No one was going to crash Jude Bolton’s 300th game celebrations on Friday night, least of all Collingwood.
The likeable Sydney midfielder led his team to a memorable 26-point win over their arch rival to book a place in Saturday’s grand final against Hawthorn.
It will be the club’s third grand final in eight years and its first decider again the brown and gold. Last Friday’s win comes with a portent: by winning the same Friday night game in 2005 they stormed into the grand final to beat West Coast for their first flag as the Sydney Swans.
Although they go into this weekend’s contest as underdogs, there’s a sense of confidence about the Swans’ ability to handle pressure and shut down their opponents. Players of the calibre of Josh Kennedy, Ted Richards, Adam Goodes,
Bolton, Jarrad McVeigh and Ryan O’Keefe are primed for the big tim and Lewis Jetta provides a spark that ignites many a forward thrust.
Bolton was superb in Friday night’s contest which Sydney led throughout. The Swans were 14 points up at quarter-time and seven goals up late in the third quarter before the Magpies began their inevitable charge.
But, although the margin was reduced to 20 points, the momentum Sydney had generated throughout the game gave it the confidence it needed to withstand the pressure. The Swans backed themselves and held their nerve. There was to be no fade out.
The grand final holds no fears for this cohesive unit, eight of whom have played every game and four who have missed only one game. Their familiarity with each other was evident on Friday night when innumerable passages of play — like smooth links in a chain — inevitably led to a Swans’ forward thrust and goal. A sense of
desperation helped them scramble to smother many a Collingwood attack, resulting in valuable turnovers.
The Swans were an irresistible force with no immovable object in their way. Their only weakness was inaccuracy in front of goal when easy chances — and possible game breakers — were missed. While these gave the Pies hope of an unlikely victory, the force was wearing red and white and it had come to celebrate Bolton’s party. His second was the Swans’ final goal for the night.
There was to be no denying a Swans victory.
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