Rnd 15 MDT Sydney V Western Bulldogs. SCG 16.35pm

[veramex]

Mcglynn and Heeney both struggling to score at the moment. Heeney probably the better with defensive pressure so maybe he keeps his position. Papley to come in for mcglynn or rose.

towers frustrated me. In the forward 50, he just doesn't seem to have any confidence, almost second guessing himself every time he got within scoring distance, and with the pressure in the game, that indecisiveness cost us.

If we had made a few of those behinds in the first quarter, it would have likely been a different result. We are still 10-4 with good percentage. Just need to take care of either Hawks or cats to have a top 4 chance. Keep the faith.

[troyjones2525]

towers must never play again
several times he had opertunities to take the game on and he decided to pass the ball, not kick the goal
im sick of him showing glimpses of potential, that he could be a very good player, he flashes into games and then totally underwhelms when the heat is on

While Towers made mistakes he definitely wasn't our worst. Perhaps instead of dropping him every time he has a quietish game they should show some faith and give him another go? How else can he gain the confidence and belief in himself if he's always one mistake away from 2's? Most of the errors he made was trying to be too unselfish and pass off to the more 'senior' players. If the coaches do the right thing by him and give him a real chance then he'll think he belongs more and take the responsibility himself more often.

There is talent there no doubt. He just needs to be shown the faith from the coaches to unleash it consistently.

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[troyjones2525]

I've watched it a few times again (4:10 on the highlights package) and I still can't work out exactly what Hanners was thinking. The umpire clearly signalled which way the free kick was going. Hanners had clear sight of the umpire. He actually kicked the ball to the umpire as there was no Bulldog or Swan in the vicinity. Then he begins pointing towards our goals and pleading his case. Did he think it was our free?

It wasn't a harsh fifty, it was correctly adjudicated.

Correct. It was 100% the right decision from the umpire to award a 50 and plain stupidity or complete lack of skills by Hannebery (you decide) to dispose of the ball the way he did!

Do you think we'd all be screaming bloody murder if it was our free and they returned the ball like that and no 50 was paid?

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[Ratna]

A tough loss to handle but one that puts the Swans season into perspective.

The team on the field are not winning close games. For whatever reason as a team they don't have the composure to make the right decisions at the end of tight games, and this potentially includes coaching and tactics as well as playing group. Blaming individual players or umpiring decisions for close loses like this is a cop out for not being composed enough as a group in tight games.

I have heard various commentators say throughout the year they believe the Swans best footy is as good if not better than any other teams. I think that this is the case but I am not sure if this team has the composure to match some of the other sides in the pressure of finals footy. Hopefully between now and finals the coaches/team can instil the confidence and surety in the group to be better in high pressure situations like these. In a season where a group of teams are extremely close it will be the team that handles the pressure in the finals the best that is likely to win and up till now that unfortunately has not been the Swans.

Tactically the swans are also putting pressure on themselves in these close games. When the swans lead late in a game and move to a defensive mindset to protect lead, the defensive set up is too extreme and puts unnecessary pressure on the group. I agree there are times where a lead needs to be protected and putting numbers back is a way of achieving this, however, to not have a player positioned for a bail out kick down the line gives little chance of moving the contest out of defence. No matter how many numbers are inside the 50 if the ball spends enough time there the opposition will score. I am not sure if this is coaching or players but surely there needs to be someone down the line outside the 50 to spoil the ball over and move the contest away from defence.

Back to perspective, I think most of us at the start of the year would have taken the current position especially given the level of inexperience in the squad that has been played. Through the first half of the year expectations have been raised and rightly so, but it pays to remember that this is a developing squad with a few brilliant players, several young players showing promise, a few elite experienced ball winners in the midfield and an underrated back line. I still like to think that if everything goes our way in the next few months in an even season a premiership is not impossible. If not the season is at least meeting, if not exceeding pre-season expectations and the developing group are getting some great experience.

[aardvark]

While Towers made mistakes he definitely wasn't our worst. Perhaps instead of dropping him every time he has a quietish game they should show some faith and give him another go. How else can he gain the confidence?

Towers is like Jesse White, he has athletic ability but no football brain. If he doesn't "get it" by now it's not likely to happen anytime soon.

[Mug Punter]

A tough loss to handle but one that puts the Swans season into perspective.

The team on the field are not winning close games. For whatever reason as a team they don't have the composure to make the right decisions at the end of tight games, and this potentially includes coaching and tactics as well as playing group. Blaming individual players or umpiring decisions for close loses like this is a cop out for not being composed enough as a group in tight games.

I have heard various commentators say throughout the year they believe the Swans best footy is as good if not better than any other teams. I think that this is the case but I am not sure if this team has the composure to match some of the other sides in the pressure of finals footy. Hopefully between now and finals the coaches/team can instil the confidence and surety in the group to be better in high pressure situations like these. In a season where a group of teams are extremely close it will be the team that handles the pressure in the finals the best that is likely to win and up till now that unfortunately has not been the Swans.

Tactically the swans are also putting pressure on themselves in these close games. When the swans lead late in a game and move to a defensive mindset to protect lead, the defensive set up is too extreme and puts unnecessary pressure on the group. I agree there are times where a lead needs to be protected and putting numbers back is a way of achieving this, however, to not have a player positioned for a bail out kick down the line gives little chance of moving the contest out of defence. No matter how many numbers are inside the 50 if the ball spends enough time there the opposition will score. I am not sure if this is coaching or players but surely there needs to be someone down the line outside the 50 to spoil the ball over and move the contest away from defence.

Back to perspective, I think most of us at the start of the year would have taken the current position especially given the level of inexperience in the squad that has been played. Through the first half of the year expectations have been raised and rightly so, but it pays to remember that this is a developing squad with a few brilliant players, several young players showing promise, a few elite experienced ball winners in the midfield and an underrated back line. I still like to think that if everything goes our way in the next few months in an even season a premiership is not impossible. If not the season is at least meeting, if not exceeding pre-season expectations and the developing group are getting some great experience.

I agree with just about all of this post, a really well balanced analysis of our season to date.

Our season and our destiny is truly in our own hands but the next two games are critical - win both and we'll be considered flag favourites again, 1-1 would keep us thereabouts but if we lose both then I feel we can kiss top 4 and a flag goodbye.

Towers did some good things and certainly was not our worst but clearly he lacks self confidence and the constant dropping and recalls can't help. If I was Horse I'd pull him aside and tell him that provided his effort is up there he will be in the side for the next six weeks regardless of results. Give him an extended run to prove his worth - it's fair to him and also it will maximise any trade value should we seek to cut him or should he seek greener pastures.

The positives to date in our season vastly outweigh the negatives but I fear we will rue two losses on the bell. That's footy but top teams tend to win those games.

Geelong is massive for us

[dimelb]

Correct. It was 100% the right decision from the umpire to award a 50 and plain stupidity or complete lack of skills by Hannebery (you decide) to dispose of the ball the way he did!

Do you think we'd all be screaming bloody murder if it was our free and they returned the ball like that and no 50 was paid?

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I've now watched it a few times - had to go to the Doggies' website! - and I agree with troyjones, ugg and stellation. Amazing what you pick up on a second and third viewing, the game is that fast. I now have no idea why Hanners kicked towards the ump, other than his natural tendency is to do something rather than not do something; either way I hope he learns something ...

[kilroy]

Everyone is aware that umpires make mistakes and sometimes those mistakes are game changers. But what's the point of blaming the umpires, unless you're intimating that the umpires are making biased decisions. Players make mistakes. AFL footy is a fast game that's hard to play and hard to umpire as well. I think that's what we can take from the number of contentious umpiring decisions. There are so many difficult calls to make during any given game that it's amazing how few they get wrong.

I get just as frustrated by the poor decisions, especially when they go against the Swans, but we have to accept that it's just part of the game and hope that it evens out for both sides most of the time. It's hard to know what the solution is, because I'm sure the umpires are doing their best.

Really, like a blatant push in the back in the goal square against Mills which was in plane view of everyone? Or the non tap to bontempellis(?) chest? That's what, 2 goals from TERRIBLE decisions plus a stupid 50 giving the dogs 3 goals from umpire assist.

But hey lets not blame umpires because we are good little footy supporters who clap behinds and let out a yay when we scored..yay go team!

Seriously.

IMHO just dont pay any of them and just pay the very obvious, ignore all these crappy technical frees and dont reward a team with momentum and goals when they dont deserve it for a stupid thing like "not throwing the ball back correctly" or over stepping the mark.

"You placed your pinky on his shoulder free kick"

"Your boot accidental went over the mark..thats 50!"


The penalty does not fit the crime at all. If anything it should be 20 nor 50.

I am just fed up with the umpiring this season, its been as terrible as I remember and now we have a 4th and they still get it wrong. This cannot continue to happen and it cannot be accepted as part of the game, thats what the AFL want the fans to think so they can cover up the plethora of stuff ups.

[ScottH]

What did you mean by this comment Don? It certainly was a pivotal moment in the match. It seemed like a very bad mistake by Hannebery, but he was quite distraught as though he had misunderstood whose free kick it was.

The key is to confirm with the ump who's kick it is, and then ensure it goes straight back. preferably by hand in most cases.
He will learn from that, as would Mitchell in the 2012 GF.

These silly things an hurt.

[Ludwig]

Really, like a blatant push in the back in the goal square against Mills which was in plane view of everyone? Or the non tap to bontempellis(?) chest? That's what, 2 goals from TERRIBLE decisions plus a stupid 50 giving the dogs 3 goals from umpire assist.

But hey lets not blame umpires because we are good little footy supporters who clap behinds and let out a yay when we scored..yay go team!

Seriously.

IMHO just dont pay any of them and just pay the very obvious, ignore all these crappy technical frees and dont reward a team with momentum and goals when they dont deserve it for a stupid thing like "not throwing the ball back correctly" or over stepping the mark.

"You placed your pinky on his shoulder free kick"

"Your boot accidental went over the mark..thats 50!"


The penalty does not fit the crime at all. If anything it should be 20 nor 50.T

I am just fed up with the umpiring this season, its been as terrible as I remember and now we have a 4th and they still get it wrong. This cannot continue to happen and it cannot be accepted as part of the game, thats what the AFL want the fans to think so they can cover up the plethora of stuff ups.

I agree that the 2 calls you pointed out were probably wrong, but were close, and you can understand how in real time an umpire can make a mistake. There were others that went our way, such as Buddy having Morris in a headlock then a penalty called on Morris for holding and the then there was the handball called a throw that directly led to a Swans' goal. You just have to hope those questionable calls even out in the end.

If you think the penalty doesn't fit the crime, you're not the only one. There are always debates about what the rules should be. Perhaps you should write to the AFL Rules Committee.

I think the AFL want the best umpiring possible. Most of the umpires have been around for a while and are quite experienced. It takes a fair bit of time at lower levels just to get a chance at AFL level. So what's wrong? Are the AFL just choosing the wrong people to umpire? Is the training program not up to standard? Is it a problem that starts at junior level? I don't know if you watch the weekly Whistleblowers videocast on the AFL website. Some of the more controversial call are discussed by with umpire boss Wayne Campbell. I find it very instructive.

You seem to be suggesting that the current lot of umpires be sacked and replaced by another group. Do you have any idea where these new and better umpires will come from?

[barry]

Really, like a blatant push in the back in the goal square against Mills which was in plane view of everyone?

Ove watched that again, and it's 50/50 at best. The goal was going through even if he didnt mark it, so the dogs deserved a goal and swans deserved to conceed one.

The umps can only call what they see. Even if it was a push the ump may have been obscured. Happens in all sports.

You cant blame the umps for the loss.and its pathetic to try

[ScottH]

Ove watched that again, and it's 50/50 at best. The goal was going through even if he didnt mark it, so the dogs deserved a goal and swans deserved to conceed one.

The umps can only call what they see. Even if it was a push the ump may have been obscured. Happens in all sports.

You cant blame the umps for the loss.and its pathetic to try

The push was side on/back in replay. So technically not in the back. I still think they should have paid that one.