote the ball to keep the Nomads' defence honest, but at quarter time they had just a single point to their name. Regardless, the Swans had done well to keep the deficit to just 25 points at the first change.
Predictions of the Nomads coming out firing in the second quarter were safer than the weatherman, and they did not disappoint. Controlling the clearances, the run of the green midfield came to the fore, and they swept forward in waves, unleashing a barrage of ball inside the Swans defensive fifty. Strong marking from the Nomads forwards, along with slick roving, saw them take full advantage, as they piled on goal after goal to blow out the margain. The Swans battled away across the park, but struggled to shift the momentum once the Nomads got on a roll. Trumaine Rankmore's strong efforts at the clearances saw the Swans raise some brief attack, but another solitary point was their only reward. At the half time break, the lead had blown out to 107 points.
The third quarter saw the Swans midfield lift their intensity, but again the strength of the Nomads had them on the back foot. Working hard around the loose ball, the Swans did their best to match the Nomads, but once they cleared the ball their superior run saw them break loose, with the Swans backline up against it to clear the quality ball that was being sent in. The effort across the park from the Swans was brave, but without true clean ball they were unable to trouble the scorer, and eight goals to the Nomads had them up by 165 at three-quarter time.
The Swans took to the fourth quarter keen to finish off the effort, but the Nomads were equally keen to truly assert their dominance. The Swans midfield continued to tough it out, but with some knocks starting to tell the Nomads were able to get better numbers around the ball. The Swans back six still battled away, but as fuel rations ran short the Nomads forwards found more space to boot ten goals to close the game. The red and white did manage some attacking forays, but these saw shots at goal from long range, and resulted in another two behinds. In the end, the rampant Nomads ran out victors by a commanding 228 point margain.
In what proved to be a long and frustrating day, the Swans could take some pride in never shirking the task, despite being largely outgunned. Maddison Smith played his best game for the year, presenting strongly from the forward line, and he was named the Swans' best and the Player's Player. James Dunston was strong through the centre, along with Trumaine Rankmore, who was troubled by a foot injury for most of the game, and the competitive fire of the Kelly boys left an impression. In a unique treble, Maddison Smith also scored the Green Ant for a clumsy attempt at jumping the perimeter fence at half time.
FINAL RESULTS:
NOMADS: 3.8 (26) 16.13 (109) 24.23 (167) 34.28 (232)
SWANS: 0.1 (1) 0.2 (2) 0.2 (2) 0.4 (4)
GOALS:
NOMADS: W. Whitby (8); D. Richards (7); Z. Economou (6); M. Foley, A. Walsh (3); H. Cook, J. Ellis-Cluff, A. Garraud, S. MacDonald, J. Petrascu, L. Raymond, P. Tobias (1).
SWANS: Nil.
BEST:
NOMADS: P. Tobias, A Garraud, J. Ellis-Cluff, M. Foley, A. Mitchelson, D. Richards.
SWANS: M. Smith, J. Dunston, J. McKenzie, J. McArthur, C. Kelly, T. Kelly.
Last Modified on 12/07/2015 14:52