Match Day Thread Rnd 12 Sydney V Western Bulldogs. SCG. 19.20 pm.

[aardvark]

1886188718881889

Hard to believe we are even shorter priced favorites than earlier this week. Maybe the punters know something we don't. Doggies by 36pts. Go Swannies!
Anyone else hate Thursday night games,especially after a bye. Two weekends in a row without a Swans game sucks!

[Industrial Fan]

Dogs to lead all night in a rubbish game.

Only silver lining is that the four goals Cloke kicked from frees in the earlier game this year has them seduced to think he can be a valuable player in this one.

[Industrial Fan]

Not sure if I'm alone on this either- I don't normally pay much attention to pre match commentary - but I don't like the narrative that the swans aren't interested in revenge from the GF.

Like the cats did to the Hawks I'd much prefer them saying that it burns, they took it from us and we're going to bury them.

[dejavoodoo44]

I think that we can win it this one. But it will take strong games from our inside mids: Kennedy, Parker, Hewett, Heeney and the few others that will be rotating through. Also in the wet conditions, with forward marking being difficult, we'll probably need a bag from Papley and/or Hayward.

[RogueSwan]

... Hard to believe we are even shorter priced favorites than earlier this week. Maybe the punters know something we don't. ...
I just saw a poll on the AFL site with around 65% voting that the Dogs will win. Seems more realistic to me

[Untamed Snark]

1886188718881889

Anyone else hate Thursday night games,especially after a bye. Two weekends in a row without a Swans game sucks!

I'm not a fan, generally need to take the next day off work
But I really dislike the fact that we have Friday-Thursday-Friday home games in a row
Guess the silver lining of this season is we may get fewer Friday games, there's 8 this season

[ugg]

Agree, I don't like going to Thursday night games, as it results in me getting home around midnight. But I seem to be in the minority as the Swans have had big attendances in past years for Thursday nights.

[Hotpotato]

Would love a Swans win, however the Doggies are very quick, very smart , have the umps on their side..... Swans not accountable .
I would bet on the Dogs if someone gave me a free hit.

[Blue Sun]

Good to see some acknowledgement from the media re the free kick discrepancies between the Swans and Dogs in recent times.

Western Bulldogs not afraid of AFL umpiring square-up against Sydney Swans (http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/western-bulldogs-not-afraid-of-afl-umpiring-squareup-against-sydney-swans-20170607-gwmkdp.html)

[Mark26]

Agree, I don't like going to Thursday night games, as it results in me getting home around midnight. But I seem to be in the minority as the Swans have had big attendances in past years for Thursday nights.
I would never consider going to a Thursday nighter. We get home a little later (or earlier) then most. After last Friday night's match, I crawled into bed at 2:30.

[Mauzza]

Driver Avenue carparks closed due to the wet.

[barry]

lol SCG.

[aardvark]

Couldn't help myself, the odds for the Bullies were just too good. The good news is we will win now.:wink:

[neilfws]

I may be in a minority, I like Thursday nights. And Sunday arvos.

Looks like the rain is clearing, just a few scattered showers around. But there's been a lot, so it will be greasy at best.

Doggies are down a bit with some injuries and key outs, so who knows. Could be one of those unexpected wins! We're 3W, 4L for home games after a bye (0W, 3L away), so don't listen to the "after the bye" doom merchants :)

[MattW]

Late change: Rohan out, Marsh in. Hmm.

[longmile]

Swans to win comfortably and umpires to stay out of it

[wolftone57]

Late change: Rohan out, Marsh in. Hmm.

Well may you say mmm. Christ. i'm starting to wonder if our coaches want to lose because they are killing us at selection. Marsh has not been a star at NEAFL level. He's been serviceable. There are others who deserve to come in before him and to change a forward for a back really shows you Longmire's intent. He is already trying to save the game not win it.

[longmile]

Well may you say mmm. Christ. i'm starting to wonder if our coaches want to lose because they are killing us at selection. Marsh has not been a star at NEAFL level. He's been serviceable. There are others who deserve to come in before him and to change a forward for a back really shows you Longmire's intent. He is already trying to save the game not win it.

Shoulda been Dawson

[wolftone57]

I may be in a minority, I like Thursday nights. And Sunday arvos.

Looks like the rain is clearing, just a few scattered showers around. But there's been a lot, so it will be greasy at best.

Doggies are down a bit with some injuries and key outs, so who knows. Could be one of those unexpected wins! We're 3W, 4L for home games after a bye (0W, 3L away), so don't listen to the "after the bye" doom merchants :)


I love Sunday arvos, prefer the early not twilight. not wrapped in night matches at all during mid winter. Too cold and wet for me and I get home far too late. Tonight is not too bad being a 7.20pm but I am at home still due to weather and Kennel cough. I actually have kennel cough, I can't believe it. Both cats and I have it. Prefer day matches to night matches. Love the pub afterward.

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Shoulda been Dawson

I agree it should have been Dawson. Go attacking not totally defensive. We tried that last time too and did it do any good?

[Blue Sun]

Swans to win comfortably and umpires to stay out of it
I want whatever you're taking!

[rb4x]

I am finding this almost impossible to believe but the Swans are still shortening with the bookies. What do they know. Have they paid off the umpires.

[neilfws]

Plenty of empty seats here, 5 minutes out. Even allowing for the usual late rush.

[Mel_C]

I haven't seen a crowd this small in years. The stands look very empty on the tv.

I guess it's not a surprise considering the weather, our position on the ladder and the fact it's a Thursday night.

Hopefully there is still some atmosphere.

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[Mel_C]

Um what is going on with Naismith's hair???????? That is a shocker!!!

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[Mel_C]

Piss off umpires are doing it again. That was a mark every day of the week to Hewitt and it wasn't paid. There are 4 umpires and not one them saw it!!! It could have been front on contact as well.



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[sfan]

Bit of a poor start kicking for goal again. Dogs get one from the boundary line.

[mcs]

I'm not a fan, generally need to take the next day off work
But I really dislike the fact that we have Friday-Thursday-Friday home games in a row
Guess the silver lining of this season is we may get fewer Friday games, there's 8 this season

Yeh have to agree with this, but on the basis of it means there is several home gams this year i just cant get to.

- - - Updated - - -

Not a bad first quarter but didnt put much on the scoreboard. Good intensity so far which is promising.

[Markwebbos]

Swans should be 3-4 goals up. Missed at least 2 out on the full etc

[dejavoodoo44]

Piss off umpires are doing it again. That was a mark every day of the week to Hewitt and it wasn't paid. There are 4 umpires and not one them saw it!!! It could have been front on contact as well.



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I know, both a mark and a free. Should have been a 50.

[Hotpotato]

Clear mark to Hewitt.... blatant bias there.

The boys are up for this.

[Markwebbos]

Swans seem to be defending and moving the ball intelligently. And hard around the contest... all positive signs so far

[Mel_C]

Good quarter apart from the goal kicking.

Jack is struggling...his lack of match fitness showed. Twice he couldn't get his kick away.

Edit: Sweet Caroline ????.

[Hotpotato]

Don't scruff Buddy's hair..... he doesn't like it. A high five and get on with it..

[mcs]

Swansseemtobedefendingandmovingtheballintelligentl y.Andhardaroundthecontest...allpositivesignssofar

Jake Lloyd making a huge difference in our back half.

[stevoswan]

Good to see some acknowledgement from the media re the free kick discrepancies between the Swans and Dogs in recent times.

Western Bulldogs not afraid of AFL umpiring square-up against Sydney Swans (http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/western-bulldogs-not-afraid-of-afl-umpiring-squareup-against-sydney-swans-20170607-gwmkdp.html)

If there's a 'square up', I'm yet to see much evidence......Hewitt's clean grab with front on contact, nothing, Zac Jones held and tackled to ground without the ball, nothing and the ultimate insult, umpire shepherding Haywood from an easy mark and then a turnover......there's no square up.

[bloodspirit]

Smashing them in the hit outs. It's not leading to clearance dominance but is helping us get a significant in inside 50s.

[bloodspirit]

Feels like we're not converting our onfield dominance to the scoreboard. Especially bad kicking for goal.

[Blue Sun]

Inaccuracy is a worry. I hope it doesn't come back to bite us. Umpires starting to turn on us now...

I really hate the Dogs, insufferable. Arm chair service, courtesy of the AFL umpiring division.

[Cheer_Cheer]

Misses and maggots... Grrr..

[Blue Sun]

Out of bounds on the full! Yet it's a throw in!? What is going on?

Franklin MUST kick this. Aaaand it hits the post!

[sfan]

Goal kicking going to hurt I fear

[Blue Sun]

Goal kicking going to hurt I fear

Beyond frustrating now.

[stevoswan]

Kicking ourselves out of this.....should be 5 goals up, Bud should have 4.

[Mel_C]

Should have been holding the ball against Stringer. He did the fend off and then dropped it and nothing!! Cost us a goal.

Gee has Buddy been practicing hitting the post.

Now Jones has missed. What is going on??

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[Blue Sun]

Great handpass through traffic from Hanners set that goal up, Jones did well kicking to Reid then crumbing to give to Franklin. Great team goal!

[dejavoodoo44]

Nice to cheer another goal at last. But the number of frees that the umpires have missed is becoming surreal.

[WauchopeAnalyst]

Dont care about the result. We are playing a new style and i believe that this style wil win more games and premierships.

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[Cheer_Cheer]

Has Plugger been with the boys of late ?

[Hotpotato]

Yippee ... Lloyd hit a target ..

But the goal kicking is abysmal.

[Blue Sun]

Seriously, Sam? 20m directly in front of goal.

It's obvious the umpires are trying to give us a few soft ones now. I love watching Bont have a sook.

Jong HTB. How does it feel, Beveridge? Bit of your own medicine?

[dejavoodoo44]

Hewett starts walking back to take his kick and is pushed over right in front of the umpire. Why isn't that 50!??
Nice bit of crumbing by Papley though.

[stevoswan]

We would have to go to sleep in the second half to lose this honestly.....if we keep this effort up we should canter it in. The Dogs aren't doing much.....we're better......and keep out of it umpires!

[Blue Sun]

What an awesome end to that quarter! The umpires really starting to favour us, makes a big difference. Great pressure from the boys, too.

[Hotpotato]

Who wants to be interviewed after the first half .

[i'm-uninformed2]

Goal kicking and umpiring aside ... Love Papley's energy and slickness round the ball, Naismith's mongrel and whoever is sitting on JJ

[Goal Sneak]

I love that Parker just said we need to play for 4 quarters. We've played 2 and if we play the next 2 like that we won't be beaten. I don't care how many goals we've missed, if we can play at that intensity for a whole game, we'll win.

[Mel_C]

Can't complain about anything except for the goal kicking.

Pressure has been amazing causing the dogs to fumble and second guess. Glad to see they are finally being pinned for holding the ball.

Very impressed with Naismith (except for his hair).

Really really hope our misses don't cost us.

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[troyjones2525]

Good solid play by the swans but very wasteful in front of goal. Probably should be a further 5 goals in front!

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[mcs]

I love that Parker just said we need to play for 4 quarters. We've played 2 and if we play the next 2 like that we won't be beaten. I don't care how many goals we've missed, if we can play at that intensity for a whole game, we'll win.

+1 to this.

Good first half, the intensity is great and we are outplaying the dogs at their favoured style of footy. Really wasteful in terms of kicking for goal which could hurt us. But repeat that first half and we should be winning tonight.

[Nico]

Can't see how some are complaining about the umps. Hewett's disallowed mark was a big miss but otherwise ok. The free to Jones wasn't there.

Just gotta keep going.

[MattW]

Playing well.

How good has Naismith been? He is a gun, with excellent character. Heeney, Parker, Grundy, Joey have also been great. We played two solid quarters of desperation footy. Two more to go.

[Nico]

Playing well.

How good has Naismith been? He is a gun, with excellent character. Heeney, Parker, Grundy, Joey have also been great. We played two solid quarters of desperation footy. Two more to go.

Newman has been pretty good.

[swannymum]

Massive whingefest on Twitter from Dogs fans about the biased umpiring! They are so used to a free ride that they expect it every week. Also massive whinge about Buddy's arc in his goal after the siren. Keep it up boys, except I would prefer more accuracy in front of goal.

[mcs]

Massive whingefest on Twitter from Dogs fans about the biased umpiring! They are so used to a free ride that they expect it every week. Also massive whinge about Buddy's arc in his goal after the siren. Keep it up boys, except I would prefer more accuracy in front of goal.

They can have a cry when they get bent over in a Grand Final by bad umpiring. Till then, dogs fans can go get stuffed....

[dejavoodoo44]

Feel like Kennedy, Parker, Heeney and others, have been out muscling them. Buddy's after the siren goal was very handy. The opposite of what I was expecting to happen: which was a charity free and goal to the Dogs.

[Nico]

How was that not a trip to Jack. 4 umpires?

[Thunder Shaker]

Goal kicking isn't the best but neither are the conditions. It's not unusual for goal kicking to be poor in wet weather. The ball must be as slippery as a wet pig.

We're four goals up though. That's a good lead in the conditions.

[Blue Sun]

They can have a cry when they get bent over in a Grand Final by bad umpiring. Till then, dogs fans can go get stuffed....

Couldn't agree more. It's even funnier when you consider that we only had 2 more frees than them too...

[Nico]

Towers is back to his "best". Missed a goal then nearly gave them a gift up the other end.

[Blue Sun]

Great poise from K Jack there.

[Goal Sneak]

I love that Bevo has to change things to counteract what we're doing. I can feel the pain we're inflicting!

[Blue Sun]

Bulldogs getting a couple against the flow now :(

[Nico]

Starting to do dumb stuff. Why wouldn't Smith go top of the square.

The goal to Papley shows why Smith should have gone top of the square. Our forwards have them under so much pressure we should be going there at every opportunity.

[Goal Sneak]

Tommy!!!!

[Blue Sun]

The boys have been fantastic, great pressure. They really want to win tonight. Papley playing out of his skin, what a great player he is becoming.

[Thunder Shaker]

Bulldogs' lowest score so far this year is 61.

[Goal Sneak]

So important that we go on with this pressure

[S.S. Bleeder]

We really missed Papley at the start of the year. He's so important for us.

[Goal Sneak]

Suck it Bevo!!! we want this more than you!!!!

[dejavoodoo44]

Well, that's the win. Now let's make it a percentage booster.

[Hotpotato]

What's that huge hole doing in the centre square?

[stevoswan]

Wood should just about be reported for that hit on Hanners.

[dejavoodoo44]

I've been really impressed with Naismith ton

- - - Updated - - -

That should read, tonight. He's been a big factor in our clearance work.

[Blue Sun]

We are getting frees tonight that we NEVER get.

[Goal Sneak]

I've been really impressed with Naismith ton

- - - Updated - - -

That should read, tonight. He's been a big factor in our clearance work.

I think putting him ahead of Tippet was a masterstroke by Horse

[stevoswan]

We're winning the free kick count 21-12......how refreshing!:wink:

[Thunder Shaker]

Interesting stat from the TV coverage - until tonight, Luke Beveridge has never lost at the SCG as a player or coach, and never lost to Longmire as a player or coach.

[Blue Sun]

We're winning the free kick count 21-12......how refreshing!:wink:

It really makes a massive difference.

[Goal Sneak]

100% effort from all players tonight. Well done Swans. About bloody time!!
P.S I'm drunk,in cases you hadn't noticed!!

[Hotpotato]

Is Jack injured again?

[troyjones2525]

Great bloods like performance tonight. Came out like they had a point to prove and delivered! If not for a wasteful first half it would have been a near flawless effort considering the wet ground.

Well done Swans! Now we need to bring the same intensity against a bogey side in Richmond next week!

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[Sandridge]

Lovely, lovely, lovely!!

GO THE MIGHTY BLOODS!

[DynamoJim]

Really good spread of contributors tonight. Only players to really stand out (at the game) where buddy, Reid, Naismith and Hanners.

Breakout game for Naismith. He really seemed to have a connection with the inside mids tonight. Nearly all of his blind taps were predicted by us. His mongrel was outstanding!

[Hotpotato]

Isaac will be a fabulous captain . Infectious.

[Cheer_Cheer]

Winning all 4 qtrs is fantastic. I don't know what Jack offered us that Ollie couldn't have done. Plugger needs to get to work again.

[Thunder Shaker]

Next 4 games: Richmond (MCG), Essendon (SCG), Melbourne (MCG), Gold Coast (SCG). These games are all winnable and they will show where we are at. Win all four, we would be 8-7 with a good percentage (105.0 is already the 7th best percentage) and in with a chance. Lose two of them, and we're probably done for the year.

We just have to keep winning.

[mcs]

Next 4 games: Richmond (MCG), Essendon (SCG), Melbourne (MCG), Gold Coast (SCG). These games are all winnable and they will show where we are at. Win all four, we would be 8-7 with a good percentage (105.0 is already the 7th best percentage) and in with a chance. Lose two of them, and we're probably done for the year.

We just have to keep winning.

Great performance tonight - we need to bring that manic pressure and hard work week in week out. Huge game next week - get the Richmond monkey off our back, and there is just an outside hope.

At worst we are going to annoy a lot of teams in and around the 8 - but with some luck, we can sneak in somehow. I don't think we will, but we can do some serious damage if we can replicate what we did tonight consistently. No room for error though.

Lots of excellent performances tonight - Kennedy as always outstanding, Heeney absolutely superb, Lloyd showed just how much we missed him against the Hawks (he is a crucial cog for us now), and the ruck combo worked well - Tippett may not get a run for a bit in the 1sts if they can do that week in week out (though noting the weakness of the Bulldogs in this space).

[Markwebbos]

Naismith V The Nank

Reckon they'll both have a point to prove

[Hotpotato]

It's the dominating result many expected in the Granny .
Can we keep this form going to have another crack ? You wouldn't know this year .

[MattW]

Great performance tonight - we need to bring that manic pressure and hard work week in week out. Huge game next week - get the Richmond monkey off our back, and there is just an outside hope.

At worst we are going to annoy a lot of teams in and around the 8 - but with some luck, we can sneak in somehow. I don't think we will, but we can do some serious damage if we can replicate what we did tonight consistently. No room for error though.

Lots of excellent performances tonight - Kennedy as always outstanding, Heeney absolutely superb, Lloyd showed just how much we missed him against the Hawks (he is a crucial cog for us now), and the ruck combo worked well - Tippett may not get a run for a bit in the 1sts if they can do that week in week out (though noting the weakness of the Bulldogs in this space).

Hewett was classy in that defensive forward role. He's a good mark and kick for goal, I think we're better off with him up there every week. Papley is playing really well through the middle - lots of tackles, runs hard, wiick, forward focussed.

Best game of the year from Heeney, just lacked the goal he was busting for. Hanners, Joey, Parker are back on form. Naismith seems more aggressive than last year.

Undecided on Jack. Got a little bit of it. Wasn't clean, seemed a bit grabby. Hopefully just rust and a bit of confidence.

Massive game next week.

[neilfws]

That was great wasn't it. Good to see Naismith make the most of his opportunity. Thought Reid really imposed himself too, wayward kicks aside. Pretty solid win, just need about 8 more.

[MattW]

Sorry mcs, didn't actually intend to quote you there.

[Nico]

Great performance tonight - we need to bring that manic pressure and hard work week in week out. Huge game next week - get the Richmond monkey off our back, and there is just an outside hope.

At worst we are going to annoy a lot of teams in and around the 8 - but with some luck, we can sneak in somehow. I don't think we will, but we can do some serious damage if we can replicate what we did tonight consistently. No room for error though.

Lots of excellent performances tonight - Kennedy as always outstanding, Heeney absolutely superb, Lloyd showed just how much we missed him against the Hawks (he is a crucial cog for us now), and the ruck combo worked well - Tippett may not get a run for a bit in the 1sts if they can do that week in week out (though noting the weakness of the Bulldogs in this space).

If Lloyd had not been concussed last week we would have won.

[MattW]

If Lloyd had not been concussed last week we would have won.

I have no doubt about that. It was rotten luck.

[mcs]

Hewett was classy in that defensive forward role. He's a good mark and kick for goal, I think we're better off with him up there every week. Papley is playing really well through the middle - lots of tackles, runs hard, wiick, forward focussed.

Best game of the year from Heeney, just lacked the goal he was busting for. Hanners, Joey, Parker are back on form. Naismith seems more aggressive than last year.

Undecided on Jack. Got a little bit of it. Wasn't clean, seemed a bit grabby. Hopefully just rust and a bit of confidence.

Massive game next week.

I really like Hewett in that role also - and I'm impressed by the week in, week out improvement of Papley in the midfield bunch. Doing a good job in there.

[Nico]

We have pretty much our full team back. Rampe is still building and Heeney said on TV he still isn't quite there. What I would like to see is us win the rest of our games, Joey lets Isaac be best on each week, Isaac wins the Brownlow and 5000 large drops into my account.

Just on footy terminology; I have noticed some RWOers call it "pinned" when a players gets a holding the ball decision against him. The correct term is "pinged" holding the ball. This term has been one of the long standing terms in the history of the game.

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We're winning the free kick count 21-12......how refreshing!:wink:

We got a lot of frees in the last quarter. I wonder what the whingers are saying on Big Footy. I did notice that the Dogs players duck their heads into tackles quite a bit.

Our gun defence is back in town. They were bloody terrific. Solid as rock and backed each other up big time. Marsh survives RWO once again. Thought he was pretty good.

[dimelb]

Great win, lovely to see the Fairypuppies (I do like that concoction!) beaten at their own game - high pressure, fast movement and the free kicks we deserved. Made up for the free George should have had in the Q1.

Hard to single out one player, but I think Papley is terrific, partly because of the surrounding players. Hanners had a good game, Josh imposed his mark, the defence was good (and at last had the support they should always have). Naismith made his presence felt, Sinkers threw himself into it, Towers continued his rise - I could go on and on but these are the ones I was especially happy for.

Now let's bring the same pressure to bear on Richmond.

[Markwebbos]

Undecided on Jack. Got a little bit of it. Wasn't clean, seemed a bit grabby. Hopefully just rust and a bit of confidence.

Agree. He looks a lot better than before and I believe he actually will improve with a game under his belt.

If we can bring that next week against Richmond then ...

[Industrial Fan]

We got more free kicks in the 4th quarter than in the GF.

Umpiring was terrible, but both ways.

[liz]

On the one hand, what a great performance. Only efficient conversion was lacking. Otherwise it was a masterclass of pressure football, with a fair bit of creativity and class thrown in at times.

On the other hand, where was that team during April and May. We probably won't make finals from here, but when you get a reminder of just how good a team this can be, it becomes especially disappointing.

Hanners fantastic. Heeney great (especially his first quarter). Hewett possibly the best game I've seen him play (and I've seen them all). Hayward a few glimpses of brilliance - look forward to what's to come.

Oh, and the rest were all pretty good too.

[goswannies]

I'm (obviously) not old enough to have seen the great Laurie Nash play in the 1930s, but reading Nash's biography (funnily enough, titled The Great Laurie Nash), Sam Reid, at his very best, might play a similar role. Nash was a great forward with a greater forward (Pratt) dominating the forward line. Sam is a solid-ish forward (great contested mark when on song) with a great forward team-mate (Buddy). Laurie was regularly swung to CHB to shore up defence - Horse has done this with Sam regularly.
Sam is still developing that swing-man role (perhaps LRT could give him some tips?)

[Scottee]

I thought some of Naismith's work was sublime tonight, not just his taps to advantage but his body use to make opportunities was great.


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[707]

AND THAT IS WHY

I'm frustrated by the Hawthorn performance

Losing Jake Lloyd cost us the Hawks game

Sam Reid is getting $800k offers from Melbourne clubs

Hayward was an inspired selection in last years draft

Naismith was an automatic selection when fit again (bye bye Tippett)

Our dreadful injury plagued pre season and early games have cost us

BUT, we can regroup and still make finals, albeit at the expense of high draft picks

Proud of tonight's effort and the planning by the coaching staff, we are still alive!!

[Odysseus]

Hewett possibly the best game I've seen him play (and I've seen them all).

Liz and others have commented on Hewett's game. Watching the reaction of the boys after the game, I reckon it was pretty obvious they rated his game highly, as a number of them went up to him and gave him what appeared to be particular acknowledgement of his own efforts in nullifying Johannisen, beyond just mutual congratulation and sharing the joy of the win. Hope this game will be an important one for his development.

Haven't seen Jake Lloyd criticised here for maybe a fortnight, but the last two games have shown both negatively and positively that in his unflashy way he's a really important player for us.

Of course, there are a lot of others who deserve credit. As a team, it was great to see the four-quarter game they put together tonight.

[stevoswan]

Is Jack injured again?

According to Longmire he dislocated a couple of fingers late in the game.....will be fine.

[wolftone57]

Dont care about the result. We are playing a new style and i believe that this style wil win more games and premierships.

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i agree with this. where was this style in the first half of the season.

[707]

According to Longmire he dislocated a couple of fingers late in the game.....will be fine.

He's from NRL stock, dislocated fingers - no problem, play on!

[Mug Punter]

Great win tonight with all 22 contributing in some manner.

Hewett is developing well, Papley was missed big time and having Heeney and Rampe back shows what we were lacking back in rounds 1-6. Naismith also made a huge difference and I don't care if Tippett kicks 15 goals in Saturday, I hope he stays in the twos. I'm not one to bag McVeigh but I'd like to see him play at least a couple of games ion the NEAFL to prove his body can still hold up. Rohan is the only one I'd contemplate bringing back in.

I doubt we'll make the finals but if we display the effort of the last five rounds (and I include the Hawthorn game despite the demoralising result) then that will do me.

Should do our more feeble minded supporters the world of good emotionally too, until the next loss of course :)

[Levii3]

Glad we won today hope we miss the finals though so we can get a top 10 pick and a FULL preseason. Going deep into finals every year takes its toll the boys need a extended break.

Also Papley wasn't too bad in the midfield when he went in there.

[Levii3]

Only 20k in for the game. Thursday night just an odd day to have a game on

[Beerman]

Great games from all our players tonight. I agree that Naismith & Heeney were good and I thought Sinclair was good in the first half too.

I notice when we play well that one player will contest the mark and the others will stay down and crumb. Happened against the Saints and again tonight. When we lose, everyone goes up.

I hate to say it, but are we a better team without Rohan? I like Marsh, and Ronan is starting to fill me with dread and disappointment. (Maybe it's his lack of tank). One thing is clear, if Ronan plays, then he has to play forward and apply lots of defensive pressure.

[wolftone57]

We have pretty much our full team back. Rampe is still building and Heeney said on TV he still isn't quite there. What I would like to see is us win the rest of our games, Joey lets Isaac be best on each week, Isaac wins the Brownlow and 5000 large drops into my account.

Just on footy terminology; I have noticed some RWOers call it "pinned" when a players gets a holding the ball decision against him. The correct term is "pinged" holding the ball. This term has been one of the long standing terms in the history of the game.

- - - Updated - - -



We got a lot of frees in the last quarter. I wonder what the whingers are saying on Big Footy. I did notice that the Dogs players duck their heads into tackles quite a bit.

Our gun defence is back in town. They were bloody terrific. Solid as rock and backed each other up big time. Marsh survives RWO once again. Thought he was pretty good.

We got a lot of frees in the last because the umpies knew Doggies were shot. If it was tight it may have been different. But they were there and the Doggie were under huge pressure and were stuffing up constantly. Simple, if you play the ball, keep pressure on the plaayer with the ball when you don't have it and always have numbers at the ball the frees and the win will be yours.

[Markwebbos]

Hewett is developing well, Papley was missed big time and having Heeney and Rampe back shows what we were lacking back in rounds 1-6. Naismith also made a huge difference and I don't care if Tippett kicks 15 goals in Saturday, I hope he stays in the twos. I'm not one to bag McVeigh but I'd like to see him play at least a couple of games ion the NEAFL to prove his body can still hold up. Rohan is the only one I'd contemplate bringing back in.

I can't see a spot for McVeigh in the team, now Newman is settled, nor Tippett for the foreseeable future.

If Rohan returns for Marsh, could continue to be a long wait for AA too.

[wolftone57]

Liz and others have commented on Hewett's game. Watching the reaction of the boys after the game, I reckon it was pretty obvious they rated his game highly, as a number of them went up to him and gave him what appeared to be particular acknowledgement of his own efforts in nullifying Johannisen, beyond just mutual congratulation and sharing the joy of the win. Hope this game will be an important one for his development.

Haven't seen Jake Lloyd criticised here for maybe a fortnight, but the last two games have shown both negatively and positively that in his unflashy way he's a really important player for us.

Of course, there are a lot of others who deserve credit. As a team, it was great to see the four-quarter game they put together tonight.

Josh Kennedy made a bee line for Hewee after the game and put his arm around him and ruffled his head, obviously saying 'Great game kid'. He killed Johanison tonight. He took him out. How did he do that? A player who is by far too slow to keep up with him? He didn't allow him space and niggled him all night.

[Mug Punter]

I was so wrong about Newman, he looks totally at home at AFL level and I just love his delivery by foot.

The second half of the season provides some great opportunities across our squad and I'm really looking forward to seeing who takes them.

As for those (myself included) who debate whether we let Sammy go for pick 6,7 or whatever it is, not on tonight's performance we don't. Though I do think getting our NEAFL Ruckman off our list (as well as some of his salary) may be required to keep him...

[Danzar]

Great games from all our players tonight. I agree that Naismith & Heeney were good and I thought Sinclair was good in the first half too.

I notice when we play well that one player will contest the mark and the others will stay down and crumb. Happened against the Saints and again tonight. When we lose, everyone goes up.

I hate to say it, but are we a better team without Rohan? I like Marsh, and Ronan is starting to fill me with dread and disappointment. (Maybe it's his lack of tank). One thing is clear, if Ronan plays, then he has to play forward and apply lots of defensive pressure.

Beerman, completely agree with everything but Gazza. We are not a better team without Gazza. If we had Gazza playing tonight, fully fit, we'd have smashed the doggies by much more than 46 points. Doggies are faster than us and they exposed that fact in the first quarter and for parts of the second. I kept looking at the wing and seeing gaps that Gazza would have punched through easily.

On 'Ronan' :) :) he might have a word or two about his game: Ronan's kick with Buddy - sydneyswans.com.au (http://www.sydneyswans.com.au/video/2015-09-02/ronans-kick-with-buddy)

Great game, the doggies chucked themselves at the contested ball and we found a way out every time.

[bloodspirit]

Great to get another win and a good performance. At half time I was frustrated by the poor conversion and worried that the Dogs might come back even though we had totally dominated to that point. Got better from there as we kicked more goals.

One of the highlights was the even contribution across the 22 - nobody got under 50 Fantasy points which is unusual.

Sadly for Ludwig our rucks were great - although they were playing a team that was going with the rucks don't matter that much philosophy so it wasn't stiff opposition. Still wasn't any vindication for that approach.

I was really interested in WauchopeAnalyst's point about a new game style. I hope you will elaborate more. I thought one difference was that we kept control of the ball a bit more (although sometimes I was wanting us to play a bit more directly). Then I wondered what wolftone would think and he was happy too. Any chance you'll give Horse any credit?

One player that particularly caught my attention tonight was Sammy Reid. He just pulled down mark after contested mark. 7, count 'em, 7, contested marks, most of them inside 50 (too bad they didn't result in a bunch of goals though). I think he is underrated by posters on RWO. Easy to say after he had a good night like tonight (or like when he kicked 6 earlier in the season) but I think he has been really valuable for us most weeks, even when he hasn't played as well. It's so valuable when we can send him back or forward or even chuck him in the ruck (like ugg). He's a super mark when he's on song; he's a neat kick; and he applies good defensive pressure and has a good tank. We are really lucky to have him. Given we don't have a lot of KPF depth I hope we hang on to him and think we will.

I hope to hear more from WA and wolftone and the mysteriously subdued Ludwig.

Bring on the Tigers. We are certainly capable of beating them and I will always back us but I'm not overly confident. Our record against them in recent years hasn't been great - but was wonderful to DESTROY them last time we played!!! Let's do it again.

[longmile]

Swans to win comfortably and umpires to stay out of it

told ya


feels so good x

[Odysseus]

I hate to say it, but are we a better team without Rohan? I like Marsh, and Ronan is starting to fill me with dread and disappointment. (Maybe it's his lack of tank). One thing is clear, if Ronan plays, then he has to play forward and apply lots of defensive pressure.

+1
Is there an RWOer who doesn't love Gazza? All the same, I wasn't disappointed he was ill and couldn't play. I'd actually been hoping both he and Tippett would be dropped for this game, so I was watching keenly to see how we'd go without him. There's no doubting his manic courage, and I know Longmire says he doesn't have to get a high possession count to influence a game, but sadly I don't think he's developed as we could have expected. He's looked a bit lost from what I've seen this season (his Carlton game was excruciating, right until he knocked himself out cold), and I just can't get out my head the image of him trying to dummy Easton Wood on the wing in the GF. Like Tippett, I think he should be worked hard to get his place in the best 22.

[Mug Punter]

I was really interested in WauchopeAnalyst's point about a new game style. I hope you will elaborate more. I thought one difference was that we kept control of the ball a bit more (although sometimes I was wanting us to play a bit more directly). Then I wondered what wolftone would think and he was happy too. Any chance you'll give Horse any credit?


Ha ha, yes I'm interested in WA's analysis of our new game style too:)

I clearly don't have his insight into the game but to me we were just harder at the footy and slicker with our skills and we made less mistakes than our last game.

I get as emotional as anyone at the game but I like to remember what some of the coaches say, that your good is never as good as it seems and your bad is never as bad (unless you are Brisbane). I think at times as fans we forget the fine margins that these games are decided upon, it's part of why we get so incensed with umpiring decisions. Against the Hawks we were a bit off, and tonight we were well on. The general EFFORT was similar but we just executed so much better tonight.

[rojo]

The best game of the year for me so far, especially sweet as it was v the Dogs. Also the best I have seen Hewett play, he finally gets a tick from me for inclusion in the best 22.
Paps is a real gem! At last we have a player who has niggle, bump, dig, annoy etc in his DNA! He has the ability to lift the team with his style of play even when he makes a mistake or two, or three. Totally unperturbed when he cops a bit back. As we build a team for the future, my one concern is the absence of AA. As others have said it is now hard to find a spot for him. As Melican and Newman are used to playing along side him already he has got to be somewhere in the back line. He looked to have the makings of a really special one of a kind player.

[ugg]

I don't think our skill levels were particularly great tonight - a lot of fumbles and slips but we can attribute that to the conditions. 28 scoring shots generated from 71 inside 50s is below par

What was really impressive though was the pressure, particularly in the forward half of the ground. It was hard, tough and unrelenting and forced the Bulldogs into rushed kicks and handballs and eventually into turnovers. 24 tackles inside 50 (out of 63 tackles) really illustrates this point.

[Hotpotato]

They were interesting stats outlined in the pre-game by John Ralph....
That Sydney had very low expectations this year, given they played in the Granny, could only get 20 fitness sessions into the boys compared to 28 by clubs not in the finals and with all the injuries, only 2 players completed the twenty , Zak and someone else, maybe Lloyd and hence their form and the poor form of many of the others.
So it's taken this long to get most of them up and about.

[KTigers]

Best game we've played since last year. This is what we are capable of when 22 guys are switched on. What I liked
was our pressure and frantic attack on the footy for all four quarters, even when it was clear we were going to win.
Hewett winning the ball in front of the player race against four Bulldogs opponents was the benchmark.

[Beerman]

your good is never as good as it seems and your bad is never as bad (unless you are Brisbane).

I laughed. Reminds me of a comment in about round 9, that Richmonds ladder position flattered them greatly given their performances, and so did Brisbane's!

Last night's game just makes the Hawthorn game more frustrating. If we had played like that two weeks ago we would have smashed them and would have a decent chance at finals. Let's hope we can bring it again against Richmond next week and especially against Hawthorn later in the year.

[Nico]

That was as good as centre clearance work gets. Finally, all out players did was go straight for the footy. They have clearly changed things up there. Noticed also that at a ball up in our forward line our players got centre side of the contest and many times we got a clean run to goal. If the tap went goal side we just swarmed all over them. Maybe we always do this but it seemed so obvious last night.

[dejavoodoo44]

Josh Kennedy made a bee line for Hewee after the game and put his arm around him and ruffled his head, obviously saying 'Great game kid'. He killed Johanison tonight. He took him out. How did he do that? A player who is by far too slow to keep up with him? He didn't allow him space and niggled him all night.
Yes, maybe the sheepskin rug, that Johannisen wears on his head, makes it easier? Just keep that in your peripheral vision and you're never too far away to influence the contest.

[Beerman]

On 'Ronan' :) :) he might have a word or two about his game: Ronan's kick with Buddy - sydneyswans.com.au (http://www.sydneyswans.com.au/video/2015-09-02/ronans-kick-with-buddy)


:-)

Like I said - doesn't have the tank. Needs some games in an easier comp because I don't think there is a place for him in our best 22 right now. Might still come good though. But enough about Rohan [boom-tish!].

Seriously though, we probably are a better side with Gary playing, but my heart doesn't exactly sink when he's not available.

He does a couple of great things each game. I *love* it when he uses his closing speed to spoil a mark or pressure the ball carrier into an error, but I want to see him do it all game. I want to see him fight for every loose ball and at the very least make sure it stays loose and not in the other teams hands. That's what I saw last night that I want to see more of from Rohan.

It's probably not his role, and he might have different instructions and KPIs from the coach, but I love it when we lock it up so tight in our forward 50 and make the opposition struggle for every score.

[dejavoodoo44]

I don't think our skill levels were particularly great tonight - a lot of fumbles and slips but we can attribute that to the conditions. 28 scoring shots generated from 71 inside 50s is below par

What was really impressive though was the pressure, particularly in the forward half of the ground. It was hard, tough and unrelenting and forced the Bulldogs into rushed kicks and handballs and eventually into turnovers. 24 tackles inside 50 (out of 63 tackles) really illustrates this point.
Also emphasising that, was the 'pressure acts' stats. Papley recorded a game high 33, while Hayward was third on our list with 22. Sometime forward, Parker, had 29.

[BRISWAN]

Marvellous how effective one on one can be.

[707]

Hayward is going to be a gun, and he's a quick gun too.

Papley, Hayward and Rohan as forwards gives a lot of variation and a lot of pressure. Liking the make up of the side as we go forward.

[DA_Swan]

Good to see the real Luke Parker up and about and he will only get better as the season goes on

[WauchopeAnalyst]

[QUOTE=bloodspirit;727359]Great to get another win and a good performance. At half time I was frustrated by the poor conversion and worried that the Dogs might come back even though we had totally dominated to that point. Got better from there as we kicked more goals.

I was really interested in WauchopeAnalyst's point about a new game style. I hope you will elaborate more. Then I wondered what wolftone would think and he was happy too.

I hope to hear more from WA and wolftone and the mysteriously subdued Ludwig.


Dot points. 2nd game, this year, with similar style this year

Individual defending - attack the man with ball but also start closing down his outlets and more hack kicking from them. That creates pressure and turnovers.

Fowards - if you kept forwards as forwards you stretch defences and relieves pressure for backs and mids as you always have a target and most times 1 on 1. Oh and you score more or more scoring chances (behinds)

Skill - i have heard for 5 years we have no skill. Rubbish. Was a slippery ground, wet ball, yet, apart from kicking at goal, we hit targets, we marked, we handpassed to the body, not near them.

Structure - a few right inside at the contest but at times holding men out and allowing easier HP to players with more space, ergo, more time and less pressure.

Movement - the easiest way to defence is north - south attack, our old style of us.

Changing angles, 45 degree kicking and HP and good spacing is a nightmare. Guess what, Hello Dean Towers, a beautiful 45 degree, 35-40m kick to Hewett and opened up the dogs. Another similar one, cant remember who, hit Newman with a great kick and bang 50m to Buddy.

Also far less HP to players standing still. You win more of the ball moving in and outside at contests and harder to defend as most players are waiting to see who is going to win the ball. (Different rules for defenders)

Hewett - early last year i said that Hewett is our most complete player (not best just complete) and have been howled down. Still
improving but having someone who can kick and HP on both sides, real footy smarts, nearly best kick for goal inside 35m, and tough. Goodbye Johannsien, hello Bachar Houli. (Example: Newman might best kick but one sided and i saw him HP from the wrong side also. No right hand HP or kick)

Giraffes - beautiful animals but have to bring more to the table. Dogs have no rucks so no comment about HO. Naismith did more pressure acts and tackles in one game then Tippet does in half a season. Sinkers is having a go and brings effort, he has a lot to go but is adding to the team. (Longmire apoplectic about Sinkers kick for goal but their were plenty of others.)

Defence - Grundy is our key defender. Period. Smooch back to his level with his body check (chest) at marking contests. Melican being solid. Rampe still building up. Mills brave as all get out, but a bit like Newman, not natural defenders. Holding free and another for a push were not needed.

Papley - workrate was elite. Great in F50 and winning the ball in mids but decision making has a lot of work and needs to be able to evaluate options much quicker.

Reid - dominates the dogs defence both times this year. Can
mark, kicking fluctuations, but we need him. We have no other forward target and will mark in defence.

JPK, Hanners, Parker, Buddy, tick, tick, tick, tick.

The post is long but plenty more to come in the future.

If I was in the coaching box I would be very happy in the execution of this game style, but in the future i feel that we will go back to 10 players within 10m of the ball and hacking it forward with Buddy 1 on 3 and 10 defenders leaking goals in a soft zone.

Longmire should have been content during the game but looked sour for most of the game. Players make mistakes but move on.????


PS: Hayward - the perfect mid forward. Smart and fast and 100% effort. 2019 will his year and plenty more good years

Just allow Jones and Lloyd to do their things and our team will be better.



Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

[barry]

Sinclair had a shocker. Even the marks he took he fumbled. How can someone be so bad at marking ?

Towers had a game for the ages. A lot of our first half goals were caused by decisive, incisive play by towers a possession or two prior.

[barry]

First game in 2017 where I thought to myself we kept the right ruckman. Cracker by Nainsmith.

[barry]

Only 20,000 turned up. Thats like a giants crowd !

[neilfws]

Paps is a real gem! At last we have a player who has niggle, bump, dig, annoy etc in his DNA! He has the ability to lift the team with his style of play even when he makes a mistake or two, or three. Totally unperturbed when he cops a bit back.

Every time I see him on the big screen he's mouthing off at someone. It's hilarious. He was clearly telling Hodge that he was over the hill during the Hawks game.

And he kicks timely goals too.

[Beerman]

Ronan is starting to fill me with dread and disappointment. (Maybe it's his lack of tank). One thing is clear, if Ronan plays, then he has to play forward and apply lots of defensive pressure.

Obligatory xkcd reference:

xkcd: Lunch Order (https://xkcd.com/1834/)

[mattybloods]

I loved the effort last night, if there was a let down it was a few skill errors but even then heads never dropped and we had great 2nd and 3rd efforts. I love watching Naismith's ruckwork, so many times tapping to our players or open space to run into really is the best at his craft on our list. Tippett can stay in the NEAFL for a while, if we want him playing key forward in the seniors he needs to be in that position in the NEAFL not rucking.

All around a fantastic game to watch. Missing the 8 this year is no big deal, we can get games and form into our young players and build to next year.

The only 2 I wouldn't mind coming in for next game are Rohan (if fit) and Aliir (hopefully has a good game on the weekend) but who do you drop? Better to reward a great team performance by going unchanged into next game

[Hotpotato]

Marvellous how effective one on one can be.

In the first 5 mins , you could see there was a decree to go one on one , and I thunk, yep we will win this game.

[Plugger1300]

Really happy with Naismith game.
Many times i saw (on tv) a big tackle or someone on the ground feeding the ball out and realised it was Sam.
Incredible effort from the big man
Now to do it consistently

[Nico]

Noticed that with 4 umpires that they often found themselves in the middle of the play. Players had to dodge them more often than usual. Seriously, how many umpires do we need. Can anyone tell me why we now have 4 field umpires?

[waswan]

Great game, big effort, the only blight was the goal kicking, that stuff usually comes back to bite us

[MattW]

Hayward is going to be a gun, and he's a quick gun too.

Papley, Hayward and Rohan as forwards gives a lot of variation and a lot of pressure. Liking the make up of the side as we go forward.

How good was that pack mark in the last (?) quarter? He was the slightest dude out there (English aside, perhaps). Chased and presented all night.

[gazza]

very impressed with BOTH ruckmen against bullies

[bloodspirit]

There doesn't appear to be a lot of consensus here.

Some people say we changed the game plan and it was better. Others say that the game plan was the same but we executed better and were harder/had better intensity. If the former is true, it shows the coaches can be flexible. If the latter is true it suggests that the coaches are not necessarily to blame for our worse performances and that our game plan is good enough. Either way I think this performance reflected well on our coaching staff.

Some people say we played skilfully, others not so much. Either way, we definitely played better. Personally I can't pinpoint the difference and would love to see a replay. I thought we tried hard against the Hawks. However in this game we were more effective and I'm not sure why that was. I kept thinking during the game (and afterwards) that the Bulldogs were insipid and I would have been very disappointed in them if I was a Dogs' fan. Barely any of them stood out. But I think we, and our pressure, had a lot to do with that. When we're good, we're good. Now let us be good next week.

I disagree with barry, Sinclair had a good game. And I witnessed the effort he was putting in which was really pleasing. What's more, Sinkers has been good for a few weeks now. What was more surprising was how good Naismith was. I didn't expect him to play so strongly first game back but he was great. Made me feel we have kept the right ruck because he is a good pure ruckman with his great height. Now Sinclair, Tippo and Cameron are all fighting for that 2nd ruck/forward spot, so long as Naismith stays healthy and in form. I am happy to be playing two rucks provided they are both offering more than just hit outs. Naismith shows great potential to be a good main ruck. And a strong ruck-forward is something every team can benefit from. However this is why, longer term I am not too sure about Sinclair because I think both Tippett and Cameron have the potential to be better forwards when they play well. However Tippett is getting older and has seriously become expendable given his price tag.

I didn't have an overall sense of Towers' game and would love to review it. I noticed him do a couple of nice things but didn't take in his entire performance - so I'm glad others have pointed it out.

[CureTheSane]

I'm a Towers fan, but thought his game was average.

[Dosser]

First game in 2017 where I thought to myself we kept the right ruckman. Cracker by Nainsmith.

I loved Naismith's game last night, but I was continually frustrated by all of the dropped marks. At one stage I was calling him "Nearly" as his ruck partner is known as "Almost". OK, the conditions may not have suited, but if he can start clunking some of those then we have a real winner.

[AnnieH]

Wow.
Totally wasn't expecting that.
Who kidnapped the bad swans team and replaced them with the good one?
Will the real swans please stand up.
There were a few mistakes, but I won't bitch about them... we won, no point.

[GAP2065]

As was going straight from work, then before left home on Thursday morning with pouring rain, cold, windy, etc I thought twice about taking my membership card and cold/wet weather gear. Anyhow took everything and went to game. On the rare post game kick to kicks the SCG surface can get slippery with dew so suspect last night was very, very greasy. Accordingy, maybe the slippages and missed goals can to some extent be put down to conditions.

Per some previous comments I totally support some basics used by the Swans last night like intensity, one up and one down, man on man, and just kick the ball. A lot better than the 20metres we gave to all opposition players in the Collingwood and Hawthorn games.

[Ludwig]

Naismith showed that he's the best at the ruck craft, but the opposition was very weak, and we need to take that into consideration. Both Naismith and Sinclair dropped lots of balls that should have been marked. What we may have learned is that if Naismith is fit, he should do the bulk of the ruck work and whoever else comes in to relieve him needs to play primarily another role in the side.

I thought Sinclair was fine in the ruck and his effort can't be faulted, but I can't see where he's added much of anything to the side. He's not taking contested marks or kicking goals. Even if we think he's okay, we have to take into account that he's keeping another player out of side. Would the team be better served with someone else, like Florent, Aliir or Rohan? Robinson and Cunningham should also be back in a few weeks.

I think Tippett, when in form, and perhaps Cameron, could be options for the ruck forward role, because they both are primarily forwards who can take marks and kick goals. It still may not be the best option and has to be weighed up against the alternatives.

[bloodspirit]

Sinclair was powerful at and around the contest and applied good pressure including some good chase down tackles (which is great to see from a big bloke). So I would say he was valuable apart from his rucking. Arguably as valuable as another player might have been. He has the advantage of having a big, strong body to throw around and he was prepared to put in the effort and do that. I don't think he has to take lots of marks - that doesn't seem to be a great strength of his. Bringing the ball to ground and preventing the opposition from taking possession and giving our smalls a chance to get a hold of it is also important. That said, I agree, once we can start relying on Naismith to do the bulk of the rucking we need a 2nd ruck who does offer something different like goals and marks. At this stage I don't have confidence that Naismith can ruck a whole game. Naismith and Sinclair seemed to split it pretty evenly last night.

Incidentally, Ludwig, Beveridge made some interesting comments about the value of rucks in his post-match interviews. He made the point that they took Roughead away from the ruck contests and sent him down back to replace Adams because they weren't winning the hitouts anyway and thought that sending another mid would be more valuable. However he said it didn't work. He also said that when a midfield is well organised and playing with intensity, having a good ruck that can give the mids first use really is valuable. Since Bevo is one of the main poster boys for "no ruck theory" I think you would find those comments very pertinent.

[liz]

There doesn't appear to be a lot of consensus here.

Some people say we changed the game plan and it was better. Others say that the game plan was the same but we executed better and were harder/had better intensity. If the former is true, it shows the coaches can be flexible. If the latter is true it suggests that the coaches are not necessarily to blame for our worse performances and that our game plan is good enough. Either way I think this performance reflected well on our coaching staff.

I think it was a little from column A and a little from column B. But I also think that our preferred game style - based on keeping the ball in dispute for long periods of the game - works far better against the three teams we've looked impressive against (North, St Kilda, Bulldogs) because those teams like to run and carry the ball and use quite a lot of handball. That means that the ball is winnable via pressure far more than a team that likes to move the ball via short kicks, as Hawthorn has been doing for years, and how Carlton and Collingwood were able to sustain for decent periods of their games against us.

Defeating the Hawthorn style is hard, simply because it limits the amount of time the ball is in dispute. However, it's also a very hard style to execute for a whole game because you need an entire team with good kicking skills. That's what the Hawks had over their period of premierships and, while their team-wide kicking skills aren't quite that that level, they did execute well against us a couple of weeks ago. Sure, the Swans' pressure could have been better, but the Hawks still did their thing quite well. Despite that, the Swans were able to change the tempo of the game to one that suited their preferred style as that game progressed, but just didn't have the legs to hang on at the end.


Some people say we played skilfully, others not so much.

In an absolute sense, there were a fair number of handling errors but, given the conditions, I thought the skill level was reasonable enough. Hanners, in particular, execute some handballs that were really creative, and opened up play for team mates. Indeed, I had him as my BOG watching the game live and even after watching a replay, I'm not sure I've changed my mind. Though I've noticed a lot more of the great stuff Kennedy did, on replay, and was reminded on how much of an influence Heeney had throughout the game.)


I didn't have an overall sense of Towers' game and would love to review it. I noticed him do a couple of nice things but didn't take in his entire performance - so I'm glad others have pointed it out.

Watching live, I thought Towers was just OK. A contributor but not much more. On replay I've seen a few really lovely things he did in traffic. He seems to be more comfortable in contested situations than earlier in the year. He's never going to be one of our top dozen or so players, when the stars are playing well, he's a good foot soldier to have. When he was dropped after round 1 his first couple of NEAFL games looked like those of a man completely bereft of confidence so I'm really happy to see him contributing positively to the team.

[Ludwig]

Incidentally, Ludwig, Beveridge made some interesting comments about the value of rucks in his post-match interviews. He made the point that they took Roughead away from the ruck contests and sent him down back to replace Adams because they weren't winning the hitouts anyway and thought that sending another mid would be more valuable. However he said it didn't work. He also said that when a midfield is well organised and playing with intensity, having a good ruck that can give the mids first use really is valuable. Since Bevo is one of the main poster boys for "no ruck theory" I think you would find those comments very pertinent.I thought Bevo's comments were interesting. A lot of 'pundits' thought it was strange that Bevo played Tim English and many expected that Honeychurch would replace him in the final team (and I did as well). The Dogs were also without Liberatore, which made for a complete stoppage dominance from us. When English took over the rucking in the 2nd half, the disparity really blew out. You could imagine what I would have said on a Bulldogs forum about Bevo's selection of Tim English.

The Dogs played poorly and were unlucky in a sense that they have a number of important players injured or out of form. I'm happy to celebrate a well-played victory, but we still have a lot of work to do to make finals from the position we find ourselves. We need to find a few more advantages that can take us to another 8 victories in 11 games. Our list is in pretty good shape now, but we still can make a few improvements.

On another observation, some of the things that Newman did while playing through the midfield were impressive. His laser kicking was incredibly damaging. I'm starting to see our best back line as Reg, Melican, Aliir, Rampe, Smith and Lloyd, with Newman, Jones and Mills playing primarily through the midfield and rolling back in defence. Aliir can also be an option on the wing.

[Swanny40519]

Great team effort last night and great coaching by Horse and his team. I criticised Horse last week after the Hawks loss as it seemed his tactics were set in concrete, but last night we played closer to the opposition and shut them down when they did get the ball. Plus we put more pressure on the opposition than what I have seen all year.

Lloyd and Newman are playing great footy - all I would like to see is Lloyd take more care with his kicking - he kicks into the man on the mark more times than any other player - but that aside a great game last night.

Hopefully we can take the same game style and pressure to the Tigers next week and climb up the ladder with a great win.

[bloodspirit]

I think it was a little from column A and a little from column B. But I also think that our preferred game style - based on keeping the ball in dispute for long periods of the game - works far better against the three teams we've looked impressive against (North, St Kilda, Bulldogs) because those teams like to run and carry the ball and use quite a lot of handball. That means that the ball is winnable via pressure far more than a team that likes to move the ball via short kicks, as Hawthorn has been doing for years, and how Carlton and Collingwood were able to sustain for decent periods of their games against us.

Defeating the Hawthorn style is hard, simply because it limits the amount of time the ball is in dispute. However, it's also a very hard style to execute for a whole game because you need an entire team with good kicking skills. That's what the Hawks had over their period of premierships and, while their team-wide kicking skills aren't quite that that level, they did execute well against us a couple of weeks ago. Sure, the Swans' pressure could have been better, but the Hawks still did their thing quite well. Despite that, the Swans were able to change the tempo of the game to one that suited their preferred style as that game progressed, but just didn't have the legs to hang on at the end.



In an absolute sense, there were a fair number of handling errors but, given the conditions, I thought the skill level was reasonable enough. Hanners, in particular, execute some handballs that were really creative, and opened up play for team mates. Indeed, I had him as my BOG watching the game live and even after watching a replay, I'm not sure I've changed my mind. Though I've noticed a lot more of the great stuff Kennedy did, on replay, and was reminded on how much of an influence Heeney had throughout the game.)



Watching live, I thought Towers was just OK. A contributor but not much more. On replay I've seen a few really lovely things he did in traffic. He seems to be more comfortable in contested situations than earlier in the year. He's never going to be one of our top dozen or so players, when the stars are playing well, he's a good foot soldier to have. When he was dropped after round 1 his first couple of NEAFL games looked like those of a man completely bereft of confidence so I'm really happy to see him contributing positively to the team.

liz, I think I have made it clear already that I am an unabashed fan of your posts and the sense they make (and love the fact that they have recently been feistier than I had noticed before too). But this post goes further and is actually illuminating (for me). It also raises questions. How did we change the tempo of the game to get it on our terms against the Hawks? Why, if the Hawks' style is so effective, don't more teams try to emulate it (despite its difficulty)? What do you see as our path to victory against that gamestyle? Do you think our current gamestyle is up to it? Also how about v Richmond? They are quite good at using short passes. Do you think they will be a sterner test for us than the Bulldogs?

Thanks for sharing your insights. I realise you're not an oracle but I find them valuable.

[bloodspirit]

Lloyd and Newman are playing great footy - all I would like to see is Lloyd take more care with his kicking - he kicks into the man on the mark more times than any other player - but that aside a great game last night.

The team had a generally excellent disposal efficiency, especially considering the conditions last night, but even still Lloyd was top 10 and went at better than 80% (as he should, given his outside role and his typically unambitious kicks).

[Beerman]

Watching live, I thought Towers was just OK. A contributor but not much more. On replay I've seen a few really lovely things he did in traffic. He seems to be more comfortable in contested situations than earlier in the year. He's never going to be one of our top dozen or so players, when the stars are playing well, he's a good foot soldier to have. When he was dropped after round 1 his first couple of NEAFL games looked like those of a man completely bereft of confidence so I'm really happy to see him contributing positively to the team.

I wonder if Towers is overthinking things. Only saw the game on tele, but it seems his best play is in contested situations, or in fluid play where the right option is immediate. When he gets the ball in space with time, he seems to make more errors.

Also, Heeney has not been much talked about on this forum, but he was fantastic last night, and has been all year. Joey, Hanners et co are great, but I think Heeney adds a level of class we haven't had for a while. I would expect him to be up there in the best & fairest count.

[Ludwig]

I think it was a little from column A and a little from column B. When you start a post with a Chinese Proverb, everything that follows seems to make sense. :p

[bloodspirit]

Also, Heeney has not been much talked about on this forum, but he was fantastic last night, and has been all year. Joey, Hanners et co are great, but I think Heeney adds a level of class we haven't had for a while. I would expect him to be up there in the best & fairest count.

Agreed.

Lloyd also was huge last night and has been all year and will be up there in the B&F count, although he doesn't have Heeney's class.

[WauchopeAnalyst]

A few more comments and the different from GF winners and losers:

Man up on the mark and be manic about it. The Wood goal came partially from Newman just wandering of the mark with Rampe covering another bulldog going past. The Bont get 0% and weighted the kick to Wood.

If Newman had to gone to the mark and gone to his right the Bont might have had to go back or a harder kick to Wood and Reg might have go to Wood. HOLD THE MARK.

Longmire and I both agree on this one. Hahaha. Out on the wing defending and both Rampe and Reid go up to mark but Stringer stayed down. Both missed the mark and allowed the ball over the back. Stringer picks it up and lace out to Dickson for the mark and later the goal. You HAVE to win or neutralise the contest and a big fail.

ALL players you have the look at both the forward and goal posts whilst either on or in F50s. If you look at the goal the defender rolls off his man and runs to goal as goal keeping. Also a good forward would turn back to player and lead and the defender must make a decision. If you only look at one option you may missed both chances. Jones x 2, Papley x1 and some others all want to goal.

Sinkers, Naismith, Marsh and Melican need to work on the marks. Strong, soft hands.

PS: Longmire smirked quickly before back to stone after Reid missed a soda.

If we keep going this way we will be a better allround team who can defend and attack with more balance and more options.

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

[Danzar]

Every time I see him on the big screen he's mouthing off at someone. It's hilarious. He was clearly telling Hodge that he was over the hill during the Hawks game.

And he kicks timely goals too.

And most of those goals, at least in his first year, are off the deck. He seems to have a talent for it.


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[Danzar]

Obligatory xkcd reference:

xkcd: Lunch Order (https://xkcd.com/1834/)

Hah hah!


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[Nico]

The Bullies had 9 players out from their GF side. It is a year of swings and roundabouts. First time we played them injury fortunes were reversed. We finally got close to our best side on the ground and played accordingly.

After watching the game and reading almost every post mortem I think Longmire should be sacked and Grundy retired.

[S.S. Bleeder]

+1
Is there an RWOer who doesn't love Gazza? All the same, I wasn't disappointed he was ill and couldn't play. I'd actually been hoping both he and Tippett would be dropped for this game, so I was watching keenly to see how we'd go without him. There's no doubting his manic courage, and I know Longmire says he doesn't have to get a high possession count to influence a game, but sadly I don't think he's developed as we could have expected. He's looked a bit lost from what I've seen this season (his Carlton game was excruciating, right until he knocked himself out cold), and I just can't get out my head the image of him trying to dummy Easton Wood on the wing in the GF. Like Tippett, I think he should be worked hard to get his place in the best 22.

Unfortunately Gazza hasn't been the same since his broken leg. That was terrible timing. He was really starting to hit his straps when that happened. I have no inside knowledge on how it is effecting him at present but I suspect that his pace, and maybe confidence, has dropped off as a result.

[Velour&Ruffles]

I'm a Towers fan, but thought his game was average.

Couldn't disagree more. Not sure what you were watching if you thought this.

Also don't understand the criticism of Naismith, Melican and a few others for dropping marks. It was a wet and greasy night. Most players are going to fluff 'em on a night like that. All it really proved was what an amazing mark Sam Reid is .... but we already knew that.

[Bloody Hell]

Sinclair was powerful at and around the contest and applied good pressure including some good chase down tackles (which is great to see from a big bloke). So I would say he was valuable apart from his rucking. Arguably as valuable as another player might have been. He has the advantage of having a big, strong body to throw around and he was prepared to put in the effort and do that. I don't think he has to take lots of marks - that doesn't seem to be a great strength of his. Bringing the ball to ground and preventing the opposition from taking possession and giving our smalls a chance to get a hold of it is also important. That said, I agree, once we can start relying on Naismith to do the bulk of the rucking we need a 2nd ruck who does offer something different like goals and marks. At this stage I don't have confidence that Naismith can ruck a whole game. Naismith and Sinclair seemed to split it pretty evenly last night.

Incidentally, Ludwig, Beveridge made some interesting comments about the value of rucks in his post-match interviews. He made the point that they took Roughead away from the ruck contests and sent him down back to replace Adams because they weren't winning the hitouts anyway and thought that sending another mid would be more valuable. However he said it didn't work. He also said that when a midfield is well organised and playing with intensity, having a good ruck that can give the mids first use really is valuable. Since Bevo is one of the main poster boys for "no ruck theory" I think you would find those comments very pertinent.
Sinclair has an issue with marking the ball. Despite his efforts, this failing was still evident.

[Markwebbos]

I wonder if Towers is overthinking things. Only saw the game on tele, but it seems his best play is in contested situations, or in fluid play where the right option is immediate. When he gets the ball in space with time, he seems to make more errors.

Towers definitely plays better when he plays instinctively and doesn't engage his brain. I am a huge fan of Towers_v2.0_contested

[MattW]

Towers definitely plays better when he plays instinctively and doesn't engage his brain. I am a huge fan of Towers_v2.0_contested

Towers v2.0 is using the ball a lot better. He set up at least three scoring shots on Thursday, including an excellent long kicks for goals to Hewett and Reid, and a kick into the corridor from defence which led to a chain of passes which should have resulted in another goal to Reid (I think, he missed). He seems to make a particular impact in the second half of games. He can still struggle a bit when he takes a mark and has to stop to decide what to do, and he also gets pushed off the ball a little bit, but he's working on these too. Good on him, he's becoming a real contributor.

[Markwebbos]

Towers v2.0 is using the ball a lot better. He set up at least three scoring shots on Thursday, including an excellent long kicks for goals to Hewett and Reid, and a kick into the corridor from defence which led to a chain of passes which should have resulted in another goal to Reid (I think, he missed). He seems to make a particular impact in the second half of games. He can still struggle a bit when he takes a mark and has to stop to decide what to do, and he also gets pushed off the ball a little bit, but he's working on these too. Good on him, he's becoming a real contributor.

I agree. I had completely given up on him, and think he might have too earlier in the season.

He has a lot of great assets. I'm overjoyed that the Swans have found a way to harness them and find an effective role for him.

[giant]

Towers v2.0 is using the ball a lot better. He set up at least three scoring shots on Thursday, including an excellent long kicks for goals to Hewett and Reid, and a kick into the corridor from defence which led to a chain of passes which should have resulted in another goal to Reid (I think, he missed). He seems to make a particular impact in the second half of games. He can still struggle a bit when he takes a mark and has to stop to decide what to do, and he also gets pushed off the ball a little bit, but he's working on these too. Good on him, he's becoming a real contributor.

Good call out - what he did well, he did really well, and in ways the rest of the team often seen unable or unwilling to do. There was a little bit of ferocity about his game. Like Naismith, a sense of "this is my football mortality in my own hands". Good luck to him, he can play and seems a lovely chap (we got a "thanks fellas" as he went past the fence slapping hands - who does that?), but just seems like the anti-Stevie J - could smack Johnson in a game of chess I suspect, but would have his head spinning if he ever had to play on him.

[giant]

Hanners, in particular, execute some handballs that were really creative, and opened up play for team mates. Indeed, I had him as my BOG watching the game live and even after watching a replay, I'm not sure I've changed my mind. Though I've noticed a lot more of the great stuff Kennedy did, on replay, and was reminded on how much of an influence Heeney had throughout the game.)


Hanners was my BOG - just set the standard for intensity and urgency all night, two factors that have been sorely missing in our worst performances this year. Noticed he only had 4 tackles but that doesn't take into account the harassing and chasing that so often ends up in a turnover. Still such an important player for us - and it was clearly the best game that the three midfield masters - JPK, Dan and Parker - have played as a group this year. We'll need more of this if we are to win more than we lose for the rest of the year.

[Mug Punter]

Hayward also closes down really well at the back and forced at least one error through this terrier-like efforts.

I think this kid will be a super super player for us. He seems to have a good attitude to boot and once he fills out physique wise he will be able to impact the game more. Provided we are realistic with our expectations of him I'd be resisting the temptation to give him a break unless he really seems to be finding it too much

[Boddo]

Hayward also closes down really well at the back and forced at least one error through this terrier-like efforts.

I think this kid will be a super super player for us. He seems to have a good attitude to boot and once he fills out physique wise he will be able to impact the game more. Provided we are realistic with our expectations of him I'd be resisting the temptation to give him a break unless he really seems to be finding it too much

Before last years draft I was hoping we'd take him with our first pick. Was pretty disappointed when we chose Florent over him. Sat there so angry that they let him slip then was amazed that he lasted to our next pick. So really in the end imo it was a win win. In his junior days I loved his harassment n it's something that is hard to teach as players get older. He seriously reminds me of what people thought Leo Barry would be when he first arrived at the club. That hf with a leap which means he can play tall with a bit of desperation added in.

[KTigers]

Yes, if we play them at Spotless. Mostly GWS home crowds are 10K to 14K. But 14K in Spotless
looks better than 20K at the SCG. 20,000 against the Dogs is a really poor crowd. And the excuses
for it just as lame. It's a Thursday game... really? is there something special going on on
Thursdays I didn't know about. The weather? a simple check of the forecast in the arvo showed
it wasn't going to rain during the game. Poor form? We had won three of our last four games!
Even where we sit on the top deck of the Brewongle half the other reserved seat folks
didn't show. I mean it's under cover up there. Soft!
F-it, what do I care? That was our best game since the prelim last year.


Only 20,000 turned up. Thats like a giants crowd !

[undy]

It's a Thursday game... really? is there something special going on on
Thursdays I didn't know about.

Its the day before Friday which is a school day. Getting home at 11pm-midnight doesn't work real well for my 10 yo & probably a bunch of other young members who have parents who normally come.

Not to mention losing a Thursday game is even worse than losing a Friday game, even longer to wait for redemption.

When they bring in the mooted Monday 2.20pm game next year, I'll probably find a way to be there, but I'll still think its dumb.

[CureTheSane]

Not sure if Sydneysiders are as aware of the AFL policy as Vic based fans.
AFL don't care about people attending games. All about TV.

Probably 5 to 10 years ago I was always banging on about how Sydney vs any otehr interstate team was not broadcast into Vic, yet games played in Vic (the ones I could get in my car and drive to) were either live or delayed on FTA.

Academic for me now as I have Foxtel and get to watch every game.
With only 6 in Vic I tend to only be able to see a couple a year.
For instance for this weeks game I'll be overseas.

So they become an event of sorts when I get to a game.
It does take up around 6 hours of my day to get to the game, see it and get back etc (because we no longer have Waverley Park lol

I like the Thursday night games. If we win, I have a relaxed long weekend :)

[Beerman]

Hayward took a lovely contested overhead mark against the dogs - I don't know that he's shown that before in the AFL, but apparently his marking was noted when he was drafted. I agree that he's going to be a star for us - have loved him since nearly his first game. Where is his rising star nom? Surely must be about due.

Could Towers be our biggest "whipping boy come good" since McVeigh? He's not about to win the Brownlow but I think most people who want him on our list, which is a big improvement from where he was previously.

[Mug Punter]

Before last years draft I was hoping we'd take him with our first pick. Was pretty disappointed when we chose Florent over him. Sat there so angry that they let him slip then was amazed that he lasted to our next pick. So really in the end imo it was a win win. In his junior days I loved his harassment n it's something that is hard to teach as players get older. He seriously reminds me of what people thought Leo Barry would be when he first arrived at the club. That hf with a leap which means he can play tall with a bit of desperation added in.

He's been a steal for sure.

I know your post wasn't meant at all this way but whilst Will appears ahead of Ollie I don't think we need to be worried about him at all, in fact I'd hope we extend his contract asap. From all reports he is a super kid, he's gone OK in his senior appearances and he's knuckling down well in the NEAFL. Another couple of games this year and a solid pre-season in the gym and I think he'll be ready to really push on next year.

As an aside I was very impressed with the way Jarrod Berry played for the Lions last night, he was someone I thought we should go for but as the village idiot once said we can't have everyone

[Dosser]

One of the pleasing things for me about the game was our handball. I see our handball as a barometer for the match in play and if our handballs are continually hitting our players at torso height then we usually win.
If you look at each of our losses this year you will notice that our handballs often have to be picked up on the half volley or miss their mark completely. This is usually due to a mix of good pressure from the opposition and our players just not being switched on.
This game was different as the handballs usually went to the right spot which meant we didn't have to break stride, etc. I will suggest that the player effort in each game was similar but the execution of the handballs dictated the result of the game.

[KTigers]

Its the day before Friday which is a school day. Getting home at 11pm-midnight doesn't work real well for my 10 yo & probably a bunch of other young members who have parents who normally come.

Fair point I guess, as mine are old enough to make themselves useful by getting me a beer
these days, I'd forgotten about the bad old days when I had to leave my seat to buy them a soft drink.
I think people just need to think of us as being 4-and-1 (from the last 5 games) and not 4-and-7 from the
first half of the season to have the positive mindset that will help get them back to the SCG.

[wolftone57]

Its the day before Friday which is a school day. Getting home at 11pm-midnight doesn't work real well for my 10 yo & probably a bunch of other young members who have parents who normally come.


Fair point I guess, as mine are old enough to make themselves useful by getting me a beer
these days, I'd forgotten about the bad old days when I had to leave my seat to buy them a soft drink.
I think people just need to think of us as being 4-and-1 (from the last 5 games) and not 4-and-7 from the
first half of the season to have the positive mindset that will help get them back to the SCG.

Yes people with kids find these games difficult. I find the weather difficult. I have never loved the winter, in fact I loathe it, but would get to any game. But last year I came down with a pretty bad cold after one of our rainy, freezing night games. Last week I had Kennel Cough and decided I wasn't going out in the cold. The trouble with winter is I am prone to chest infections so I probably won't go to wet, cold & windy night games. If the weather is decent I will. There comes a time when health comes first.

[Scottee]

Hanners was my BOG - just set the standard for intensity and urgency all night, two factors that have been sorely missing in our worst performances this year. Noticed he only had 4 tackles but that doesn't take into account the harassing and chasing that so often ends up in a turnover. Still such an important player for us - and it was clearly the best game that the three midfield masters - JPK, Dan and Parker - have played as a group this year. We'll need more of this if we are to win more than we lose for the rest of the year.

It was great to see Hanners looking positive for this game. You could see it from the first bounce. Suddenly he was right! I suppose we wiill never know what helped turn things around; the break, overcoming injury, whatever, but I like it!

[bloodspirit]

Yes people with kids find these games difficult. I find the weather difficult. I have never loved the winter, in fact I loathe it, but would get to any game. But last year I came down with a pretty bad cold after one of our rainy, freezing night games. Last week I had Kennel Cough and decided I wasn't going out in the cold. The trouble with winter is I am prone to chest infections so I probably won't go to wet, cold & windy night games. If the weather is decent I will. There comes a time when health comes first.

That really is a bummer about winter given it coincides with footy season every damn year!

[dimelb]

Yes people with kids find these games difficult. I find the weather difficult. I have never loved the winter, in fact I loathe it, but would get to any game. But last year I came down with a pretty bad cold after one of our rainy, freezing night games. Last week I had Kennel Cough and decided I wasn't going out in the cold. The trouble with winter is I am prone to chest infections so I probably won't go to wet, cold & windy night games. If the weather is decent I will. There comes a time when health comes first.

Wolfy, you'd be better off moving to Melbourne and supporting Bombers, Saints and/or Bulldogs under the closed roof!

And how did the last two messages pick up Wolfy and end up with KTigers?!

[Faunac8]

Hayward took a lovely contested overhead mark against the dogs - I don't know that he's shown that before in the AFL, but apparently his marking was noted when he was drafted. I agree that he's going to be a star for us - have loved him since nearly his first game. Where is his rising star nom? Surely must be about due.

Could Towers be our biggest "whipping boy come good" since McVeigh? He's not about to win the Brownlow but I think most people who want him on our list, which is a big improvement from where he was previously.

Thinking back I am pretty sure that Jake Lloyd has copped a fair whipping from various forum ferals over the years since we drafted him . I seem to remember even last year he was under the microscope by a few RWOers
Fair to say he would be one of the first picked each week this year.

[RogueSwan]

... And how did the last two messages pick up Wolfy and end up with KTigers?!
Quote tags were a little messed up, but fixed now.

[bloodspirit]

Wolfy, you'd be better off moving to Melbourne and supporting Bombers, Saints and/or Bulldogs under the closed roof!


Outrageous! Sacrilege! And completely unnecessary. I know the forecast weather wasn't that great but last Thursday night's match turned out nearly balmy. There were not a few people in the crowd, male and female, wearing singlets! (Not me, I had a cold but I didn't rug up that much either.) Don't be deceived wolftone! An open ground in Sydney is still way better than a miserable Etihad in Melbourne. The last two weekends I've been swimming in the ocean. Last weekend I was in there for an hour at a time without any need for a wetsuit. Yesterday (and today) the weather's sublime. Sublime! :)

To say nothing that you obviously don't want to be supporting the fairypuppies et. al.

[giant]

Hanners was my BOG - just set the standard for intensity and urgency all night, two factors that have been sorely missing in our worst performances this year. Noticed he only had 4 tackles but that doesn't take into account the harassing and chasing that so often ends up in a turnover. Still such an important player for us - and it was clearly the best game that the three midfield masters - JPK, Dan and Parker - have played as a group this year. We'll need more of this if we are to win more than we lose for the rest of the year.

Notice Dan didn't get a vote from the coaches! Ouch!

[bloodspirit]

Not for the first time, KB made an arse of himself here: KB's Take | Dogs to bury the Swans' season tonight (https://www.sen.com.au/news/2017/06/07/kbs-take-or-dogs-to-bury-the-swans-season-tonight/).

[southsideswan]

Stats are ok for fantasy league but obvious do not give a true picture. I saw from the coaches points Jake Lloyd did not make the top 7 players in the Swans team last week. With 31 disposals at efficiency of 81%, only 2 clangers, 1 goal and top of fantasy pts for the team (122) it did not count in the coaches eyes. Fair enough, I suppose it shows that fantasy league points are great for judging players in fantasy league but not so good in real "life".