WHAT THE BANNERS SAID
Western Bulldogs
Our rivals may be red and white
Just add blue for a mighty bite

Sydney Swans
From experienced to young
Bloods are one
Relentless until the job is done

OMEN
The first goal went to Bulldogs’ forward Barry Hall, who was facing his former side for the third time. He kicked five against the Swans in round eight and two in round 21, but by starting Saturday night with the first major of the game, he set the scene to land somewhere in between with four and help end his former side’s finals campaign.

HERO
He put up goat-like numbers in his last game, but Brett Kirk will always be remembered as a hero. The human embodiment of the Bloods’ spirit couldn’t get near it on the night, but never stopped putting his body on the line. He came off bleeding after a huge collision with Dylan Addison, but trudged back on soon after in characteristic fashion. He was chaired off by Ryan O’Keefe and Adam Goodes, with a guard of honour from both teams paying appropriate respect to an inspirational career.

GOAT
Heath Grundy was way out of his depth against Barry Hall on the night, but he compounded the mismatch with some howling errors. He dropped a sitter at a crucial time late in the second quarter that allowed Hall to kick his third goal against the run of play. Later he spilled one to Jarrad Grant, who had not been anywhere near the ball all night, and conceded another costly goal.

BY NUMBERS
7 - the number of sleeps the Dogs have until they get to seek revenge on St Kilda for 2009
0 - the number of touches Jarrad Grant had to half time.
598 - the number of times Brett Kirk left the field bleeding from the head across his career

THE DECISION
For a large part of the final quarter, it looked like a verdict was going to be delayed. The country’s Prime Minister Julia Gillard was in the crowd, and despite being a parochial Bulldogs’ fan, looked unperturbed by the threat of extra time. She must be used to waiting for a decision.

LOST IN COMMENTARY
SEN’s Kevin Bartlett called Swans’ forward Lewis Jetta “Jet-star” so many times, it appeared he might actually believe that’s his last name. Either that or he has a commercial agreement with the budget airline.

THE MOMENT THEY SHOULD REPLAY
It was a case of Daniel Bradshaw having to lead by example in the second quarter when he found himself on the end of what should have been a goal to a teammate. Mike Pyke missed his chance when he fresh-aired a kick deep in attack only for Shane Mumford to fall over his own feet moments later when he tried to recover it. Bradshaw sighed, delivered two pointed looks, and picked the ball up to kick one of his three.

Join the finals conversation on Twitter: use #afldogsswans in your tweets.