1. Sydney Swans maintain derby dominance
The GWS banner proved accurate when it said the battle of the two undefeated teams at the SCG would be heated, with the match a tight and hard-fought contest throughout. And while the Giants were unable to repeat last year's stunning result when they broke through for their first win against the Swans, the latest installment of the "Battle of the Bridge" showed the four-year-old club is closing the gap on its cross-city rivals, given the Swans' average winning margin in the Sydney derby was 12 goals heading into the match.
2. Heeney makes his bid for rising star honours
First-year Swans player Isaac Heeney continued his bright start to the season with four goals in Saturday's win. The 18-year-old looked right at home playing up alongside spearhead Lance Franklin, with a slick handball in the second quarter giving the Swans spearhead a clear run at the big sticks sure to feature in his highlights reel. Heeney also survived being wrapped around the goal post in the last quarter as he was slotting through his fourth goal. After 17 touches and a goal in his AFL debut in round one, Heeney followed up with another 17-possession game versus Port Adelaide last weekend before Saturday afternoon's four-goal haul.
3. Scoring shots versus the scoreboard
The Giants could rightly claim to have matched the Swans in most departments during the first half, with the inside 50 count and number of scoring shots tied at 27 and 16 respectively. However, while the Swans managed to make the most of their opportunities by kicking 10.6 - Heeney and Franklin had three each - GWS managed a poor 3.13 to trail by 35 points at the main break. It was a margin the Giants were unable to claw back.
4. Goodes strong outing in NEAFL
The Swans managed to secure the four premiership points without Brownlow Medalist Adam Goodes, who ran out with the club's reserves side earlier on Saturday morning. Facing the GWS reserves at Tramway Oval just outside the SCG, Goodes kicked three goals and managed to find plenty of the footy in a midfield role during about 90 minutes of match time. "I needed to get some minutes under my belt. I haven’t really got a lot in the last month, so it's good to run out here on this deck and play some big minutes." Goodes said. Meanwhile, GWS's Will Hoskin-Elliott was also a big name playing in the reserves and he lit up the scoreboard with five goals.
5. Parker's half drop-kick, half comedy act
Luke Parker has made a strong case for funniest goal of the year with his second-quarter effort. The hard-running Swan gathered the footy at the edge of the goal-square and looked set to run in for an easy goal, but slipped over at the critical moment. By default or design he managed to get the ball onto his right foot as he was falling over, dribbling past the outstretched hand of a Giants defender for what video replays would eventually confirm as a six-pointer.
