Diehards,
It had that air of inevitability about it.
What with Balmain having a basket case full of excuses.
SC Sheens was forced to field a scratch, makeshift, hastily cobbled together ensemble that he couldn't have trained as a unit all week.
They played brave and some how managed a 10-4 half time lead, but it was never, ever going to be enough against a Bulldogs outfit playing in their best form in years.
Things were not helped when Lote "What'd I do Guv?" Tuqiri went down inside the first ten minutes with a broken arm after a collision with a team-mate, in the shape of, you guessed it, Adam Bloody Blair [could rant about how Blair literally stops, comes to a complete halt at the advantage line! But won't].
Obviously, that's season over for Lote, and sadly, it could well be career over too.
He's not getting any younger, and if anything, is probably getting uglier with age, and for a bloke who's been plauged by injury in the past two years who's been struggling to renegotiate a contract with the Tigers [who aren't prepared to give him another two years] it could well be the finish of an illustrious career as a dual international.
Tragic way to go out if it is.
Plain awful to see live footage of the bloke with his arm in a sling in the first class medical facilities at the SFS being shown the x-ray print by the radiologist, which clearly showed a radical break in the bone.
At least Lote could develop a lucrative career in retirement as a consultant advising up and coming players on how to "Live The Lote Life", i.e. how to have a mighty fine time off the field without drawing any attention to yourself.
There'd be money in that.
Matty Utai was out at the last minute and Timmy Moltzen also failed to take the field without notice, forcing Beau Ryan to full back, where he's ill equppied to play, thus leaving both wings exposed after Tuqiri went off.
Joel Reddy, who was plucked from nowhere [probably the bar] to play, had a very good game despite thinking he had to cover for every position where they were well down on talent.
Add to that the long term mischief done to That Pom Ellis, who'd be lucky to get back before September, and it's looking eerily like yet another season cruelled by injury.
Haven't gone through the old team sheets, but SC Sheens would not have been able to field the same team from one week to next at any stage of the season.
The Club Secretary now has a problem.
From being touted as a Premiership favourite at the start of the year, and being ensconced in the top four a few weeks ago, they've now slipped clear out of the top eight into ninth at the two thirds mark.
He'd have the abacus working overtime and would have the boardroom divining rod out, trying to work out the probababilty of making the finals at all.
And the mathematics are reasonably stark.
The Tigers are eight wins and eight losses with eight games to play - four against teams above them on the current ladder, and four below.
The Stats Guru was quick to point out that winning four will not guarantee them a start in September, any less will be certain death, so they have to in effect win almost all of the last eight games to make it, and the lot to get back in the priceless top four.
Whatever margin of error they might have had is now G-O-R-N.
Gawd crikey, the boss would be thinking, the gate receipt projections will be shot, and if they don't make it deep into the finals the club balance sheet will be worse than Barclay's Bank.
So where will the money be to replace the casualties and lop off the dead wood?
Little wonder The Secrertary is prone to palpitations and night sweats.
Having lived in the heart of the Canterbury Bankstown district for 14 years, it's always very hard to swallow losing to the Bulldogs.
Never mind that they have nasty supporters and have the worst ethos of any club in the caper, it's just the sickening sight of Bulldogs merch on people down at the shops that upsets me.
Not feeling so good, so popped into the Front Bar at The Local on Monday morning for a medicinal snifter.
The Brown Bros were in a boisterous mood and well pleased with the recent form of their beloved NZ Warriors, or as they prefer to call them, the Auckland Worriers.
The Philosopher looked up from his perusal of the back pages of his fish wrap and spoke:
"As Socrates used to say 'looks like it's all buggered'", before refocussing his attention on his high ball of vodka & tonic with a twist of lemon.
WESTS TIGERS 20. Tries: Iosefa, Lawrence, Reddy, Ryan. Goals: Marshall (2).
CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS 32. Tries: Morris (2), Reynolds (2), Barba, Inu. Goals: Inu (4).
At Sydney Football Stadium.
Crowd: 19,034.
It had that air of inevitability about it.
A solid, reliable [except for the occasional inexplicable brain fade] well-coached football team up against a mob who consistently struggle against good sides.
Brained 'em cold in the Champo and went on to give 'em a seven goal football lesson.
And, however momentarily, go top, with a healthy boost to an already impressive percentage.
Go top, eh?
Who would have thought it possible at the start of the season?
Must be doing something right.
It's probably got to do with the theory that champion teams will always out-do teams full of champions.
Apart from The Train and the Jetta Kiddie, none of them get any mention in the fishwraps.
Craig Bolton used to say he liked the fact that he could walk down any street in Sydney at any time and not be recognised, let alone be asked for an autograph.
And there they are, undisputably, top.
And yet, even with the introduction of a two-team town this year, the marketing has been hopeless.
Swans are still relegated to the inside pages of the back pages, get no coverage to speak of in the Melbourne press, and they can't even attract 20,000 punters on any calculation to HQ on a fine, albeit brisk, Saturday evening.
They talked about them flying under the radar in the Monday morning editions with little understanding of how it happened.
SC Roos and Mr Ed have only been working on it for the past seven years, since the moment they won the last game of the season in the '05 Miracle Year.
It's taken that long to get the mix of yoof and experience exactly right.
Pleasing to the Young Sam Reid Kiddie find some touch in the goal square and boot six maximums.
Perhaps he will after all fufill his promise of becoming a proper full-forward, something the Swans have been sadly lacking since Big Bad Barry Hall went west.
Nice to see The Train back on song after a difficult fortnight on the field, while Odd Head McVeigh celebrated signing a new two year contract that will see him retire as a one-club man, with a very good game indeed.
The highlight of the game would have to be In Like McGlynn not happy about Black going on with a tackle and letting the big bastard know all about.
Ben wasn't having any of it, and was quite happy to take on a bloke twice his size in the jostling and air-slapping that substitutes for a stink in the AFL nowadays.
The Stats Guru has calculated that at eleven and three, even if the Swans lose all of their remaining seven games they will still make the top eight, they've got away that much.
If they win the games they are expected to, then it's home finals time, baby, and if they also beat West Coast away this weekend and Collingwood at The Bush in a few weeks time then they will give the Minor Premiership a very good nudge.
At the least, it's valuable to play good sides in the run home, so you can get out the yardstick and measure yourself by it.
While it's never a good idea to get ahead of yourself on account of the wheels could fall off the bandwagon at any moment, as they say in the classics, Sydney is "well placed".
SYDNEY: 4.2 10.7 15.12
16.14 (110). Goals: Reid 6, Goodes 3, McVeigh 2, McGlynn, Hannebery, Jetta, Pyke, O’Keefe.
BRISBANE: 3.4 7.4 8.7
9.9 (63). Goals: Rich 2, Brown 2, Karnezis 2, Raines, Crisp, Bewick.
At Sydney Cricket Ground.
Crowd: 19,419.
