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Swans lose range
14 July 2003 AFL
By TIM MORRISSEY
PAUL Williams had good reason not to talk up the Swans' finals chances after Sydney despatched St Kilda to playoff purgatory on Saturday night.
In the Nicks of time: Swan Matthew Nicks flies over Steven Lawrence.
Picture: Gregg Porteous
Despite Sydney's 51-point rout at the SCG, the star midfielder admitted the one-sided scoreline couldn't hide the team's alarming drop-off in goalscoring accuracy since the mid-season break.
Sydney went into the break with a league-best 61.4 per cent goal efficiency, but in the three games since their accuracy has plummeted to 42.9 per cent.
The positive is the fact the Swans (10-5) need just two more wins with seven rounds remaining to virtually cement a finals place.
But Williams believes it might be time to enrol in kicking school after the scrappy victory, which all but ended any hope the Saints (6-9) had of playing in September.
"We were slow out of the blocks, but we still should've kicked five or six goals in that first quarter," Williams said of Sydney's 2.7 first-term return.
"That's something we are going to have to address.
"We've been pretty good all year, but I think a few of us will be going down for some goalkicking practice during the week."
Williams includes himself and flashy forward Michael O'Loughlin in that group after both kicked 1.3 against the Saints.
"Mick should've kicked more than what he did," Williams said.
O'Loughlin was flawless against West Coast in the last round, kicking six goals from six attempts. If the Swans are going to feature in the finals O'Loughlin is going to be a major factor with the 25-year-old star's freakish ability to create scoring opportunities.
The Swans other strike weapon, Barry Hall, also failed to make a significant impact on the scoreboard. He finished with a solitary behind but contributed in other areas.
"Barry set up five or six goals," Williams said. "We don't rely on Barry to kick six or seven goals every week.
"We want him to keep presenting, he's playing a little more centre-half forward ? a different role for him ? and he's been great for us this year."
Swans coach Paul Roos is not panicking over the team's poor kicking but admits he is concerned.
"You are always worried when you are kicking a lot of points. We saw what happened last week (against West Coast) even though we got up," Roos said.
"There is no question the psyche of both teams changes when you are kicking goals as against points. At the end it didn't make any difference, but it certainly could have.
"The goalkicking is one thing we really need to focus on. Mick (O'Loughlin) kicked six straight last week and he kicked 1.3 this week and a couple didn't register so we certainly need to work on those."
The next assignment for Sydney is on Saturday at Optus Oval against a Carlton side reeling from a 116-point thumping at the hands of West Coast.
Only three times this year has Sydney faced a team which has won the previous week. Eight of the Swans' opponents have lost by 40 or more points in the previous round.
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Is it just me ?? or is Tim having a bit of a crack at us in this article??
14 July 2003 AFL
By TIM MORRISSEY
PAUL Williams had good reason not to talk up the Swans' finals chances after Sydney despatched St Kilda to playoff purgatory on Saturday night.
In the Nicks of time: Swan Matthew Nicks flies over Steven Lawrence.
Picture: Gregg Porteous
Despite Sydney's 51-point rout at the SCG, the star midfielder admitted the one-sided scoreline couldn't hide the team's alarming drop-off in goalscoring accuracy since the mid-season break.
Sydney went into the break with a league-best 61.4 per cent goal efficiency, but in the three games since their accuracy has plummeted to 42.9 per cent.
The positive is the fact the Swans (10-5) need just two more wins with seven rounds remaining to virtually cement a finals place.
But Williams believes it might be time to enrol in kicking school after the scrappy victory, which all but ended any hope the Saints (6-9) had of playing in September.
"We were slow out of the blocks, but we still should've kicked five or six goals in that first quarter," Williams said of Sydney's 2.7 first-term return.
"That's something we are going to have to address.
"We've been pretty good all year, but I think a few of us will be going down for some goalkicking practice during the week."
Williams includes himself and flashy forward Michael O'Loughlin in that group after both kicked 1.3 against the Saints.
"Mick should've kicked more than what he did," Williams said.
O'Loughlin was flawless against West Coast in the last round, kicking six goals from six attempts. If the Swans are going to feature in the finals O'Loughlin is going to be a major factor with the 25-year-old star's freakish ability to create scoring opportunities.
The Swans other strike weapon, Barry Hall, also failed to make a significant impact on the scoreboard. He finished with a solitary behind but contributed in other areas.
"Barry set up five or six goals," Williams said. "We don't rely on Barry to kick six or seven goals every week.
"We want him to keep presenting, he's playing a little more centre-half forward ? a different role for him ? and he's been great for us this year."
Swans coach Paul Roos is not panicking over the team's poor kicking but admits he is concerned.
"You are always worried when you are kicking a lot of points. We saw what happened last week (against West Coast) even though we got up," Roos said.
"There is no question the psyche of both teams changes when you are kicking goals as against points. At the end it didn't make any difference, but it certainly could have.
"The goalkicking is one thing we really need to focus on. Mick (O'Loughlin) kicked six straight last week and he kicked 1.3 this week and a couple didn't register so we certainly need to work on those."
The next assignment for Sydney is on Saturday at Optus Oval against a Carlton side reeling from a 116-point thumping at the hands of West Coast.
Only three times this year has Sydney faced a team which has won the previous week. Eight of the Swans' opponents have lost by 40 or more points in the previous round.
..................................
Is it just me ?? or is Tim having a bit of a crack at us in this article??
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