Match Day Rnd.4 West Coast V Sydney. Domain Stadium 20.10 pm.

[MattW]

When we got within a kick, I thought we might be able to seize the momentum and go on with it. But like when we got in front against Collingwood, and the Dogs, we then coughed up quick goals to kill our momentum. Not helped by an awfully soft free in their forward line, then a clear throw in the ensuing clearance (I've just accepted that umpiring this season is going to be some shade of incompetent each week), but that utterly deflated us and took away any hope of a miracle win.

I thought we spent the summer practicing skills - if so, they weren't footy skills.

Our basic skills are killing us time and time again - in particular in the back line, where we are an utter @@@@ing shambles, and that is putting it nicely. Grundy was woeful tonight, Aliir not much better (his decision making tonight really let him down - but you will get that with the style of player he is), Mills has second year blues, Smith is struggling (Though I thought did a decent job tonight). Our best players down back tonight were Jones, Marsh (Who I thought had his best game in seniors) and Newman. We are leaking points at will when teams get on a run, giving away stupid free kicks, and so often being led to the ball. Once upon a time, when the rest of the team was struggling, we could rely on our defence to hold us in games. Not any more.

Our midfield is missing the grunt of Mitchell, and the poor form of Hanners, and potentially permanent decline of Jack (he must surely not be near 100% - he seems to have no acceleration), and our midfield is badly exposed. Left to Kennedy to do too much heavy lifting. At least Parker improved tonight, and Lloyd continues to have a good season as well.

As for the forward line - as has always been a bugbear of mine under Longmire, its disorganised, and too often becomes an extension of the backline when under pressure. Having Papley back helped, and he and Hayward will be a nice foil for the taller guys in time. I think Florent may well drop back to the seconds this week (if fit players allow it) - he just didn't offer much at all sadly.

On the other side, there were again some positives.
- Marsh as I said had a really good game, he seems to be growing into AFL footy.
- Kennedy led from the front and was great.
- Newman solid again, but like so many of his mates, wasteful using the ball.
- Hayward is improving week on week - he is the one young guy that I think will hold his spot when the troops come back. He has good positioning in the marking contest, just need to get plugger working on his kicking and he will be a really solid addition to the forward line.
- Foote did a decent job early on Mitchell.
- Cunningham had a good go tonight I thought - lots of tackles, and some good contested play for once. More of that please Harry.

Frankly, given how far we are from our best footy, it is quite sensational that we haven't been spanked 3 weeks out of 4 so far - a mark of a team that never gives up on the contest, if nothing else.
Our season is cooked in my opinion - and we aren't going to beat many teams when we can't do the basics. The will is there, but the lack of troops, and dreadful form of key players is killing us at key moments. Fair chance of more injury woes out of this one, with Buddy very sore and sorry. If GWS turn up to play next week, it could be a very nasty defeat....

Worst bit of all is no alcohol to wash it down for me - have to drive in the morning

Pretty much how I saw it. Not so pessimistic about next week (in part because I'm traveling up the highway to watch it!).

[Faunac8]

What a challenge for the Swans to tackle
No team has ever played finals after starting the season 0-4
Can we do it ?

[troyjones2525]

You were the one who mentioned Longmire first - not me.

Not saying he is blameless but Jesus, he has some credits in the bank.

Yes. I mentioned his generic press conference answers that he always gives, I didn't blame him for the loss.

Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk

[bodgie]

I share concerns about Longmires slow reluctant evolution, but you can't make a clear judgement on this early season with all the raw spakfilla we have out on the field

[Faunac8]

If we kick the first two goals rather then the Eagles I think we would have come away with the points. Unrewarded pressure hurts.

[mcs]

Pretty much how I saw it. Not so pessimistic about next week (in part because I'm traveling up the highway to watch it!).

From another Matt, I'll say I hope its a trip worth making up the highway Matt!

We aren't going up the Hume next week as we have chosen to do the return fixture, so we can check out the Showgrounds for the first time.

[Industrial Fan]

It's not a bad thing to go out of contention in April as we can now make this a development year without going through the pretenses of fighting for another flag. We've got more problems than just missing a number of senior players.

We need to revamp of defence. Reg was great last year, but I don't see the point in playing him any more this year. We should bring in Melican and build or defence around him and Aliir. I won't happen overnight, but if we start now we should be able to kick off next season with some experience of these new guys working together.

No point in playing KJ while he is in this form or bringing back Macca for the rest of the year. They're not going to be in our next premiership team.

Disagree on the senior players, but especially Reg.

Without doubt it's easier for younger players to learn their role within an existing structure. Last year we came so close with a very young side, but we can't load up with youngsters and hope to teach them anything getting flogged every week. We are already playing the kids.

The results haven't gone our way but in a lot of respects it's decision making at critical times and conposure costing us. That, for mine, is a result of too many players missing from the system.

Rampe is the biggest loss as far as I see it. Even for GWS, you take out Phil Davis they often lose. We are missing our critical mass of key players.

[mcs]

I share concerns about Longmires slow reluctant evolution, but you can't make a clear judgement on this early season with all the raw spakfilla we have out on the field

Absolutely agree Bodgie, and I want to see us with close to a full line up before making any rash judgements. But despite the bunch of raw Cygnets on display, the concern I have is that in all 4 games, the same signs have been there that our gameplan is struggling to fit in with the way AFL footy is going. I hope I'm wrong, but I think both us and the Hawks in that respect are going to find it hard to adjust how we play now to fit the direction the game is taking.

[Boddo]

The one thing is that the young players that came in last year had a very long grounding for a few years before making their debut or you had the exception of Mills who was an elite junior with years of academy training making him ready for our senior side where as this year we have Florent n Hayward straight outa junior footy trying to step straight into AFL senior footy. Totally different to last year.

[Ludwig]

I don't think the criticism of Longmire is warranted. He's injecting new players into the side every week. There's only so much you can do to integrate these inexperienced players when the heat is on. I think they've done pretty well for the most part. We are playing like a poorly oiled machine, but I'm still hopeful that we will look much better as the year rolls on.

There's a pretty big gap between us and the better teams this year. That's just the way it is. The boys are trying, but we are just being outplayed. There's no reason to be upset about it. I think the coaches, list managers and development team have done a great job and we should be back in the hunt very soon.

[PerthSwannie]

I just checked Google. Worst year was 1993. 20 straight losses........Last on the ladder.

[Boddo]

I don't think the criticism of Longmire is warranted. He's injecting new players into the side every week. There's only so much you can do to integrate these inexperienced players when the heat is on. I think they've done pretty well for the most part. We are playing like a poorly oiled machine, but I'm still hopeful that we will look much better as the year rolls on.

There's a pretty big gap between us and the better teams this year. That's just the way it is. The boys are trying, but we are just being outplayed. There's no reason to be upset about it. I think the coaches, list managers and development team have done a great job and we should be back in the hunt very soon.

Agree. Only criticism from me is not playing Melican.