Sydney v Melbourne

[ScottH]

Yes I think the instruction has gone out to the umpires to help Melbourne be more competitive.

But we got most of the free kicks.

[liz]

But we got most of the free kicks.

Yeah, the Dees got two frees from very dubious frees but we had far more latitude in getting rid of the ball when tackled. There were two or three obvious frees against us for HTB that weren't paid.

[ShockOfHair]

Benny was given the Worst on Ground tag on MMM footy.
Not one effective kick

Forgot to pack his pillow.

[hot potato]

Haven't watched the game yet, but checked the stats : 157 to 116 CP, 62 to 50 I50 and 45 to 25 Clearances. Seems OK against a rejuvenated outfit.
Maybe playing to just a bit over 26,000 (?) people at the G was like a bit of kick to kick in the parklands .
Maybe a % booster next week.
HP

[giant]

Interesting how the last few goals/shots for Melb from end to end uncontested. That's our big, big weakness.....not paying enough respect to get on the bike HARD as soon as they have possession. That's the problem when Hawks/Geelong/Bombers are kicking 5-6-7-8 goals in a quick trot against us. Those teams aren't kicking 6 DIFFICULT/CONTESTED goals. Slicing through the middle, end to end or else straight from the centre bounce.

Today we are too reliant on the full forward press and the dodgy turnover. Won't work against the top teams.

11 inside fifties for 5 goals and 2 points. Frankly not good enough.

On the upside....39 inside 50s in a half. If we keep our heads and win ground ball in the 50 we will kick 15 in this half....butchered 6 or 7 so far. 15 goals to 2 or 3 and I would be very happy.....9-5 Meh!

This summed it up for me - they were able to slice us up the middle way too easy. And we were constantly playing behind our man. The fact we were out-tackled by MELBOURNE of all teams suggests we were well off the pace.

Need to learn from this and then move quickly on. Thank goodness for B.Jack because our other small forwards - Bolton, McGlynn, Lamb and Parker - had days they would like to forget I reckon. Can we afford to play all of these together? I think not on that effort.

[Bloodthirsty]

We are supposed to be an AFL powerhouse in a serious premiership window. Melbourne are in a serious rebuild from ground zero. Today was not good enough, and Longmire knows it.

Watch when Hawks and Cats play Melbourne. It doesn't look like today's match. They are characterised by absolute domination and huge percentage boosters.

The only good thing to come out of this game is that it highlights @@@@ we need to work on.

I fear that we will get back players we need too late, or not at all. Hope I'm wrong.

- - - Updated - - -

Bring back Morton. His around-the-ground intensity is needed now. Also, Tippett - supreme athlete and elite footballer but needs to work on his kicking for goal.

[barry]

Melbourne are a better team under Craig than they were under Neild. So the score reflected that.

However the talls experiment failed. Tippet and pike were continually flying for the same marks, spoiling each other.

[hot potato]

The Swans rarely dominate the lower ranked teams, it's just not in their nature !
HP

[DeadlyAkkuret]

Yeah the Hawks are characterised by huge percentage boosters. Heard that last year, too.

[Bloodthirsty]

Swans sung the most uninterested club song I have witnessed. They know.

[Auntie.Gerald]

Melbourne today outscored all but 3 teams that have played us in 2013 - NM, Hawks, and the Cats

given that Lambie and Brandon had to play big minutes and that we lost Sammy early and we have 9 players out of our best 22 then a 6 goal win on the big MCG is not to bad

BUT it aint that great either

- - - Updated - - -

Melbourne today outscored all but 3 teams that have played us in 2013 - NM, Hawks, and the Cats

given that Lambie and Brandon had to play big minutes and that we lost Sammy early and we have 9 players out of our best 22 then a 6 goal win on the big MCG is not to bad

BUT it aint that great either

[Cosmic Wizard]

I think we are all underestimating Melbourne.
For once they had there two best forwards apart from Clark in the side.
They had a go, and we are legendary at being totally awful at the MCG.
If we had play them at the SCG, it would have being a 100 point thrash.
GWS to complete two weeks of training sessions next week