THE FIRST half against the Western Bulldogs was a verystrange period of football.

We couldn't put a score on the board. We kicked six pointsbefore our first goal, and it's been well documented that Buddy was off lineearly.

We were still dominating around the clearances and inside50, but we couldn't put a score on the board. We got back on track in the secondquarter and at half time it was an even contest, before we released theshackles and played some outstanding footy in the second half.

We played exciting, attacking and hard-running footy, whichturned out to be a great result.

The performance from Buddy has attracted a fair amount oftalk. Although he kicked 2.11, he was a dominant player. He kept finding thefooty, but hit the post a few times and had one smothered right on the line, sohe could've quite easily had another three or four goals to his name.

We all know he is a unique talent and to have 13 shots ongoal was still a strong effort. I'm confident he'll end up kicking 11.2 in thefuture – that's just the type of player Buddy is.

Luke Hodge played probably the best game I've seen him playsince I've been at the club.

His strength around the stoppages was excellent. When hemoved forward, he hurt the opposition and finished with six goals. He alsodished off some goals to teammates. It really was a great performance.

Sam Mitchell, Brad Sewell and Jordan Lewis all played greatgames.

On Lewis, he also added an extra string to his bow, withfour goals. He has had an outstanding year and he'll be one of our leadingbest-and-fairest contenders. Lewis still probably doesn't gain the recognitionamong the wider football community that we hold within.

Hodge and Lewis ended up contributing a combined total of 10goals and that takes enormous pressure off our forwards, when our midfieldersachieve that.

Campbell Brown also kept Brad Johnson goalless. Johnson isone of the class players in the competition, so for mine, Browny has been in All-Australianform this season.

This weekend, we take on Sydney in our final home-and-away matchbefore the finals.

We've yet to beat them since this coaching group cametogether, although earlier in the season at the MCG we came close to knockingthem off for the first time.

I think we'll be better prepared this time around, but it'sstill going to be a massive contest against the Swans. It looms as a tight,low-scoring match.

Looking back at our home-and-away campaign so far, weentered the season hoping to challenge for a position in the final eight andwe've probably done a little bit better than what we were anticipating.

With a young group, you're never sure how quickly they willdevelop, but the players have been pretty consistent all season.

There is still a lot to play for. We've secured a spot inthe finals, but we need to win our final round to give us the best possiblechance in September. Beating Sydneyon its home turf will be a great test, particularly with finals just around thecorner.