Swans 2017 tinkering

[Auntie.Gerald]

John was pressed a little in his interview on swans tv today ahead of the game against st kilda

When asked will he be making any changes to the Swans style of footy after loosing against the Bulldogs in the GF he didn't take it kindly at all

he certainly was irritated by the question and finally admitted he would be tinkering but nothing else mentioned except sticking to intense pressure applied by the swans vs the opposition

Given West coast won last night against Melbourne with 8 of their 14 goals coming directly from transitions inside their 50 bursting out of their 50

Given GWS and the Dogs counter attacked strongly from their HBF all season in 2016

Given AFL is being umpired in manor that supports a faster game and more suitable for players willing to gut run ahead of their opposite number and being rewarded

And last but by no means least the counter point we won most games finishing no1 on the table with a style that likes to control our attacking arc and Adelaide played a style different again ie least passes into their attacking 50 for a result

Yet the Bulldogs knew our weakness was nullifying Rampe and mills starting off our transitions and keep our game up in our defensive arc to starve our strong forward line (picken on Rampe 3rd and 4th qtr was a master stroke of coaching to starve Rampe of exiting our play as Mills was already struggling anyway)

The question :

What do we need to evolve, innovate, change, execute to be a better team in2017 ?

I realise we limped in with surgeries booked in straight after the GF but I feel we need to evolve and innovate somewhat in our transitions from our back 50 in particular to make it more difficult to pin us down in a GF or semi finnal scenario like the Dogs and GWS exposed in 2016

[RogueSwan]

... Given West coast won last night against Melbourne with 8 of their 14 goals coming directly from transitions inside their 50 bursting out of their 50

Given GWS and the Dogs counter attacked strongly from their HBF all season in 2016 .../

Sounds like sling shot footy to me

[Nico]

Sling shot footy has stood the test of time.

[mcs]

Sling shot footy has stood the test of time.

When executed cleanly, as we did consistently in 2012, it is very hard to defend against, as it so often either leads to loose players getting space, or alternatively to 1 on 1 contests, in which if the ball is disposed of well, is usually at the advantage of the attacking player. I think it'll come a bit more back into vogue again this season.

[stevoswan]

We played 'slingshot' footy beautifully when we had players capable of it.....Malceski, Shaw McVeigh and Jetta at their best. We don't have that calibre player coming off the backline anymore. Rampe's good but can be nullified, Mills can't be described as fast as good as he is, McVeigh's had it, and of our 'fast' players ie: Towers and Cunningham, aren't the same calibre and only Jones comes close and he'll be more midfield this year I suspect......and to top it off, our disposal is way worse than it was in 2012. We're a long way off effective slingshot footy, I suspect Horse knows this and is reverting to the ol' Swans grit and pressure approach to stem the opposition sides slingshot footy through turnovers and turn defense into attack.......It has worked well in past seasons as our defence is usually solid but as we've seen in recent years, geeze, we better be super fit and injury free for that brand of footy to stand up until the final siren on GF day!

[dimelb]

We played 'slingshot' footy beautifully when we had players capable of it.....Malceski, Shaw McVeigh and Jetta at their best. We don't have that calibre player coming off the backline anymore. Rampe's good but can be nullified, Mills can't be described as fast as good as he is, McVeigh's had it, and of our 'fast' players ie: Towers and Cunningham, aren't the same calibre and only Jones comes close and he'll be more midfield this year I suspect......and to top it off, our disposal is way worse than it was in 2012. We're a long way off effective slingshot footy, I suspect Horse knows this and is reverting to the ol' Swans grit and pressure approach to stem the opposition sides slingshot footy through turnovers and turn defense into attack.......It has worked well in past seasons as our defence is usually solid but as we've seen in recent years, geeze, we better be super fit and injury free for that brand of footy to stand up until the final siren on GF day!

I understand where you're coming from, and I agree that slingshot is a terrific weapon to deploy. In fact Cunningham could be made to order for the job: genuinely fast, good mark and better than good kick. Towers, I'm uncertain; he certainly has the speed although I'm not confident about his kicking, but the door is open if he can apply himself and get past the obstacle of nervousness - which the coach sought to be able to help. I wish him well.

[Xie Shan]

I think Horse is a very good coach, but I'd be a little disappointed if he refused to entertain the possibility of entertaining any tinkering to the game plan. You have to adjust the game plan to suit the players you have at your disposal, and the make up of our side has changed over the past few years. The coaches know the strengths and weaknesses of the players more than I do, but I would hope they are at least open to the possibility of change.

- - - Updated - - -

I think Horse is a very good coach, but I'd be a little disappointed if he refused to entertain the possibility of entertaining any tinkering to the game plan. You have to adjust the game plan to suit the players you have at your disposal, and the make up of our side has changed over the past few years. The coaches know the strengths and weaknesses of the players more than I do, but I would hope they are at least open to the possibility of change.

Having said that, knowing Horse if he does plan to tweak the game plan a little I doubt he'd tell Swans TV or any other media about his plans

[Auntie.Gerald]

Thank goodness after the game against the saints we are seeing it happen

U probably noticed the regularity of that spot just 25m out in front of our goals we were demanding our agile backs and midfield to take the game on rather then just kick long down the line or switch

We have been building on this the last two seasons but what I noticed in particular was the greater rotation of players taking on the game forward with a hand pass out of this zone then flooding forward.......Marsh, Lloyd, jones, hannes etc

That spot 25m out from our goals is a critical area to gain field position on so we can take on the high pressure defence and make the defence zone backwards so we open space

If a player makes a break from there and can find a spare player or a 2 on 1 they can then be on the run at the 30 to 40m area and bust open the high press defence and start finding Reid and buddy and Hewett etc on the lead

Yes it lead to some forced mistakes , marsh with a few and that is natural in a trial of high pressure defence but I liked our commitment to keep playing direct for large parts of the game via handballing ..... the critical thing is having enough mobility especially in the backs to be able to play this style of footy when the opportunity is on......slow or slow off the mark backs can't do this !!!

U could see the intent of the players to play direct out of our 50 ....... they were told obviously to play back thru the middle and play on via handpass from that area 25m out as they had easy options out wide but often straightened and attacked via hands

I think all our agile players moving thru the backs will be better for the trials and execute even better come Rd 1

AA really grew in that area last season and can't wait to see his playing on and taking on from 25ish out from our goals....

[707]

There will be tinkering but the new mix of players available this year will see a slightly different method of play.

We did go into the GF with injured players and picked up more during the game but were only over run in the last part of the game so we were not that far away.

Add AA into the backline and a fit Mills and it suddenly looks a whole lot better. I like the look of Melican and think he would improve us plus there is a slim possibility that AJ might be playing seniors by the last half of the year. Mids with the addition of Jones and Heeney look more dynamic than 2016, Reid up forward, stronger rucks, there is certainly upside from the GF team.

[wolftone57]

Thank goodness after the game against the saints we are seeing it happen

U probably noticed the regularity of that spot just 25m out in front of our goals we were demanding our agile backs and midfield to take the game on rather then just kick long down the line or switch

We have been building on this the last two seasons but what I noticed in particular was the greater rotation of players taking on the game forward with a hand pass out of this zone then flooding forward.......Marsh, Lloyd, jones, hannes etc

That spot 25m out from our goals is a critical area to gain field position on so we can take on the high pressure defence and make the defence zone backwards so we open space

If a player makes a break from there and can find a spare player or a 2 on 1 they can then be on the run at the 30 to 40m area and bust open the high press defence and start finding Reid and buddy and Hewett etc on the lead

Yes it lead to some forced mistakes , marsh with a few and that is natural in a trial of high pressure defence but I liked our commitment to keep playing direct for large parts of the game via handballing ..... the critical thing is having enough mobility especially in the backs to be able to play this style of footy when the opportunity is on......slow or slow off the mark backs can't do this !!!

U could see the intent of the players to play direct out of our 50 ....... they were told obviously to play back thru the middle and play on via handpass from that area 25m out as they had easy options out wide but often straightened and attacked via hands

I think all our agile players moving thru the backs will be better for the trials and execute even better come Rd 1

AA really grew in that area last season and can't wait to see his playing on and taking on from 25ish out from our goals....

I think using the right terminology might cause a little less confusion for us who have been born & bred to Aussie Rules. By 'our' goal I take it you are referring to the defensive goal. This is the case in NRL, RU & Soccer but not in AFL. The offensive goal is 'our' goal not the defensive. The defensive is 'their' goal. I can always tell those who have code crossed by the terminology. I agree with most if not all of what you say just not the terminology. At first I was confused I must admit.

- - - Updated - - -

Thank goodness after the game against the saints we are seeing it happen

U probably noticed the regularity of that spot just 25m out in front of our goals we were demanding our agile backs and midfield to take the game on rather then just kick long down the line or switch

We have been building on this the last two seasons but what I noticed in particular was the greater rotation of players taking on the game forward with a hand pass out of this zone then flooding forward.......Marsh, Lloyd, jones, hannes etc

That spot 25m out from our goals is a critical area to gain field position on so we can take on the high pressure defence and make the defence zone backwards so we open space

If a player makes a break from there and can find a spare player or a 2 on 1 they can then be on the run at the 30 to 40m area and bust open the high press defence and start finding Reid and buddy and Hewett etc on the lead

Yes it lead to some forced mistakes , marsh with a few and that is natural in a trial of high pressure defence but I liked our commitment to keep playing direct for large parts of the game via handballing ..... the critical thing is having enough mobility especially in the backs to be able to play this style of footy when the opportunity is on......slow or slow off the mark backs can't do this !!!

U could see the intent of the players to play direct out of our 50 ....... they were told obviously to play back thru the middle and play on via handpass from that area 25m out as they had easy options out wide but often straightened and attacked via hands

I think all our agile players moving thru the backs will be better for the trials and execute even better come Rd 1

AA really grew in that area last season and can't wait to see his playing on and taking on from 25ish out from our goals....

I think using the right terminology might cause a little less confusion for us who have been born & bred to Aussie Rules. By 'our' goal I take it you are referring to the defensive goal. This is the case in NRL, RU & Soccer but not in AFL. The offensive goal is 'our' goal not the defensive. The defensive is 'their' goal. I can always tell those who have code crossed by the terminology. I agree with most if not all of what you say just not the terminology. At first I was confused I must admit.

- - - Updated - - -

There will be tinkering but the new mix of players available this year will see a slightly different method of play.

We did go into the GF with injured players and picked up more during the game but were only over run in the last part of the game so we were not that far away.

Add AA into the backline and a fit Mills and it suddenly looks a whole lot better. I like the look of Melican and think he would improve us plus there is a slim possibility that AJ might be playing seniors by the last half of the year. Mids with the addition of Jones and Heeney look more dynamic than 2016, Reid up forward, stronger rucks, there is certainly upside from the GF team.

there is an old saying 'never take injured players or those who are not 100% fit into a GF'. The reason for this is they run out of grunt in the final quarter. We didn't win it in the first half so that really mattered.

[Auntie.Gerald]

no worries

u can spot us a mile away..........and i don't mind an occasional vent .......its good for the soul



i played soccer from 5 to 15 yrs of age

AFL from 14 to 26yrs of age

yep ........on saturdays played soccer in the morn......... then AFL in the arvo and couldn't get enough

was hooked on AFL after my first season !!!! absolutely loved it

in my early 20s i still called for penalties instead of "free kicks" .........lol.......and umpires refs.................

i still do it now with out realising....... 20 years later lol

[RogueSwan]

... ...and to top it off, our disposal is way worse than it was in 2012.

2012 overall 73% disposal eff.
2016 overall 71% disposal eff.
I realise this doesn't show the whole picture but it does point to a similar disposal skills across the team.