Quote Originally Posted by jeemak View Post
The standout performer on the day was Kennedy by a stretch, unfortunately for him as his influence diminished after half time and a close marking effort by our mids the Swans did as well.

Honestly, in my view Kennedy influenced the game more than anyone else but he didn't win so...…
Kennedy was BOG at half time but he had virtually zero impact in the 2nd half. He was in the top 5 on the ground but definitely not BOG for mine. I reckon his overall game was a tad overrated - he was absolutely white-hot for about 10 minutes in the 2nd qtr but just ok for the rest of the 1st half (and very quiet in the 2nd half)

Watching the replay as often as I have, the inside clearance work of Libba in the 2nd half is something to behold. He not only completely blanketed Kennedy but he consistently got first hands to the ball and won a number of crucial clearances that gave us such a territorial advantage in the 2nd half. Libba's game was underrated - very much akin to Bartel's game in the 2009 GF when he went onto Lenny Hayes at 1/4 time, who was absolutely carving the Cats up, and doing a complete blanket job on him thereafter.

Agree with previous comments that Boyd would have won the Norm Smith had he nailed that 4th goal. His game was pretty massive - 6 contested marks in a GF is the epitome of delivering on the big stage, and he contributed in all 4 quarters. Morris was pretty flawless and miserly all game, JJ gave great rebound drive (he missed a number of targets to be fair), Picken was a constant threat in the forward half, Macrae was involved all game (he loses points for missing an absolute sitter from point blank range in the 3rd qtr).

After several replays (at least 50) the standout BOG for mine was Bont. Every time he touched the ball it benefited the team - he had zero clangers in a high pressure game and set up so many opportunities for us in general play. A couple of examples being the Stringer goal being created from a stoppage with Bont going 3rd man up and expertly finding Macrae (whose quick hands were also brilliant, as was Stringer's gather and snap in half a nanosecond), and the Boyd goal near the boundary in the 2nd qtr which was the result of a precision 50m pass from Bont under pressure near the boundary and delivering on Boyd's chest with virtually no room for error.

The reason we won the GF was our even spread of contributions from all 22 players. We were so much more even than the Swans, who had a number of passengers on the day.