I don't subscribe to the theory that when a team loses, the loss was ever one they "need to have". No team ever needs to lose.
I do subscribe to the theory that every win is just one win closer to the next loss (& vice versa). Also, while I don't believe a team needs to lose, I do known teams do lose ... sometimes predictably ... sometimes unpredictably. Some losses are "acceptable" or perhaps, galant. Some are heavy or maybe devastating. Tonight's, for whatever reason (GC slog last week, GW$ too strong ... to some, the umpires) was closer to the latter. But I also believe that the Swans are proud and strong of character. They will bounce back. We've been beaten twice by good sides (once in an almost honourable fashion - Adelaide, and we were humbled tonight) and the Richmond loss coild have gone either way.
Our campaign is still well and truly alive & whatever injuries were sustained tonight will hopefully show the strength of character of the playing group & coaching staff. Rise to the challenge.
It was in as soon as it left his boot. You could just see that he'd nailed it. Pity he was a Giants fan who had (by his own words) "switched from the Swans two years ago".
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The Giants were the better team and deserved to win. For the benefit of those of you not at the game though, ALL of the rotten calls or non-calls against us were by Schmitt. Chamberlain and the other guy were fair - not perfect but fair - but Schmitt caned us again like he has before. Some of the calls, and non-calls, were farcical.
Today's a draft of your epitaph
It's not often that umpiring costs us a match and last night was no exception; it was the salt in the wound. We lost the game when we lost Tippett, and to have Rohan and Mills added to that utterly finished our chances. No team in the AFL could lose that many key players plus wreck our rotations and beat a side as fresh and as good as the Giants.
Watching the Fox coverage I didn't see much of Cunningham (although I liked his desperate attempt to tackle Mummy) but I now wonder whether McVeigh's time has come. And I am increasingly thinking that Parker is carrying an injury of some kind. I hope he can get it sorted before the finals.
He reminds him of the guys, close-set, slow, and never rattled, who were play-makers on the team. (John Updike, seeing Josh Kennedy in a crystal ball)
Without watching a replay and having endured the agonising misery of sitting with too many oranges. I feel miserable but more than that I feel flat.
The umpiring contributed to a terrible day/night and genuinely set an early tone that this was not our twilight. However it was not the difference between winning and losing.
The difference for me was the clearances. Even when Tippett was fit we were on the back foot. Their ability to come off the back of the square at pace and find targets was significant.
In fact, I thought Sinclair was magnificent. I have been reserving judgement on him after seeing him curl up and die in last year's GF but yesterday he could have been excused for cutting corners and dodging and weaving but he stood up big time.
In the 3rd quarter, our best, he rucked tirelessly and even into the last he was still getting to contests and his effort was to be admired.
Amongst a number of forgettable performances, K Jack was another hero for me, he was at the bottom of a number of packs, laid tackles, chased and made opportunities for players down field.
Grundy, Laidler and Rampe did well on their tall forwards but their ability to run off half back and feed the smaller targets killed us. Greene got lucky with a couple of decisions but his aggression and smarts were too much for McVeigh early on and then Mills later.
The real concern was the way they ran away from us when they had the ball. We had no answer to that and it wasn't just Kelly, Williams and Wilson but their whole team seemed quicker than anyone we had opposed to them.
With the Bulldogs and Cats to follow the bye we need to find something soon and I must admit that sort of pace was not evident in the reserves either.
Parker could not run, even keep up with the GWS.
He should be rested and some leg speed brought in.
One of the best passage of plays was Jones receiving a handpass whilst running out of defence, pity about the kick.
Time and time again we tried up and under kicks or to a pack or to where the GWS defender could close on our player.
This tactic is from about twenty years ago.
Run and carry and keep possession of the ball is the game these days, which we didn't do.
doof-doof
Besides our injuries and the umpiring how did we beat them in round 3? I remember it being a fairly easy win in the end. And we barely saw much of their rebounding backs bar Shaw that day.
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