Rnd 8 Match Day Thread. Richmond V Sydney. MCG 19.25 pm.

[aardvark]

Will Kennedy out and Hiscox in be the straw that broke the camels back? Good luck Jack, Swans by 26.14791480

[dejavoodoo44]

With Kennedy out, I'm expecting a big game from Parker. It will also be interesting to see, who amongst our youngsters, gets to spend a bit more time in midfield.

[aguy]

I'm wandering around the Bourke street mall shops now. Can't wait to go the the G tonight and cheer on the team

[aguy]

XR and Nankervis are both playing ressies in Canberra so that means only Rose had travelled to Melbourne.

And to add to the intrigue neither BJ nor Leonardis played ressies so they are either sick or something else is up.

[Markus26]

I'm wandering around the Bourke street mall shops now. Can't wait to go the the G tonight and cheer on the team

Can't believe you're at the G. Jealous!!! I'll be watching from home.

[Luke Shannon]

Wow. Jacob Hopper comes off the bench for GWS and they put him straight in the middle for a centre bounce.

Can we have a centre bounce tonight where it's Heeney and Mills in there? I'm sure they are both up to it.

Hopper has had five possessions in his first five minutes.

[aguy]

Can't believe you're at the G. Jealous!!! I'll be watching from home.

Kid free for two nights. Cmon the swans

[Zlatorog]

No late changes, according to the AFL web site.

[WauchopeAnalyst]

Towers is doing all the things he had to do. A bit of steel and hardness in first couple of minutes.

[dejavoodoo44]

Cue the Bud and Zac show!

[troyjones2525]

Bloody lucky Richmond are playing so bad! We've made some shocking skill errors!

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[Mel_C]

Those turnovers are going to kill me!! All their shots have been from our mistakes.

Was worried about Hanners and Heeney injuries but they are both on the ground so hopefully they are ok.

[WauchopeAnalyst]

So so bad. What are we doing. .

[Blue Sun]

Turnovers have been horrid, starting terribly again.

[troyjones2525]

Those turnovers are going to kill me!! All their shots have been from our mistakes.

Was worried about Hanners and Heeney injuries but they are both on the ground so hopefully they are ok.
Yep. All their scores have come from horrible turnovers!

Papley has done nothing also.

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[Zlatorog]

It looks to me that our young players are not travelling very well. They might cost us a few games in the process.

[Gary]

unbelievable error rate ... no peripheral vision by any of them .. wake up McVeigh ... That pathetic effort at a kick out was a total disgrace. Ted ... why don't you keep your eye on # 8!

[dejavoodoo44]

Good first quarter. Plenty of pressure being applied. Hannebery, Franklin, Heeney and Parker are all looking super sharp.

[dejavoodoo44]

Sometime soon Buddy is going to burst a Sherrin the way he is kicking them!

[Blue Sun]

I'm not normally one to single out any particular player, but Lloyd is clearly not ready for AFL. His disposals have been sloppy at best.

[Wardy]

Is it me or has Mitchell gone off the boil (I hope I'm wrong but I'm not convinced he's the new messiah)

[gossipcom]

Horse is going to need a sedative soon.

Grundy has gone missing and wtf is playing on Deledio is doing a shocking job.

[Wardy]

Umpire 5 Nichols is his usual inconsistent best too

[WauchopeAnalyst]

What are we doing, someone.

[Wardy]

I'm not normally one to single out any particular player, but Lloyd is clearly not ready for AFL. His disposals have been sloppy at best.agree he's turned it over ALOT!

[Blue Sun]

I don't blame him, absolutely shocking game. Both sides have been terrible. So frustrating. Swans are lucky Richmond have been missing.

[Wardy]

I don't blame him, absolutely shocking game. Both sides have been terrible. So frustrating. Swans are lucky Richmond have been missing. he's been like that for a few games now - I'm liking Hewitt though.

[Zlatorog]

Again, one of those bad games. Can Longmire change anything? Is there a plan B?

[gossipcom]

What are we doing, someone.

We're playing crap and conceded three goals in two mins

[WauchopeAnalyst]

Tigers can hit their targets until front 50 but we can't hit any target anywhere, Grundy is trying to rape Griffiths 20m off the ball every time.

[troyjones2525]

Disgraceful half from a so called top side. Richmond playing the game they want to play and we haven't adjusted whatsoever! A few need to be looked at for selection next week considering our reserve team is playing so well.

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[Mel_C]

This is a really terrible game to watch live. Cannot believe the errors we are making it reminds me of last year. Richmond play such boring football.

What the F was that free paid for when Laidler took the mark?? Absolutely nothing there.

We have totally fallen asleep.

[Cheer_Cheer]

The maggots are really doing a job on us..

[Bill Posters]

Aargh all McVeigh's kicks are falling 2 metres short.

[Blue Sun]

Richardson was saying the Swans are premiership favourites, what a joke. Can't even beat Richmond.

[Zlatorog]

After we lose this game, next week Hawthorn is going to slaughter us.

[WauchopeAnalyst]

Longmire is becoming Malthouse, screaming every 10 seconds. Coaches anxiety transfers to players.

[gossipcom]

28 frees in the first half. Yowzah. Reckon it'll hit 50 by the end of the match.

[troyjones2525]

We cannot blame umpires for what we have served up! The players and coaches need to look at themselves to let a poor Richmond dominte play like they have!

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[Blue Sun]

After we lose this game, next week Hawthorn is going to slaughter us.

If the Swans play like this, absolutely. 10 goals, minimum.

EDIT: 3 scoring shots to 8 that quarter...

[mcs]

Awful 2nd quarter, so sloppy with the pissessions, but not being helped by the yellow maggots either being willing to blow the whistle on everything and anything. Both the grundy frees were ridiculous.

[MattW]

I did worry that we'd be a bit soft with Towers and Hiscox in the team for McGlynn and Joey. Parker and Hannebery playing well but otherwise not hard enough inside. Grundy beaten so far. Tippett and Jack need to get stuck in.

[Wardy]

ah never under estimate a struggling side - they always come good against us!! Swans have to pull their heads out of their arses to win this game - Grundy is targeted now so we have effectively lost a player - I hope we have the premiership 3rd quarter.

[Gary]

Fair dinkum ... you would almost think someone was paying them to fumble every ball, handpass into trouble, drop marks and simply let Richmond run rings around them. LLoyd is playing like the ordinary footballer he is ... but has a bunch of fans who can't see it ... including the selectors. The centre clearances have been pathetic. Boy, the raps on Parker sound / look a bit hollow when Kennedy isn't there to do the grunt work. Kicking especially McVeigh is woeful.

[Swannette]

The bogey team rises again but we just allow it every time. What the!!!!

[Legs Akimbo]

Watching at the ground. So bad. Just one of those games where everything we do is fumbly, stupid, error riddled. Richmond are working a lot harder than us. A lot harder. Umpiring had been shocking. The one where buddy got nabbed for tackle. Was watching umpire. He blew the whistle before the tackle. The charity goal to Richmond was a joke. If we are going to win this the lights need to come on in the second half. They need to work a lot harder.

[dimelb]

Very messy football by us. Richmond's passing by hand and foot is much tidier than ours up to half time. Hope we can see the real Swans in second half.

[dejavoodoo44]

Umpires have got to stop letting the Richmond crowd umpire the game. Though for a couple of those frees, I doubt if the Richmond crowd would have actually saw them.

[Blue Sun]

28 frees in the first half. Yowzah. Reckon it'll hit 50 by the end of the match.

13 frees for Richmond, 11 for Sydney. I agree they've been calling ones that aren't there, but they haven't been too bad. Richmond are electing to play boring, keepings off football in an effort to frustrate the Swans. It means we have to go 1-on-1 for the rest of the match. Contests must be forced. I'm sure Horse is telling them the same thing. The Swans are a contested footy team, Hardwick knows this.

[Cheer_Cheer]

Fair dinkum ... you would almost think someone was paying them to fumble every ball, handpass into trouble, drop marks and simply let Richmond run rings around them. LLoyd is playing like the ordinary footballer he is ... but has a bunch of fans who can't see it ... including the selectors. The centre clearances have been pathetic. Boy, the raps on Parker sound / look a bit hollow when Kennedy isn't there to do the grunt work. Kicking especially McVeigh is woeful.

Parker is one player I wouldn't be targeting in this pathetic display.

[frankee]

Surely Richmond cant keep this up

[Ludwig]

In the Adelaide v Geelong game last night I couldn't believe how poorly Adelaide played. They were a shadow of the team that beat us a few weeks ago. Now I understand how quickly things can change. We are a shadow of a shadow of the team that played that day. We are terrible in every aspect of the game, kicking, marking, inside work, tackling. You name it.

[gossipcom]

13 frees for Richmond, 11 for Sydney. I agree they've been calling ones that aren't there, but they haven't been too bad. Richmond are electing to play boring, keepings off football in an effort to frustrate the Swans. It means we have to go 1-on-1 for the rest of the match. Contests must be forced. I'm sure Horse is telling them the same thing. The Swans are a contested footy team, Hardwick knows this.

According to Swans app it has Tigers 17 Swans 11.

[Blue Sun]

According to Swans app it has Tigers 17 Swans 11.

Ahh, my mistake. I was looking at the AFL website, it must be delayed. In that case it is rather lopsided umpiring. I'm not surprised in any case.

[Luke Shannon]

The Swans would be in big trouble if not for Buddy's three goals. All goals were ones only really he can kick.

[gossipcom]

The Swans would be in big trouble if not for Buddy's three goals. All goals were ones only really he can kick.

The 70m was awesome to watch. Now if he can do that against the Hawks next week it'd be great :)

[Blue Sun]

The 70m was awesome to watch. Now if he can do that against the Hawks next week it'd be great :)

The Swans won't win next week, not in great form despite wins in recent weeks. But tonights match is still up for grabs. The Tigers are notoriously unreliable.

[Gary]

Re Parker there were several clearances late in Q2 that Parker, and the rest, simply failed to put in a fair dinkum go.

[gossipcom]

Parker can potentially enjoy a week off after that elbow. *sigh*

[Swannette]

Wow, so casual. Tigers should have had 3 goals by now not just 1. We are asleep

[Wardy]

im feeling for Rampe he's playing his heart out! Thank god for Buddy (although Rance is being his usual sneaky dirty self)

[annew]

We are crap this week

[Bill Posters]

Why are they booing buddy? That was a clear free kick by rance.

[Blue Sun]

Clear holding free on Parker there. Umpires not interested.

[Mel_C]

Parker can potentially enjoy a week off after that elbow. *sigh*

Did he connect? At the ground it didn't look like it.

I don't know what it is about playing Richmond at the G but we always play @@@@.

Lol at the Richmond supporters booing Buddy's free after all their soft ones.

[Blue Sun]

And a clear throw from Richmond conveniently missed.

[gossipcom]

Did he connect? At the ground it didn't look like it.

I don't know what it is about playing Richmond at the G but we always play @@@@.

Lol at the Richmond supporters booing Buddy's free after all their soft ones.

On the replay it definitely looked like he did. Would have to see it again to be sure.

[Wardy]

Cmon!!! Swans you are so much better than this!!!!

[gossipcom]

Also why the heck are Buddy and Towers playing in the backline right now. They should be a bit up even if under pressure.

Only thing saving us right now is the fact Tigers aren't kicking straight.

[troyjones2525]

This is @@@@ing horrible!!!

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[Luke Shannon]

We are lucky to be still in this.

Poor goal kicking by Rivhmond is poor football.

[WauchopeAnalyst]

Buddy trying play on with 4 blokes within 5 metres. Mills kicking is crap, tries to kick like he thinks he is a god.

[Blue Sun]

Worst game all year. Wow. Can't believe what I'm seeing tonight.

[Cheer_Cheer]

I know we all want to look for a whipping boy in this situation.. My vote is for Towers..

[Swannette]

As much as I love Franklin, he really annoys me sometimes when he does dumb things.

[gossipcom]

And we're miraculously level. *shakes head*

[troyjones2525]

Geez anyone else notice that Hewett has learned the craft of lifting his arm to win a high free a la Selwood? He will become a player opposition supporters hate in time i bet! ????

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[i'm-uninformed2]

That play be Heeney on the wing was absurdly good

[Blue Sun]

To the person who inevitably trawls through these pages when the match is said and done and claims we were being too harsh on the Swans. You're wrong. Awful turnovers and skill errors.

EDIT: and then the Swans kick 5 in a row! Much better this quarter. A different team.

[frankee]

Geez anyone else notice that Hewett has learned the craft of lifting his arm to win a high free a la Selwood? He will become a player opposition supporters hate in time i bet! ????

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Pretty much the definition of a small forward. Be able to get high free kicks.

[dejavoodoo44]

Franklin's kicking for goal these days is a pure treat: the Buddy bullet.

[i'm-uninformed2]

Right now give me a swans player to kick the winning goal after the siren and its George H

[Mel_C]

Much much better quarter although lucky that Richmond missed those shots. We started making them play their backwards kicking game.

On the radio they said that Richmond hadn't gone inside 50 for 13 minutes so we need to keep that up.

Edit: What did I say?? 2 goals in 2 minutes!

[dimelb]

A much better quarter, more grunt and accuracy (though still not wonderful). If we keep our intensity up we can win it from here. If we could lift our accuracy in kicking alone we'd have them on toast.

[Wardy]

Hmm maybe we spoke too soon??

[Swannette]

And again. Buddy you are not invincible. Tackles stick. Get rid of the ball.

[WauchopeAnalyst]

We are still trying to hold the ball. Move it IMMEDIATELY, but we want to have a look, another goal from Buddy having a look instead of kicking.

[WauchopeAnalyst]

So soft and weak.

[Blue Sun]

Aaand just like that it's even. Swans are gone.

[WauchopeAnalyst]

2.49mins for 3 goals

[stevoswan]

Oh @@@@..... nice throw there, ump's as usual not helping.........and a huge jumper hold on Reg there goes unchecked. It stinks!

[Swannette]

@@@@ me

[Wardy]

And again. Buddy you are not invincible. Tackles stick. Get rid of the ball. he's not alone though - team wide disposal has been very ordinary

[WauchopeAnalyst]

4 goals in 3.39mins

[Blue Sun]

Pathetic. I hope Horse blasts them after this effort.

[gossipcom]

We are playing crap so don't deserve to win at all but that throw made it even worse.

[troyjones2525]

Parker! You need to stand up!

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[WauchopeAnalyst]

Teddy is gooooonnnneeee.

[troyjones2525]

This is embarrassing...

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[Blue Sun]

5 goals in 4.5 minutes.

[Wardy]

We have time and we only have to win by 1 point!!!

[troyjones2525]

We have been killed in the Ruck tonight!

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[gossipcom]

Have we had a bounce go our way when we're doing a grubber kick kind of goal? Because the whole game it seems like we haven't had one.

We've playing like the Crows in the last quarter last night.

[Swannette]

That kick had Riewoldt name all over it. Good one Reg

[WauchopeAnalyst]

Mcveigh is about the same as Cotchin, not leading material, his dance has been done but he is Longmires love child.

[Luke Shannon]

Great 2nd half. Good football from both teams at various points.

[Blue Sun]

Looking on the bright side, a loss might not be so bad. It might kick them into gear a little.

[gossipcom]

Awesome chase by Harry for the turnover and then Hanners to Tippett back to Hanners!

[Wardy]

Cmon lads you can do this !!!! You are at the pointy end of the 8 - RICHMOND ARE NOT!!!

[gossipcom]

Come to think of it did Harry start on Deledio or was he switched onto him later on? Because he seems to have closed him off a bit this quarter to how he was in the first three.

[troyjones2525]

Papley needed to kick a clutch set shot like that to restore confidence in himself because he is a good kick naturally. Well done kid!!!

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[gossipcom]

Smart work by Buddy there to draw the defenders for Tippett to take the mark.

[Wardy]

Papley needed to kick a clutch set shot like that to restore confidence in himself because he is a good kick naturally. Well done kid!!!

Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk agree Paps needed that - he's got the talent that's for sure

[WauchopeAnalyst]

Teddy is so slow... so slow...

[gossipcom]

Yep Teddy and Grundy have lead the charge of how not to defend tonight.

And we're over 50 in the frees.

[Wardy]

F..k!!!!!

[gossipcom]

Well we got our just desserts. When you play that badly you don't deserve to win. Granted it would have been better if it wasn't after the siren though.

[Legs Akimbo]

They only have themselves to blame and some horrible umpiring

[troyjones2525]

Well...what more can you say about that...

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[stevoswan]

What just happened.......????

[Blue Sun]

Can't believe the Towers didn't kick it out wide to Franklin then. Just had to run down the clock. Absolute worst way to lose that match. Kick after the siren. There are no words.

[Swannette]

Always. Fight. Till. The. Siren. Didn't do enough in that last contest. @@@@e. @@@@e and more @@@@e.

- - - Updated - - -

Always. Fight. Till. The. Siren. Didn't do enough in that last contest. @@@@e. @@@@e and more @@@@e.

[stellation]

Sheesh, how do you not ice the clock with 30 seconds left? Dean didn't even seem to look around, Buddy was wide open.

Reg must have felt like Griffith's dad was umpiring there for a little bit. ;)

[Ludwig]

The Tigers USED TO BE the dumbest team in football. There's a new title holder now.

[Blue Sun]

And that cruel bounce into Riewoldt's hands right at the end, everything fell into place for Richmond. No luck for the Swans tonight.

[gossipcom]

Sheesh, how do you not ice the clock with 30 seconds left? Dean didn't even seem to look around, Buddy was wide open.

Reg must have felt like Griffith's dad was umpiring there for a little bit. ;)

That was a bad mistake by Towers. If he had passed it to Buddy we would have won the game. No doubt about it.

[Maltopia]

Towers lost us that game there, so damn frustrating...

[stevoswan]

Towers needs a fu**ing reality check!

[Cheer_Cheer]

Towers needs to be traded to Collingwood.

[WauchopeAnalyst]

Where is our leadership, a leader should have 'pointed' to Towers to kick it to Buddy and burn another 10 seconds and then kick up the boundary line and then a boundary throw in but NO LEADERSHIP, NONE, NOTHING just into a pack and they go right up to their goal.

Where was our extra defenders and Teddy is a so slow, nil pressure the whole game.

[Levii3]

Towers honestly kick the ball to Franklin take time off... Cannot believe we lost that honestly wtf. It wasn't the umpire or anything that cost this one its poor decision making. What on earth was Hiscox doing when there 1min odd left not tackling the bloke on the ground..

We missed JPK

[gossipcom]

Where is our leadership, a leader should have 'pointed' to Towers to kick it to Buddy and burn another 10 seconds and then kick up the boundary line and then a boundary throw in but NO LEADERSHIP, NONE, NOTHING just into a pack and they go right up to their goal.

Where was our extra defenders and Teddy is a so slow, nil pressure the whole game.

Pretty sure that was what Buddy and the Bench were telling him but he didn't listen and kicked it to the pack.

[Blue Sun]

Pretty poor. Richmond only had 1 win coming into this game. And they just beat us. Swans are pretenders.

[gumby_bolts]

Trying so hard not to break something in the lounge room. Towers, why why why.
Disappointed with the lack of leadership tonight.
And oh my don't we rely on Joey so much.

[Swannette]

Did what they needed to do to get in front and then couldn't hold on when all they need to do was ice the clock. Had possession. Shakes head. Cries.

[Levii3]

Where is our leadership, a leader should have 'pointed' to Towers to kick it to Buddy and burn another 10 seconds and then kick up the boundary line and then a boundary throw in but NO LEADERSHIP, NONE, NOTHING just into a pack and they go right up to their goal.

Where was our extra defenders and Teddy is a so slow, nil pressure the whole game.

Steady on this had nothing to do with "Leadership" this isn't preschool when your told when to take a nap this is senior footy if towers can't make decisions himself its on him

[snajik]

Towers didn't lose us that game. Allowing Richmond to kick 5 goals at the start of the last quarter is what lost us that game. The 3/4 time lead should have been unassailable. Our midfield with the exception of Hanners and Lloyd were @@@@e tonight.

[Blue Sun]

Trying so hard not to break something in the lounge room. Towers, why why why.
Disappointed with the lack of leadership tonight.
And oh my don't we rely on Joey so much.

I feel you. I desperately wanted to take out my frustration too. Its going to be a flogging next week.

[troyjones2525]

The Tigers USED TO BE the dumbest team in football. There's a new title holder now.
Yep! And the players responsible need to be made accountable!

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[56-14]

Big tick to Cunningham & Tippett. Richards - "weak as".

[Blue Sun]

Big tick to Cunningham & Tippett. Richards - "weak as".

Richards did directly cost us 2 goals that I saw. Champion player, but he's getting a little slow.

[Industrial Fan]

Classic Richmond

[troyjones2525]

Towers honestly kick the ball to Franklin take time off... Cannot believe we lost that honestly wtf. It wasn't the umpire or anything that cost this one its poor decision making. What on earth was Hiscox doing when there 1min odd left not tackling the bloke on the ground..

We missed JPK
I'm not one for normally bagging individuals but those 2 should never play a senior game again! Both aren't up to it and what a wasted draft pick they have been for us...

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[Blue Sun]

Steady on this had nothing to do with "Leadership" this isn't preschool when your told when to take a nap this is senior footy if towers can't make decisions himself its on him

He did lose us the game. If he went wide to Franklin, run down clock, then long along the boundary line, we would have won. No doubt.

[ugg]

Unfortunately for us Parker and Mitchell had their worst games in a while when we needed them to step up to cover for JPK. But as snajik said the opening minutes of the final quarter were the costliest. Their first five inside 50s resulted in goals. That is very unSwanslike

[Blue Sun]

Classic Richmond

Yep, despite being the joke of the football world, time and time again they beat the Swans.

[dimelb]

Disheartening loss. The thing that strikes me with Richmond is that they practically sit on top of their opponents, and I wish we did the same more often.

There were outstanding efforts from some of our boys tonight. Hanners was his usual self, hardworking, not always the tidiest disposals but kept us in things. Tippett had a decent game, Rampe was terrific, Buddy likewise despite at least two clangers, Harry was good, and we had useful cameos from the new boys. We really missed Joey.

I'm not going to go through the below-par players, except to generalise that we gave up the ball too easily and didn't impose ourselves on the ruck. The best to hope for is that we learn from it.

[gumby_bolts]

Trying to come up with positives.
Franklin was amazing (although please stay out of the midfield).
Tippett was fantastic
Harry came good in the second half.
Heeney has some nice clearance work.

[Wardy]

Unfortunately I called it at 8.33 - never underestimate a struggling team - Richmond always come good against us - dunno why - but I hope they get thrashed (Richmond I mean) from now on as their penance!! ??

[tasswan]

The most disappointing part for me was the 5 goals the Tigers kicked at the beginning of the last qtr. That lost us the game. No pressure from us and easy goals for them.

[WauchopeAnalyst]

Pretty poor. Richmond only had 1 win coming into this game. And they just beat us. Swans are pretenders.
Yep but we have Longmire for another year and we can talk about his record, blah, blah. We have a 25% better list then Carlton, but Bolton have them playing better footy. We are still playing the same as 2003. All 3 forwards leading into the same point and spoiling each other. We will play finals but not even close the winning.

Please, please dont blame Nichols and Umpires, it was our team who did it, alot of frees but gave us plenty in the last quarter.

There are 7 or 8 teams playing getter footy then us but we have the 2nd or 3rd best list.

[rojo]

Some teams train for end of game situations like that. Doesn't look like the Swans do!

[i'm-uninformed2]

Why did Dean's father meet his mother? We'd have been spared otherwise

[dejavoodoo44]

Towers needs to be traded to Collingwood.

If we can get any sort of trade, from anyone: take it.

[Blue Sun]

Why did Dean's father meet his mother? We'd have been spared otherwise

Oh wow, thats harsh. He cost us the game, but he will learn from it. I'd rather he make the mistake now than in a finals match when it really matters.

[PerthSwannie]

I said to an Eagles mate of mine that I was worried about this game because Richmond is one of our boogey teams along with North Melbourne. Turned out to be true. Again.

[Ludwig]

Towers didn't lose us that game. Allowing Richmond to kick 5 goals at the start of the last quarter is what lost us that game. The 3/4 time lead should have been unassailable. Our midfield with the exception of Hanners and Lloyd were @@@@e tonight. This is right, although Towers was crap, but so were just about everyone. Hanners was excellent and Tippett did well, but where were the rest of our inside ball winners? We shouldn't have to depend on JPK. Mitchell, Parker and Jack were awful against a side missing Cotchin.

Why did we bring in Towers and Hiscox when Rose, Jack and Davis have been playing so well?

One the worst games I've seen Reg and Ted play. And Buddy, for all his incredible goal kicking, gave away some really silly frees and made plenty of mistakes.

So much poor play on our side it's hard to know where to start.

This is how I thought we would be playing this year before the season started, then got lulled into believing we were actually good.

[Mel_C]

You can't blame Towers for that loss. Need to look at the number of turnovers that cost us goals. The same thing happened last week.

Can't believe we lost to Richmond in Melbourne yet again!! Never fails.

[Go Swannies]

It's so nice to have our 2012 Grand Final team back again. I haven't seen them for ages.

[Swannette]

It's not the first time we've served up a win to the opposition by not being able to ice the clock. Am sure I remember Leaping Leo playing villain one night with a very sloppy kick across the ground. Yes it's a pressure situation but crikey, think man, think.

[blackdeathmetal]

Dean Towers senior career is over at the Swans. Despite being angry and frustrated throughout the game I'm feeling surprisingly calm now that's its over. Feels like one of those moments where they may have won the battle but they have not won the war. Round 23 should be intense.

[troyjones2525]

This loss could really hurt us going forward considering the next month of games...

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[snajik]

i think its kind of pathetic really blaming an individual. As a team we just weren't good enough. We probably deserved to lose by more if you consider Richmond's wasteful set shot kicking for goal.

[WauchopeAnalyst]

Dan Hannebery is our heart and soul and should be made Captain, a real leader who shows his leadership every game.

[Captain]

Hiscox was absolutely shocking. Weak as piss in that final play, just standing there watching rather then tackling!

Towers had a good game but not kicking it to Buddy cost us the game. Dumb.

Was really impressed with Cunningham in the 2nd half. His best game for the year.

Mills should never be allowed to kick out from full back again.

Heeney, Hanners, Tippett and Buddy dominant as usual.

Tough loss.

[Industrial Fan]

Have to think that their strategy of holding the ball was to keep our extractors away from it. Mitchell and Parker well down. Hannas exceptional, and Heeney is all class.

Was a good game, high intensity the whole way and few errors decided it. Towers missed a critical tackle that led to a Martin goal as well as the brain fade at the end.

[Melbourne_Blood]

Towers didn't lose us that game. Allowing Richmond to kick 5 goals at the start of the last quarter is what lost us that game. The 3/4 time lead should have been unassailable. Our midfield with the exception of Hanners and Lloyd were @@@@e tonight.

Heeney was good on the ball too. But yes, Mitchell especially was hopeless. Defence were poor. Lots of passengers. Hiscox not ready for the big league, BJ would have been a better option I feel. So pissed off, why didn't we milk the clock when we had the ball in the wing with a minute to go. Kick back , sideways , eat up a minute at least. Nar lets bomb it long to a contest and give them every chance to get an out the back rebound .

[dejavoodoo44]

On the positive side, Hannebery was brilliant, Cunningham did a good job of shutting Deledio down after half time and Franklin's kicking was a joy to watch. Who knows how many he would have kicked, if Rance was being umpired in the same manner as Grundy.

[Scottee]

Oh wow, thats harsh. He cost us the game, but he will learn from it. I'd rather he make the mistake now than in a finals match when it really matters.
If you have another look you will see he didn't cost us the game. What cost us the game was the brainless selection of Hiscox, the least likely senior player on the list. A gigantic coaching and selection error.

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[Ludwig]

We had the ball in our forward 50 with only seconds left.

Why oh why didn't Callum Sinclair call for the stretcher.

[Blue Sun]

Losing a game after the siren is the worst way to lose too. And yes, the next month of football will be difficult.

Hawks next week at the MCG again, North Melbourne after that at home, then GC up there (and they're also due for a win).

[stevoswan]

Mason Wood last week......young maturity, Towers this week......just dumb!:hmmmm2: Has to be the first to be dropped this week, and second, Hiscox. They won't cut it against the Hawks.

[ernie koala]

That was a dumb final minute or so.

We had control of the ball a few times and just kicked it to a contest, when we had loose players all over the place.

Then to get caught over the back, when we should of had a plethora of players back there defending the lead.....Just really poor.

Given we had so much inexperience out there, I question the leadership that let these fundamental mistakes happen.

[aardvark]

Allowing Richmond to play possession football for the whole first half without manning up closely was sheer stupidity. When we did get the ball back we rushed and made stupid skill errors. Hardwick deserved to win that one, not one of Horses better efforts.
I had a feeling we might have played one rookie too many, at least we know where our depth stops now.

[ugg]

Just watching the final 50 seconds again there were so many things that went right for Richmond from Towers's kick to Rance's desperate crazy kick over his head to the lucky bounce that Riewoldt got over Mills to the mark and finally goal

[Cheer_Cheer]

We had the ball in our forward 50 with only seconds left.

Why oh why didn't Callum Sinclair call for the stretcher.

We don't want to become too predictable.. We will use this play again if we make the finals.

[Jimitron5000]

Allowing Richmond to play possession football for the whole first half without manning up closely was sheer stupidity. When we did get the ball back we rushed and made stupid skill errors. Hardwick deserved to win that one, not one of Horses better efforts.

Completely agree. It let them back in the game. Good way of boosting their confidence by letting them have the ball.
And yes, a particularly dumb final couple of minutes.

[Scottee]

Still can't get over the selection of Hiscox. Do the selectors actually watch the reserves games?

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[Luke Shannon]

Great game of football. Highly entertaining content.

Rance V Buddy was incredible.

I'm dissapointed, but it's AFL football at its best.

The competition is more even than we acknowledge. Fremantle, Carlton and Collingwood will win more games.

Richmond will probably win the next five games.

[Captain]

Still can't get over the selection of Hiscox. Do the selectors actually watch the reserves games?

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Yep he was shocking. Can't think of a worse debutant in years.

[snajik]

Yep he was shocking. Can't think of a worse debutant in years.

I'm not keen on judging a player on one game but he certainly seemed overawed by the occasion. There were times when he appeared to freeze.

[Dosser]

I should know better than to read this thread straight after a loss. Some people get way too nasty and personal. A bit more class would be nice. Not a good game but it is done now and hopefully we will wake up and play properly because of it.

[Velour&Ruffles]

Franklin's kicking was a joy to watch. Who knows how many he would have kicked, if Rance was being umpired in the same manner as Grundy.

I thought the same at the ground. It seems Rance has been issued the same Golden Ticket that Stephen Silvagni used to have, where you can constantly scrag and hold, even when the ball isn't anywhere near, and the umpires just let it go. If Rance had been umpired the same way Grundy was then Buddy kicks 27 off his own boot tonight. Seriously.
That said, that wasn't why we lost. We still have nobody but ourselves to blame. I counted 142 brain farts by our players but I might have missed a couple.

[Daisi]

Devastated...really poor decision making in the last minute of the game...where was the leadership group? Where were the runners to tell Towers to kick the ball to Buddy? Where was the coach? Seriously unprofessional behaviour from all concerned...

Would like to echo the comments re Buddy and Rance...great contest to watch...well played by both..( I forgive Buddy his occasional lapses)

Kudos to Richmond...they didn't give up...kept persisting and deserved the win......

I was looking forward to a good year this year...mmmm not so sure about that now..this was a failure of communication on field and off..a professionally run football team does not lose in the last minute of a game..

[Blue Sun]

We should have lost to Brisbane a fortnight ago, and deserved to lose tonight. The Swans are a top 8 side at best. You're kidding yourself if you think otherwise. Sure, the Swans have a talented list, but they're underperforming big time. If Franklin didn't play tonight, Sydney would have been hosed by a cellar-dweller, instead we go down by a point. The next two matches will be difficult, and to be honest, I think we'll lose to Hawthorn next week at the MCG and I wouldn't be surprised if North put us away at the SCG too. The season is long, which is lucky, because theres a lot of room for improvement.

BTW, I know this comes across as a "negative Nancy" type post, but its spot on as far as I'm concerned. Horse has his work cut out for him.

[aardvark]

Hannebury was fantastic tonight, time to make him captain. It would be nice to have a captain that leads by example and inspires the troops for a change, one who at least knows what a contest is.

[Maltopia]

Lots of dumb plays today, I don't know why we have Mills doing the kick out after a point is scored. He will be amazing in a few years, but why put the extra pressure on him now when there are calmer heads in such a tight game? Re Hiscox and Towers, I wanted both to succeed, but better to find out now who can handle the pressure and who can't than in September. BJ would have been such a better selection, at least you know he has got the ticker even if his execution isn't the best.

Thank goodness that Tahlia, Reid and Rampe are all going to be available for senior selection again soon as I think we are getting a bit carried away with the youth who have mostly outperformed all expectations but should not be what we are banking on for the rest of the season.

[Doctor]

I should know better than to read this thread straight after a loss. Some people get way too nasty and personal. A bit more class would be nice. Not a good game but it is done now and hopefully we will wake up and play properly because of it.

Agreed on all counts.

...and if anyone wants evidence of how the trade ban hurt us, tonight is it.

[CureTheSane]

On Hiscox - I didn't see people being all upset when he was selected.

[CureTheSane]

McVeigh watch - very poor tonight. Way too many turnovers and passing to players under pressure. It was a good thing when his kicks fell short of a one on one rather than in front of a Tiger.

[rojo]

On Hiscox - I didn't see people being all upset when he was selected.

We were in a state of shock!!

[Ludwig]

...and if anyone wants evidence of how the trade ban hurt us, tonight is it. And who might have been in our side to save the day for us if we didn't have the trade ban? I didn't see a scintilla of evidence connected to the trade ban.


On Hiscox - I didn't see people being all upset when he was selected. There were quite a lot of us who had doubts on Hiscox. There was general disappointed with his performance int the NAB preseason games. He just so happened to have a pretty decent game in the NEAFL last week. I got the feeling that Horse thought Hiscox would run the Tigers ragged.

Of the senior listed players, Rose and Davis have been our best and certainly would have preferred them to Hiscox and Towers. Even Brandon Jack has been playing better.

I thought Robinson was added to the LTIL. I would elevate either Marsh or Newman, both have been consistently among our best players in the reserves. They can add some pace to the backline. Marsh has turned into a pretty solid defender. I'd bring one of them in and move Mills to the midfield. Newman is pretty decent at kick-ins as well and gets plenty of the ball.

[Doctor]

And who might have been in our side to save the day for us if we didn't have the trade ban? I didn't see a scintilla of evidence connected to the trade ban.

The KPD or two we would have traded for but were prohibited from doing so.

[Ludwig]

The KPD or two we would have traded for but were prohibited from doing so.The only possibility would have been Patfull, who might have been in the side in lieu of Laidler. And I don't see how that changes the game we just lost. We were limited in our trading due to the loss of COLA more than the trading ban.

[CureTheSane]

I thought Towers was OK tonight. Obviously he made his mistakes, but then again so did many others.
Certainly no reason for what he's copping.
Hope he keeps his spot next week.
Until players like him and Hiscox get a taste, we'll never know if they are going to make it.
McVeigh is the perfect example. If the coaching staff listened to everyone here when he was 'McHack' he would have dwindled away and never become what he did.
Sure he looks like he may be starting to look like he won't hang around too much longer (IMO) but he became a very valuable part of the club.

[crackedactor]

How could you say towers was ok????? I know you cannot criticise his decision making ,because there is none. Has the football brain the size of a pea. Needs contract to be torn up.


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[ASSASSIN]

Mcveigh maybe a nice guy, but did any of his kicks reach their mark.... Either every kick was short or over a players head. Been a fan of Jack for years, but so many poor decisions also coming from him now. Wat can ANYONE say about Tippet - good, the bad an the ugly in every game.

Over all game was intense - i'm sure the swannies will hit back hard.

- - - Updated - - -


I counted 142 brain farts by our players but I might have missed a couple.
SPOT ON !!!!

[0918330512]

Good teams win the close games.

Great teams learn from their losses.

I just hope we are the latter.




And it's interesting that just a 3 weeks ago on RWO, Ted had turned back the clock, was back to his best, was again the lynchpin to our defence etc etc, now he's past it (again), too slow (again)

The veterans Papley & Mills are crucified for not contributing & poor kicking respectively.

Mitchell, well fair enough, if he isn't racking up 30 disposals he should either be dropped or traded to Carlton (come on Luke, where are you when I need your support on this topic?)

Towers? He's got to be dropped. Never to play again (again). After all, while his final play was certainly costly, very costly, just ignore every other missed goal, missed target, free kick that was executed poorly by a guy in red & white in the previous 120 minutes of the match.

Oh, and crucify that first gamer Hiscox. All our other debutants should be vying for the Rising Star Award, so Hiscox not slotting a bag full of goals or getting a forefoot stress fracture from all the kicks gathered must mean his selection probably cost us the match. (RWO excused Aliir x2 his lacklustre start, because he played in a win).

Losses hurt. They hurt the supporters. They hurt the club on the ladder. But they hurt the players too. It was disappointing & it has done some damage, but if Towers had held up play or passed to Buddy, or if Sam Lloyd had missed or if any other single incident in 120 minutes of football had gone our way, fair chance the Tigers board on BigFooty would have their miserable supporters devouring their own and people on RWO would likely only be grumbling a little.

I'm not saying we played well. We didn't. I'm saying that when a game is decided by the smallest of margins, after the siren, that game could easily have gone either way. It just didn't go our way tonight & we (Horse & the players) have some work to do (which they undoubtedly will do).

[bloodspirit]

+1

[Melbournehammer]

We played some of the worst football I have seen us play and over the past 20 years or so I've seen us play a lot of terrible games at the g.

From about half way through the first quarter to half time we must have turned the ball over four times in five attacks and since we were barely touching the ball as it was we were chasing black and yellow constantly.

They took at one point 19 marks inside fifty to 3 - just ponder that stat for a second and ask yourself how we were actually in the game with a stat like that.

We conceded five goals in nine minutes after three quarter time and three of those came in a little over four minutes and all from a destroyed centre square and back six.

Watching nick smith kick on his right and reg on his left made me feel soooooo much better about my skills.

This was a game where I think everything pointed to a loss all night. I'm much much calmer than a lot of others on social media because I didn't think we deserved to win. So I'm disappointed but not despondent with that performance. We are simply not in the top echelon of teams in a week to week basis and the deplorable nature of our skills can make us look so second rate.

The last three weeks against three of the most out of form teams in the afl show what I think most of us really already know deep down - the scg gives us a six goal head start and we really are terribly inconsistent away from home.

[707]

Lost at selection when they went the warm fuzzy selecting Hiscox rather than BJ who has been in ripping NEAFL form. No doubt he would have got more ball and applied more pressure than Hiscox did tonight.

Has to be more changes next week than just Kennedy for Hiscox after that performance.

[ugg]

Lost at selection when they went the warm fuzzy selecting Hiscox rather than BJ who has been in ripping NEAFL form. No doubt he would have got more ball and applied more pressure than Hiscox did tonight.

Has to be more changes next week than just Kennedy for Hiscox after that performance.

BJ didn't play ressies so we can only assume he wasn't available for selection this weekend whether due to injury or otherwise. So it looks like the choice came down to Hiscox or Rose and they plumped for Hiscox based on his running ability on a bigger ground.

[YvonneH]

I bet a lot of Richmond supporters are sorry they didn't turn up to watch their team last night (only 36,000 approx. did).

[dimelb]

BJ didn't play ressies so we can only assume he wasn't available for selection this weekend whether due to injury or otherwise. So it looks like the choice came down to Hiscox or Rose and they plumped for Hiscox based on his running ability on a bigger ground.

May well be true about BJ, but why pick Hiscox? There are ressies who could be relied on to do a better job, especially when we were already missing Joey. Did our selectors underestimate Richmond?

[barry]

Normally you wouldn't blame a first gamer for a loss even if he played a shocker. But i think some may have watched the giants game earlier and seen they first gamer they had. Straight to midfield 5 kicks in 5 minutes.

Giants now ahead of swans on ladder

[Luke Shannon]

People are getting too emotionally involved in the loss.

Watching Rance V Buddy was something special that you rarley see on a football field.

Rance in my opinion is the AFL's greatest ever key defender. He is better than Silvani, Roos, Lanford and Bruce Doull. Seeing him leave Buddy to help out another defender was amazing.

Buddy blasting three goals from outside 50m in a five goal performance was equally impressive. He is the greatest ever pure athlete to play AFL and certainly its greatest ever half forward flanker.

What a duel. Both players at the peak of their careers. I'm rejoicing in having watched that.

[robamiee]

honestly we ahve been down on form the last few weeks and have been able to win. ALA Hawks and the loss was coming IMO and i think that will serve us better with 2 big games coming up for both coaches and players...
with our team out there i think we alot yngr in games playted than the tigers...

Some brain fades tonight and our backline got caught out at times when you knew they are generally more solid and composed to allow 2 over the back goals...
lessons learned we bounce back next week against the hawks

[Faunac8]

Histrionics aside a couple of facts to consider
We are currently fourth on the ladder having lost two games on the road by a combined 11 points
9 players selected with less than 50 games and it showed
First game for the year , and possibly also the first game ever for a few of our team at Richmonds home ground
Richmond for some reason match up well on us and have beaten us at least once a season recently

We were simply out possessed outplayed and out coached on the night and it still took a kick after the siren to beat us.
With next weeks big game looming now is not the time to attack but rather the time to rally around and show our support

[liz]

I think this loss reflects the reality of where the team is. At the start of the year, I thought we'd be doing OK to finish in the bottom half of the top eight, such was our lack of depth. The fine form of our better players - Buddy especially - I think has caused the media to overreact to the wins the team has put together.

I think the manner of the way the game was lost - ie with a kick after the siren to overtake a lead the Swans should absolutely have been able to defend - masks the fact that it was only the extravagant brilliance of Buddy and the Tigers' woeful set shot conversion that had us in that position to start with. The fact we lost is, I think, a good team. Psychologically, winning that game may have caused the team to gloss over the things that went poorly, rather than focus on what they need to do better.

Tactically, the Tigers played an excellent game, frustrating the Swans by denying them the ball. They've been gradually playing better footy as the season has progressed, and certainly last week they were very good for three quarters against Hawthorn. Deledio is a very important player for them and, while it's taken him some time to find match fitness after his late start to the season, yesterday showed how good a player he can be.

We were missing Kennedy, McGlynn, Reid, Rohan as senior bodies yesterday. We had four players with under 10 games experience, and another handful with under 30 games. That's not meant to be an excuse, just a statement of where the team is at. Sure, other teams have far worse injury lists, but most of them are sitting on the bottom of the ladder. Things aren't going to change in a hurry for the Swans this year because Reid and Rohan won't be back in the near future (and are not going to be match changers even when they are - though at the start of the year, I thought that improvement from those two was key to our team's chances this year, so the fact they've not been able to even get onto the park has been a blow). Heeney, Mills and (IMO) Jones are already part of our best 22, regardless of their relative inexperience. I suspect that Papley and Hewett are too, though their contributions are those of talented youngsters rather than seasoned players. It's going to take another pre-season or two for that group to be able to contribute at the level - en mass - that a true contender needs from its troops.

[ugg]

May well be true about BJ, but why pick Hiscox? There are ressies who could be relied on to do a better job, especially when we were already missing Joey. Did our selectors underestimate Richmond?

Besides Rose I don't think we had another small-medium type available I.e. Wasn't on the rookie list. The other two emergencies were Nankervis and Xavier and the other senior listed players were also talls in Aliir Davis and the not ready Rohan

I guess possibly they could have brought in another tall defender but having brought Teddy back in they possibly didn't want to go in too tall on the G.

[lwjoyner]

Very poor effort and I agree why pick Hiscox if it was for his speed he did not show it . In one piece of play on the afl stand side of the ground the ball was kicked out and it was between Hiscox and a Tiger player and Hiscox should have been able to win the ball if his speed is so good. Why also does Rance get away with the shoving and holding of Buddy every tim but we get frees against us when at least one of Reg's was his for a jumper pull. I wish Horse would blast the players instead of his clenched hands. Our kicking has got worse over the last couple of years ,how many times did we miss targets our just put the ball on to boot to get it away from the palyer kicking it, we must have kicked it to the opposition 5 or 6 times. Need to improve to beat the other top sides.

[Beerman]

I think this loss reflects the reality of where the team is. At the start of the year, I thought we'd be doing OK to finish in the bottom half of the top eight, such was our lack of depth. The fine form of our better players - Buddy especially - I think has caused the media to overreact to the wins the team has put together.

I absolutely agree with you liz. The team has a large contingent of players who are inexperienced and while we are going ok, these players need to develop more for us to be a real contender.

My concern is mostly for next week. Richmond seemed to run the ball out of defence so easily and Hawthorn, with their precision skills, will be able to keep the ball away from us even more effectively. It could get nasty unless we learn from this experience.

[WauchopeAnalyst]

That was a dumb final minute or so.

We had control of the ball a few times and just kicked it to a contest, when we had loose players all over the place.

Then to get caught over the back, when we should of had a plethora of players back there defending the lead.....Just really poor.

Given we had so much inexperience out there, I question the leadership that let these fundamental mistakes happen.
But that is exactly how we are. Unless you are 50m clear, we will bombing in. The coaches created it and the players bought in.

[WauchopeAnalyst]

I'm not keen on judging a player on one game but he certainly seemed overawed by the occasion. There were times when he appeared to freeze.
The same with Deano.

[MattW]

That was gutting. The sort of loss to question the wisdom of investing so much emotion in this.

In the end we weren't hard enough. We were beaten in contested possessions and tackles. I think we've seen enough from Towers to know he is unreliable under pressure, making bad decisions and losing contested ball. I was worried about Hiscox when ugg posted his tackle average in NEAFL this year: 1.6. So it proved. He didn't even impact with his running. If he'll ever be ready it's a long way away.

Hannebery carried the midfield again with an extraordinary performance. With Buddy, Tippett, Heeney and Rampe, they carried the team as they have all year with Joey. Heeney looked good in the moments he was in the midfield. Maybe he should stay there and bring Rose in to play forward.

The backline looked as brittle as it has been. Riewoldt always beats our backs. Teddy perhaps came back a week early.

The previous posters are correct. We are dipping too deeply into our reserves, although I agree Jones' improvement suggests he'll make it.

From watching yesterday, i reckon Rohan is a decent chance to return next week.

Ideally, it'll be Joey, Rohan and McGlynn for Hiscox, Towers and Hewett (only just over Papley).

[liz]

I'd be leaving Hewett in the team. It would be good if he can find more of the ball, but he's got some very good traits. His tackling is sound, he's an excellent set shot for goal when he gets the chance, and he's very good at getting high tackle free kicks by ever so slightly dropping his shoulder.

I know Longmire will want to bring Rohan back into the team as soon as he think's he's ready, but only last week he sat out the second half of the reserves game with a niggle. I'd prefer he comes back when he's really ready to make an impact. He doesn't have too many chances left to establish his spot in the team and it would be good if he's really fit and confident before he comes back.

[ugg]

It'll be an interesting call with Rohan as the ressies have the bye this week. If the sub vest was still around they might have risked him as the sub but I can't see him coming into the team this week

MattW what position did Rohan play in the ressies yesterday?

[Luke Shannon]

I liked Heeney in the midfield. He is tough, tackles well, reads the play, his handling is clean, his marking is elite and his distribution by hand and foot is great.

Until we have Tom Mitchell's signature his midfield time should be reallocated to Heeney. It's insurance, similar to the 2013 Hawks with Buddy.

[mcs]

I liked Heeney in the midfield. He is tough, tackles well, reads the play, his handling is clean, his marking is elite and his distribution by hand and foot is great.


Heeney did make a difference in the middle, and despite his obvious brilliance up forward, it is where he will end up in time.

- - - Updated - - -


People are getting too emotionally involved in the loss.

Watching Rance V Buddy was something special that you rarley see on a football field.

Rance in my opinion is the AFL's greatest ever key defender. He is better than Silvani, Roos, Lanford and Bruce Doull. Seeing him leave Buddy to help out another defender was amazing.

Buddy blasting three goals from outside 50m in a five goal performance was equally impressive. He is the greatest ever pure athlete to play AFL and certainly its greatest ever half forward flanker.

What a duel. Both players at the peak of their careers. I'm rejoicing in having watched that.

Not everyone has your cold profit driven heart.

As for rance, no doubt he is a fine defender, but if he got the same grilling from the umps that grundy got, buddy would of got a dozen. Like silvagni, he gets away with a hell of a lot more than most defenders.

[56-14]

I liked Heeney in the midfield. He is tough, tackles well, reads the play, his handling is clean, his marking is elite and his distribution by hand and foot is great.

Until we have Tom Mitchell's signature his midfield time should be reallocated to Heeney. It's insurance, similar to the 2013 Hawks with Buddy.

I don't want Mitchell's signature. He's a "stats accumulator" rather than a "ball magnet". Hoped he would have stepped-up last night in the absence of Kennedy.

[johnno]

Can't believe no one here has mentioned the clear free kick miss by the umpires that should have gone to Tippett with that last kick into our forward 50 by Towers. Considering some of the soft frees that went against Reg that directed to direct goals to them, that miss free kick to Tippet really annoys me. Also I believe it was Rance again. Yes he's a great defender, but I agree with an earlier post here, he has got the golden Steven Silvagni ticket for full backs from umpires in that they won't pay a free kick against him, he absolutely held Franklin around the waists on at least 5-6 occasions in a marking contest and the umps call play on, Reg breathes on Griffiths and it's a free in front of goal.

[crackedactor]

Very poor effort and I agree why pick Hiscox if it was for his speed he did not show it . In one piece of play on the afl stand side of the ground the ball was kicked out and it was between Hiscox and a Tiger player and Hiscox should have been able to win the ball if his speed is so good. Why also does Rance get away with the shoving and holding of Buddy every tim but we get frees against us when at least one of Reg's was his for a jumper pull. I wish Horse would blast the players instead of his clenched hands. Our kicking has got worse over the last couple of years ,how many times did we miss targets our just put the ball on to boot to get it away from the palyer kicking it, we must have kicked it to the opposition 5 or 6 times. Need to improve to beat the other top sides. I totally disagree with Rance being a all time great full back??? Was people actually there on the ground watching the game?? I was at ground level and saw Rance whack Buddy in the back of the head about 10 times. but of course about 10 meters or more away from the ball. In fact I believe Buddy stopped trying in the last quarter because he was so sick of it. Towers and hiscox were absolute jokes. Running around a witch's hat is more difficult than side stepping towers. If they are the best two options and we are on the top of the ladder. How bad is the level of the NEAFL?? would THE Swans be capable of beating the bottom side in Victoria's VFL?

[Plugger46]

We've got a very long tail. Sometimes it takes a loss like that to see it. We've got a few to come back but I can't see Rohan making any significant difference. Another bloke who doesn't find the footy.

Buddy is a pleasure to watch. His kicking is just incredible at the moment. He and Hanners were sensational.

Sinclair/Jetta trade looks lose-lose to me at this stage. Played well against Carlton but outside of that, I reckon he's been OK at best.

[mcs]

Can't believe no one here has mentioned the clear free kick miss by the umpires that should have gone to Tippett with that last kick into our forward 50 by Towers. Considering some of the soft frees that went against Reg that directed to direct goals to them, that miss free kick to Tippet really annoys me. Also I believe it was Rance again. Yes he's a great defender, but I agree with an earlier post here, he has got the golden Steven Silvagni ticket for full backs from umpires in that they won't pay a free kick against him, he absolutely held Franklin around the waists on at least 5-6 occasions in a marking contest and the umps call play on, Reg breathes on Griffiths and it's a free in front of goal.

That last Tippo one was frustrating - but there were a hell of a lot of 50/50 calls all night that went either way.

Yep, Rance certainly gets plenty of free reign - much like Harry Taylor at Geelong does. Doesn't mean they aren't very good deferenders, but an all time great or the best ever.....:rofl:

[mcs]

We've got a very long tail. Sometimes it takes a loss like that to see it. We've got a few to come back but I can't see Rohan making any significant difference. Another bloke who doesn't find the footy.

Buddy is a pleasure to watch. His kicking is just incredible at the moment. He and Hanners were sensational.

Sinclair/Jetta trade looks lose-lose to me at this stage. Played well against Carlton but outside of that, I reckon he's been OK at best.

Sinclair is never going to be an A grade ruckman, but as the Hawks have shown in recent years, you don't need two out and out superstar ruckmen to be Premiers. As long as the second one can be competitive (as Sinclair is) and give the main ruckmen some time to recover, then they are doing their job. Given the early season lack of form from Jetta, we are a long way in front on the trade at this point.

I still hope desperately that Naismith can get his body right and get a sustained period of footy behind him, as I genuinely think he can be a very fine ruckmen.


Your point about our long tail is a more than fair one however - but what I think the first 8 rounds have shown us is that the nucleus of a Premiership team is most definitely there, it is about finding that depth in the last half a dozen in particular, and filling the gaps as needed.

[aardvark]

Sinclair's tap to KJ for a goal in the last quarter was fairly special. I'm not sure if he mean't it though.

[Beerman]

I'd be leaving Hewett in the team. It would be good if he can find more of the ball, but he's got some very good traits. His tackling is sound, he's an excellent set shot for goal when he gets the chance, and he's very good at getting high tackle free kicks by ever so slightly dropping his shoulder.

I know Longmire will want to bring Rohan back into the team as soon as he think's he's ready, but only last week he sat out the second half of the reserves game with a niggle. I'd prefer he comes back when he's really ready to make an impact. He doesn't have too many chances left to establish his spot in the team and it would be good if he's really fit and confident before he comes back.

I think Hewett offers more than Papley, so I'd keep him if it comes to a choice.

It would be great if Rohan is fit enough to play against the Hawks. I think we need his defensive pressure. Too often Richmond had all the time in the world to make a perfect pass to a player who was a yard ahead of his opponent. (I know Rohan's tackles stick like wet soap, but at least he is quick and can pressure the kicker or contest the receiver).

[Ludwig]

I watched the replay and have a less negative view than I did watching it in real time. We played well in stretches and very poorly for a few brief periods when they piled on the goals. Parker and Mitchell were disappointing given the absence of JPK. On the positive side, it was good to see Lloyd play a better game after a couple of poor ones. Cunningham was good in the second half. He has to try to get more of the ball because he can run with it and is a good kick.

We've been showing signs of falling down over the past several weeks, so perhaps this loss should not have been unexpected. We could have won, but deserved to lose. Buddy's great kicking and Richmond's inaccuracy in front of goal put us in a winning position.

It has been a development year for us, we just surprised ourselves by winning with so many kids playing. I think we need to keep the development going as some of our weaknesses, which were also present last year, have come back. There are lessons to be learned from this game.

Hiscox may be a very good middle distance runner, but he's no footballer. I can see why Fremantle find themselves where they do. They actually bid their pick #34 for Hiscox. He was never worth more than a rookie speculation. I suppose we wanted to show support for our Academy boys, but we should have let him go. A certain delisting in my mind.

It's hard to see a 26 yo Towers ever becoming an AFL standard footballer. He can't play under any kind of pressure, can't defend and can't tackle anyone moving toward him. Shouldn't play again. Trade or delist.

We will have to do some experimenting to get the mix right. Heeney, Mills and Hewett all should spend more time in the midfield.

Our defence needs a serious rebuild. We might as well start asap. We are just too slow for one on one defending. No closing speed. Unfortunately Talia and Reid are still injured and not available for selection. We could try Rohan when he's ready to step up from NEAFL level, maybe in the GC game. As for now I would give Harry Marsh a go. It's his 4th year in our system, so he should settle in well. He can play tall, like Rampe, so can replace Ted. He has good closing speed and has become a good decision maker. It's always hard to say how a player will adjust to AFL level, but Harry has shown that he deserves a chance. Newman is also playing consistently well, and is more of a rebounding defender, like Malceski. O'Riordan will be good and might challenge for a senior spot next year.

The best options we have for the forward line from our reserves are Rose and Davis. Both are footballers and play 2 way football. Rose may be slower than Towers if measuring foot speed, but plays much faster with quick movement and reaction time. Davis is a good solid player who can play anywhere and has in the reserves. Dawson has been out injured, but has looked promising as a future forward.

For me, GWS are now the best team in the league. I don't know if they are experienced enough to win the premiership, but they are playing beautiful football. We need to be bold if we want any chance of staying with them.

[barry]

Winning away from home is hard so dont beat ourselves up. Or backline hasn't been settled all year which means it won't be as effective. If we can get talia back and some consistency in the run home we will be OK . It's an open flag. Gws might finish above is but thats good as more likely a sydney finals. I dont think gws have the hardened bodies for finals footy. Norf are pretenders as always.

It would be nice to put a gap between us and dawks next weekend.

[stellation]

Can't believe no one here has mentioned the clear free kick miss by the umpires that should have gone to Tippett with that last kick into our forward 50 by Towers. Considering some of the soft frees that went against Reg that directed to direct goals to them, that miss free kick to Tippet really annoys me. Also I believe it was Rance again. Yes he's a great defender, but I agree with an earlier post here, he has got the golden Steven Silvagni ticket for full backs from umpires in that they won't pay a free kick against him, he absolutely held Franklin around the waists on at least 5-6 occasions in a marking contest and the umps call play on, Reg breathes on Griffiths and it's a free in front of goal.
It wasn't Rance, but it was a bad miss by the umpires. I must admit I did spot it whilst watching the game then got a bit caught up in the excitement and didn't go back to watch it, I just saw from the AFL's clip of the last 2 minutes and not only was there an arm over Kurt's shoulder, it definitely held him down and the defender used it to launch himself up to spoil.
1481

[dimelb]

That's a pretty damning photo.

[dejavoodoo44]

That's a pretty damning photo.
Yes and I wonder how you would go, trying to freeze frame Reg's free kicks on Griffiths to make them look damming? A couple of them you may have to cheat with Photoshop.

[stevoswan]

BJ didn't play ressies so we can only assume he wasn't available for selection this weekend whether due to injury or otherwise. So it looks like the choice came down to Hiscox or Rose and they plumped for Hiscox based on his running ability on a bigger ground.

Well, they got the answer to that curiosity......and he will be dropped next week!

[stevoswan]

It wasn't Rance, but it was a bad miss by the umpires. I must admit I did spot it whilst watching the game then got a bit caught up in the excitement and didn't go back to watch it, I just saw from the AFL's clip of the last 2 minutes and not only was there an arm over Kurt's shoulder, it definitely held him down and the defender used it to launch himself up to spoil.
1481

There has never been a season where so many matches have been decided by bad umpiring. You never like to say a result was changed due to bad umpiring, but this year we have seen a few. Two of the Hawks 3 pt wins were directly due to umpire bias, last night we lost due to umpire bias (Rance on Buddy, Reg on Griffiths, Tippett non free in dying seconds etc) and there are more examples. Umpiring in AFL is at it's lowest standard in years, and year in, year out, it continues to deteriorate. Now more than ever, umpiring bias/predudice seems to be influenced by media driven whinging from self interested knobs like McGuire....and it shows NO signs of improving.

[Dosser]

There has never been a season where so many matches have been decided by bad umpiring. You never like to say a result was changed due to bad umpiring, but this year we have seen a few. Two of the Hawks 3 pt wins were directly due to umpire bias, last night we lost due to umpire bias (Rance on Buddy, Reg on Griffiths, Tippett non free in dying seconds etc) and there are more examples. Umpiring in AFL is at it's lowest standard in years, and year in, year out, it continues to deteriorate. Now more than ever, umpiring bias/predudice seems to be influenced by media driven whinging from self interested knobs like McGuire....and it shows NO signs of improving.

Pretty sure this has been cut and paste from each year for the past 10 years.

[56-14]

There has never been a season where so many matches have been decided by bad umpiring. You never like to say a result was changed due to bad umpiring, but this year we have seen a few. Two of the Hawks 3 pt wins were directly due to umpire bias, last night we lost due to umpire bias (Rance on Buddy, Reg on Griffiths, Tippett non free in dying seconds etc) and there are more examples. Umpiring in AFL is at it's lowest standard in years, and year in, year out, it continues to deteriorate. Now more than ever, umpiring bias/predudice seems to be influenced by media driven whinging from self interested knobs like McGuire....and it shows NO signs of improving.

Don't agree that we lost due to umpire bias. We lost because of the way our team performed.

[Maltopia]

Send that photo in to the Whistleblowers show and ask why it was missed and if it ultimately cost us the game.

[stellation]

There was an umpire in decent position to see it, too- the only thing you could give them is they may have been blinded by the defender (he curled around Kurt on that side) but that may be a little kind and they should have had an okay angle on it.
1483

[barry]

To be fair you want the umpire to put the whistle away in the lady minutes of close games

[Industrial Fan]

There was also nothing in the free that Jack got in front of goal and the buddy one was play on imo as well.

If anything there was too much 'umpiring', don't think there was a bias, just too many whistles blown.

[Nico]

Unfortunately for us Parker and Mitchell had their worst games in a while when we needed them to step up to cover for JPK. But as snajik said the opening minutes of the final quarter were the costliest. Their first five inside 50s resulted in goals. That is very unSwanslike

The MCG is Luke Parker's graveyard.

[Ludwig]

To be fair you want the umpire to put the whistle away in the lady minutes of close gamesIt's lady minutes. Time to put the whistle away.

1484

[Melbourne_Blood]

I hate the umpires excuse. It's such a poor sport view. We played well below our best, Richmond played their best footy for the year. We had 1 player with 30 + disposals, when we've had at least 3 for most games. We got spanked out of the middle and put our defence under immense pressure. Buddy was great but cost us probably 3 times with his failed 'don't argue' attempts which he just can't pull off any more. The tackling standard is too good. Put it away. I'm happy for him to take a shot from 70 out but he needs to know his limitations and that is one of them that is Bud putting his ego above the team.

[Mug Punter]

Anyone on here blaming the umpires for our loss last night is pathetic.

With the exception of Buddy we were poor all over the ground.

Some random points

* Our mids were exceptionally poor, Parker and Mitchell especially
* Any notion that Hiscox is AFL standard should now be firmly resolved
* Papley is without doubt playing for his spot
* Towers disappointing AGAIN, not sure how many chances this bloke can be given to be honest
* Ted showed why most of us think he won't be running around next year.

I'm happy to pass last night off as a blip but there have been some warning signs for a while now. But it was very very disappointing. At the same time if you follow a team then losing is part of the deal so for those on here going into a fit of hysteria last night, get a grip.

Next Friday can't come soon enough for me and I think it will determine if we are a top 4 or top 8 team this year. Another performance like that is just not acceptable and I'm sure we'll come out with a point to prove

[stellation]

We lost the game ourselves, maybe you could blame the great, pink pixie in the sky for allowing Richmond a magical minute.

But that was a bit of a miss by them. ;)

[Nico]

On Hiscox - I didn't see people being all upset when he was selected.

I did say we would be playing 1 short.

[Nico]

I think Hewett offers more than Papley, so I'd keep him if it comes to a choice.

It would be great if Rohan is fit enough to play against the Hawks. I think we need his defensive pressure. Too often Richmond had all the time in the world to make a perfect pass to a player who was a yard ahead of his opponent. (I know Rohan's tackles stick like wet soap, but at least he is quick and can pressure the kicker or contest the receiver).

Hewett looks a bit slow to me. Yes good skills, but he doesn't get the footy often enough yet.

[Nico]

I missed the game so will be keenly watching a replay.

Robert Shaw on SEN this morning pointed out a couple of things.

He thought that TR was not keen on getting close to the footy due to his eye socket injury.

Horse said in his post match presser that Richmond had 5 walk outs. He explained this meant 5 goals from uncontested centre clearances.

Back to the old habits of past years.

Seems without JPK that our midfield dynamic falls apart.

[Mug Punter]

I watched the replay and have a less negative view than I did watching it in real time. We played well in stretches and very poorly for a few brief periods when they piled on the goals. Parker and Mitchell were disappointing given the absence of JPK. On the positive side, it was good to see Lloyd play a better game after a couple of poor ones. Cunningham was good in the second half. He has to try to get more of the ball because he can run with it and is a good kick.

We've been showing signs of falling down over the past several weeks, so perhaps this loss should not have been unexpected. We could have won, but deserved to lose. Buddy's great kicking and Richmond's inaccuracy in front of goal put us in a winning position.

It has been a development year for us, we just surprised ourselves by winning with so many kids playing. I think we need to keep the development going as some of our weaknesses, which were also present last year, have come back. There are lessons to be learned from this game.

Hiscox may be a very good middle distance runner, but he's no footballer. I can see why Fremantle find themselves where they do. They actually bid their pick #34 for Hiscox. He was never worth more than a rookie speculation. I suppose we wanted to show support for our Academy boys, but we should have let him go. A certain delisting in my mind.

It's hard to see a 26 yo Towers ever becoming an AFL standard footballer. He can't play under any kind of pressure, can't defend and can't tackle anyone moving toward him. Shouldn't play again. Trade or delist.

We will have to do some experimenting to get the mix right. Heeney, Mills and Hewett all should spend more time in the midfield.

Our defence needs a serious rebuild. We might as well start asap. We are just too slow for one on one defending. No closing speed. Unfortunately Talia and Reid are still injured and not available for selection. We could try Rohan when he's ready to step up from NEAFL level, maybe in the GC game. As for now I would give Harry Marsh a go. It's his 4th year in our system, so he should settle in well. He can play tall, like Rampe, so can replace Ted. He has good closing speed and has become a good decision maker. It's always hard to say how a player will adjust to AFL level, but Harry has shown that he deserves a chance. Newman is also playing consistently well, and is more of a rebounding defender, like Malceski. O'Riordan will be good and might challenge for a senior spot next year.

The best options we have for the forward line from our reserves are Rose and Davis. Both are footballers and play 2 way football. Rose may be slower than Towers if measuring foot speed, but plays much faster with quick movement and reaction time. Davis is a good solid player who can play anywhere and has in the reserves. Dawson has been out injured, but has looked promising as a future forward.

For me, GWS are now the best team in the league. I don't know if they are experienced enough to win the premiership, but they are playing beautiful football. We need to be bold if we want any chance of staying with them.

Towers, Hiscox, Xav, Tom Dx AJ and Ted would seem outs at season end, that's six out which is the most we've had for ages.

But it won't be that extreme I don't think. We'll upgrade Papley, O'Rioirdan and maybe one of Marsh/Newman. We'll look for a KPD and we'll draft three.

If Mitchell leaves, and if he hasn't re-signed by the end of this month then I'm marking him as an out, then I'd expect us to obtain a first round draft pick so that would just mean we'd draft four

[Doctor J.]

Sinclair's tap to KJ for a goal in the last quarter was fairly special. I'm not sure if he mean't it though.

Happened right in front of me. He meant it alright. Perfect execution of a set play.