North Melbourne v Sydney: Swans' old guard continues resurgence against Roos



SYDNEY 
5.2     11.7     15.9     18.12   (120) 
NORTH MELBOURNE 
3.3     7.5       8.8     11.12    (78) 
GOALS - Sydney: Reid 3, Hannebery 2, Heeney 2, McVeigh 2, Parker 2, Papley 2, Hewett, Kennedy, Franklin, Hayward, Jones.
North Melbourne: Brown 2, Turner 2, Goldstein 2, Cunnington, Anderson, Hansen, Hrovat, Higgins.
BEST - Sydney: Kennedy, Hannebery, Parker, Reid, Newman, Heeney, Lloyd.
North Melbourne: Goldstein, Higgins, Cunnington, Tarrant, Turner.
UMPIRES Ryan, Pannell, Stephens.
CROWD 21,589 at Etihad. 

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Jarrad McVeigh's body has failed him this year, and the finish line of an outstanding career is in sight. Indeed he is in doubt for next week's clash against St Kilda because of hamstring tightness. But the former Sydney skipper still has some tricks, and the same can be said of his side, which has at last found form after a hellish start to the season.

McVeigh mightn't have had much of the ball on Sunday at Etihad Stadium, but a couple of moments midway through the second quarter of the Swans' 42-point win over North Melbourne typified the influence the Swans' senior core had on this game. 

Swans coach John Longmire appeared pleased with his side's showing. "We were very good. A mixture of our contested advantage and our uncontested ball was spot on," Longmire said as he looked ahead to the match against the Saints next Saturday, also at Etihad.

"We've been better the last two weeks. We've got to just keep building on that."

Despite Sydney's control of general play for much of the first quarter and a half, the Roos had cut the margin to just seven points after Shaun Higgins goaled approaching time on of the second term.

But McVeigh, playing forward after receiving some attention to his hamstring in the first term, kicked two goals in quick succession, marking the beginning of the end for the Roos. It was striking that the oldest player on the ground capitalised on a pair of from North youngsters playing their second and fourth senior games respectively.

The first of McVeigh's majors came after Sam Durdin was penalised for knocking through a floating ball beyond his defensive goal square. Moments later Ed Vickers-Willis overran a bouncing ball at half-back, allowing McVeigh to pounce and steer through his second. Soon the Swans had extended the gap beyond five goals, and thereafter the Roos never threatened.

​It was that sort of day for North's kids, with the exciting Jy Simpkin's involvement ending early in the game after a heavy knock to his still relatively narrow shoulder. But to lay the blame for North's showing at the feet of their youngsters would be entirely unfair, because their experienced players were largely thrashed around the contest by the top tier of Swans.  Captain Josh Kennedy led the way for Sydney. He notched 15 disposals by quarter time, had reached 20 by early in the second term, finishing with 37.

Dominating the inside 50 count from the early stages,  Sydney found plenty of avenues to score. Sam Reid returned to form after a quiet fortnight, causing problems for Durdin. Dan Hannebery, Luke Parker and Isaac Heeney all contributed strongly too, with their neat finishing around goal complementing the hard work done around the ground to win the footy.

Remarkably despite his side's dominance it took Lance Franklin until midway through the final term to kick his first goal, a spectacular soccer through mid-air. Franklin also clumsily slapped Durdin high in the second quarter, but is unlikely to face any serious trouble from the match review panel for the incident. 

Sydney are suddenly clicking, drawing level with North on two wins having earlier slumped to 0-6. Longmire said he wasn't sure whether McVeigh would be available for the St Kilda match.

North coach Brad Scott said his side's showing was "unacceptable."

"Today was simple. We just got obliterated around the ball," Scott said.