Game Thread Swans Vs Hawks

[Jeffers1984]

Roos has confirmed that Eski is out with a calf injury

Unsure who is in. Possibly Smith?

[ugg]

Yes Smith in.

[573v30]

Good to see Smith get another game against quality opposition.

[Triple B]

Pfft, Mathews and Smith were ordinary at best.


Gee Ugg, can't agree with that at all. I thought Smith was just about our best.

I SMS'd Reggi and DoctorJ straight after the game with "Smith best, Grundy, Currie, Schmidt all good."

See, told ya ;) ;)

Edit: I might add, I still would have gone with Schmidt.

[Jeffers1984]

Watching Frawley on the pre match.. Paul Jolly? Who is this player he speaks of?

Mixture of Chambers and Jolly?

[annew]

Watching Frawley on the pre match.. Paul Jolly? Who is this player he speaks of?

Mixture of Chambers and Jolly?

He also said that Sydney have won 6 games straight without Hall - another incorrect statement

[573v30]

He also said that Sydney have won 6 games straight without Hall - another incorrect statement

I hope he tipped the Dawks to win. :D

[ugg]

Bateman out tuck in for the hawks

[Triple B]

Bateman out tuck in for the hawks

Aw shucks... ;)

Off to watch the game now...see u guys at halftime.

[satchmopugdog]

have to leave to play hockey in 15 minutes so I hope everything goes well...Hopefully I'm the jinx and with me out of the team we will burn up the "G"

[ROK Lobster]

Roos has confirmed that Eski is out with a calf injury

Unsure who is in. Possibly Smith?Mentioned he looked lame last week.

C'mon Swans.

[WASwansFanatic]

LRT on Buddy........OH NO!

[573v30]

Bad miss by Moore and bad kick by Jack. Not a good start.

[WASwansFanatic]

Undisciplined @@@@...BLOODY HELL SYDNEY

[573v30]

Two 50m penalties! :mad: :mad: :mad:

[DeadlyAkkuret]

It's official. I'm finally fed up with the way we play football:(

Another miss as I type this!

[gossipcom]

Okay they seriously have got that free kick count wrong. It says it's 7-3 to Sydney but considering Hawks have gotten 2 frees from OOB plus a few others there's more than 3.

We're playing crap so far though. :)

[DeadlyAkkuret]

Any chance we could have a quater where we actually score a goal?

[gossipcom]

Any chance we could have a quater where we actually score a goal?
Jolly can decide if he wants to answer that question. :)

ETA: Answer's no so far.

[DeadlyAkkuret]

FFS!:mad:

[WASwansFanatic]

Given we are playing that badly..... it's good we are not down by that much!!!!!!!

GOOODESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSYYYYYYYYYYYY YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[DeadlyAkkuret]

You're kidding me, Goodes of all people:o

[gossipcom]

That's what we missed last week!

Jollly to Magic to Goodes = awesome.

Magic goals!

[DeadlyAkkuret]

Haha Micky nabs one now. Well that's a little better:rolleyes:

[WASwansFanatic]

And we're ahead!!! GO SWANNIES!

[gossipcom]

Tadgh's done his shoulder. Bionic Man is injured again. Seems okay though.

C'mon Buchy do something this time. I thought that went in, apparently not.

Bloody Buddy.

[DeadlyAkkuret]

Well it couldn't last for too long.

[DeadlyAkkuret]

"Playfair at ground level, he recovers better"

WTF:eek:

[sfan]

Bucky can't kick and thinks slow. Get him to the bench please.

[DeadlyAkkuret]

Not ending the quater well here.:(

[573v30]

Lucky miss from Roughead, Hawks lead by a goal now.

[gossipcom]

Leo = idiot but I already knew that.

How we're behind by only one goal I'll never know. Both teams aren't kicking straight.

[573v30]

Quarter Time

Hawthorn 3.4 22
Sydney 2.4 16

Some ordinary footy gave the Hawks a couple of gift goals but Goodes and MOL got them back in the game. Kicking for goal needs to be better.

[Triple B]

I see the aliens who abducted the indecisive McVeigh and put a footballer in his place for the first 14 rounds have returned him back to us. :frown

[ROK Lobster]

Leo = idiot but I already knew that.

How we're behind by only one goal I'll never know. Both teams aren't kicking straight.Don't know what Leo has done wrong.

It was a good quarter of footy, but we look like the side keeping up, rather than them. Could be a hiding but you never know with Sydney.

[liz]

I don't mind what I've seen so far. Sure, some of the skills have been sloppy from our boys and there have been a couple of shocking turnovers (come on down, Mr Jack) but the intent to play on and take a few risks seems to be there. I'd rather that than low skilled stodgy football, which we saw last week. Misses in front of goal are harder to justify.

Seems like the commentators haven't seen much of Sydney this year, the way they are going on about Tiger's shoulder. That's at least the 4th time it's popped out this year and never seems to stop him.

[SimonH]

Leaving aside poor disposal and poor kicking for goal and looking at the bigger picture.

The bad: Clarkson has identified where your bodies need to be to stop the Swans' run. And they have some really good tacklers in their side.

The good: I don't think that they're anywhere near as good at it as Collingwood. They break open more easily. I still think we match up well on them.

We can win if we get 50% of clearances.

[ROK Lobster]

Seems like the commentators haven't seen much of Sydney this year, the way they are going on about Tiger's shoulder. That's at least the 4th time it's popped out this year and never seems to stop him.It can't be good for him, long term (even short term :eek: )

[gossipcom]

Don't know what Leo has done wrong.
I was referring at the time to the Roughead free kick and then almost giving the free away again at the end of the quarter (though that was more Spida's fault for kicking within the 15m). Apart from that he's been MIA.


Seems like the commentators haven't seen much of Sydney this year, the way they are going on about Tiger's shoulder. That's at least the 4th time it's popped out this year and never seems to stop him.

It can't be good for him, long term (even short term)
Agreed. He's seriously is the bionic man with his shoulders and knees..

I don't know what it is with the Hawks but this is at least the third match I've seen in a while where they've booed Goodes.

[BigD]

Shocking start to the 2nd qtr. Very sloppy.

[annew]

How long do Hawthorn have before it is HTB???

[573v30]

Buddy gets his 2nd.

Get LRT off him! :mad:

[gossipcom]

LRT's starting to get creamed by Buddy. B2's been moved to Franklin.

Marty M gives a free away another goal coming up. They're creaming us in the midfield/backline at the moment.

[573v30]

Buddy misses again, LRT off the hook this time.

[WASwansFanatic]

LRT=Is the best spare man ever......
However.....put him on a player of any class.....and his lack of any footballing idea/skills shows up.

[doctor swan]

lucky the hawks goal kicking is as bad as ours. our skills are shocking or our decision making is bad. up side is it can only get better the flip side is it can get a lot worse

[573v30]

Williams kicks his 2nd. This could get really ugly... :(

[doctor swan]

now kick straight hank

[DeadlyAkkuret]

Wont make the top 4, that much is clear.

[gossipcom]

Goodes *wipes forehead* in that case I'll actually come to his defence he was going to hit the guy then both players slipped over.

Playfair misses.

Ha. Spida gets pushed in the back, no free but B2 holds Buddy back and a free.

[WASwansFanatic]

Ffs

[Jeffers1984]

@@@@ me..Hawks by how many??? this is @@@@ing disgraceful

[ep2006]

Well theres a reason why Hawthorn are pushing for top two.

[doctor swan]

time to wash the car do the gardening do the weekly shopping anything but watch this rubbish

[573v30]

Another turnover, another goal to the Hawks. :mad:

[Swans500]

We are now officially pretenders.

[gossipcom]

Goodes was hit off the ball but no free. Heh.

Jack misses.

ETA: As crap as we are playing there's definitely one rule for the Swans and one for the Hawks right now.

[573v30]

Another miss, this time by Jack. :mad:

Shotgun kicks another, I can hear the fat lady warming up the vocals. :mad:

[annew]

I still say the umps are not penalising Hawthorn for HTB

[Swanner]

mcveigh, buchanan, playfair really showing their worth today

[573v30]

ROK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :adore :adore :adore

[gossipcom]

Finally a goal! Even if it's from a 50m penalty.

Clangers, turnovers... that's been our thing today. Tadgh is playing crap. And I'll say that nicely. If he's injured he shouldn't be on the bloody ground.

[573v30]

Another turnover, Hodge goals!!! :mad:

[gossipcom]

Playfair goals!

Ridiculous play by Leo and LRT.

[573v30]

Playfair kicks a goal!!! :D :D :D

[annew]

Game over!!

[gossipcom]

Buchy's going to miss a week or two for that hit.

Going to watch my Dragons lose instead. Ugh.

[573v30]

Half-time

Hawthorn 9.9 63
Sydney 4.6 30

A poor second quarter effort from the Swans with Roughead kicking a goal just before the main break. Poor turnover in their attacking half of the ground has resulted in several goals for the Hawks. LRT on Buddy should never be implemented again, ROK, Moore and Mattner need to get into the game. Monty is in a bit of trouble taking out Hodge.

[BigD]

I have no idea what's happened to the Swans the last two weeks. They seem to have lost the ability to play football. Seems like the week off has killed off all momentum.

[boroboy]

Absolutely infuriating. It's no better than last week - shocking skills, no run, can't kick goals when it counts. LRT on Buddy - was Roos taking the p**s?

[mcs]

another dreadful effort so far. The committment is far better then last week, but our structure is still non existent, our skills are pathetic and we are not helping ourselves by wasting our chances in front of goal. Will need to really hit the ground running come the start of the 3rd or we will not have a hope.

Just a frustrating game to watch- we are doing well enough at most contests but every time we get any ball we are taking the wrong options, making basic errors or getting ourselves into trouble.Combined with the crap commentary team and the awful coverage (Missed half the bludy game because of stupid replays of every little frigging thing!) it is pissing me well and truly off. Dont think it is quite over yet, but as usual we have left ourselves far too much work to do.

[Uhtred]

This seems like a totally different team to the one b4 the break, so many mistakes.. lucky franklin and roughead couldnt kick straight or it would have been game over by the first quarter...

can we get any worst in the second half?.... :frown

[mcs]

and Roos needs to take some blame- why the hell was LRT on Franklin. Its pretty ****ing simple- Bolton is our best defender- no matter who we are playing he should get the oppositions no 1 forward. That little period really hurt us when franklin got going. Added to the fact LRT is not good enough to play on him, his tackles are also plain awful. Franklin hasnt looked anywhere near as dangerous since Bolton has gone to him.

[Foreign Legion]

Well, that was a very disappointing second 1/4.

Yeah, the umpiring is crappy - over officious on some things but they hardly ever penalise Hawthorn for HTB.

LRT needs a spell in the 2's. Maybe throw him in the ruck and keep Spida at FF? Moore, Bird, Buchanan, O'Keefe all playing way below their best. Good thinking by Moore to milk the 50 from the idiot Brown though.

Jolly and Kirk easily our best. Goodes trying hard as are both the Boltons. Even Playfair hasn't looked too bard but he still can't kick.

This next half determines where we go from here for the season. A good fighting half and we can forget these last 2 weeks. A bad one and we can forget top 4.

[Gary]

I enjoyed the 6 in a row...but was never really carried away...last week & this first half = woeful! We'll be lucky to saty in the 8 on this form...especially with a hard run home.
Just a few observations amidst the gloom...even our best player (at getting the ball) then gives it away a fair bit...the Moore bubble has burst...Playfair tries hard but mostly can't kick...Everitt is over the hill...McVeigh is starting to play on reputation (not exactly of long standing)...Buchy is back to his best disposal form...every time the great Irishman has touched the ball today has been a disaster....25 is back to his early form & LRT is circa year one. We really don't have it when the chips are down.

[swan_song]

This seems like a totally different team to the one b4 the break, so many mistakes.. lucky franklin and roughead couldnt kick straight or it would have been game over by the first quarter...

can we get any worst in the second half?.... :frown

The swans can always get worse. This is another embarrassibg performance so far....

[boroboy]

and Roos needs to take some blame- why the hell was LRT on Franklin. Its pretty ****ing simple- Bolton is our best defender- no matter who we are playing he should get the oppositions no 1 forward. That little period really hurt us when franklin got going. Added to the fact LRT is not good enough to play on him, his tackles are also plain awful. Franklin hasnt looked anywhere near as dangerous since Bolton has gone to him.

Spot on. Dreadful coaching - I look forward to the explanation from Roos why that happened.

If anyone can tell me what Buchy offers that Schmidt doesn't I'd be grateful.

[Swans500]

It's after midnight where I am and I have got a beauty of a hangover developing....re-directing some of the pain the bloody Swans deliver....

[Foreign Legion]

another dreadful effort so far. The committment is far better then last week, but our structure is still non existent, our skills are pathetic and we are not helping ourselves by wasting our chances in front of goal. Will need to really hit the ground running come the start of the 3rd or we will not have a hope.

Just a frustrating game to watch- we are doing well enough at most contests but every time we get any ball we are taking the wrong options, making basic errors or getting ourselves into trouble.Combined with the crap commentary team and the awful coverage (Missed half the bludy game because of stupid replays of every little frigging thing!) it is pissing me well and truly off. Dont think it is quite over yet, but as usual we have left ourselves far too much work to do.

I agree totally with your comment about the replays - it is driving me nuts too!

Jeez our turnovers have cost us today - as they should but I think Geelong would be 10 goals in front if we were playing them.

[Gary]

Glad others are noticing the overdone replay thing...although not sure I wanted to see the Jack "centre"...hasn't he gone off too.

[mcs]

gee one thing I love on this board is how many people come out as soon as we have a bad game or two and all but throw it in your face "I Told you so"-just like they are waiting for it to happen to pop up and say so. Just really bugs me that!

Umpiring is inconsistent to say the least- at least 2 Hawthorn goals (Granted a few disposals later) have come from situations on their half back line where they should of been pinged for holding the ball. One of them in the second quarter was just rubbish- Hawks player had about 15 seconds to get rid of it and should have been pinged 1/2 an hour before he decided to dispose of it.

[liz]

LRT on Franklin makes a lot of sense because it frees Bolton up for Williams. Franklin might be a more dangerous target but Williams will convert 90% of the chances he gets. Franklin's a far worse converter. Plus no-one - including Bolton - would have stopped Franklin taking the mark just around the time the match-up changed, and I've seen Franklin run around Bolton in the same way he did to Lewis earlier that quarter.

I think it's a far better effort from the Swans than last week. Not that that's saying much. And by effort, I mean more Swans are running harder and showing more desparation. Unfortunately the skill level is woeful and it's killing us.

Goodes has looked superb when he's had ball in hand. Just that he hasn't had that much of it. If the Swans are going to have any chance of getting back into this game Goodes needs to have a blinder of a second half.

[swan_song]

Well, that was a very disappointing second 1/4.

A bad one and we can forget top 4.


We do not deserve top 4 on the efforts of the past three matches (including this one), and our position on the ladder always flatterd us...we only beat less than mediocre teams, and in the dees even found that hard going...the signs were there in that game that the 08 bubble had, if not burst, started to deflate. Against the pies we were absolutely awful, and in this game may be even worse, at least in skills level.

[Triple B]

Agree, coverage is terrible, the director has been awful.

We're costing ourselves dearly with turnovers, but WTF do we need to do to get a fair go with the scumps.

And what's worse, the pro-Hawthorn crowd go ballistic when things don't go there way and they're getting an armchair ride.

[mcs]

I can see where Roos is coming from Liz and I see your point about Williams but Franklin might miss his chances (like today) but he can also absolutely rip teams apart. Richards imo is a far better choice then LRT on Franklin, but if it was me coaching the team, then Bolton would 99/100 get the oppositions best forward. For you dont see Scarlett stuck out on a team's 3rd choice forward do you?

[BigD]

Agree, coverage is terrible, the director has been awful.

We're costing ourselves dearly with turnovers, but WTF do we need to do to get a fair go with the scumps.

And what's worse, the pro-Hawthorn crowd go ballistic when things don't go there way and they're getting an armchair ride.

Here, here. I don't think we'll ever get an even shake with the "Blind Freddie Brigade".

[swan_song]

Now lets hope that red hot poker that Roosie delivered to them at half time actually works....

[giant]

It's the mirror image of these games in the last few years - we're missing tackles and folding under pressure and looking very static out of the back line, just as we've made them look in the last few years. They're a good side and right now we're playing like also-rans.

Let's hope we can turn it around and the umps can make the Hawks forwards earn their kicks.

[BigD]

OMG!!! A free for HTB!!!

But Buchannan still can't kick straight.:frown

[Damien]

I really hope we can find something in this half.

The ladder is really starting to bunch up from 4th down to 9th. We could go from a lock on 4th to missing finals outright if we don't wake up soon.....

[573v30]

Mchack!!! :D :D :D

[Damien]

Mchack!!! :D :D :D

Thank god. We need a run now, 3 or 4 goals without much of a response!

[gossipcom]

Smith!

Ugh Buddy.

[573v30]

Nick Smith kicks his 1st goal in his career. :D

[is2SWaNz]

Urghh at Franklin! He's massive.

[Donners]

Jack's game is being compared to Gwilt from Friday...

It's a shame some of the normally consistent plarys, like Kennelly, McVeigh and Jack have been really down today. Jolly and Kirk are the only players keeping us in it.

[573v30]

Bloody Franklin has kicked his 2nd OOBOTF. :D

[gossipcom]

Tadgh's shoulder has gone again. Bloody hell man.

[Donners]

Why is Kennelly even out on the ground?

[573v30]

Tadhg should've done a Cressa against the goal post.

[gossipcom]

Pebbles! Great hand-ball from Bird. I thought they would pin Playfair for incorrect disposal.

[Donners]

Much-needed goal from O'Keefe.

[573v30]

ROK kicks his 2nd! :D

[is2SWaNz]

GOOAALLL from ROK.

[gossipcom]

Goodes is up to 21 possessions. Big 3Q from him.

Buchy finally goals!

[is2SWaNz]

GO MONTY! Kick a goal!!!

FINAALLLLLLLLLYYYYYYYY

[573v30]

MONTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :adore :adore :adore

[Damien]

Under 20 Points! Keep This Up!

[DeadlyAkkuret]

I can only listen on the radio. How are we looking?

[Robbo]

Come on boys FFS.

[gossipcom]

I can only listen on the radio. How are we looking?
Still playing in patches. But we're looking much better than we did in the first half that's for sure.

Goodes stepped up in that 3rd Quarter to be equal leading possessions with Kirk (21 each).

[Damien]

We can win from here, have to stay focused though for a whole quarter which is the 64 Million Dollar question!

Stress levels very very high!

[573v30]

3 Quarter Time

Hawthorn 10.13 73
Sydney 8.9 57

A much better quarter from the Swans to keep the Hawks to only 1 goal for the quarter. ROK got himself in the action and kicked a couple of crucial goals, Goodes and Kirk leading possession in the midfield, LRT is not on Bloody anymore which is a good thing. Swans have the momentum and hopefully we can run them over in the final quarter.

[is2SWaNz]

Oh my god. My heart can't take this anymore.

[Foreign Legion]

Bloody hell Buchanan needed that one - it was a great mark to be fair though.

As Donners said before - why is Kennelly still on? He can't tackle and his shoulder will go at a critical time you'd think.

Great qtr from Goodes, Kirk, J Bolton and Ablett an O'Keefe gave a bit more.

At least we look like we deserve to be where we are on the ladder at the moment. We need a bit of O'Loughlin magic to win this.

Tell, you what, the Hawks would be very average without Franklin - they are so reliant on him. To be fair he usually delivers but I'd love to see what would happen to their flag odds if he was to get injured.

[swan_song]

That was a bit better....now can they keep it up...?

[Donners]

Just two touches for Moore and seven for Mattner - not good with Malceski out and Kennelly injured. Jude is doing well in the middle, though.

[gossipcom]

Jolly's done his ankle and got smashed in the head when Buddy used him as a step ladder.

Marty M isn't having a good day with the kick-ins. *sigh*

That seriously wasn't a free against Goodes and should not have been a goal to Roughhead.

[Uhtred]

wtf... with channel seven... do they really have to cut the footy for some stupid religion guy?

[Industrial Fan]

the pope can get @@@@@@!!!

[is2SWaNz]

Jolly's done his ankle.

:confused: :confused: :confused:

Who just kicked in?!?!? That was a shocker.

[pig@fullforward]

just got to watch the pope instead of the game on stupid chanel 7

[Robbo]

I've just got home from a piss up last night.

What's the story with Kennelly being injured and Malceski out?

[Damien]

just got to watch the pope instead of the game on stupid chanel 7

I have Foxtel so the coverage didn't get interrupted, but that's just plain stupid from C7. Anyone watching the Footy is watching it because they want to watch footy not breaking news

[573v30]

Goal to Roughead. Umpire needs to be dropped. :mad: :mad: :mad:

[is2SWaNz]

Costly decision for stupid Roughead.

[gossipcom]

:confused: :confused: :confused:
Who just kicked in?!?!? That was a shocker.

Marty M.

That definitely wasn't a free against Goodes it was just a freaking awesome tackle. And then the pathetic decision against Richards.

Umpire's off. :)

[Donners]

To be fair, the ball shouldn't have still been there. There's been so many awful skill errors from Sydney which have gifted Hawthorn goals.

[pig@fullforward]

Just stupid costly errors! only reason we are still in the game is because franklin cant kick straight

[573v30]

Lucky that Bloody has kicked 3.7 and a couple of OOBOTF otherwise we'd be losing by 60+ points. It's still no excuse for our crappy 1st half performance.

[Robbo]

@@@@ me

[is2SWaNz]

MIKEYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!

What a screamer!

[gossipcom]

Mickey O! But Ouch! (could be a contender for mark of the week)

He's off with the bloody rule but Amon's kicking. Oh boy *can't look*

[Donners]

It's hard to know when O'Loughlin is really injured - he goes down about four times a game...

[573v30]

MICKEY O!!!!!!!!! YOU BEAUTY!!!!!!!!! :adore :adore :adore

GOAL TO MONTY!!!!!!!!! :adore :adore :adore

[pig@fullforward]

at least he managed to slot it, makes his kicking look less woeful for the day

[is2SWaNz]

I nearly crapped my pants when Monty was given the go to kick the goal.

[is2SWaNz]

My oh my... Spida is so slowwww..

[gossipcom]

Oh general play kicking has been woeful.

[pig@fullforward]

Everitt is soo slow these days cant even pick things up of the ground anymore, great taps but needs a wheel chair to get to the stoppages!

[pig@fullforward]

game over now if he slots this one!

[gossipcom]

This goal by Williams will be the sealer even if there's 9 minutes left on the clock.

[573v30]

4th for the Shotgun, it was a good fight while it lasted.

[is2SWaNz]

@@@@!!!

[573v30]

Game Over

[is2SWaNz]

@@@@ me dead

Grrrr!!! Yeah, it's over.

[pig@fullforward]

Stupid errors cost us what could have been a fantastic win! oh well there is always next week!

[gossipcom]

If we play like this against the Blues next week we'll be absolutely creamed.

[573v30]

Another error, Rioli goals, Game Over x2. :mad: :mad:

[is2SWaNz]

Great! ANOTHER TURN OVER!

[gossipcom]

Yet somehow we'll win the free kick count. Go figure.

[573v30]

Bloody Franklin has kicked his 4th. :mad:

[DeadlyAkkuret]

If we play like this against the Blues next week we'll be absolutely creamed.

Yeah that Carlton juggernaut:rolleyes:

[ep2006]

The Eagles juggernaught nearly beat you guys.

[DeadlyAkkuret]

Reminds me of the Geelong game.

[573v30]

Yeah that Carlton juggernaut:rolleyes:

Take Fev out of the game, Carlton won't score goals.

Consolation goal by MOL from 55m out.

[Donners]

I made Franklin my SuperCoach captain with this sort of result in mind...

[eggbeater]

How crap has Everitt been today?
How good has Jolly been today?

[gossipcom]

Take Fev out of the game, Carlton won't score goals.
Nope but the midfield will beat us comprehensively if we play like this.

[Donners]

How crap has Everitt been today?
How good has Jolly been today?

About the same for each as they have been all season.

[573v30]

The Eagles juggernaught nearly beat you guys.

Until Leaping Leo took that screamer in the defensive 50 with 5 seconds to go in the final quarter.

[DeadlyAkkuret]

The Eagles juggernaught nearly beat you guys.

Here he is. Excited about the bottom 4 clash?

[573v30]

I made Franklin my SuperCoach captain with this sort of result in mind...

I'd rather have Goodesy with 136 points.

[Yianni1]

hmmm.... poor performance, ...typical Melbourne umpiring and ...typical 'happy to lose Sydney' commentators :mad:

[swan_song]

just got to watch the pope instead of the game on stupid chanel 7

and he couldn't help either...

[ep2006]

Here he is. Excited about the bottom 4 clash?

Not really. The game is going to be pretty boring.

[annew]

We need BBBH and we need North Melbourne to beat Collingwood next week.

[WASwansFanatic]

Not really. The game is going to be pretty boring.

Typical bloody eagles supporter....don't you have anything better to do ? Like sip Chardonnay and leave at half time?

[Legs Akimbo]

Unfortunately, my daughter cracked the @@@@s at 3/4 time and we had to go home early. However, watching my first game live for quite some time, I noticed a few things...

1. Hawthorn are so much cleaner at the ball
2. Kennelly looked terrible. He appears to be way off the boil / out of condition. Not helping matters that his shoulder is popping in and out.
3. Playfair is a fair mark, but such an unreliable kick and general disposer of the ball, that he is next to useless.
4. Playing LRT and Playfair in the same team is one more gumby than we should have an expect to win. LRT was simply awful today. There was no facet of his game that was AFL standard.
5. Luke Ablett goes to ground way to easily and way to often. His standard strategy when caught with the ball, which is sadly often, is to fall over and play for a free.
6. Moore and Jack were both pathetic. Sorry to all the admirers, but quite frankly, Moore looks unfit. He is a very solid unit, which is understandable, but does not run enough and does not make position. Jack had a 'learning' game. I note his output has been steadily decreasing over the last few months and I think it is time for him to head back to the ressies.
7.As others have noted, Spida is past it. He still is a great tap ruckman, but his ground work and kicking are shot. So slow.
8. Buchanon's early misses were inexcusable. I don't care how many possessions and goals he ended up with. When we were in it with a chance, his costly misses took it away.
9. This should be Leo's last year.
10. Hawthorn watched the Collingwood tape. They bottled it up around centre half back to the middle stiffiling our run out of defence. Once that happens, we go wide and chip it around, allowing Hawthorn's rolling zone to slowing move back, concentrating the players into our forward half. Then once the inevitable turnover happened, they murdered us.

Overall, I am surprised we got as close as we did. Some positives.

1. Bird continues to impress, but needs to be more accountable.
2. Kirk is having perhaps his best season
3. Goodes reminded us what a great player he is (in case anyone had forgotten)
4. We are still top 4, though I suspect not for long

The fact is that we beat @@@@ teams and get beaten by good teams. Our ladder position flatters us.

[Donners]

How are we top 4 when we have really not beaten any quality sides this year? It's only through a quirk in the draw that we've been able to get so high.

[573v30]

Game Over

Hawthorn 15.16 106
Sydney 10.15 75

That's what you get when you play one quarter of footy. Too many turnovers gave the Hawks plenty of opportunities to kick goals which they did. Swans dominated in possession (327 vs. 283) but lacked direction resulting in clangers, stupid free kicks and goals that shouldn't have been.

The backline was ordinary with mismatches that resulted in Buddy (also their leading possession winner) and Shotgun kicking 4 goals each and Rough Head kicking 3 goals. Buddy owned LRT, Mattner and Richards were quiet for most of the game and Kennelly is a big out if he can't get up for next week.

The midfield got a lot of the ball but at times couldn't do much with the ball and turned it over. Kirk and Goodes were outstanding as usual, B1 and McVeigh got a fair bit of the ball, Monty stood up in the 2nd half and Bird looked good for a 1st year player.

The forward line fired too late with ROK, MOL and Playfair making an impact in the 2nd half. Jack, Moore and Smith were quiet but are likely to retain their spot in the side. Monty is in a bit of trouble and could miss a couple of weeks due to his bump on Hodge.

Next week against Carlton should be an easy win but considering they're not tanking anymore, it's become a must win. Complacency has been demonstrated for 2 weeks in a row, let's not make it a 3rd.

[Donners]

I don't think Monty is in trouble from a selection perspective. I'd rather somebody who can win contested footy in the forward line and be wayward with kicking than players who don't get the ball at all. Which is why Davis never should have been dropped...

[swan_song]

There was a point in the game where (I think it was) Bucky took a mark maybe 35-40m out on the left side....between him and the goal line there wasnt a player, no swan, no dawk, yet no Swans player ran on to receive either a chip kick or an over the top handball. It staggered all of us watching that nobody took on the responsibility for creating an option. Luckily Bucky got the goal, but the way he was kicking it was no certainty.

[Donners]

There was a point in the game where (I think it was) Bucky took a mark maybe 35-40m out on the left side....between him and the goal line there wasnt a player, no swan, no dawk, yet no Swans player ran on to receive either a chip kick or an over the top handball. It staggered all of us watching that nobody took on the responsibility for creating an option. Luckily Bucky got the goal, but the way he was kicking it was no certainty.

When Everitt had a shot which fell short, there were three Hawks and one Swan on the line.

[swan_song]

Monty is in a bit of trouble and could miss a couple of weeks due to his bump on Hodge.

I actually thought that Monty did a pretty good effort to actually miss the first dawk player...I would be surprised if he were "done". I hope the MRP also look at the eye gouge on MOL...the replays clearly show a dawk scraping his hand over Magic's face and eyes...though it was probably accidental...

[swan_song]

When Everitt had a shot which fell short, there were three Hawks and one Swan on the line.

yes I remember that too, another bewildering lapse in concentration...

[hudsta]

Poor. Very Poor. Our disposals not up to scratch, skill level down, lacked run and the players looked tired. Hawks looked big, strong and hard.

A couple of points

1. I still don't understand why professional AFL players miss a set shot at goal as much as they do.

2. The young swans have run out of legs and may need to be rested. Some old Swans have also run out if legs will need to be put out to pasture

3. Defence has looked a shadow of the one from the first half of the season!

4. Midfield did not deliver even though Kirk abd Jude played well
Player Comments

Barry: Not sited to much but tried when he had the ball. At least he did not get caught with the footy today!

Mattner: Last two weeks have been poor. Well held by the Hawks

LRT: I didn't mind him on Buddy but had to be moved. Was not sited after the change was made. Is a concern as he is well down on form and is clearly a weakness other teams will exploit

Bolton: All Australian played well even though Buddy had heaps of scoring shot. No assistance from his team mates which was dissappointing

Kennelly: looked slow and this chronic shoulder injury does not look good longterm. After it popped out he was not the same

Jack, Moore, Bird: Not up to the speed of thr game and they need time in the 2's to regain confidence

J.Bolton, Kirk, Goodes, Bevan: Played well, tackled hard and tried all day. Goodes still a bit of a worry

Mcveigh: Missing and very dissapointing. Has not stepped up the last few games. Need to dig deep

O'keefe: Battled hard without much support

Micky O: Was missing for most of the game. lacked delivery from the midfield

Buch, Henry: Can't kick!!! Could have taken some of the pressure off early but didn't step up. Buch out suspended for sure

Spida: For god sakes don't sign him up for next year. he is done

Jolly: Battled all day. did well

Ablett: it's time buddy

That's my 2 cents

[swansrule100]

not as bad as last week

feels like we have too many passengers though. Also the biggest difference in the sides was the delivery into the forward line. We never hit targets, makes it impossible for our forwards.

Moore and jack look a bit tired. Bird the most impressive of the youngsters. Feel sorry for smith does not look ready for afl yet.

[satchmopugdog]

Just got home from a great game of hockey where we won with only 10 players against the top team with a stirring fightback. Read this thread and have decided I will stick to just following the mighty West Devonport Dragons.

I now have to wear a Hawthorn scarf to work as part of a bet...and as our school is now classified as a Hawthorn school I am going to get caned big time.

I now know what the players think of me. This is personal.

[lwjoyner]

Jusat got in "wish I had a daughter who got the @@@ at wanted to go home. My wife and daughter refuse to leave at any time no matter what.
So many passengers today. If LRT continues to get a game look out we will not win another one. The might put him on Fev next week, Buchanan is getting to slow and although Kirky is still the heart of our team he is suffering we no body to take his hard work and do something positive with the ball, his handball is getting bad. Moore and Bird need a rest and Jack is also struggling. Agree that Luke Ablett is also struggling. Everittt I agree should not be signed for 2009 and should not be getting a game in 2008. Time to put the que in the rack and give some of the youngster a taste Currie, Vessie etc. Poor old Nick S looks like a student in the big league and needs to build himself up a fair bit. As for Barry H he needs to play next week regardless and just kick the ball long to him. Playfair is useless and Nick D needs to be given a game stuff it if he doesnt chase give hime the ball and 9 times out of 10 he will kick it thru the big sticks not stuff around thru the little ones. Ryan O also needs to pick himself up fancing letting Guerra beat him a couple of times. Im 63 and could get a kick on him. Very disappointed, I dont mind getting beaten but its the effort that concerns me. I am also concerned about players arguing on the ground Micky O was sure "pi d" off with someone just before half time. I also think that the coaches must take a lot of responsablity for the crap we are playing this "ring a ring a rosy" game. We are almost playing like when Rodney Eade lost it. Maybe its time for some more changes.

[giant]

Didn't see last week's game (thank god) so can't compare, but I thought other than an uncompetitive spell in 2Q that wasn't a bad effort - fair comparison of where we - and the rest of the competition - are at. There are three very good sides and we're probably around the top of the next batch.

Let's hope we can find that extra something but whoever beats the Cats this year is going to need something very special indeed.

I thought it was a good tuff game of footy marred by some appalling goal kicking by both sides and some unexceptional umpiring. Interesting to see if the media gives any exposure to the treatment handed out to Goodes - I counted 4 occasions in the second half where he was needlessly dumped after disposing of the footy, clearly a deliberate and pretty nasty tactic.

[Legs Akimbo]

Jusat got in "wish I had a daughter who got the @@@ at wanted to go home. My wife and daughter refuse to leave at any time no matter what.

My five year old can be very persuasive.

Another thing I noticed today, which you reminded me about, is the total lack of system in our play. I do think Hawthorn destroyed our run out of defence, but we clearly have no plan B, something which has been commented upon many times before on this site.

One thing that sticks in my mind is Goodes passing to Leo Barry on the last line. Goodes immediately takes off along the boundary when he sees Leo ducking and weaving straight into a pack of Hawthorn players. So Goodes gets set up for the perfect 'one two' but LEO, totally lacking peripheral vision or 'chat' from Goodes, turns back the other way and kicks it across the face of goal to, I think Bevan, who managed to old on to a contest mark.

Another example would be Jolly's mark and miss on goal in the first quarter form about 45 out. He marked and turned back his to walk away from the mark with a free ROK 20m out unmarked in the forward pocket, screaming and waving his arms to no effect.

This was just two incidents, but I think I saw similar things happen to repeatedly in the first half. Dinky little passes to no advantage, dubious handballs to static teammates in no better position, and generally a lack of coherent structure running out of defence with players upfield not leading and creating space.

Like last week, too much stop and prop and not enough flow and movement. LRT and Playfair are both the main offenders. In a way LEO, Kenneally and Mattner are guilty too because they are failing to break the lines, although they are trying.

[NMWBloods]

Lack of system shows up in the stats:

Hawks 195 kicks, 88 handballs, 283 disposals (69% kicks), 117 contested disposals

Swans 180 kicks, 147 handballs, 327 disposals (55% kicks), 110 contested disposals

Swans ran around in circles handballing to each other.

[Danzar]

Like the Pies game, I think the stats do not tell the story.

They just don't have the hunger that creates the clear mind you need to avoid the mistakes.

[hammo]

A very poor performance with next to no positives to speak of.

The obvious place to start is LRT. As I said in the thread last week, he has played one good match in his entire career and just isn't up to AFL standard. As long as he is in our side he will be exploited by opposing coaches. I am not sure what Roos was trying to prove by starting him on Buddy but I hope it was to prove to himself for once and all that he is not an AFL defender.

Today was Kennelly's worst game for the Swans. His body looks shot and could really do with a rest.

Overall we just looked too slow and our skills are deplorable.

Kieran Jack should be sent back to Canberra, just some shocking mistakes today that were too costly.

Our forward line lacked structure and does not look capable of kicking a score. Not sure how long we can afford to have Hall out. The ongoing Davis saga has to be put to bed with Roos recalling him if fit next week. Surely Roos can see that Davis will offer us more p forward than muppets like Buchanan and Playfair.

[Danzar]

A very poor performance with next to no positives to speak of.
Today was Kennelly's worst game for the Swans. His body looks shot and could really do with a rest.
Two dislocated shoulders in one game can be quite distracting though, don't you think?

[31 hard at it]

The forward line lined up at one stage in the last quarter had Kennelly and Richards at full forward / pocket!.
A clear sign that the forward options had dried up.
Only Micky at the end started to take some big grabs and Henry(Heart in mouth every time) early.

BBBH very urgently needed to put a forward structure together.
I thought the backline played well given the costly turnovers giving such great delivery to the Hawks forwards.

We need to get a handle on the ball and stop the very costly turnovers!

Why Kennelly was left on the ground is a major issue.
The man popped a shoulder, with great courage didn't want to go off, but could not use it for the rest of the game. I think he risked further injury for no return.

[smasher]

I actually thought Craig Bird was one of our better players today.Easily his best game for us.

[hammo]

Two dislocated shoulders in one game can be quite distracting though, don't you think?
Yes but not sure if that can excuse the brain fades, skill errors and lack of urgency.

[swansrule100]

I actually thought Craig Bird was one of our better players today.Easily his best game for us.

18 possies. i think he has more control polish and football sense than just about all the other midfielders. Just lacks the engine at the moment.

Will be out best player in 4 years time

[NMWBloods]

Why Kennelly was left on the ground is a major issue.
The man popped a shoulder, with great courage didn't want to go off, but could not use it for the rest of the game. I think he risked further injury for no return.I don't know what Roos is thinking - Kennelly should be made to come off.

[Danzar]

Yes but not sure if that can excuse the brain fades, skill errors and lack of urgency.
Agreed but I'm saying it should at least be taken into account. It happened in the first quarter and again in the third.

[lwjoyner]

Just been watching Tigers v weagles. Nathan Brown doesnt chase but still very handy. I am not convinced that is why ND isnt playing. MUst be some other reason. Good half forwards are not paid to chase much. Kick goals is their job. Most threads seem to know what needs to be done but I am not sure the coaching panel do.

[AlexC]

Shocker in the 1st half. Looked like this in 2005 when people didn't like our style of play. I remember Roos commenting on the commitment of players just before a game against Carlton. We ended up beating Carlton on the back of a few losses. I don't know if we can do the same again. Week off definatly hurt us. Also need goal kickers. Playfair is a strong marker but can miss the easy ones and unreliable goal kicker. I think maybe Nick Davis can be the answer up forward.

On another note damn channel 7 with their pope headline, start of the 4th 16 points down the screen goes black, and a 7 news headline. Not good by Channel 7

[giant]

Lack of system shows up in the stats:

Hawks 195 kicks, 88 handballs, 283 disposals (69% kicks), 117 contested disposals

Swans 180 kicks, 147 handballs, 327 disposals (55% kicks), 110 contested disposals

Swans ran around in circles handballing to each other.

I haven't seen the comparable stats but I understand the teams that have beaten the hawks have done it with judicious handball. I thought we looked our best today when moving it fast by hand.

They had the better midfielders, more potent forwards and a back line prepared to run and carry - that would be my diagnosis anyway.

[DST]

Lack of system shows up in the stats:

Hawks 195 kicks, 88 handballs, 283 disposals (69% kicks), 117 contested disposals

Swans 180 kicks, 147 handballs, 327 disposals (55% kicks), 110 contested disposals

Swans ran around in circles handballing to each other.

I agree to a certain extent on the above, but evidence suggests that handball from the back through the midfield is the best way to break down Hawthorn's zonal defence.

We tried it today and were not clean enough to take advantage, like the Kanga's did a couple of weeks ago or the Dogs before in Tassie.

DST
:D

[DST]

Just been watching Tigers v weagles. Nathan Brown doesnt chase but still very handy. I am not convinced that is why ND isnt playing. MUst be some other reason. Good half forwards are not paid to chase much. Kick goals is their job. Most threads seem to know what needs to be done but I am not sure the coaching panel do.

You know what the difference is?

Yes Nathan Brown doesn't chase, but when the ball is in his area he will move to the contest and once there get involved to win the ball.

Davis on the otherhand is too happy to trot over stand to the side of the contest and call for the ball.

Go back to the 2005 SF, what made Davis a great player in that quarter is that got to the contest and then wanted the ball.

Until he rediscovers this type of attribue he won't play senior football.

I hope he does, becuase we are a far better side with him in it doing what he should be doing.

DST
:D

[NMWBloods]

Those stats are possibly misleading as I would suggest that most of our handball had little purpose or direction and our kicking lacked penetration.

[NMWBloods]

You know what the difference is?

Yes Nathan Brown doesn't chase, but when the ball is in his area he will move to the contest and once there get involved to win the ball.

Davis on the otherhand is too happy to trot over stand to the side of the contest and call for the ball.

Go back to the 2005 SF, what made Davis a great player in that quarter is that got to the contest and then wanted the ball.

Until he rediscovers this type of attribue he won't play senior football.

I hope he does, becuase we are a far better side with him in it doing what he should be doing.

DST
:D
This is based on three games this year. Last year he made contests. In 2006 he made contests and tackled, but was still dropped. He was the only one not to get premiership credits.

[hot potato]

Hawks were awesome for most of the game, outran them all over the ground, fierce tackling, really came to unsettle Sydney and succeeded. Buddy kicked 4 goals and 7 behinds woth three OOBOTF, if he could kick straight....
From the two finalists of 05 and 06, Swans are fourth and Eagles are 16th, so Roosey hasn't done a bad job with this list up to now.
as to how many remaining games can be won..., is anyone's guess.

[DST]

This is based on three games this year. Last year he made contests. In 2006 he made contests and tackled, but was still dropped. He was the only one not to get premiership credits.

I agree Davis is marked harder, but only because he can do what no one else (except maybe Goodes) can do in our squad.

Classic case of how Davis should be playing is Paul Medhurst. Watch him at present, constantly moving, hitting contests to win the football and therefore playing great football.

It's not rocket sceince for Davis, get on your bike and fight for the football when it comes your way.

DST
:D

[DST]

Those stats are possibly misleading as I would suggest that most of our handball had little purpose or direction and our kicking lacked penetration.

That's the point, if those handballs had been clean, purposeful and lead to penetration then I would suggest that ratio of kicks to handballs would have won us the game.

DST
:D

[Nico]

That was nothing short of disappointing.

Positives:

Clearly Bevan's best game. He showed a lot of run and ticker and but for that errant kick after 3 bounces in the last Q, I thought he showed leadership qualities in the way he worked so hard and ran into the forward line when nothing else was working. I think it is time they used him at centre bounces to at least give someone who is prepared to go for the footy.
Jolly: played well as usual.
Bird: One of a few who were prepared to make any space. Disposal was pretty good. Was played on the wing and I reckon had a high % of game time. Next year must be groomed as our premier midfielder.
Kirk, Mattner, Playfair, MOL, C Bolton were good.
Goodes: played a pretty good game. Worked hard.
Kennelly: contrary to other opinion I thought he tried his guts out to get some run going. Trouble is he had a couple of terrible fumbles and for whatever reason held onto the footy too long and got himself into trouble, a when a first option would have been better.
Moore: bit harsh on him some people. He has been pidgeon holed in a forward pocket. When he went onto the ball in the last Q he finally got his hands on the footy. My goodness he must be a better bet than Ablett, given his better leg speed and disposal.

Negatives: and there were plenty.
Richards was brave a couple of times but was on a sabatical for mine.
Leo, the brain doesn't work as fast as it did. Found way off his man too often
McVeigh: terrible. My take on his dropped form is that he has grown a beard over the past few weeks. Shave it off son and look like a footballer.
Jack: tried hard but disposal selections were ordinary. Must say though he took on some big guys in tackles.
J Bolton: scrappy and non penetrating. Was good today at being 2nd Swans player on a pack to keep up the "hard nut" appearance.
Ablett: very, very untidy footballer.
LRT: A genuine worry.
Everitt: It was embarassing, although he got some centre square taps but the Hawks took them away.
Buchanan: kicked a couple of goals but he has lost all his hardness. He has gone from eating a contest to avoiding them. Something very wrong there. Appears to not be able to run and doesn't chase.
ROK: Why is he wasted on the HHF when we needed some grunt in the midfield? One of his worst games.
Far too much over possession which resulted in terrible fumbles.

Now the big one; my hobby horse the centre bounce.
Ablett and Bolton played 2 metres behind their man. When there was a spill clear of the pack they were left flat footed. We gave away at least 3 frees for in the back because we were second to it. You can't blame the backline when we loose at least 80% on centre clearances. We were woeful. Conversely we give our forwards no chance of getting the drop on their man with a quick clearance. When we did we had them guessing. The first bounce of the last Q should have been a goal to Kirk, shocking miss.

We must get clearance people in there no stoppers. It seems to be a plan that is failing miserably. We should immediately put Bevan, yes Bevan,Bird and Moore into these contests. They have much quicker reflexes and hands and have a brain. This is the area Bevo has really improved in and right now is wasted down back as a stopper.

[Nico]

An example of where we have dropped off in our intensity or desire was when on the Southern Stand wing it was 3 onto 1 in our favour. Our 3 blokes looked at each other, one went for it and fumbled but the other 2, one of which was Ablett just spectated and refused to shepherd. The result, the Hawthorn player won the contest, the ball spilled free, a gather by Hawthorn, pass and goal on the run.

It was just really weak stuff.

[NMWBloods]

That's the point, if those handballs had been clean, purposeful and lead to penetration then I would suggest that ratio of kicks to handballs would have won us the game.

DST
:D
Yes - my impression from watching the 'Dogs v. Hawks (I didn't see NM v. Hawks) was that the 'Dogs beat them through clever and effective foot passing. The handballing seemed to be so fluid that I didn't even notice how often they did it. Our handballing was clueless and far too often the players didn't want to kick it.

[NMWBloods]

I agree Davis is marked harder, but only because he can do what no one else (except maybe Goodes) can do in our squad. You shouldn't mark players on their potential but on what they deliver.

[hot potato]

Pretty thorough analysis Nico, it amazes me how long many Swans players believe they have to dispose of the footy before being tackled, if their name is not Gary Ablett J. they don't even rotate their head to see what's comin. P:confused: oor coaching there somewhere.

[Nico]

Pretty thorough analysis Nico, it amazes me how long many Swans players believe they have to dispose of the footy before being tackled, if their name is not Gary Ablett J. they don't even rotate their head to see what's comin. P:confused: oor coaching there somewhere.

Buchanan and Jack had no awareness.

[Legs Akimbo]

Buchanan and Jack had no awareness.

That's something I was sort of getting at earlier. We lacked awareness. It is such an intangible, but for the first half, it seemed that there was no linking, no sheparding, no effective running in support with one-two combination type plays. Wasn't just these two. Was happeneing all over the ground.

Maybe they are not talking enough out on the field or have gone into 'me' mode - not setting up plays or protecting ball carriers, blocking.

[Nico]

That's something I was sort of getting at earlier. We lacked awareness. It is such an intangible, but for the first half, it seemed that there was no linking, no sheparding, no effective running in support with one-two combination type plays. Wasn't just these two. Was happeneing all over the ground.

Maybe they are not talking enough out on the field or have gone into 'me' mode - not setting up plays or protecting ball carriers, blocking.

In the 3rd Q we started to do the hard running, but our problem is the hard running lately is done by too few and frankly we were really shown up for pace today.

There was times when a few players made space but they for whatever eason ignored them.

Try this one: Last Q, Goodes has it at half back, 3 players break to the Southern Stand wing/HBF for a 3 on 1 contest, and there were 3 alone up the centre. What does Goodes do, goes to the opposite side to a 2 on one contest for a turnover and I think a goal.

On today we are short a quality ruckman, have a deficient midfield, lack kicking penetration and forward line pressure and we missed the combo off half back with Malceski out. With Barry Hall developing "bats in the belfry" we also now lack a genuine key forward to take the pressure off MOL.

[NMWBloods]

One of the problems we have with our two or three excellent half back runners is that opposition coaches are frequently taking them back into the goal square and keeping them out of the game. That happened to Mattner today, and with Malceski out and Kennelly struggling, we had no run off half back.

[hot potato]

'BATS IN THE BELFRY" I'll buy that... is that his new nickname...
:D BITBBBBBH I LIKE IT:D

[SimonH]

Disturbing to see Luke Ablett named in the best in the official match report.

He's played some ordinary games for the Swans, but that was one of the worst. The list of things he did wrong could go on a bit, so to sum it up in one line: he looked like an average state league footballer who'd been dropped into an AFL game without advance notice. 'Tried hard and made a contest' does not a decent game make. Just ask Henry Playfair.

On a head-to-head among marginal mid-career midfielders, you would drop NOG to the 2nds about 38 years before Buchanan if you compare their games today. Not that I have any delusions about the chances of him going.

But seriously, if this year doesn't turn around, we need to think about 2009 and beyond: What more does NOG have to offer? Is he the sort of player that will assist the Swans in getting back to the mountaintop? I love seeing him pound goals from 60-65 metres out as well, but he's played 112 games for 30 goals. It's a fond memory of something that very very rarely happens. Maybe I just need to be more edumacated about what he offers that no one out of Moore, Bird, Jack, Laidlaw, Schmidt, Thornton and the younger kids will be able to offer given a year or two's senior experience.

By the way, I thought Jude Bolton was actually good today. So far from the class of Kirk that their names shouldn't even be spoken in the same paragraph (whoops), but good.

[NMWBloods]

Ablett is one of the lock-down players - he keeps his opponent down to less possessions than normal. Most sides get less possessions against us than their average number. However, he has little effect offensively and it's arguable how effective his stopping role is, especially against good players. Most particularly I think it's uncertain whether he is a net positive for the team. He often gets a lot of possessions in the first quarter and then fades from the game.

I thought J Bolton was just average today at best. Just 9 kicks and most missed targets (sometimes he seems to think his team mates are 10' tall!). Lots of handballs, many of which were panicky or missing targets.

[SimonH]

Ablett is one of the lock-down players - he keeps his opponent down to less possessions than normal. Most sides get less possessions against us than their average number. However, he has little effect offensively and it's arguable how effective his stopping role is, especially against good players. Most particularly I think it's uncertain whether he is a net positive for the team. He often gets a lot of possessions in the first quarter and then fades from the game.One of my specific whinges was that there was a schoolboy-level, eat-em-up tackle on in the last quarter where the Hawks player receiving the handpass had been sold into trouble and all NOG had to do was line him up and deliver. NOG missed the tackle entirely and the Hawks ran free. I couldn't believe my eyes-- I thought the worst case scenario was going to be he hit the guy too hard and gave away a free (but at least stopped their run).

Everyone has a bad moment? No. Last week there was another crunch, but not difficult, tackle he had to lay in the Woods forward line. He didn't go close to making it stick.

Not only does he get tackled and pinned and fail to get the ball out with monotonous regularity when he has the pill, for a 'close in' specialist his tackles don't stick often enough.

[smasher]

Must admit that for the second week in a row Moore hastled an opponent without loosing his cool and we got 50 metre penalties both times.He should do more of this physical stuff as we don't seem to have players who do that and he does not loose his temper...at the moment.

[connolly]

That was nothing short of disappointing.

Positives:

Clearly Bevan's best game. He showed a lot of run and ticker and but for that errant kick after 3 bounces in the last Q, I thought he showed leadership qualities in the way he worked so hard and ran into the forward line when nothing else was working. I think it is time they used him at centre bounces to at least give someone who is prepared to go for the footy.
We must get clearance people in there no stoppers. It seems to be a plan that is failing miserably. We should immediately put Bevan, yes Bevan,Bird and Moore into these contests. They have much quicker reflexes and hands and have a brain. This is the area Bevo has really improved in and right now is wasted down back as a stopper.

Welcome aboard Nico. Although some were outraged at the suggestion and although he lacks the kicking skills of Maxfield a tad, he could and should play the role Stewie played in the midfield - tough, gets the pill and hard running.

[swansrule100]

Welcome aboard Nico. Although some were outraged at the suggestion and although he lacks the kicking skills of Maxfield a tad, he could and should play the role Stewie played in the midfield - tough, gets the pill and hard running.

bevan should never be in defence, but a midfield forward role might suit might at least keep the ball in our forward 50.


I thought he was down on form the last 2 weeks compared to month before

[connolly]

bevan should never be in defence, but a midfield forward role might suit might at least keep the ball in our forward 50.


I thought he was down on form the last 2 weeks compared to month before

So you have joined the let Bevo off the chain campaign?

[swansrule100]

So you have joined the let Bevo off the chain campaign?

ive joined the roos will pick him every week anyway and there are players with less upside who must go before bevan club.


Play him in a decent position and give him a run see what he has got. Seems to just be plugging gaps

[NMWBloods]

Bevan has the potential to be a good ordinary footballer, most likely suited to a midfield or forward role. Did some good things yesterday, was probably one of our better players, although I think he gave Osborne too much leeway at times.

[SimonH]

Must admit that for the second week in a row Moore hastled an opponent without loosing his cool and we got 50 metre penalties both times.He should do more of this physical stuff as we don't seem to have players who do that and he does not loose his temper...at the moment.Moore is generally so good when he's around the footy, that I'm at a loss to work out why he's hardly ever been around it in the last 4-5 weeks. We've missed him. Too much time in the forwardline, or too much time on the bench?

[connolly]

Bevan has the potential to be a good ordinary footballer, most likely suited to a midfield or forward role. Did some good things yesterday, was probably one of our better players, although I think he gave Osborne too much leeway at times.

Bloods very nice. Jack Dyer may well have used that description for the kid.

[AnnieH]

So what's the consensus?
We were crap????
Obviously.

Oh well, at least I met the Grim Reaper and ScottH.

I did meet Chance Bateman. He was sitting with the Hawks ressies behind us up on Level 2. The little kid in front of me was too shy to go and get an autograph, so I took him up to say g'day. (Chance is on my dreamteam ... he'll be back next week!!)

[swansrule100]

Bevan has the potential to be a good ordinary footballer, most likely suited to a midfield or forward role. Did some good things yesterday, was probably one of our better players, although I think he gave Osborne too much leeway at times.

he has not shown enough to justify his constant selection though.

80 odd games now isnt it? how many have been good, id say 20 at most

[NMWBloods]

he has not shown enough to justify his constant selection though.

80 odd games now isnt it? how many have been good, id say 20 at most
No - that's why I say he has the potential. He's improving and still warrants his spot, but he needs to continue to improve. He's never going to be the matchwinner Connolly thinks he is, but he has the potential to be a solid and useful member of the team in the longer term.

[johnno]

Being at the game, the thing that was evident to me was how many mistakes the boys made, and I hate to point the finger at one player but Kennelly...geeeez, Honestly, I lost count how many times he fumbled or got locked up in a tackle, or turned the ball over or hanballed to an opponent. I swear, there were times when I thought I was watching a three stooges film out there. i mean, at the end of the day, we were outplayed by Hawthorn, their use of the ball was much better than ours. We had enough of it, but couldent do much with it, plus getting smashed out of the centre didnt help either.

[goswannie14]

Being at the game, the thing that was evident to me was how many mistakes the boys made, and I hate to point the finger at one player but Kennelly...geeeez, Honestly, I lost count how many times he fumbled or got locked up in a tackle, or turned the ball over or hanballed to an opponent. I swear, there were times when I thought I was watching a three stooges film out there. i mean, at the end of the day, we were outplayed by Hawthorn, their use of the ball was much better than ours. We had enough of it, but couldent do much with it, plus getting smashed out of the centre didnt help either.I thought the same at the game, interestingly according to the stats after the match Hawthorn made more errors than us.:confused:

[swansrule100]

No - that's why I say he has the potential. He's improving and still warrants his spot, but he needs to continue to improve. He's never going to be the matchwinner Connolly thinks he is, but he has the potential to be a solid and useful member of the team in the longer term.

yeah i agree with all of that.

I would like to see him have more of a set role in the side wether that be forward or on the ball.

I would like mattner further up the ground. I think teams are dragging him down almost to full back, where he does not seem comfortable

[Pace To Burn]

I actually thought Craig Bird was one of our better players today.Easily his best game for us.


18 possies. i think he has more control polish and football sense than just about all the other midfielders. Just lacks the engine at the moment.

Will be out best player in 4 years time

I agree. Got alot of ball in traffic and off the ground and as you said has a very good sense of what is happening around him so doesnt get caught without getting the ball away to a teammate. Used the ball well too especially a couple of times into the forward line unlike most yesterday.