Towers needs his contract torn up..

[Mountain Man]

There was one time in the arm wrestle of the last quarter when he had the ball - and handballed. It just needed an arching of the back and a burst of speed and we would have been free of the congestion.

A Goodes would have done it!

As others have said, it is probably a confidence thing, and at the end of last year he seemed to be gaining it

[penga]

To be fair, he did attack one contest hard, which the commentators noted, but it was an outlier. I wouldn't be surprised if a coach got in his ear at three quarter time as IIRC it was in the last quarter.

[Jeynez]

There was one time in the arm wrestle of the last quarter when he had the ball - and handballed. It just needed an arching of the back and a burst of speed and we would have been free of the congestion.

A Goodes would have done it!

As others have said, it is probably a confidence thing, and at the end of last year he seemed to be gaining it

+1

He certainly has the pace to be able to break the lines, kind of like Jetta would out of the congestion. Needs to trust himself. Would much rather see him get taken down holding the ball than turn the ball over from a hospital handball.

[graemed]

For all that has been said about this honest and earnest player, may I just add if anyone doubts his abilities when the action is fierce that you review last year's qualifying final against Freo.

I watched it recently again and I'm convinced we are quick to judge but slow to recall.

[707]

His stats don't read very good from Saturday's game, low number of everything including pressure acts :-(

Don't think can continue to carry him despite the need for pace which he unfortunately rarely uses.

[Auntie.Gerald]

a big part of our forward pressure is herding the ball to move into certain areas of the field so our defence can set

I think that was Towers main role and I think the coaches picked him for that role

It is very tricky for us supporters to determine whether he completed that role effectively or not just by looking at the stats

The coaching dept of the Swans would be all over that with their specific KPIs...........

what i think goes against Towers amongst a lot of supporters is that in high pressure high contested ball games he can look a little hesitant in close quarters.........stuck between diving in, tackling or breaking free to be the attacking option

For me Deano is still an important player in our 26 or so key players

to attract that type of athlete is difficult but he is a required player for certain games and ovals we play

I am a supporter and I am extremely supportive of our style of development of fringe players that we nurture to become important best 22 players for years to come

firstly i agree with this as a club philosophy but secondly our main alternative is a lesser strategy

[Triple B]

RWO whipping boy. It's a tough job but someones gotta do it!

For all that has been said about this honest and earnest player, may I just add if anyone doubts his abilities when the action is fierce that you review last year's qualifying final against Freo.

I watched it recently again and I'm convinced we are quick to judge but slow to recall.

Agree with both of these posts. He was in our top half dozen performers in the last month of 2015. God awful decisions on Sat night for sure, but many here have a zero tolerance policy to anything Towers does.

It's similar with Grundy, even though he is clearly the best big defender we have and coming off as solid a season as he's ever had, he still cops it from the RWO inmates.

[Reggi]

It is a bit early to send him to Collingwood

[barry]

No to mention, being a medium sized forward is one of the most difficult positions to play consistently.

I watched the game again last night. He didnt have a great game, but he is being harshly judged here.
Times he did try to use his pace to break away, and got caught, times he went to quick with the handball, and gave it up. There was no simple answer to his decision making.
Many others did the same thing.
Poorest was his kicking. He was in quite a few contested marks but didnt clunk many (but either did Buddy).

Either way, he's our best medium forward, and should play out the season.

[RogueSwan]

... It's similar with Grundy, even though he is clearly the best big defender we have and coming off as solid a season as he's ever had, he still cops it from the RWO inmates.

Fixed for accuracy

[penga]

Should point out that he only had a measly 41.7% disposal efficiency.. That's unacceptable as an outside player.

[Triple B]

Should point out that he only had a measly 41.7% disposal efficiency.. That's unacceptable as an outside player.

No need to point it out, nobody is arguing that he didn't have a shocker.

Just a few of us capable of remembering what happened before last weekend are pointing out he was among our best when we were wounded and limping to the line in 2015, hence the thread title is ridiculous, yet not surprising...