RWO widely held beliefs

[Hartijon]

Agree about Buchanon and the Norm. He was robbed. The ROK smother in 2006 was right in front us and it probably underlines Eades point. ROK was deep in a pocket surrounded by Eagles, i think the deserter had given him the hot potato hand pass, and he turned onto his left inside. He did that because as a ntural left footer he turns that way instinctively. The point is this. Chick had moved to the left to tackle him because thats what he had been told to do against O'Keefe. Coaches study opponents in minute detail and look for the flaws when they are under pressure. Of course all of us in the grand stand wondered why ROK didn't go onto his right and grubber it down the line. Easy to say up there. Players react instinctively as we all do under pressure. Basic animal reflex. Good coaches study the instinctive reactions of players and look for patterns and weaknesses. And then instruct their players how to anticipate their opponent.

Ok your analysis is fantastic and you show deep knowledge of the game. Despite what you say however,I just think many of the things that happen on the field are random and unintended and the reasons they happened are analysed after the event as if it was all part of the plan. Often,it just happened,no reason at all! As an ex player I can tell you some of my best plays were just lucky!The chaotic randomness of the game is what I love about it.Even star players can go from rooster to feather duster in the space of a second by a random bounce or uneven surface. The more AFL gets machine like and similar to soccer,the less I will watch it.
Thanks for throwing light on the Daniel Chick smother.Anyone else but that guy (with the exception of Hunter)I might have been able to come to terms with. Roos took it well but we should have had "back to back" and most of us here will be dead before we get another chance. Those GF heroes are now in the memory banks and should not get any selection favours in season 2009 Go Swannies!

[Bloody Hell]

1, 2, 3, and 4 were well constructed points.
5 started off alright until you fell off the cliff into the bias abyss, again.

Buchanan, may have kicked the match winning goal in the GF, as Davis did a few weeks earlier. The huge thing that remains in my frail old memory of that game was the infamous "1%ers" that Bucanan performed that afternoon. Including several fists in the way of certain eagles marks, which kept the pressure on them more than us. They were probably much more important, than the actual goal. Unfortunately they won't make any highlight reels.

1,2 & 3 were well constructed points. Started to lose me at 4 - and finished the job with 5.

[hot potato]

In the dying minutes of the 06 GF, Goodes marks on the forward flank, wheels around and plays on, we were positioned at the other end and I have never seen clean vision, but it appears he could have run another 15 -20 metres and kicked a point to level the scores ( and we all come back next week) or a goal to go back-to back, instead he spots Hall in the pocket and directs it to him, it falls short and Embley marks.
I always wonder about that moment in time and what Goodsey makes of it too...

HP

[Hartijon]

In the dying minutes of the 06 GF, Goodes marks on the forward flank, wheels around and plays on, we were positioned at the other end and I have never seen clean vision, but it appears he could have run another 15 -20 metres and kicked a point to level the scores ( and we all come back next week) or a goal to go back-to back, instead he spots Hall in the pocket and directs it to him, it falls short and Embley marks.
I always wonder about that moment in time and what Goodsey makes of it too...

HP

I don't blame Goodsey coz at least he got the ball at that point in the match and kicked it forward. If he had that moment in time over again obviously he would have gone for the big sticks and become a legend by winning a GF off his own boot.Kicking to Hall after the game he produced in 2006 was never going to be a good option.Was Hall demanding the ball? I couldn't see. Finding any swans guersey in the forward 50 would have won or drawn the match! It was a fantastic comeback that just fell short.Goodsey is a champion,slotting a goal at that point in a GF would have made him an alltime legend!

[bloodspirit]

This is a pretty funny thread worth another look.

[Bloody Hell]

There are a few posters who have abnormal fascination with particular players.

The only thing I could put down to connolly's staunch support for Bevan was they were blood relatives. He was unstoppable on the subject.

[royboy42]

It does remind me that Amon was always one of our least respected champs. Lost his form pretty early, sadly, and many have forgotten his wonderrful finals games in 05 and 06.

[neilfws]

It does remind me that Amon was always one of our least respected champs. Lost his form pretty early, sadly, and many have forgotten his wonderrful finals games in 05 and 06.

I miss the Buchanan & Schneider days. Reliable crumbers! Do we still talk about crumbers? We have Papley and Ronke now, but different roles I guess. Everyone wants to be a goal-kicking mid nowadays it seems.

There are still plenty of widely-held beliefs though, and not all player/game-related. Like: we go worse in the wet (no evidence). Or we went far better at the SCG than ANZ (a little, but not that much). I'm looking forward to challenging a few of these with charts in 2019!

[Sandridge]

It does remind me that Amon was always one of our least respected champs. Lost his form pretty early, sadly, and many have forgotten his wonderrful finals games in 05 and 06.

The 2005 season highlights video shows just how important Amon was that year. He was superb! Kicking the winning goal in a 72 year drought breaking Grand Final helped!!

[Swansongster]

I miss the Buchanan & Schneider days. Reliable crumbers! Do we still talk about crumbers? We have Papley and Ronke now, but different roles I guess. Everyone wants to be a goal-kicking mid nowadays it seems.

There are still plenty of widely-held beliefs though, and not all player/game-related. Like: we go worse in the wet (no evidence). Or we went far better at the SCG than ANZ (a little, but not that much). I'm looking forward to challenging a few of these with charts in 2019!

Just to name a few more (by non-Swans fans):
* We have an unfair advantage because of COLA and academy (laughable).
* We play badly at the MCG (debatable).
* Goodes was over-rated/stager/attention-seeker etc. (plainly untrue)
* The SCG is a fortress (we lose a lot of games there).
* Swans fans don't know much about the game (sometimes proved wrong by this forum)
* Swans fans don't create a real footy atmosphere (the SCG is arguably the best atmosphere in the country when full)

I could go on.

[stevoswan]

* Swans fans don't know much about the game (sometimes proved wrong by this forum)
* Swans fans don't create a real footy atmosphere (the SCG is arguably the best atmosphere in the country when full)

The atmosphere can be great at the SCG (2005 semi v Geelong springs to mind!) but I must say, I wouldn't call it a 'cauldron' or 'hostile territory' or 'intimidating'.....we support our team well but can go quiet when things aren't going our way or 'as expected'. The 'home' fans need to be noisy for the entire game and noisier when the chips are down......and make it more intimidating for the opposition.

[Mark26]

The atmosphere can be great at the SCG (2005 semi v Geelong springs to mind!) but I must say, I wouldn't call it a 'cauldron' or 'hostile territory' or 'intimidating'.....we support our team well but can go quiet when things aren't going our way or 'as expected'. The 'home' fans need to be noisy for the entire game and noisier when the chips are down......and make it more intimidating for the opposition.

After being to a few derby matches between Syd FC and the WSW I can say that I'm a little disappointed with the atmosphere at the SCG. Those grudge matches have arguably been the most intimidating and passionate matches I've been too, including our glorious 2012 GF win over the Hawks. The cove do a great job at singing throughout the entire match. I love the interplay with the crowd and the variety of songs. It doesn't matter if their team is winning and losing.

My loyalty lies with the Swans though. I love our club, the game and our team. I love the family friendly nature of the SCG. But, I would like for the crowd to get a bit more creative with chants beyond the Sydney (clap 3 times) of the long drawn out Sydney. I would like for there to be some rallying or organising force like the cove belting out one song after another. In my humble opinion, that's when the crowd can have an effect in creating that fortress-like atmosphere.