Malcolm Rosas Jnr arrived at the Sydney Swans with one Gold Coast season's worth of senior football and six goals to his name. By half-time on Sunday at the SCG, he had five for the day. By the final siren, his career-high seven had powered the Swans to a 19.17 (131) to 17.12 (114) win over Melbourne, snapped the Demons' unblemished 3:15pm Sunday SCG record, and dropped Sydney back to top of the ladder at 7-1. The 40,673 in attendance saw the kind of forward-half performance the AFL has not seen from a Sydney player in a decade.
Five in the First Half, Two More for the Win
Rosas Jnr became the first Swan since Ben Ronke in 2018 to kick five goals in a single half, including the match opener. By the main break he had eight disposals, seven of them kicks, and Melbourne could not get a hand on him. The Demons' defensive rotations through Daniel Turner and Jake Lever could not solve the problem of a small forward roaming with a spare set of lungs and a six-second average from gather to set shot. Joel Amartey added four to ice the contest with his fourth in the dying minutes after a 50-metre penalty.
Around Rosas Jnr the Swans had Isaac Heeney with 33 disposals and five tackles, Brodie Grundy dominating Max Gawn in the ruck through the middle two quarters, and Justin McInerney with 29 and a goal. Charlie Curnow battled hard against Jake Lever for one goal and four behinds, with the Coleman race a layer of subtext around the Rosas Jnr fireworks.
Demons Refuse to Fold
Melbourne were 36 points down with 11 minutes left in the third quarter and the contest looked done. Then the Demons scored four unanswered goals across two minutes either side of three-quarter time, with Bailey Laurie and Tom Sparrow producing the kind of stoppage finishes that won the 2021 flag. Kysaiah Pickett finished with two goals and was best on for the Demons, ahead of Sparrow and Gawn who fought against Grundy until the final siren. The 17-point margin flatters Sydney by maybe four goals, but the result is the result. Brody Mihocek went off with a hamstring injury and is in the Round 9 doubt list.
Where the Markets Land
Sydney enter Round 9 as $1.16 favourites against Carlton at the SCG, the same Carlton coming off a 39-point loss to St Kilda and a 1-7 record. The line opens at -34.5 the Swans' way at dabble and Picklebet, with Voss now installed as $1.20 odds-on to be replaced by season's end. The Swans' premiership market has firmed from $7 to $5, behind only Hawthorn ($4) and Brisbane ($4.50) at Ladbrokes. Rosas Jnr enters the Coleman conversation at $26 with seven goals across two consecutive weeks before this one, although the more entertaining bet is the over 30.5 Rosas Jnr disposals next week, given his five against Carlton would suit the matchup.
The Demons drop to 4-4 and host the Bulldogs at the MCG next week. Full match details and the Last Two Minutes recap are available at AFL.com.au. Round 8 closed with Geelong's 49-point win over North Melbourne and Gold Coast's win over GWS at People First Stadium.