The performance of Gavin Knee on the weekend had many at the Tamworth Swans club questioning if was 2021 or 2011.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The 42-year-old was at his vintage best in front of goal to help the Swans hold out a fast-finishing Nomads lineup 18.12 (120) to 14.12 (96).
The game doubled as Knee's first hit-out for the Swans in 2021 after some injury-plagued seasons which saw him miss out on last year's grand final.
"It's just old man syndrome - calves and hammies. [I'm] the other side of 40, that's all it is," Knee said after the Nomads clash.
Those past injuries didn't worry the Swans life member on Saturday as he kicked four goals on his way to being named player's player for the Swans.
While he didn't feel a twinge on Saturday, he said the injuries did play on his mind heading in.
"Of course it does. Your body fails yo and you think 'what's next?'," Knee said.
"But once you cross the line you just have to worry about winning the footy and it'll be what it'll be. As long as the team gets a win that's all that matters anyway."
At Riverside 5 on Saturday, it truly was a game of four quarters.
The Nomads were the better side early to take a eight-point lead into the first break.
The next two quarters went to the Swans who kicked 13 goals to New England's six.
A last quarter fightback, where the Nomads had 10 scoring shots including five goals, wasn't enough as the Swans won by 24 points.
READ ALSO:
The Swans now have two wins from two games to start the year.
Knee said it was an exciting time for the side moving forward.
"It's just great to see the next generation of Swans running around," he said.
"I think it's a good mix of guys that have been around the club for a few years and then a couple young guys - like Latrell [Allan] and Mick [Parker] - and they just ran amok in the centre. So, it's great to see and enjoyable to see them play well."
Swans captain Adam Cruickshank was named the Tamworth side's best while Justin Leehy, Rhys Chillingworth and Stephen Fairless kicked three goals apiece. Noah Connick was given New England's best on ground award and Thomas Moscou kicked four goals for the Nomads.
Knee was predicting a big year from the Nomads.
"They're a fit, young side - not too dissimilar to us - and they have a nucleus of really good, older footballers that have played AFL all their life so they're going to give a lot of teams a lot of run," Knee said.
"If they get another half dozen players back, they'll be in the top two or three this year, I think."
In the other matches, the Inverell Saints beat the Tamworth Kangaroos 15.10 (100) to 8.7 (55) while the Gunnedah Bulldogs won 26.10 (166) to 4.6 (30) against Narrabri-Moree.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark northerndailyleader.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News
Ben Jaffrey
Ben is a content curator and journalist for The Land. He has been with ACM since 2015 and first worked at The Area News and then at the Northern Daily Leader. Ben first joined ACM Agri as a digital journalist for all seven agricultural mastheads in 2022 before shifting to The Land full-time in 2023.
Ben is a content curator and journalist for The Land. He has been with ACM since 2015 and first worked at The Area News and then at the Northern Daily Leader. Ben first joined ACM Agri as a digital journalist for all seven agricultural mastheads in 2022 before shifting to The Land full-time in 2023.
