Swans - Blues - Match thread

[Hartijon]

Yes, you're right, although I guess I was thinking more of a permanent small forward as opposed to the slightly different role Gopher plays covering a bit more of the field, but my apologies to McGlynn on that one.

As I mentioned earlier, it seemed like Moore came in to play the small forward role, but I'm still not sure what exactly he really offers in that role compared to the likes of Milne, Ballantyne, Betts etc - he is nowhere near the attacking threat that those guys are. Maybe he's asked to play a different role, and it definitely a tough gig playing the pure small forward role, but considering he's not overly quick so fwd 50 pressure and chases aren't a strength, and he doesn't kick the odd 3-4 goal bag, where is the real value that makes us a bigger threat to oppositions by having him in the team?

Excellent point. Where is the value?

[robamiee]

3 talls in last nights game was a bad move by the match committee...Mummy with White pinch hitting would have been better..and some of the young small forwards in there...
I know Pykey tries but last night was clearly out of his depth in the conditions and turned the ball over in the F50 with some clumsy attempts. Sammy Reid would ahve better playing up forward and having another Def down there...
the blues small forwards won them the game for sure and when KJ got injured allowed Judd to break loose..ROK clearly was outplayed by Judd last night and seemed lost...Best way to beat to Judd is make him accountable and Jack does it better than anyone.
2nd term cost us with again our poor goal kicking....

[Cpt. Kirk]

Excellent point. Where is the value?

Roosy said that although you don't see as much of Moore as you do of every other player but everytime he does get the ball he always does the best things with it.

[Scottee]

IMO we lost tonight because firstly at selection we ignored the lessons of the Geelong game.What that showed us was that Jetta was getting bad habits of staying away from the play waiting for the handball and needed a run in the twos.Jesse was not the answer up forward and we need to reinvent the forward line.Everitt has lost whatever he once had.
Pace will rip us up. My solution at selection was Parker for Jetta,Pyke for White,Johnston for Everitt.Bevan to be used only in attack because he ALWAYS leaks goals as a defender.(Why can't they see that?) TDL is then a better option than Bevan up front..Instead we get Moore who I admit had a good first quarter then vanished until his signature crucial miss from 30 metres running straight in in the last quarter.How many times has he done this? Pyke was ok ,more upside than Jesse as you can see the improvement with him.

Then as mentioned above we were outcoached.Agree about ROK on Judd.It killed us!
Finally we had no crumbers.In the wet you crumb behind the pack.So many times in the forwards thats exactly where the ball went .TDL would have kicked 4 last night there was so much loose ball near our goals.Moore didn't have the engine to get there in time.
Our second half lacked desperation and its obvious we rely on Jack for the spark.is injury was a turning point. Macca is also not giving us enough.

Couldn't agree more Hartijon.

Have a few thoughts of my own to add:

The Bad

Goodes flying for species in the rain-idiotic
Bevan
Goodes playing forward for most of the night when we are getting smashed in the middle.
Bevan
Ignoring the writing on the wall about White and Jetta - lousy wet weather players.
Bevan
Bevan, trying to triple baulk in a deluge - typical of this guy's lack of smarts.
Bevan
Not having a running/impact player as sub.
Bevan
Smithy getting spanked.
Bevan
Having 3 players who can't play more than half a game.
Bevan
Set shot kicking (except for McGlynn)
Bevan
The fact that we said half of the above last week.
Oh, and er Bevan.



The Good
Playing Pyke Worked - freed Mummy to do a lot more damage around the ground and his rucking and around the ground work was pretty good in itself. This made the job easier for the midfielders IMHO (despite Judd smashing us).
Reid at CHB. Another good long term prospect.
Hannebery's improved form (was poor until last night)
Kennelly's excellent return.
Imminent return of Grundy, LRT, Johnson, Malceski, Heath and Spangher will improve back line strength and perhaps open some forward options (Mal/Richards forward?)

Having said all of hat I think that the only reason we lost was because Jack got injured. We missed his drive and his pressure on Judd.

[Foreign Legion]

Couldn't agree more Hartijon.

Have a few thoughts of my own to add:

The Bad

Bevan, trying to triple baulk in a deluge - typical of this guy's lack of smarts.

Ah Scottee - you brought a painful memory back from last night that I had supressed!! THAT was the moment that finally convinced me that Bevo is not worth perservering with.

[Scottee]

Ah Scottee - you brought a painful memory back from last night that I had supressed!! THAT was the moment that finally convinced me that Bevo is not worth perservering with.

That was the final decider for me too FL.

[Foreign Legion]

I have honestly been pissing myself laughing since you posted that comment.

Bevan is not going to learn now - he tries his guts out I reckon, but he won't improve or change. Be of some value to GWS I suspect.

[dimelb]

In the warm light of Saturday afternoon I agree with all those who have picked out Jack's injury as the turning point of the game. It set Judd free, and there are few people in the game who can hold him in that mood, and ROK, fine player that he is, is not one of them. It also contributed to stuffing up whatever structure we had in the forward line.
And although I am a White supporter, and he would have made a useful contribution if he'd kicked straight, I'm prepared to bite the bullet and do a straight swap for Pyke and move Reid back to defence. It would be an act of faith, but I trust Mike's astonishing capacity to learn from experience.

[Big Al]

2 highlights that make me smile today...

Bulldogs Mark. Never seen a 4"2 footballer get that high in my life.

Pykes tackle that cut that blues player in half. It was a thing of beauty.

[liz]

In the warm light of Saturday afternoon I agree with all those who have picked out Jack's injury as the turning point of the game. It set Judd free, and there are few people in the game who can hold him in that mood, and ROK, fine player that he is, is not one of them. It also contributed to stuffing up whatever structure we had in the forward line.
And although I am a White supporter, and he would have made a useful contribution if he'd kicked straight, I'm prepared to bite the bullet and do a straight swap for Pyke and move Reid back to defence. It would be an act of faith, but I trust Mike's astonishing capacity to learn from experience.

I am not sure about using Pyke as a permanent full forward but I do think there is some value in rotating Mummy and Pyke/Seaby through the forward line when resting from the ruck. For me the decision about whether to use a second ruckman is as much about getting the most out of Mummy as it is about what that second ruckman brings. Mike didn't have a great night as a forward yesterday but I hope they perservere with this structure for a few weeks to give it a chance to work. And White has had games where he has been just as ineffective as a forward (and much worse in the ruck) than Mike was yesterday.

I also hope they show a few weeks faith in Pyke, rather than just swap him straight away for Seaby. Who knows which is the better option, but having been favouring Pyke for the past few weeks (as emergency), I'd like the match committee to show faith in that decision for a while and give him at least another 2-3 weeks to see if he can have an impact at senior level during the periods he plays forward.

[Margie]

Bit depressed about losing last night. Some really worrying signs for the season ahead.

1. Agree selection policy at present is not good. The idea is you pick your best 21(+1). Seems we are doing a lot of tinkering with the personnel and with their positioning. Unsettles the team IMO. Difficult to get good at a role if you don't know what it is.
2. Too many passengers, too many cameos, not enough four quarter match winners. Hannebery, Smith, Jetta, White, Grundy (not last night), ROK, McVeigh and a few others have gone backwards. How many A graders on our list? I think one.
3. Leadership - Agree on McVeigh, Goodes is clearly trying, but boy, do we miss Kirk.
4. Disposal, quality has dropped for sure.
5. Coaching - Why can't we get the sub rule right? Why all these changes? Why is disposal deteriorating? Why are players seemingly going backwards?

Is it the Indian Clubs ? Seriously, thank goodness for some solid citizens in McGlynn, Kennedy, Richards and Bolton.

This sums up my feelings to a tee.

Just on leadership - there was an instance last night where 4 or 5 players were just standing around as if they were flummoxed and needed direction.

It was a lacklustre effort in a game I "pencilled in" as a win.

You come away thinking "why bother" in that weather and trudging through the quagmire of a carpark. The second half showed no heart or spirit and changes need to be made!

Kudos to Mumford, McGlynn, Bolton, Richards and Jack in the first half.

[satchmopugdog]

2 highlights that make me smile today...

Bulldogs Mark. Never seen a 4"2 footballer get that high in my life.

Pykes tackle that cut that blues player in half. It was a thing of beauty.

Thank you Bug Al...2 happy memories

excuse the NZ accent