#AFL Rd 20 Swans v Collingwood, SCG, Sat 4 Aug 7:25pm @SydneySwans #AFLSwansPies

[Matty10]

Newman would be a much better player if he didn't hesitate when he gets a mark or loose ball 30 metres on his own. He had 24 possessions last night but so many hesitations allowed his kicks to be smothered or forced him in to rush disposals. He is getting the footy enough and could be really dangerous if he gets it right.

I am hoping that this is something that will improve with more time in the team.

Players taking the game on will cause frustration from time to time, but the upside to their energy and ability to break the lines is invaluable. We had none of that last night. Ollie, who did some of this earlier in the year, looks completely out of sorts and probably needs a rest.

Even during the last meeting month when some people on here have criticised the performance of Jones his positives have far outweighed his negatives.

Aliir has been a very good inclusion, but his loopy kicks (like that of Newman), close up the space that we would otherwise have when moving forward. Dawson seems to have a penetrating and accurate kick, but we don’t see it often enough (yet). More of this is needed also.

I am not sure of the value in Robinson to the team. It is hard to tell when watching on TV. Did he have a run-with role? I would have preferred the potential of Fox - whose upside is much higher, while the downside is negligible compared to Robinson (from what I could see of his performance).

[Flying South]

Is this sarcasm?

His run and carry would have made a huge difference in our ability to get the ball past the centre in the last quarter.

Completely agree. Whilst he may turn it over more than some at least he gets us going forward.

[Hotpotato]

The whole team should just train for 5 minutes per week .
It works wonders.

[stellation]

Really enjoyed getting the win- tapered off in the last quarter but they defended well and showed desperation to hold on. Buddy really is an exceptional footballer, he always has been but having the opportunity to watch him play for our side every week is an absolute delight.

We really seem to be missing having someone leading up to the wings (my modest kingdom for a pre-move to the midfield ROK type) to help get the ball out of defence. Hayward looks to be filling that role at times, but it only seems to be in bursts (and I don't think he's able to do it for a full game). We seemed to have more back half of the ground rushed kicks than I'd like- the quick handballs to find someone who has a moment to look for a target seem to have gone away, I wonder if there's a conscious coaching direction involved; "get it moving quickly" or "no point in getting to a teammate who can look for a target if we know structurally there isn't one".

So many guys just look physically fatigued early in the game- young guys in need of a rest, older guys carrying niggles (from carrying the young guys). We played 15 guys with less than 100 games last week- that feels like an abnormally large number for us compared to the past decade.

[Blood Fever]

Crikey. The last 20 mins from us has been amazing. How can we turn it around like this when we've been so poor and stagnant over the last several weeks.

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Ch7 are continually going on about Collingwoods injuries. I don't recall a single occasion that they've mentioned our injuries.

Commentary narrative all night was the heroism of Collingwood despite their injuries. They were hoping for a Collingwood win so they could run with it. When Buddy took that crucial juggled mark late in the last quarter, Darcy was genuinely disappointed it was paid. Showed his bias. Same with some of the umpiring decisions. Commentators all from Melbourne and Darcy radio buddy with Eddie. Incestuous environment.

[barry]

(mccartin)Yes he kicked the winner but he contributed nothing for the rest of the night

He looks like he needs a rest

He's safe in the side until Reid is fit, or Rohan turns his career around.

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Commentary narrative all night was the heroism of Collingwood despite their injuries. They were hoping for a Collingwood win so they could run with it. When Buddy took that crucial juggled mark late in the last quarter, Darcy was genuinely disappointed it was paid. Showed his bias. Same with some of the umpiring decisions. Commentators all from Melbourne and Darcy radio buddy with Eddie. Incestuous environment.

Pies are a good chance to completely miss the finals. How will they shape the Buckley narrative then?. Darcy said last night he was coach of the year. Lol.

[Faunac8]

The unfettered commentary bias against the Swans was ridiculous . Commentate is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as “to report on an event as it occurs” not to provide a personal one sided and unbalanced viewpoint.
Maybe the AFL could make it a condition when they award media rights that so-called commentators understand what the job description actually entails.
Interesting that the free kicks discrepancy mysteriously dwindled by the end of the game as at one stage it was something like 3 to 1 against Sydney.
One statistic that amazed me was that during the whole game only one bounce was recorded by either side ( I seem to think it wasn’t a very well executed one either ) ! Maybe we could have used some run and carry from Jones who I think has recorded the most bounces for us this season for all his perceived flaws this is one of his strengths.

[waswan]

Dawson looks good just need to play him more in his natural mid forward role
I hate Dermie but starting to believe his opinionif we got the ball to Buddy more or even forward more last night he would have kicked 10

Hope Heeney and a few of the younger ones start getting more of it soon

[treespirit]

I don't see the point in complaining about the commentary. I hit "mute" as soon as I turn on the TV for the game. The only thing I miss is the clock because the "mute" symbol on the TV sits right over it! I often listen to one of the streaming commentaries - they're a bit out of sync but at least you get some useful information. As they are usually ahead it gives a heads up to look at the TV if something exciting happens during a boring patch. I listened to the Indigenous network last night, which was pretty good.

I don't really rate Longmire as a match day coach but he has a record most coaches would envy so I agree with the "we've been spoilt", "young teams will be up and down" and "really enjoyed beating Collingwood" sentiments more than anything.

Whenever I feel critical of the coaches I always come back to the truth that the club and coaches are doing a better job than I would!

[Markwebbos]

Dawson looks good just need to play him more in his natural mid forward role
I hate Dermie but starting to believe his opinionif we got the ball to Buddy more or even forward more last night he would have kicked 10

Hope Heeney and a few of the younger ones start getting more of it soon

I was surprised to see Dawson defending Cox in the 1stQ, presumably his direct opponent as back up ruckman. Can’t imagine he’s got too much experience playing against 7footers.

There was one long kick he made from defence that hit his man and opened the Pies right up. He’s a pretty handy shot for goal too. If he and Buddy can score from outside 50 gives defences something to think about.

[S.S. Bleeder]

In the bigger picture i think missing the 8 would be a good thing. Our players need to rest and recover and since i don't think our best is near good enough we would simply be pretenders in the finals.

Also still think we need a major revamp of our tactics which cant happen till next year.

Well done to the boys and especially AJ for great perseverance and a pretty good return.

I'm in your camp Merdo. As exciting as was to win last night, especially for the sake of AJ, a loss would have been better for us strategically.

We have too many important players missing, our youngsters are tired and we have some important players who need to recover from injury and there is no way we will win a premiership this year. Sure Richmond and Bulldogs have been surprises in the last couple of years but they were at full strength, played on their home grounds and were gifted by the umpires/VFL.

IMO Lloyd is a certainty to go, possibly to GCS. The higher our first pick is the better position we will be in to get something of value for him. We need a pick higher that where Blakey will most likely be selected.

[Ludwig]

Collingwood's pressure was great, as it has been all year. I'm not a fan of Bucks, but I have to say that he's probably coach of the year the way he's turned the team around, especially given their injuries. They forced us to match them in pressure, work rate and defence, and I think we did a pretty good job overall. Neither team had the depth of quality to crack the other's high pressure game and it took the mismatch of Franklin on anyone they put up to defend him to decide the game.

This is the Richmond game plan, but played at a lower level of quality. It's hard to keep the work rate up all game and have everyone on board when it's time to attack. Collingwood have been doing a reasonable job at it most of the year, but were probably just a bit short on personnel to pull it off the past couple of weeks. It's not the most attractive footy at this level, but the Richmond-Geelong game showed it's exciting to watch when played well.

I was initially critical of the way we kicked backwards and switched play instead of pushing hard forward, but came to accept that it's better than constantly turning the ball over by kicking blindly downfield or to a contest (especially with Mason Cox hanging around the marking contest). Newman and Aliir were hesitant to move the ball quickly at times, but in retrospect, I would say it was good decision making and both had solid games using the ball by foot and played key parts in many of our better scoring opportunities.

Newman would be an important player for us with just a bit more improvement, even if he's not quite best 22. Fox is another one who can come in and play a solid game. I think Robinson, Marsh and Towers fall on the wrong side of the line in this regard.

I always think McVeigh should retire until I see him play, and then I think he should play on another season.

Our young forward group have been struggling lately. I thought the effort was there from Hayward, although he seems to be falling just short of making an impact. Ronke has also been falling off his earlier games. He was concussed during the game, but I didn't see the incident. Florent is the one who has probably dropped off the most, after having a strong run of games through the middle of the season.

Dawson looks very promising after his 3rd game. His marking and kicking are both of a very high standard and he's happy to play a physical game as well.

I can't see us going far in finals even if we do sneak into the 8. Comparing us to Richmond, it looks as though we are more than a year away, but the way Collingwood have turned thinks around this year gives some hope that we can make a good run next year if we get a good run with injury.

My disappointments in the game were Florent, Heeney and especially Kieran Jack, who is just completely out of form without a hint of how he can turn it around at his age.

I think Cameron is better choice than McCartin when playing certain teams with strong ruck divisions, especially Collingwood and Melbourne. I don't see why we don't play a mobile ruckman, like Cameron or even Naismith when fit on Mason Cox, who doesn't have much forward craft. We just need a tall footballer to go with him physically.