Changes for Round 5: Swans vs GWS

[AB Swannie]

At the game it just felt like we never got any rhythm or flow. Without watching the replay, I don’t know if that was because of us or because of GWS. I kept thinking we’d break the shackles at any moment and get out to a 30+ point lead but it just never happened. Ultimately, we got beaten around the ball by their bulls. Tom Green is going to be some player.

I thought Warner and Gulden were not bad and showed glimpses but below their best. Campbell and McDonald looked a step back. Wicks was almost unsighted. It’s not to be unexpected though - any players under 10 games are more likely to be in your bottom 6 than your top.

I was happy for Hayward. He cops a hiding here - even when he kicks 3 goals, people find a way to blame him. It really seemed like it was him, Buddy or bust last night. GWS must’ve done a much better job clogging gals and manning up because we just couldn’t get the marks inside 50 that we have been able to in previous games.

Overall, let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water. We are 4-1 and take on a ruck-less Gold Coast next week.

[MarshallG]

When it mattered we went soft and scared, played the boundary and forgot what won us the starting rounds.
GWS went hard, went hungry.
They deserved the win, kudos to them.

Our youngsters are like all youngsters, consistency is a problems, round on round fitness will be a problem.

A night for our old blokes, a great night too. Go Bud, Go Reid, Go Hayward.

Their return to prominence is a major plus for me, we ain't 'just a young gun team'.

Hickey is the man, always seems to be where he is needed and does the job.
What an acquistion.

Methinks Hickey's injury, coupled with Reid's head knock, that point in time when both were off, created some bad voodoo for structures.

Falling over was inevitable.
What matters is how quick we get up, what we do about it.

[Roadrunner]

You don't understand the spirit of my post. I pointed out what consistently happens with these players. Consistency is not just playing well every week, but consistently improving your skills and decision making.

As a team we were second to the ball, weak at the contest and careless with the footy in hand.

We ran out gas yet we had a 9 day break! Don't buy that one.

Spot on Nico. We played disjointed footy. They made us look silly at times and our pressure was not there at all. Yes, we’re a young ream but let’s not make excuses and call it what it is- listless!
Hope our coaches let them know that this is not on. I can count only about 6 players who deserved to play for the Bloods, and the best was our oldest in Buddy, with special mention to Joey who tried his heart out.

GWS killed us everywhere bar the scoreboard.

Learn the lesson, Swannies!

[SwanSand]

Spot on Nico. We played disjointed footy. They made us look silly at times and our pressure was not there at all. Yes, we’re a young ream but let’s not make excuses and call it what it is- listless!
Hope our coaches let them know that this is not on. I can count only about 6 players who deserved to play for the Bloods, and the best was our oldest in Buddy, with special mention to Joey who tried his heart out.

GWS killed us everywhere bar the scoreboard.

Learn the lesson, Swannies!

The game is about to play our style while preventing the other team to play their style. We showed our cards in the first 3 rounds and it was scintillating. Then comes correction, with opposition tactics, pressure, structure and playing close rather than giving space. The going gets tough, the cream rises quickly, others take time.

Last 2 weeks was correction and we need to now have a plan B approach, and the seniors will have to lead. Losing Rampe in the backline is the biggest loss. He is absolutely the general and gets us playing and defending in a certain style. We need him back ASAP.

[Aprilbr]

I think the last 2 weeks has seen the opposition really stop our quick ball movement and hence scoring power. Our points for have halved. With a slower game our younger players have struggled to adjust. We have really come back to the pack. Some of the pundits who praised us just a week or two ago are now saying that we may struggle to hang on for a finals spot.

I think this loss may prove to be a good educational lesson for our youngsters going forward. If we had just hung on then we may have glossed over our deficiencies on display. Our lack of positioning at critical times and drop in work rate in the last quarter were clear.

We were lucky to win last week and unlucky to lose this week. Injuries to key players have really hurt us, especially last night. The loss of Hickey probably changed the game. Lets hope his pcl knee problem is not too bad.

It looks like we are not going to have Heeney, Rampe and Hickey back for several weeks so others will have to step up. We had a lot of quiet players last night who need to lift. I don't expect to see wholesale changes but some poor performers will definitely come under heavy scrutiny.

[TheBloods]

Pretty poor to drop this one. GWS had a lot of outs. We lost Hickey late but didnt change much.

Can melican never play again ??

[dimelb]

Pardon if someone has already raised this, but there was an incident where Buddy marked the ball and was all set to line up on the posts when the umpire called play on and Buddy got jumped.
Do others recall this? Buddy was very put out but had to abide by the ruling. Another goal was all we ever wanted!

[bloodspirit]

According to AFL Player Ratings (which are not perfect, but much better than Fantasy points, based on Champion Data) Melican was second best Swan and third best on ground behind Buddy and Mummy.

https://twitter.com/AFLPlayerRating/...635460611?s=19

[aardvark]

According to AFL Player Ratings (which are not perfect, but much better than Fantasy points, based on Champion Data) Melican was second best Swan and third best on ground behind Buddy and Mummy.

https://twitter.com/AFLPlayerRating/...635460611?s=19

Except for two very ordinary kicks I thought he was all right.

[bloodspirit]

Except for two very ordinary kicks I thought he was all right.

What's especially interesting is that he got better and better as the game wore on. Either that or it was coming in a lot more and he just had more to do.

[giant]

Spot on Nico. We played disjointed footy. They made us look silly at times and our pressure was not there at all. Yes, we’re a young ream but let’s not make excuses and call it what it is- listless!
Hope our coaches let them know that this is not on. I can count only about 6 players who deserved to play for the Bloods, and the best was our oldest in Buddy, with special mention to Joey who tried his heart out.

GWS killed us everywhere bar the scoreboard.

Learn the lesson, Swannies!

I'm afraid that's dead set rubbish. Our pressure was excellent all night - our execution and decision-making let us down at crucial times and as a result we lost by 2 pts after leading most of the match. Lessons will be learned, and hopefully by some of our more excitable supporters as well.

[monopoly19]

Pretty poor to drop this one. GWS had a lot of outs. We lost Hickey late but didnt change much.

Can melican never play again ??

Losing your ruck matters a lot when your back up ruck has to leave the field for a few minutes at the end of a game we lost by two points! Hickey being on the field could have easily been the difference.