The senior Swans were like lizards who sit under rocks on hot days. When they strike they do it quickly and efficiently, giving their unfortunate prey little chance of escape.
When, in the opening minute of the final term, Richmond midfielder Dustin Martin kicked a banana goal from 45m, the Tigers drew level. After a behind, they were in front for the first time in the match.
Kicking to the scoring end, they believed themselves to be a huge chance to topple the Swans, who before this match were in sixth place.
Goodes, who until then had been only reasonable, then stepped up his game. O'Keefe, a busy player, but not a goalkicker, struck with a long, running goal against the flow of play to restore the lead to the Swans.
Josh Kennedy then made Richmond pay for inexplicably failing to take the ball over the line by soccering the ball off the ground, through a thick of players, for a goal.
Shortly after, the Swans played advantage after a free kick to Lewis Roberts-Thomson 20m out. The ball lobbed into the hands of Swans surprise packet Sam Reid, who loped into goal to put the Swans three goals up.
This all happened within a few minutes.
Five minutes later, Lewis Jetta kicked another to put the Swans four goals up.
Richmond, fighting on as it had for the whole afternoon, struck back through Andrew Browne and Tyrone Vickery, but the Swans had done enough to seal the win - yet again.
It was such a typical Swans victory. They strangled the opposition until there was no oxygen left, and then piled on quick goals to seal the win.
The inside 50 count was almost identical (50-49 in favour of Richmond) but the Swans had 10 more scoring shots, suggesting their forward press did a good job of locking the ball in.
The Swans had more marks inside 50 (11-7), mainly through Reid and to a lesser extent Goodes, but really it was an even game that was won after the senior Swans emerged to pounce.
Richmond had a huge advantage in uncontested possessions (204-147) but was unable to convert their dominance with the ball into a winning score.
Richmond's setbacks
The Tigers were dealt a blow when key defender Luke McGuane pulled out of the selected side and was replaced by rookie Jake Batchelor. Then in the first quarter another key defender, David Astbury, dislocated his knee cap. The Tigers took Brad Miller out of the forward line and put him at full-back, where he struggled to contain the 19-year-old Reid. Astbury had been slated to play on Reid.
Clearances
Swans ruckman Mark Seaby shone in the absence of the injured Shane Mumford, winning 36 hitouts to his opponent Andrew Browne's 29. The Swans, the stoppage specialists, won the clearances 52-38.
Reid
The player who will set tongues wagging was Reid, one of two teenagers in the Swans team; the other was tall defender Alex Johnson. In one spell in the second quarter Reid took two contested marks against Miller. Such was the quality of the marks that you could sense a shiver of panic in the Richmond camp. Alex Rance was over-anxious about spoiling Reid in the next contest. He tripped and gave Reid a free kick for in the back. However, Reid let himself down with his kicking at goal. His tally at half-time was 1.5. Reid kicked his second goal after receiving a handball in the goalsquare during the three goals in three minutes splurge to take his final tally to 2.5.
Duel
Ted Richards played on Jack Riewoldt the whole match. Riewoldt kicked two goals, both from superb marks, including one in which he swivelled on Richards' back, but he was frustrated by the conditions and too few opportunities in the second quarter. Richards could be considered the victor.
Finally
The Swans were goalless in the third quarter, scoring 0.5 to Richmond's 2.0. They just outscored the Tigers in the last quarter, 4.2 to 3.4, but they generally had the upper hand and deserved their victory.
Quarter by quarter summary
FIRST QUARTER
The day started badly for Richmond with the late withdrawal of key defender Luke McGuane and it only got worse three minutes into the first quarter when David Astbury was stretchered off with a serious knee injury. The club was made to use their substitute Tom Hislop almost immediately. To make matters worse, Trent Dennis-Lane kicked the first goal of the game shortly after Astbury left the field and the Swans had the momentum. Mark Seaby started to exert his influence all over the ground as the Swans found plenty of room in their forward 50 but couldn't convert on the scoreboard. The Tigers steadied with a goal to Jack Riewoldt midway through the term but the Swans hit back almost instantly. Both teams traded goals through Malceski and Nahas respectively before the Swans started to get on top of the contest. The Swans had 11 scoring shots for the term but couldn't convert despite having a number of set shots on goal. Lewis Roberts-Thomson showed his team how it's done for a second week in a row to kick the Swans out to an 11-point lead at the first change.
SECOND QUARTER
The Tigers needed a quick goal to start the term and Dustin Martin did exactly that within the first four minutes. Sam Reid had the chance to hit back straight away, but sprayed his third set shot on goal, before kicking truly moments later for his first. The Swans were made to pay for their goalkicking woes as Brett Deledio snapped to make the margin four points at the 17-minute mark. Reid started to dominate but once again couldn't convert his chances and finished the term with 1.5 to his name. Lewis Jetta finally gave the Swans the much-deserved lead with an easy goal late in the quarter. Surprisingly only 13 points separated the sides at the main break despite the Swans having eight more scoring shots.
THIRD QUARTER
The Swans came out in the third quarter desperate to put pressure on the scoreboard but again struggled to convert in the windy and wet conditions with Ben McGlynn missing from 30m out in the opening minute. The Tigers again made the Swans pay for their error as Tyrone Vickery kicked his first to make the margin just eight points early in the quarter. A spectacular mark and goal to Riewoldt reduced the margin to five points, despite the Tigers kicking six goals to the Swans' five. Richmond held the Swans to their fourth goalless quarter for the year and had the momentum heading into the final quarter trailing by only six points.
FOURTH QUARTER
For the second time Martin kicked the first goal of the term for the Tigers to bring the scores level. With the momentum swinging towards his team, Martin had an opportunity to really hurt the Swans moments later but pulled his kick to give the Tigers a one-point lead for the first time since the opening minute of the match. A touch of Kieren Jack magic was the spark the Swans needed as he broke through a tackle to set up O'Keefe for his first goal. What followed were two goals in as many minutes to Josh Kennedy and then Reid as the momentum moved back in the Swans' favour. Lewis Jetta later kicked a goal to put the game almost out of reach for the Tigers halfway through the term. A late surge saw the Tigers get to within two goals before the Swans steadied for a hard-fought 10-point victory.
Sydney Swans 3.8 5.14 5.19 9.21 (75)
Richmond 2.3 4.7 6.7 9.11 (65)
GOALS
Sydney Swans: Reid 2, Jetta 2, Dennis-Lane, Malceski, Roberts-Thomson, O’Keefe, Kennedy
Richmond: Riewoldt 2, Martin 2, Nahas, Deledio, Vickery, Browne, Vickery
BEST
Sydney Swans: Seaby, O’Keefe, Johnson, Kennedy, Reid
Richmond: Martin, Cotchin, Rance, Grigg, Houli
INJURIES
Sydney Swans: Nil
Richmond: Luke McGuane replaced in the selected side by Jake Batchelor, David Astbury (dislocated knee)
SUBSTITUTES
Sydney Swans: Trent Dennis-Lane replaced by Kieren Jack in the third quarter
Richmond: David Astbury replaced by Tom Hislop in the first quarter
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Ryan, Armstrong, McInerney
Official crowd: 23,782 at the SCG
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL
