Sydney V Collingwood Match Day Thread

[liz]

I really enjoyed the intensity of the game (at the ground) , against a team that had the wood on us big time.
The season is not all about winning The Premierships , of course it's the ultimate goal , but other pleasures occur on the journey . Beating The Pies last night was one of them.
Cloke in , Buddy out, Parker stretchered off, seriously , that was an excellent performance by the Swans.
Players have become very good at breaking tackles. They have watched Buddy doing often enough, a fast moving player is difficult to stop.
Well done boys. Terrific win.
Just hope Buddy gets back for the finals or sooner.

Sadly there only seem to be two or three other recent posts in this thread expressing this perspective. I might have quoted Faunca8 or Mug Punter, as they say much the same. I'm in the same camp as the three of you. No team can win the premiership every year (and think how boring it would be if your team did). This year was already looking highly unlikely for us, and with injuries to the likes of Parker, Laidler and maybe Heeney and Rohan, it would take a miracle from here. But for me, footy is as much about enjoying the small things along the way.

Sure, yesterday's game wasn't always pretty and it was frustrating to watch at times. But the guys dug in hard to extract a win in a game they could easily have given up. I think Mitchell's been one of our best over the last month or so, and yesterday it continued. He, along with Kennedy, shows a desire to really win the ball out of a contest and dish it out. For all our supposed midfield strength, I think we've been lacking in that area for a while, so to watch Mitchell graduate from a young player to a core player has been exciting. Similarly, Jack showed why the coaches have been giving him opportunities here and there. He's been showing that kind of aggression in the reserves this year. Even when the team was getting thumped by the likes of GWS, his tackles were sticking and his endeavour never wavered. When you look back to his game when he arrived at the club - a skinny kid who looked like he'd never laid a tackle in his life - it's been an impressive development curve.

I'm reading Vonnegut's "Timequake" at the moment. It's an odd book - billed as a novel but really more like a scrapbook of reflections on life. On paragraph goes as follows:

My uncle . . . taught me something very important.

"He said that when things were really going well, we should be sure to notice it. He was talking about simple occasions, not great victories: maybe drinking lemonade on a hot afternoon in the shade, or smelling the aroma of a nearby bakery, or fishing and not caring if we catch anything or not, or hearing somebody all alone play the piano really well in the house next door.

"Uncle Alex urged me to say out loud during such epiphanies: 'If this isn't nice, what is?' "

Surely beating Collingwood - however it is achieved - has to count as one of the great small things in life, regardless of how it fits into any bigger picture?

[undy]

Thought that moving Rampe ti play on ball in the last quarter solved a few problems. He looked to be having a bad day down back, but seemed to improve the on ball contingent.

[aardvark]

Surely beating Collingwood - however it is achieved - has to count as one of the great small things in life, regardless of how it fits into any bigger picture?

Absolutely!

[The Big Cat]

Longmire on ABC just now. Parker broken tibia and being scanned for ankle ligament damage. Best case scenario 4 WEEKS! I'd take that!!

[mcsquirta]

Surely beating Collingwood - however it is achieved - has to count as one of the great small things in life, regardless of how it fits into any bigger picture?

Funny, I went to the game looking at it as our Grand Final for this year, and I can't say I was disappointed. I remember saying to someone at some point in the 3rd that everything about this game is $h^##%. Both teams and especially the umpires interpretation of whatever this week's rules are.

But when Sammy took the mark at the top of the square in the last, the roof exploded off the top of the SCG. After waiting all night for us to just stop, I knew we were going to win. Probably only the Port game last year was more emotionally charged.

Watching the boys on the replay hobble into the change rooms afterwards, battered and bruised, it feels to me like we turned a huge corner last night. Injuries will do us in for the rest of the season I think, but it felt to me like there was a massive shift in attitude last night. Before the song when the boys were getting in the circle someone said "This is just the start boys"... I'm pretty sure it was Rhyce. He turned a corner afew weeks ago and one by one we're all doing it. It's really only the AFL commission and injuries that will do us in but at least Pridham is tackling the AFL and good on him!

[mcs]

Longmire on ABC just now. Parker broken tibia and being scanned for ankle ligament damage. Best case scenario 4 WEEKS! I'd take that!!

4 weeks - that would be incredible if that is the case - I can't believe we will see him back this year surely. Would be great to have him good to go Rd 1 next year however!

[mcs]

Funny, I went to the game looking at it as our Grand Final for this year, and I can't say I was disappointed. I remember saying to someone at some point in the 3rd that everything about this game is $h^##%. Both teams and especially the umpires interpretation of whatever this week's rules are.

But when Sammy took the mark at the top of the square in the last, the roof exploded off the top of the SCG. After waiting all night for us to just stop, I knew we were going to win. Probably only the Port game last year was more emotionally charged.

Watching the boys on the replay hobble into the change rooms afterwards, battered and bruised, it feels to me like we turned a huge corner last night. Injuries will do us in for the rest of the season I think, but it felt to me like there was a massive shift in attitude last night. Before the song when the boys were getting in the circle someone said "This is just the start boys"... I'm pretty sure it was Rhyce. He turned a corner afew weeks ago and one by one we're all doing it. It's really only the AFL commission and injuries that will do us in but at least Pridham is tackling the AFL and good on him!

I loved that moment in the change rooms - I thought it may have been Shaw, or maybe McVeigh. I think injuries are going to cruel us come finals time, but I'd love to think some significant steps can be taken over the next few weeks to get back to the Bloods football we all know and the football world in general has admired over the past decade and a bit. If we are going to go out in the finals in 2015 like 2013, lets not do it with a whimper - and do it in a way that the players can make our premiership heroes of a decade a go proud. There has been too much footy this year which has been so 'unswanslike' in many ways from the team - but the way they battled on last night, despite it being far from a good overall performance, was what makes me love this club. More of the same please boys - don't die wondering, and you just never know what could happen.

- - - Updated - - -

Surely beating Collingwood - however it is achieved - has to count as one of the great small things in life, regardless of how it fits into any bigger picture?

Hard to argue with that Liz - and finishing off their finals hopes in the process makes it even better

[Swanny40519]

Agree with above comments.

It was a very emotional and hard fought win. Credit to the boys as they really dug in hard in the last qtr when Parker and Heeney went off. Then after that Hanners copped one in the chest and was very sore.

I thought it was the best game I have seen Mitchell play and BJ was up as well. We need Buddy and Benny back fit and firing and that will help us a lot.

Plus if Gaz can keep fit and on the ground he will only get better. His pace, tackling pressure and kicking last night was terrific - even if it did come in spurts.

Well done - getting back to being Bloods again.

[Gary]

I've only been able to watch the tackle in which Luke Parker's ankle/lower leg (?) was broken on video replay on my iPad and also look at the still image. But to me it looks as if Adams trapped Luke's leg between his legs and then used his foot to take Luke down in the tackle, so causing Luke to collapse with both his and Adams' weight bearing down on his ankle/leg which is folded beneath him, thus causing the bone break. If this is what happened, surely this tackle technique is as bad (or worse) and just as dangerous as sliding in for a low ball. And the resulting injury to Parker was a predictable outcome of that form of tackle?

Totally agree ... like to see some expert commentary on that tackle ... just as an extra ... on at least 2 occasions Parker was held back when going for the ball ... both times the umpires chose to let it go ... any one else notice that, and was it Adams tagging him?

[Ludwig]

I'm reading Vonnegut's "Timequake" at the moment. It's an odd book - billed as a novel but really more like a scrapbook of reflections on life. On paragraph goes as follows:

Surely beating Collingwood - however it is achieved - has to count as one of the great small things in life, regardless of how it fits into any bigger picture?

I was just thinking "isn't this nice, quoting Kurt Vonnegut on RWO." One of my favourite authors. "Slaughterhouse Five" is a classic and a must read. Cat's Cradle would be my next in line.

I've posted a few times that 2011 was one of my favourite years as a Swans' supporter, because you could see something good was building. This year has been disappointing because the stuff that made us a good team last year has been faltering, to say the least. I posted at halftime that I commend the Swans for trying to do something different by getting the ball moving quickly, even if the decisions weren't always the best. But we need to change the way we play and I thought last night was a good start in that direction. We will learn to play this way better in due course. We will find the right players to execute a plan that produces more scoring and more exciting football.

As sad as it is to lose a player of Parker's quality, I don't think it will be a tragedy for the Swans if he can return at the start of next year. Nor with Laidler. We will probably replace these with some quicker players, and I think that will help the team in the long run. Zak Jones comes back into the picture and perhaps Nic Newman will be elevated if Parker goes on the LTIL. Once Buddy returns, Reid can play in defence, or perhaps Xav Richards will come in. I hope Hewett's concussion is not serious and he can play in the ressies next week. I was thinking what a good player he is watching him in the first qtr. Hope he gets a senior game this year. He's not the quickest player, but has a near perfect profile for the modern inside midfielder.

[annew]

I agree with other posters on this site, winning the Premiership is the ultimate but gee last night was sweet.

[Zlatorog]

I agree with liz that win over Collingwood is a good comeback after the loss against Geelong. I felt very down last week, because of that and posted a comment that we are limping into the finals (which is probably still true), but in the end I'll take any win even if it's an ugly one.