We're Going To Struggle BIG TIME

[Charlie]

Originally posted by omnipotent
I went interstate at the weekend and everybody I talked with thinks we have the worst list. I am starting to agree. They further pointed out that we recruited a guy, Davis, who admits even in an article the footy is not a big thing in his life and he doesn't like it full-on. Last night I went to a Collingwood function and heard their coaches and general staff talk, . Malthouse was super impressive. As was their recruiter Judkins. I think in terms of professionalism, when I compare with Swans functions, they are light years ahead of us. Perhaps it's because we are such a young club and lack the tradition, but I loved the feel about their function. My Pie supporting friends are trying to convert me. I seems they might make a foray into Sydney territory and I think they will be successful and many in the west might follow the black and white.

a) I think I'll wait and see just how bad our "worst list" is. That is certainly overstating it. We're probably not at finals level, but just wait.

b) Young club? We happen to be 18 years older than Collingwood, thankyou very much.

c) Malthouse is a good talker, uh huh. He dazzles you with comments like "the cart is slow but the ox is patient". And you sit back in your chair thinking, he's soooo much smarter than me, I have no idea what that means... In actual fact I doubt he does either.

d) If Davis is such a loser, and Collingwood is so professional, why did they fight tooth and nail to keep him?

e) Why would people in the West be anymore likely to follow the Pies? I don't remember them ever saying they were going to move home games to Sydney. I don't see the Collingwood Army accepting that. So if they are only playing in Melbourne, with one AWAY game in Sydney a year, why on earth would people in the West bother following them? It takes more than a training camp to get new fans.

[NMWBloods]

Good points Charlie. Malthouse is like Sam Newman. They're smarter than the average footballer so they think they're geniuses - failing to realise that just makes them middle of the road in the real world...

[snajik]

Only Brisbane and Adelaide stretched us last season. Footscray may have belted us, but that game proved to be an aberration.

This is a very even competition. Ladder positions over the last few years reveal just how volatile it can be. No one expected Geelong, Melbourne or Collingwood to do as well as they did at this stage last year. There is no reason that with universal incremental improvement Sydney can't be this year's big improvers.

Anyone who thinks we have the worst list in the competition is a complete idiot. I suspect that this interpretation has a lot to do with the Melbourne media's fixation with the ruminations of Maguire, Sheedy and Malthouse. They seem to dictate the views of the masses.

Even if we were the worst team going around that should never impact on you level of support.

[TheMase]

Originally posted by snajik
Anyone who thinks we have the worst list in the competition is a complete idiot.

I agree with this.

Some of the players on our list, clubs would LOVE to get a hold of.

Like these players IMO:

Jason Saddington, Adam Goodes, Barry Hall, Ryan O'Keefe, Ben Fixter, TADHG KENNELLY, Lewis Roberts-Thompson, Stephen Doyle, Nick Davis and many more

[Cheer Cheer]

The sig says it all

[TheMase]

Originally posted by Cheer Cheer
The sig says it all

[floppinab]

This thing about list comparison is pretty hard to take. The difference in list quality from one team to the next I would suggest is not much different apart from Brisbane certainly being the standout. Keeping in mind that the environment the Club creates has of course a hell of a lot to do with how a list develops, with again what Brisbane have been able to do contributing hugely to their success.

To say conclusively we have the worst list in the comp is rediculous taking the simplest measure of ladder position for the past few years as some sort of grading of that issue.

On my point of environment I'm hoping to see an improvement in skill level this year associated with a more positive style of play. I'm convinced it was Eades negative and containment style of play (which fundamentally stresses a lesser emphasis on ball skills) which was the key contributor to our poor skills. A stated more attacking, higher scoring, approach from Roos should help and hopefully lead to a better skilled list of footballers this year.

[omnipotent]

we are only 18 years older if you count South melbourne and who would be silly enough to do that. South melbourne is dead and buried and we want no part of it. Go to Melbourne and talk to the old south supporters, most support other clubs or have given the game away, they are pissed off with losing their club. Some were conned and and still see a link between the club, but it is as tenuous as you could possibly imagine. sydney is Sydney, we have moved away from the Melbourne roots and occasionally pretend some allegiance to south for appeasement reasons only. But no intelligent person would actually believe that the two clubs are associated. South Melbourne is dead and buried. We started in 1982. Anyway apart from really early years, south was a loser club with a loser mentality.

[Charlie]

Originally posted by omnipotent
we are only 18 years older if you count South melbourne and who would be silly enough to do that. South melbourne is dead and buried and we want no part of it. Go to Melbourne and talk to the old south supporters, most support other clubs or have given the game away, they are pissed off with losing their club. Some were conned and and still see a link between the club, but it is as tenuous as you could possibly imagine. sydney is Sydney, we have moved away from the Melbourne roots and occasionally pretend some allegiance to south for appeasement reasons only. But no intelligent person would actually believe that the two clubs are associated. South Melbourne is dead and buried. We started in 1982. Anyway apart from really early years, south was a loser club with a loser mentality.

Well, as a matter of fact I live in Melbourne, and have been watching footy with the people you know nothing about for the last 8 years now. Crawl back into your hole and go on believing that you know what you are talking about. But I don't want to hear it.

South and Sydney are the same club. Come to Melbourne and talk to the old South supporters.

[chammond]

Well, as a matter of fact I live in Melbourne, and have been watching footy with the people you know nothing about for the last 8 years now. Crawl back into your hole and go on believing that you know what you are talking about. But I don't want to hear it.

Brilliant, Charlie!

Just about the perfect response.

[omnipotent]

well I am sorry guys but the way I see it, if a club moves interstate it is not an amalgam but becomes a new club. I have friends in Melbourne who did follow south and most don't follow Sydney - their children follow other clubs like Richmond. Some are annoyed that south didn't fight hard enough to retain its base in Melbourne. I don't want to be associated with South. I know we will never have the tradition like clubs such as Collingwood, Carlton and Essendon but we can still build something here. We are SYDNEY, not MELBOURNE, and we should create our own club as a separate entity totally divorced from links with south. And if you check South's records since about the 1930's it was a loser club. I pity people like Charlie who think the two clubs are linked. Do you really believe that the Paul Kellys of this world were playing for the south jumper? Get hold of yourself! The kids growing up around me know more about the Brisbane lions than south, and south doesn't interest them. Go and have a burial ceremony for south if you still are stupid enough to see them as being married to us. We don't want to be haunted by the sceptre of a loser club. I will not crawl into my hole Sydney Swans are Sydney and not south. And I would love us to get rid of the Swan and take something like the shark which is not as gentle. No wonder south were not successful with a moniker like swan. It is a bit risible really. Let us start afresh with a nickname which is more quintessentially Sydney. We have already modified the jumper anyway. So Melbourne swans supporters you are only welcome if you consider us as a Sydney entity, not some relic of South's sad past.

[robbieando]

well I am sorry guys but the way I see it, if a club moves interstate it is not an amalgam but becomes a new club.

Wrong its the same club. South didn't fold it was the same club and as such South Melbourne have more rights to this club than Sydney does.

I have friends in Melbourne who did follow south and most don't follow Sydney - their children follow other clubs like Richmond. Some are annoyed that south didn't fight hard enough to retain its base in Melbourne.

No different to what happened with Fitzroy. These same people have over time come to learn that if we didn't move the club would of died.

I don't want to be associated with South. I know we will never have the tradition like clubs such as Collingwood, Carlton and Essendon but we can still build something here.

I doubt it very much why go 10 steps back when if things stay the same we can go 10 steps forward instead. So what if we haven't been successful - this is what makes this club so great for me we earn success the hard way and when we do its worth it. I have always said I rather support a unsuccessful side than a successful side, because we fans would understand what success means better than a fan who is spoiled for success.

We are SYDNEY, not MELBOURNE, and we should create our own club as a separate entity totally divorced from links with south.

We are Sydney now, but we can't forget what we had and still have in Melbourne, a separate enitity now is just a waste of time.

And if you check South's records since about the 1930's it was a loser club.

And what since we moved to Sydney we have been a picture of success?? Of course not

I pity people like Charlie who think the two clubs are linked. Do you really believe that the Paul Kellys of this world were playing for the south jumper?

They aren't linked you fool they are the same bloodly thing. The jumper we wear today was first worn back in 1987. Paul Kelly played for the Red and White the same as Bob Skilton before him

Get hold of yourself! The kids growing up around me know more about the Brisbane lions than south, and south doesn't interest them.

Funny that seeing as the Brisbane Lions only came into being in 1996

Go and have a burial ceremony for south if you still are stupid enough to see them as being married to us. We don't want to be haunted by the sceptre of a loser club.

You don't seem to have many supporters on that front. Why have a burial for a club that hasn't died??? Remember since moving here the Swans have had more failure than success. Your just a johny come lately who thinks that they have more rights to this club than the orignial fans from Melbourne.

I will not crawl into my hole Sydney Swans are Sydney and not south. And I would love us to get rid of the Swan and take something like the shark which is not as gentle. No wonder south were not successful with a moniker like swan. It is a bit risible really. Let us start afresh with a nickname which is more quintessentially Sydney. We have already modified the jumper anyway.

You can't do **** about us here in Melbourne because we are this club like it or not. If you want your own club go to the AFL and ask for your own one to start. Like it or not the Swans are here to stay and frankly you have no right to tell me that I can't support MY club, just because you don't like the logo. Start afresh with your own club not mine.

Melbourne swans supporters you are only welcome if you consider us as a Sydney entity, not some relic of South's sad past

Excuse me but you have no right to tell Melbourne based fans what to do with this club we sent the club up to Sydney and frankly I don't care what you think this club is South Melbourne like it or not. If you want your own club go start one from the ground up, call it what you like - but don't think you can change this club because we will forever be known as the SWANS.

DICKHEAD

[JF_Bay22_SCG]

A club with a dual identity.

I have to agree with Robbie Ando and Charlie. The team that was South Melbourne IS now called the Sydney Swans. The team has an interesting dual history, and even more interestingly two quite distinct groups of supporters, reflecting the intrensically different sporting cultures in both Sydney and Melbourne.

Do that mean that we should forget our history as South Melbourne-NO WAY! The club that won the flag in 1933 is MY FOOTY CLUB. Roy Cazaly, Bobby Skilton Graham Teasdale etc played in RED & WHITE for MY club.

I went through a period in the early 90s wanting Sydney to play in NSW light and dark blue. Then the club wisely chose to teach the Sydney people about the club's traditions and history. They started playing "Cheer Cheer" as the official club song. That has been the MOST important aspect of the evolution of this club. For once people on both sides of the Barassi line identified with the same song. Sydney did a Steve Waugh and learnt that to understand your future you have to be proud of your past.

We are a club that now is as established in Sydney as it ever has been. Does this mean we should show disrespect to our Melbourne fans-NO WAY!!!????

Anyway, who cares how you started following the Swans? We are Swans fans. We wear a red and white scarf to games. We chant "Sydney", EVEN IN MELBOURNE!!!! Each person has a funny story as to how they got interested in the club, or indeed AFL in general. The children of 97 are now fully fledged supporters (creating fan websites etc etc ) ) I truly love our Melbourne fans. I get to feel the true Melbourne football culture without having to go an watch another team.

We are very very lucky to have supporters like the ones we do in Melbourne. Come and watch a game with em one day Sydney people. And learn to respect their unequivocal love of their club.

cheers fellas.

JF (slowly waking up out of a very extended off-season slumber)

[NMWBloods]

Originally posted by omnipotent
we are only 18 years older if you count South melbourne and who would be silly enough to do that. South melbourne is dead and buried and we want no part of it. Go to Melbourne and talk to the old south supporters, most support other clubs or have given the game away, they are pissed off with losing their club. Some were conned and and still see a link between the club, but it is as tenuous as you could possibly imagine. sydney is Sydney, we have moved away from the Melbourne roots and occasionally pretend some allegiance to south for appeasement reasons only. But no intelligent person would actually believe that the two clubs are associated. South Melbourne is dead and buried. We started in 1982. Anyway apart from really early years, south was a loser club with a loser mentality.

This is the biggest load of crap. I have followed the Swans since '75, my cousin since '65 and my Dad since '38 or thereabouts. There are many long-time SouthMelbourne supporters still following the Swans. You obviously weren't following them when they did move from Melb to Sydney or you wouldn't be spouting such puerile rubbish. Judging by this post I think you're a troll anyway with no idea of the history of the club.

[NMWBloods]

Originally posted by omnipotent
Do you really believe that the Paul Kellys of this world were playing for the south jumper? Get hold of yourself!

Why do you think they sing the Notre Dame March if there is no link to South? Why do you think no 14 is such a special number?