#AFL Round 7 Lions v Swans Sat 4-May at The Gabba #AFLLionsSwans @sydneyswans

[Bexl]

Incorrect. He gave away 1 stupid free kick the other two were a joke!


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yep

[crackedactor]

sure sorry Melican gave away 3 stupid free kicks in the first QTR was OK after that

Cheers

Incorrect. He gave away 1 stupid free kick the other two were a joke!


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[Matty10]

Heeney is probably the most frustrating of this group because he tantalises with the spectacular. But for much of the rest of games, he just kinda meanders around the ground, standing off contests, before picking one here or there to lay a bone-crunching tackle. He was touted as the best runner during the pre-season, so I can't believe it's a fitness issue (though I am aware he's been crunched a few times, so maybe he's been playing sore).

It looked like he took a knock to his hip in a marking contest early in the game. He didn't come off the ground, but I commented at the time that I thought he was hurt. He certainly didn't look like he was heading into many contests with great energy after that, but it is hard to know from afar.

[wolftone57]

Mills is playing poorly and you need to stop making excuses for him.

A good player is a good player anywhere.

Yes we all want to see him in the midfield but I guarantee you he doesn’t deserve it at the moment.

Often times if you change a player's position tgey improve

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[grarmy]

I certainly wasn't there and am unaware of the exact circumstances that took place. I do remember reading articles that he was injured playing American football with friends. But if it was as benign as you say, that he tripped while walking and tossing a pigskin, I unreservedly retract my statement and admit that I have based my harsh opinions on him over the last year based on misinformation on my part.

It’s a blog of mostly ticked off footy supporters. Not a bail hearing. You should have told him to get @@@@@@.

[Swanny40519]

That was a very disappointing effort by a lot of players yesterday.

Lloyd would be one of the most unaccountable defenders in the AFL. You never see him play close to his man and his disposal and decision making is terrible. Move him to the wing where he has to earn his disposals. Reid is so overrated that he should hand back most of his pay cheque each month. Trade him at the end of the year. We will miss Cunningham as he has been one of the best this year.

What has happened to Heeney, Mills and Parker ? Either they are injured or are very unhappy at the club (Rohan couldn't get a game last year and now is firing at the Cats - is that attitude, fitness, game style, coaching- questions should be asked and require answers). They all appear to have lost pace and skills, they fall out of the game for long periods and when they do re-appear their kicking and handballs usually result in bad turnovers.

Sinclair tries his guts out each game, but he needs support and playing Reid and Alir in the ruck does not work. Cameron, COR and hopefully Buddy will be back next game.

We will never score enough goals to win games with the way Horse structures the mids and forward line. with a team defence and zones if we do manage to gain possession going forward, then we don't have equal numbers to go deep into attack and more importantly hold the ball in our forwards to score.

I don't think my TV will last the season out the way we are playing.

[lwjoyner]

back to rockets last year, no endeavour by a lot of players, poor kicking LLoyd the leader in this craft. Reid poor for goal play him at chb don't ruck him bring in Cameron to give Sinclair a rest. Leave backs and fwds settled .

[Meg]

But if it was as benign as you say, that he tripped while walking and tossing a pigskin .......

That’s exactly what happened, a stupid accident - as was Rampe tripping over a chain the previous year. Infuriating but nobody’s fault.

[U.S. Swan]

I certainly wasn't there and am unaware of the exact circumstances that took place. I do remember reading articles that he was injured playing American football with friends. But if it was as benign as you say, that he tripped while walking and tossing a pigskin, I unreservedly retract my statement and admit that I have based my harsh opinions on him over the last year based on misinformation on my part.

[AB Swannie]

Mills has definitely been the biggest disappointment for me this season. Now I recognize he is just barely out of his boyhood. But don’t forget he lost almost all of last year due to an immature injury playing gridiron with his mates...DURING the season. Absolutely inexcusable and the rust is showing. He was supposed to be moving into a team leadership role this year and his immaturity has set back his career...it will also likely cost him financially. I wouldn’t give up on him yet...but he needs to bust his tail and get back to the form that was expected of him!

Firstly, I agree that Mills has been down on expectations so far. However, let’s not be too precious about his injury last year. He was not playing gridiron - he was tossing a gridiron ball amongst mates as they were walking. This is not normally considered a high risk activity. I have done it with my kids on Driver Avenue many times with an AFL ball and don’t think I have been irresponsible. Calling him immature and lacking leadership because of a freak accident is unwarranted.

[Wazza]

This game just reinforced Jack is done no impact at all, what is the point playing him keeping COR, Robottom in the 2's ...Why?

cheers

[Wazza]

time for the melican knockers to say sorry

sure sorry Melican gave away 3 stupid free kicks in the first QTR was OK after that

Cheers

[liz]

I haven't read anything of this thread other than the final page, so I might be repeating what others have said. But I think the issue is largely one of work rate across the team. There was one quarter when we matched the Lions' workrate - though I suspect a little of that was them slackening off slightly - and the team looked fine. But for the rest of the game we were beaten in every facet of the game - numbers around the contest, spread, manning our men when the Lions had possession, tackling and generally applying pressure in other ways, keeping the ball locked in the forward line.

Papley, Aliir, Rampe, Kennedy, Melican, Hewett and Cunningham (until he got injured) all had decent to good games. Sinclair worked hard to, with mixed results. McCartin was a pass mark for a young tall conditions that didn't suit his strengths, and Blakey got to more contests than in previous weeks, though isn't quite up to the pace yet.

Jones had his quietest game of the season but he's been one of the hardest working players up to this point so I'll cut him some slack.

Parker, Heeney, Florent, Dawson, Reid, Fox (and to an extent Hayward) each provided a couple of good moments, but we need far more out of this group if the team is to rediscover its mojo and come close to playing a four quarter game. I realise some of these players are pretty inexperienced but they are not teenage bodies anymore. You can forgive them not winning a contest, or muffing a disposal where their inexperience counts against them, but you don't need to be experienced to run and chase and tackle. Heeney is probably the most frustrating of this group because he tantalises with the spectacular. But for much of the rest of games, he just kinda meanders around the ground, standing off contests, before picking one here or there to lay a bone-crunching tackle. He was touted as the best runner during the pre-season, so I can't believe it's a fitness issue (though I am aware he's been crunched a few times, so maybe he's been playing sore).

[Velour&Ruffles]

Paps was huge tonight no doubt but Brownlow is a big call! Unfortunately he does more things like fluffing up that last shot a goal on a more consistent basis than the spectacular stuff he displayed in patches tonight.

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He kicked 4 absolutely brilliant goals and put his body on the line whenever required. He's incredibly courageous and I think he has the highest footy IQ in the entire team - he just understands where the ball will go, how it will bounce and how to position himself (see goal 3 as the best example). I wasn't surprised when he spoiled McInerny today despite giving him 30+ in both cm and kilos. I remember him outmarking Weitering in a pure body 1:1 in his second game. Sometimes his execution does let him down but I would be horrified if a coach tries to change the way he goes about things. You don't want to kill off the instinctive brilliance that was so evident today (and his goal last week in the last qtr). Once you start filling his head with bullcrap about structures and disciplines and set plays you'll snuff his spark and he'll just be some bog ordinary little guy who dithers for 30 seconds before passing it 11m every time. Yes he missed that last kick but part of that was indecision about whether to try to pass it off or kick it himself - credit to Luke Hodge for the canny way he positioned himself. I wish he'd just been more selfish and not thought twice. Papley is one of the very few we have who actually MOVES and takes responsibility on himself to DO SOMETHING. He and Jones are about the only ones we have who offer an alternative to our painfully constipated brand of football and back themselves in to get the ball and just go. We need more of that, not less. Of course, you get the whole package - a few slaughtered kicks - but they are the two we need the others to model themselves on, not for them to conform to become more like the other automatons.

[U.S. Swan]

Mills has definitely been the biggest disappointment for me this season. Now I recognize he is just barely out of his boyhood. But don’t forget he lost almost all of last year due to an immature injury playing gridiron with his mates...DURING the season. Absolutely inexcusable and the rust is showing. He was supposed to be moving into a team leadership role this year and his immaturity has set back his career...it will also likely cost him financially. I wouldn’t give up on him yet...but he needs to bust his tail and get back to the form that was expected of him!