Round 4 positives

[ROK Lobster]

I didn't drive up for the match.

[Matt79]

Tadgh's return.

[giant]

Originally posted by ROK Lobster
I didn't drive up for the match.

Shame - you missed a pretty good game of footy. Considering there was just one win between the 2 teams I thought it was a pretty good standard - damn sight better than the Freo-Crows @@@@e I watched last night.

[stellation]

I was carrying some very hot chips for my son and just as I got back to our seats I tripped and nearly tipped them all over him, but after a bit of a juggling act I was able to only spill just the one chip.

[anne]

Didn't go up to Sydney for the game. Feel confident to book an OS holiday for August and September - wont miss too much.

[ROK Lobster]

Originally posted by stellation
I was carrying some very hot chips for my son and just as I got back to our seats I tripped and nearly tipped them all over him, but after a bit of a juggling act I was able to only spill just the one chip. Play of the day.

Regarding giant's comment, it was a good game in patches but the Swans should have buried them. At times we still look lethargic and confused.

As for other positives, I thought Schneids looked good (but how accountable was Davey?) and it was good to see the Irish back.

[liz]

Originally posted by ROK Lobster
At times we still look lethargic and confused.



Agreed...and also they look scared to make mistakes. When they ran the ball confidently through the middle they looked so good, you have to wonder why they don't try to do it more often.

[Mike_B]

I made a similar comment early in the game - dare to win instead of being scared to win.

[ugg]

Kennelly Kennelly and Kennelly. It was such a stark contrast between the side when he was on the field and when he was on the bench. He provides some direction when we're running out of the back line.

[NMWBloods]

Positives:

- Return of Kennelly
- Chambers showed he's not completely useless
- Malceski getting more involved in the game
- Very good game by Schneider
- I'm less upset than I would have been in previous years

[Snowy]

Agree about the running through the middle bit, the team looked fluent, positive and capable of winning during these passages of play. I believe the negative game is stifling. Also the othe teams are displaying a higher work rate because they know that's where a lot of Sydney's games were won last year, so games can't be won on endeavour. The smaller ground sometimes encourages the stifling mode of play.

[robbieando]

Originally posted by NMWBloods
- I'm less upset than I would have been in previous years
Is that because we played better than we had all year or is that because we have a shinny metal cup sitting in our boardroom?

[Xie Shan]

Originally posted by robbieando
Is that because we played better than we had all year or is that because we have a shinny metal cup sitting in our boardroom?

I'll take option 1 thanks. That shiny metal cup is SO last season. ;)

No I saw the game today too and while the loss hurt, I was comparing it to the corresponding game last year vs the Dees when we were basically smashed. Hopefully this is a good sign that our trademark "recovery after form slump" will come a little sooner this year. :)

[NMWBloods]

Originally posted by robbieando
Is that because we played better than we had all year or is that because we have a shinny metal cup sitting in our boardroom? The latter.

It's still very frustrating because I don't really rate the other sides too much so the opportunity is still there. Having said that, if West Coast had one key forward and the Bulldogs had Darcy and Minson, I don't think we'd be much of a chance.

As for how we played, marginally better but still crap. I think that Roos saying the coaching staff was pleased with the way we played last week was a mistake - we were crap last week and only won because Carlton were more crap.

[liz]

Originally posted by sydfan83
I'll take option 1 thanks. That shiny metal cup is SO last season. ;)

No I saw the game today too and while the loss hurt, I was comparing it to the corresponding game last year vs the Dees when we were basically smashed. Hopefully this is a good sign that our trademark "recovery after form slump" will come a little sooner this year. :)

Not sure there is much comfort there. Last year we were beaten by a red-hot team. This year we were beaten by a struggling outfit. And both times we get zero premiership points.

I'm not doom and gloom by any means - but it is just so frustrating seeing the difference within a game between very very good and puzzlingly tentative.

The main positive I see from this game is that they won't need to change tapes to remind themselves what they do that wins games and how they lose games. They will have it all laid out within the one game.

[NMWBloods]

Originally posted by sydfan83
No I saw the game today too and while the loss hurt, I was comparing it to the corresponding game last year vs the Dees when we were basically smashed. Hopefully this is a good sign that our trademark "recovery after form slump" will come a little sooner this year. :) Last year the Demons were travelling pretty well. This year they have been struggling. So I'm not sure if I'd take a whole lot of comfort from that.

[Xie Shan]

Originally posted by NMWBloods
Last year the Demons were travelling pretty well. This year they have been struggling. So I'm not sure if I'd take a whole lot of comfort from that.

True. But then I'm an optimist. Maybe it's because I was just in a better mood today, but I came away from watching this game remembering more of the positives than the negatives, such as their run in the third quarter and that they kept on coming in the last quarter.

[robbieando]

Win both our next two and we'll be level with our win loss record from the same point as last year. In fact a win next week would level it up. We might not be playing as good, but our form is coming good and we have a draw that should see us get on a roll if Roosy and the boys take full advantage of it.

[The Undertaker]

Originally posted by NMWBloods
Positives:

- Return of Kennelly
- Chambers showed he's not completely useless
- Malceski getting more involved in the game
- Very good game by Schneider
- I'm less upset than I would have been in previous years Agree with most points but the last one,no.

I haven't been impressed with the start of the year.

Still a long way to go though.

[Gary]

The hangover continues...it is only a question of a couple of % in intensity...& you lose. I am sympathetic in the sense that like another contributor I am not getting as emotionally drained. Never again (at least for a few years) do I have to say..."next year" but "last year" to quiet the shakes.
I hope the boys shake this demon quickly, because for the moment it still has them under its spell.
Some players have definitely got big heads...others are clearly showing they cannot cope with the extra analysis (by the opposition) that being premiers brings.
Carn the bloods.

[ScottH]

We didn't get flogged.

Chambers got a kick or 2.

Thadgh's return.


(No hird) we lost.
(No Tredrea) we lost.
(No Neitz, mostly) we lost.

Is there a pattern here?

[liz]

Originally posted by ScottH


(No hird) we lost.
(No Tredrea) we lost.
(No Neitz, mostly) we lost.

Is there a pattern here?

Eek. Next week we have no Playfair:eek:

More to the point, no King, no Harley and no Kingsley either.

[Casey36]

Didnt go to the game today, my dad wanted to watch the reserves (like usual) which meant leaving early, but i needed to catch up on some sleep. Lol.
Anyway...

*Glad To See Kennelly Back.
*Schneider Played Good.
*I think Malceski played alright today.

At least we didnt get thrashed, but we still could of won that game easily and even in that last quarter we could of if we had kept better possession of the ball. Anyways many more games to come, so lets hope swans can lift their game up a little. Lets see how we go next week against Geelong.

CASEY:p

[Bas]

Originally posted by ScottH

(No hird) we lost.
(No Tredrea) we lost.
(No Neitz, mostly) we lost.

Is there a pattern here?

I thought the same thing leaving the game today. I think it's just co-incidence.

Really, whats the difference to this year's start compared to starts in the last 10 years (except 98). Is it really a premiership hangover.

Melbourne played very well against the Crows last week and I knew the Swans would have a good chance of losing.
Each team has a slump at some stage during the year. Better now than in September. Remember the demons two years back.

Bloods are still duds in 2006 but a little bit of improvement.

[Swansmaniac]

Today's match was the first time i went to a game, it was a good match, although we lost but i can see improvement. Glad to see Kennelly back. :D

[JF_Bay22_SCG]

Originally posted by ugg
Kennelly Kennelly and Kennelly. It was such a stark contrast between the side when he was on the field and when he was on the bench. He provides some direction when we're running out of the back line.

He & Crouch seem to be the only ones who take the bit by the teeth and run FORWARD out of defence. Leo runs around like a chicken with its head cut off most of the time (nothing new there) whilst the rest of them just ponderousdly sit there on centre wing looking for an "uncontested possession" ( I HATE new footy-speak). All this does is makes it easier for a team flooding to push even more back, thus clogging up the space on our forward line even further.

JF

[Carolyn]

Round 4 positives

>Great to see that Kennelly is back.
>It was a close game, unlike the first two rounds.
>Malceski and Schneider both playing very well.

[JF_Bay22_SCG]

Originally posted by NMWBloods
Positives:

- Return of Kennelly
- Chambers showed he's not completely useless
- Malceski getting more involved in the game
- Very good game by Schneider
- I'm less upset than I would have been in previous years

It is weird NMW, but I feel the same somehow. Has the Premiership taken away some of my normal winter sense of footballing excestentialism? Has it made the losses hurt as much?

I really felt down after the Port match on the Monday after. (Getting greeted by the Crows-following person next to me at work with "How the @@@@ could you let those @@@@s win!?" certainly didn't help the mood that day. :o )

How I feel tomorrow is up in the air. It sounds kind of sick, but I'm happier we actually lost the way we played today. Had we won, everyone would have just said "Here we go again" without realising that success is something to be made not expected.

Hopefully some of the players ARE hurting. But by the looks of things at today's after-match thing could not be further from the truth. The players were both giving themselves a pat on the back for how WELL they played today! :eek: :o

JF

[cruiser]

Originally posted by NMWBloods
- I'm less upset than I would have been in previous years I wish I felt like that.

[cruiser]

Originally posted by Carolyn
Round 4 positives

>Great to see that Kennelly is back.
>It was a close game, unlike the first two rounds.
>Malceski and Schneider both playing very well. But it was a close game against a team that hadnt won a game yet. Our four games so far have been against ordinary teams at best. The top teams will crush us. Geelong will slaughter us.

[ugg]

Originally posted by cruiser
But it was a close game against a team that hadnt won a game yet. Our four games so far have been against ordinary teams at best. The top teams will crush us. Geelong will slaughter us.
Yes this is exactly what I've been thinking. With all due respect, I don't think any of the 4 teams we've played will make the top 8 this year. And we're 1-3! I think the Geelong game will provide a truer indication of where we are. The one thought that is comforting at the moment is that we seem to step it up against the better teams.

[punter257]

playing ordinary football in april and not september

good to see the eagles get 2 consecutive april premierships as well

[NMWBloods]

Originally posted by ScottH
(No hird) we lost.
(No Tredrea) we lost.
(No Neitz, mostly) we lost.

Is there a pattern here?
We lost.

[cruiser]

Originally posted by punter257
playing ordinary football in april and not september

good to see the eagles get 2 consecutive april premierships as well I know what you're saying and I want to believe we can improve, but I'm having trouble now.

[NMWBloods]

Originally posted by cruiser
But it was a close game against a team that hadnt won a game yet. Our four games so far have been against ordinary teams at best. The top teams will crush us. Geelong will slaughter us. That's right. It's not correct to make the comparison to previous years on W-L record, as we are playing some very ordinary teams. On current form, even with most of their spine missing, Geelong should smash us. Then again, we seem to get up for these big underdog games.

[NMWBloods]

Originally posted by punter257
playing ordinary football in april and not september

good to see the eagles get 2 consecutive april premierships as well It's not mutually exclusive to play good football in both. West Coast went within a whisker of winning last year and are more on track than we are at the moment.

[anne]

And that is the major problem - they are not playing well and yet it doesn't seem to worry them or Roos at all. They need to be told they are crap (being beaten by lower teams) and it is not acceptable. If they were in Melbourne they would be torn to shreds and maybe they would react to it. They just sit back and think that because everything worked out last year after a slow start that it will just happen again - but that is a dangerous way to go about things.

[Ruck'n'Roll]

I though Schneider was really excellent today, although I hope the umpires don't take revenge for that 50 metre penalty he milked.

[Captain]

Originally posted by cruiser
I wish I felt like that.

It's really weird but I seem to be ok with losses this year. I was totally pi&ssed off with yesterday, but I think that was more because I lost a hundred dollars on the Swans rather than the game.

I think I have a premiership hangover.

[katie-scarlett]

Originally posted by Captain
It's really weird but I seem to be ok with losses this year. I was totally pi&ssed off with yesterday, but I think that was more because I lost a hundred dollars on the Swans rather than the game.

I was pissed off because the last time I had heart attack(s) (yes, plural) like those was at the Geelong SF last year. But they actually won that 1.

[floppinab]

Missed the game today took the biggest boy camping up in the Blue Mntns. (beginning to think it's a good idea making the most of the Autumn long weekends doing other things than watching the Swans), but caught the last q. on radio and some snippets on the tele.

Looks like we soundly beat them generally on the stats (in a game where the uncontested possies were relatively equal) and given they had about 17 or 18 fit men in the last q. I would've thought we should've run the game out and won.

Too many MFU's by the sound of things being the main problem probably typified by Mr. MFU himself, Matthews in giving up that handball which netted the Dees that winning goal. My guess would be we made too many costly clangers compared to them, simple as that.

[giant]

Originally posted by Captain
It's really weird but I seem to be ok with losses this year. I was totally pi&ssed off with yesterday, but I think that was more because I lost a hundred dollars on the Swans rather than the game.

I think I have a premiership hangover.

LOL. I'm the same - but perhaps yesterday there was a feeling of guilt that it would have been a travesty to win the game after that disgraceful 50m penalty.

But unlike last year, I gave a sort of resigned shrug afterwards. Then I noticed that my 9 yo nephew who had flown over from Perth for the game was actually crying. I felt a little ashamed that I'd lost my passion for the game, so I decided to at least look a little sad.

[The Big Cat]

I thought that this year I would be able to take a loss without it seeming like a death in the family. But it hurts just as much. Why? Then I remembered - We haven't won a flag since 2005!

[msb]

Originally posted by Captain
It's really weird but I seem to be ok with losses this year. I was totally pi&ssed off with yesterday, but I think that was more because I lost a hundred dollars on the Swans rather than the game.

I think I have a premiership hangover.

Yes know what you mean......i hate losing yesterday but then you just think of last year and what happened. A year like that could never be topped. Realistically we are not and were never going to get back to back flags and perhaps this is a year where we are just going through the motions whilst being the hunted. Every team we play this year is going to move heaven and earth to beat us (which is always the case with the reigning champ) so wins are going to be hard to come by, but it is only round 4 so things can be turned around and it could of easily been a win yesterday.

[hammo]

Its dangerous to keep comparing to the slow starts in previous years.

Unless the players pull their finger out, we'll be well off the pace and playing russian roulette when guys go down with injuries.

[sfan]

On a positive note I thought the run out defence was much better than in recent weeks. I was a bit disappointed that Roosy did not seem to try and do something different with the double teaming of Hall.

Maybe they could have thrown another tall forward to the square and got the smaller forwards up the ground a bit to open up space. It never looked like working all day.

The midfield early was getting smashed in the clearaces despite Jolly getting most of the hitouts. We are struggling in that aspect as well at the moment.

[hammo]

Originally posted by sfan

The midfield early was getting smashed in the clearaces despite Jolly getting most of the hitouts. We are struggling in that aspect as well at the moment.
Its a shame Davo is injured. We really need someone like him in the centre square more regularly to start getting decent clearances. Kirk, Bolton and Ablett aren't giving us enough at the moment.

[THERBS]

I thought yetserday sucked big time. Definitely a game we could have and should have won. We can't throw away home games against teams like Melbourne, its really poor.

Positives - not many except that Shneider continues to develop well and it was good seeing Tadgh back on the ground.

[Thunder Shaker]

Positives - Tadhg is back, Chambers looked a lot better and it was a good game to watch.

I hate these slow starts, but at least we are a chance to win 2 games in the next 3 weeks (Brisbane look like limp lettuce and Richmond are not much better).

[Mel]

Originally posted by giant


But unlike last year, I gave a sort of resigned shrug afterwards. Then I noticed that my 9 yo nephew who had flown over from Perth for the game was actually crying. I felt a little ashamed that I'd lost my passion for the game, so I decided to at least look a little sad.

Musta been something in the air yesterday, my six year old nephew was crying after the game though. Seemed to think his Auskick team could have played better.

[Go Swannies]

Originally posted by Mel
Musta been something in the air yesterday, my six year old nephew was crying after the game though. Seemed to think his Auskick team could have played better.

Once Nicky D was injured, the Auskick team I follow was doomed. Then I waited until dark for the real Swans team to turn up and play their seniors round.

[ScottH]

Originally posted by NMWBloods
We lost. Genius!!!!

[Nico]

Chambers ruck work in the last quarter was very good. Might reserve an opinion on him for a while.
Schneider best game ever.
Kennelly good first game back.
Seemed to have a lot more run and open play.
Buchanan at it all day.
Kirk is nearly there.
Ablett was better.

ABSOLUTE DOWNERS

Crouch, J Bolton (call him lastQ Bolton)Fosdike are way off the pace.
McVeigh - no good.
MOL - played like an old m***.
Richards - Just doesn't do enough.
Davis injury - probably doesn't matter because they kick it too him. Must be giving the players dud tips on the nags.
Mathews is a joke. Was he on Bruce? handballed to the opposition for the winning goal, short passed along the ground again when inside 50 clear and continually gets run down.
Leo - punch for christ sake when the ball is going out on the full - dumb.

[Nico]

Originally posted by Carolyn
Round 4 positives

>Great to see that Kennelly is back.
>It was a close game, unlike the first two rounds.
>Malceski and Schneider both playing very well.

Malceski a beautiful kick. Some people must be gagging.

[Nico]

Originally posted by ugg
Yes this is exactly what I've been thinking. With all due respect, I don't think any of the 4 teams we've played will make the top 8 this year. And we're 1-3! I think the Geelong game will provide a truer indication of where we are. The one thought that is comforting at the moment is that we seem to step it up against the better teams.

Hang on get it into perspective. We are 1-3 but a game out of the 8. We were playing bad against ordinary teams at the same time.

Chins up folks. I thought we were close to turning the corner.

Drop Mathews and Mcveigh plus davis injured and put in a few with some grunt and we might see a turnaround.

Geelong are not travelling too well.

[Nico]

Originally posted by hammo
Its a shame Davo is injured. We really need someone like him in the centre square more regularly to start getting decent clearances. Kirk, Bolton and Ablett aren't giving us enough at the moment.

Yeh it would be nice if Bolton dceided to turn up before 3Q time for a change.

[cruiser]

Originally posted by Thunder Shaker
but at least we are a chance to win 2 games in the next 3 weeks (Brisbane look like limp lettuce and Richmond are not much better). Why? Are they worse teams than Port, Essendon and Melbourne?

[Big Al]

Positives: Kennelly will benefit from the run
Chambers wasn't bad
Swans not labelled boring after a loss



Also the fact that in my agitated state I didn't hit anything in the carpark on the way out

[robamiee]

What were we after the first 6 rounds last year..something like 2-4 or 3-3...maybe history will repeat itself...swans played crappy like now and look what happened...but i think we need to reapproach our game style abit. play more long and direct attacking footy and then control the tempo if and when required...

[Thunder Shaker]

Originally posted by cruiser
Why? Are they worse teams than Port, Essendon and Melbourne?
*looks at Richmond and Brisbane in the bottom three places on the ladder* I think so

[Doctor]

Originally posted by Mel
Musta been something in the air yesterday, my six year old nephew was crying after the game though. Seemed to think his Auskick team could have played better.

My 6yo son was crying too. It'd be nice if everyone concerned with the club saw how some of the kids take a loss and show the same level of committment. I'm not handling the losses many better than last year either mind you. Dunno if that makes me greedy or just a footy fan...

Having said that, we'd have won comfortably if we'd kicked straight.