Swans' character?

[Charlie]

I don't think that it's lack of character per se... but something else. I think it's a lack of killer instinct. The desire to go and turn a 5 goal lead into a 15 goal win. The hard-nosed-rub-the-mongrel's-face-in-it-and-make-them-wanna-cry sort of thing that wins premierships.

[Roscoe]

I agree Charlie, we have made significant advances this year, but we still have to learn how to "murder" sides like we did in the late 90's.

But a win is a win, and believe me the rail shunters are working overtime, preparing more carriages to add to the bandwaggon.

Lots of people are talking about the Swans up here.

IF things are looking good for us and the Pies and Eddie cranks up the publicity machine, we may get 60,000 for Round 21

[Nico]

I am not sure of the rotations off the bench in the 3rd quarter, but Roosey appears to rest some core players each week, and on some occasions the opposition seem almost to be allowed to make up some ground. Then he bungs them on in the last quarter when it counts and we find something under pressure.

To me it is an obvious strategy and Roos doesn't care how much we win by as long as we win. It looks to me as a genuine player conservation strategy.

Maybe come finals time he will leave these players on all game and just go for broke to gain an unassailable lead.

[Dave]

I don't mind coasting to a 30 odd point win if it means that the players are just that little bit fresher for the next game by not have run themselves ragged.

When the Blues started to get a bit too close they were brought back to earth so there was no problem IMO.

If it means a bit more gas in the tank then that's OK

I also find it healthy that this year we find such a margin to be just so-so.

[NMWBloods]

Originally posted by Jimmy C
Without having seen the match, it doesn't appear as if there was ever any danger of it being lost.

Strongly disagree with this. With over 7 minutes to go Carlton were only 3 goals down and full of running. We were slow and second to the ball, and looked very tired. If Carlton were a better side they would have run over the top of us. I think it took a freak goal to Davis and lack of Carlton talent to see us through in the end. I don't think we necessarily stood up or shifted to a higher gear or whatever. The game simply petered out to some degree gradually after Davis' goal.

[Angelic Upstart]

Originally posted by Jimmy C
Without having seen the match, it doesn't appear as if there was ever any danger of it being lost.

Well I kept getting nightmare flashbacks from a match against St Kilda about 10 years ago!

[sharpie]

Originally posted by Dave
I don't mind coasting to a 30 odd point win if it means that the players are just that little bit fresher for the next game by not have run themselves ragged.

If it means a bit more gas in the tank then that's OK

This may well be a fair point. Perhaps West Coast were buggered from giving Carlton a flogging, coz they were pathetic against Port.

[Bolton brothers]

Originally posted by NMWBloods
Strongly disagree with this. With over 7 minutes to go Carlton were only 3 goals down and full of running. We were slow and second to the ball, and looked very tired. If Carlton were a better side they would have run over the top of us. I think it took a freak goal to Davis and lack of Carlton talent to see us through in the end. I don't think we necessarily stood up or shifted to a higher gear or whatever. The game simply petered out to some degree gradually after Davis' goal.

If Carlton were a better side...they would not have been so far down at half time, and Sydney would have realised they had a game on their hands and worked harder in the second half.
I think it is difficult for any team to maintain a consistently high level of application throughout a game, much less a season, and I don't think there was any doubt they were lulled into complacency by the ineffectiveness of Carlton. It is to be hoped that the lesson to be learnt about not dropping your guard is well developed.
I think the team has shown sufficient character and ticker this season not to be too hard on them for relaxing this once.

[JF_Bay22_SCG]

Re: Swans' character?

[QUOTE]Originally posted by lizz
[B]Quote from the Age's match report:-

"Carlton has heart, but is sorely lacking in class. Sydney, on the other hand, left everyone at Optus Oval in no doubt of their class, but somewhat unsure about their character."

Is this fair, do we think? QUOTE]

No Lizz, it isn't at all. Yes, we were in cruise mode on Saturday. I knew that by the way they ran through the banner- very lethargic. Cruising is something we have been guilty of on the odd occasion of late. I'd like to see a full four quarter effort for sure.

But saying that we have a lack of ticker is quite insulting. We managed to stave off teams coming at us at a million miles an hour (Brisbane, Collingwood, Eagles, Carlton). And have powered away in matches that were level during the third quarter (Richmond, Essendon, Melbourne, St Kilda, Doggies etc)

We are still perhaps a little on the vunerable side emotionally. But hey, according to Caro and her peanut paperazzi mates, we aren't serious Grand Final contenders yet.

Maybe we can look for Mike Sheehan and give him journalism wooden spoons for saying we'd come last?

JF

[JF_Bay22_SCG]

Originally posted by Angelic Upstart
Well I kept getting nightmare flashbacks from a match against St Kilda about 10 years ago!

Don't go there mate. Just don't go there!

JF

[Sid]

I reckon a lot of ppl expected a belting like carlton experienced the previous week (well, i thought this anyway). And the fact that we only won by 31 points was definitely disappointing for me to see.

I thought it was ridiculous we let carlton a slight chance to the game. Our percentage is not very high on the ladder and it was a good opportunity to boost it.

The next few rounds will test our real 'character' and what we are capable of.

[jixygirl]

If we didn't have character, we wouldn't be in second position. We're winning games and it looks that Paul Roos is happy with that (what coach wouldn't?). If there is some strategy in resting players so we don't have many injuries but we win by a smaller margin, I'll still be happy because we have most of our main players in the team and are winning.

[NMWBloods]

Originally posted by Bolton brothers
[B]If Carlton were a better side...they would not have been so far down at half time, and Sydney would have realised they had a game on their hands and worked harder in the second half.

Not necessarily. Sometimes teams can have poor starts - look at Brisbane v. Carlton.

I think it is difficult for any team to maintain a consistently high level of application throughout a game, much less a season, and I don't think there was any doubt they were lulled into complacency by the ineffectiveness of Carlton. It is to be hoped that the lesson to be learnt about not dropping your guard is well developed.
I think the team has shown sufficient character and ticker this season not to be too hard on them for relaxing this once.

I agree that teams can't usually maintain the pressure on teams for an entire game, but the degree to which they collapsed against a team that really wasn't playing enormously well was rather poor.

It was just far too reminiscent of the Swans of the past who began to believe the publicity, became arrogant and gave away leads or lost to lower teams. Hopefully it wass simply an aberration.

[Rizzo]

The finals will be a real test of character (if we make it). If the guys don't reach the bar this year as least they will know what is required in the future.

[GoBloods]

character ?

whilst it would have been nice to murder carlton by 15goals , i was just happy that we won. carlton were pathetic in the 1st half but they showed a bit of fight in the 2nd half .no team can be that bad for a whole game.
if you would have told me at the start of the season that the swans would be 2nd after rd16 , i would have laughed at you.
character ? we have plenty of character. we have beaten good sides this year , ie west coast, brisbane. i wouldnt take note of the media carry-on (remember we are suppose to finish last, as chosen by most melbourne media types).
i would be more concerned if we were losing week in , week out or were in the predicament that carlton find themselves face with at the moment.
we should be happy and proud of our boys