Richard Hinds Again

[dimelb]

A short extract from a longer article by Richard Hinds in The Age.

"It is often said team chemistry cannot be manufactured. The Sydney Swans are a stunning example of how it can be.
"In their case, an astute coach put faith in players he felt had the right character. He gave them a sense of ownership, allowing them to form a strong culture with the advice of a leadership expert.
"It would not have worked if they could not play. But it can be said without fear of contradiction that they won the flag because they played for each other."

I never get tired of hearing about it.

[ROK Lobster]

I love it when people like Hinds have a view of how the world should be (or get told by their editors that the public have a view of how the world should be) and then project that view onto special events in order to support that view. The same argument could be made about the Spetember 11 terrorist attacks. Undoubtedly those blokes functioned well as a team, had great faith in each other, a unity of purpose, were well coached, well drilled and highly disciplined. But like the Swans, they needed a bloody lot of other things to go right for them...

Sure, the Swans are a good 'TEAM' and that helps. But that is not WHY they won the flag. They won the flag because they are a good close team, who had few injuries, got out of gaol in the semi, had a bit of luck at the judiciary, got to play WC at the MCG, had some talent, the coach had a fairly good tactical day etc. To be honest, to say that they won because they are such a good team is insulting to the Swans team of the past 70 years - well a fair few of them anyway.

[cruiser]

Originally posted by ROK Lobster
.... to say that they won because they are such a good team is insulting to the Swans team of the past 70 years - well a fair few of them anyway.

Huh? What is insulting about it?

[liz]

Originally posted by cruiser
Huh? What is insulting about it?

The implication is that if previous Swans sides had been more of a team, they too would have won a premiership.

I'm kind of with ROK on this one. All the team bonding stuff makes for a great story and was certainly a factor in the premiership, but to focus on this alone and ignore the fact that the team has some pretty good players and a fine coach, takes a bit away from what they achieved.

[swansrule100]

I agree on the team sentiment. I think we won it because we have one of the best defences in the league. A forward line that is capable of converting its opportunities at a higher level than most teams and a midfield that shuts down other teams.


The team thing ends up sounding like 22 hacks were able to somehow win because they are all great mates!

[cressakel]

Originally posted by ROK Lobster
I love it when people like Hinds have a view of how the world should be (or get told by their editors that the public have a view of how the world should be) and then project that view onto special events in order to support that view. The same argument could be made about the Spetember 11 terrorist attacks. Undoubtedly those blokes functioned well as a team, had great faith in each other, a unity of purpose, were well coached, well drilled and highly disciplined. But like the Swans, they needed a bloody lot of other things to go right for them...

Sure, the Swans are a good 'TEAM' and that helps. But that is not WHY they won the flag. They won the flag because they are a good close team, who had few injuries, got out of gaol in the semi, had a bit of luck at the judiciary, got to play WC at the MCG, had some talent, the coach had a fairly good tactical day etc. To be honest, to say that they won because they are such a good team is insulting to the Swans team of the past 70 years - well a fair few of them anyway.

Stir that pot my friend, there are a lot of great players in the last 70 odd (or more) to stir......

In that pot floating around is Skilton, Bedford, Matthews, H.Matthews, Goldsmith, Herriot, Rantall, Clegg, Round, Teasdale, Healy, Williams, Kelly, Lockett, Cresswell, Bayes, Morwood, Dunkley, S.Wright and many more......

However those guys mentioned above had maybe one or two other champions in the team with them but the rest were DUDS !

Whereas, the PREMIERSHIP team of 2005 is a CHAMPION team with no stand-outs to compare with the likes of Skilts, Kel, Williams etc etc....A champion team will always beat a team of champions.....

[ScottH]

It was the cookery classes.

[Nico]

Originally posted by ROK Lobster
I love it when people like Hinds have a view of how the world should be (or get told by their editors that the public have a view of how the world should be) and then project that view onto special events in order to support that view. The same argument could be made about the Spetember 11 terrorist attacks. Undoubtedly those blokes functioned well as a team, had great faith in each other, a unity of purpose, were well coached, well drilled and highly disciplined. But like the Swans, they needed a bloody lot of other things to go right for them...

Sure, the Swans are a good 'TEAM' and that helps. But that is not WHY they won the flag. They won the flag because they are a good close team, who had few injuries, got out of gaol in the semi, had a bit of luck at the judiciary, got to play WC at the MCG, had some talent, the coach had a fairly good tactical day etc. To be honest, to say that they won because they are such a good team is insulting to the Swans team of the past 70 years - well a fair few of them anyway.

Yes, I wonder if this same bloke was following the party line after round 6 when all and sundry were calling us defensive hacks.

[Xie Shan]

Originally posted by swansrule100
The team thing ends up sounding like 22 hacks were able to somehow win because they are all great mates!

I agree, it does make it sound like this but we all know that's not true, and I'm happy for everyone else to continue thinking that - gives us a better chance in '06!

Truth is, it's a combination of a range of things, teamwork is a huge part of it, but what I love about this team is their mental toughness. When they make a mistake (like NOG's for instance) they just keep on fighting.

We've got, man for man, one of the best defences in the league (I still rate Adelaide's #1 - just!). A talented and versatile forward line that makes the most of the opportunities it gets from a midfield, while not as talented as other teams, has heaps of ability of its own in other areas, like winning contested ball. Who stood up with the important clearances in the last quarter of the Grand Final? Buchanan, and the Swans!