Heart patients,
Ooh.
There's something going on here.
There's premature talk in fandom that this could be the start of another '05 miracle, as the circumstances at this stage of the season are remarkably similar.
Quite rightly, SC Sheens attempted to put the firehose on unreasonable expectation, telling the scribblers from the fishwraps on interview after the game:
"You can hype us up all you like. I don't care. A few weeks ago you were bagging us. No one tipped us this weekend, no one tipped us last weekend. We have to wear that."
It was as well a constructed win of any this year.
For any opposition it's always very difficult to deal with the Farah/Marshall Show when its on fire, with another try by the Great Benji that he scored himself that was by all reports worth the price of admission alone, for the second week running.
But what most impressed everyone was the rugged pre-emptive pro-active defence - always on the advantage line, not waiting for the opposition attackers to come to them - go up to them and bash the crap out of them being the simple raison d'etre.
The Great Skando would have had a lot to do with the new style of forward play that's been finely tuned over the past month or so.
John Skandalis can't decide whether he's the Strength & Conditioning Coach or the Forwards Coach [perhaps they are the same - he doesn't pretend to know].
In the 249 games that he played for Western Suburbs and Balmain he certainly learnt the value of getting right up into your opponent's face before giving him one.
It annoys the shit out of most opposition forward packs, and its all legal and above board.
Down 0-8 at half time was never going to be a problem, the result was never in doubt, with the Dragons belted from pillar to post in the first 40.
The last two weeks, as it has been for most the year, has been a very clever all round coaching effort.
SC Sheens dreams up the set plays, specifically designed for each different game and meticulously drills them into the players on the training track.
St Tim has form when it comes to coaching a champion team, rather than a team of champions, and in fact, goes out to lunch and trades on that record.
It appears Peter Gentle has slipped easily into the Assistant Coach role left vacant by SC Simmons; all he has to do is be around to put out spot fires both on and off the field.
Does a lot of leg work around the practice paddock, and can spot a critical moment in a game and have a short word in SC Sheens shell like in case the main man hadn't picked it up.
In the players' down time, he acts, as Royce did, like the Club Welfare Officer and Team Chaplain.
Everyone, except the fans of course, is trying to play down the fact that on the back of four consecutive wins, the Tigers last four games are against teams that are already gorn for the year, and they appear on paper to now be bidding for a top four finish if they manage to put together an end of season mega purple patch of eight wins in a row.
But, with lowly ranked teams looking to prove that they aren't as bad as they look by upsetting the applecart and beating good sides who are challenging for the finals, there's always the chance of the wheels falling off the bandwagon.
So it's probably best to leave it at the that, with a top eight finish all but assured, and the argument about the order of the final table yet to come.
WESTS TIGERS 16. Tries: Fulton, Marshall, Ryan. Goals: Marshall (2).
ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS 14. Tries: Boyd, Morris. Goals: Soward (2), Hornby (1).
At Sydney Football Stadium.
Crowd: 27,687.
A bloody point, eh?
Never did see a single frame of this game live, on account of being otherwised engaged at a social function of football non-believers, and it was a very good thing too.
Of course, had no desire to have a look at the newsreels the next day.
A bloody point.
Pour me another drink, Fawlty.
A fierce loyalist gave me a ring after the game and told me that he was forced to reach for the heart pills on more than one occaision, and by three quarter time was on the verge of ringing the local hospital to get an ambo parked out the front of his place on stand-by.
Beaten 5-3 goals in the Championship Quarter didn't bode well by all first hand accounts.
Coach Horse waxed lyrical post-match about "missed opportunities", but really the Swans record in front of goal this year has been nothing short of deplorable with more than a couple of blowouts in the behinds department.
Playing the Ugliest Man in Football Lewis Roberts-Thompson at full-forward in recent weeks after having played his entire career at full-back only goes to show how desperate they are for a genuine, quality full forward.
Where's BBB Hall when you need him? [er, at the Bulldogs kicking goals like there's no tomorrow].
They need someone like Buddy Franklin up front.
The Goodes Train can be relied upon to snap the miracle goal, but has always been flaky from the set shot; In Like McGlynn should be kicking more goals like it says that he should do in his contract, while x y and z have no obvious target to kick to from just outside the 50.
The Reid Kiddie looks the goods when he's in the forward pocket, the Jetta Kiddie can kick 'em from anywhere when he puts his mind to it, as can the Birdy and Rhino, but it's so very obvious they are in acute need of a bit of marquee tall timber in the goal square.
Hard to see them going places in September on that basis, even if the mid-field led by Son of Gary is very strong, the ruck is as serviceable as any other in the game, and the backs do their job.
Seasoned observers at the ground suggest that The Train easily picked up the three Brownlow Points in a class display, reminiscient of old, and yet failed at the denoument to boot the clincher.
The look on his face in the photographs in the instant after that clearly shows the Ol' Fella is human after all.
Tickets in hand for the MCG this Sunday afternoon.
Can't be accused of being anything less than loyal, as it's our second away game of the season after Manuka.
And keen to have a looky at the renovations at the ground, since it was last graced with my presence way way back at the 1987 VFL Grand Final!
The heart pills are safely stashed in the carry on luggage.
ESSENDON: 1.2, 8.5, 13.7, 15.10 (100). Goals: Reimers 4, Hille 3, Leroy Jetta 2, Zaharakis 2, Hurley, Melksham, Stanton, Davey.
SYDNEY: 3.3, 9.4, 12.6, 14.15 (99). Goals: Reid 3, Goodes 3, Lewis Jetta 2, Dennis-Lane, Kennedy, Bird, Mumford, McGlynn, O'Keeffe.
At Docklands Stadium.
Crowd: 38,700.
Craves.
