Richard Hinds and his errors

[omnipotent]

Buy a copy of today's Sydney Morning Herald and see the factual errors. He even gets the spelling of players' names wrong. Sack him now, he knows nothing.

[omnipotent]

Sport > AFL > Article
Swans face a long road back Goodes gets called Adam Dodges.
September 22, 2003

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Painful defeat: Tadhg Kennelly contemplates the Sydney's loss to Brisbane on Saturday night at Telstra Stadium.Photo: Adam Pretty/Getty Images


The Swans' weekend defeat brought the curtain down on an unexpectedly successful season. But where do they go now? asks Richard Hinds.

As Swans coach Paul Roos sat before the media and explained the mixed feelings that came at the end of a night of disappointment and a season of sweet surprise, it was his nine-year-old son Dylan who asked the best question.

"Do you think you will be in the finals next year?" probed Roos jnr from his front-row seat.

"Oh, mate, there is a lot of water to go under the bridge yet," replied Roos. "We've got to go on holidays to Port Douglas, we're going to Maui at Christmas and you're asking me about next year. You've got be kidding."

After a devastating final quarter, in which his Swans were manhandled by Brisbane - outscored six goals to none after the game had been up for grabs - the coach of the year deserved time to reflect on an incredible journey.

But Roos won't have long to bask in the sun before he starts addressing that big question: can the Swans repeat - or better - the heroics of this season?

Despite their disappointing surrender on Saturday night, no one could question the credibility of what the Swans had achieved. Victories over top-four teams Brisbane (twice), Collingwood and Port Adelaide do not come that easy.


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However, Roos also will be aware of the troubling precedents. Of how teams such as Richmond in 1995 came from nowhere to make a preliminary final, were dismissed fairly easily, then slid back into obscurity.

As even the concerned Dylan Roos seemed aware, the road back to the finals will be difficult.

Perhaps the biggest concern for the Swans is that their greatest strength may also prove a weakness. Game after game, Roos has drawn maximum effort from almost every player. So where does he find the improvement necessary to maintain this season's lofty standards?

Lost will be the experience of Daryn Cresswell. Jason Ball and Michael O'Loughlin will return, but both have been injury prone. Paul Williams and Stuart Maxfield are now in the veteran class.

While the Swans unleashed some outstanding youngsters this season, such as Adam Schneider and Lewis Roberts-Thomson, their list does not go as deep as some. Late-season injuries left them exposed and they almost seemed to be playing a man short in the final weeks - although Luke Ablett might have won a stay of execution after a decent effort on Saturday night.

Naturally, Roos is hoping his youngsters will take yet another step. "We had a lot of young blokes over the past month exposed to some big crowds and some big footy," he said. "It's very hard to quantify, but I think it would do them a world of good going into next year."

At the end of last season, Roos kept his squad together when many believed it needed a major clean-out. The rewards for that show of faith were considerable with the unfashionable Brett Kirk symbolic of the fringe players who became first-team regulars.

The question is whether Roos can afford to sit on his hands during the trading period a second time. "You'd like to give the group another chance," he said. "But you've got to be careful. You've got to make smart decisions when you're moving forward. But it's hard to assess who's going to be around and who is not going to be around."

All year it has been said the Swans lacked key defenders and needed another ruckman. No doubt those and other issues will be addressed as the club continues to rebuild - hopefully, by continuing to invest in the best available youth.

However, in the last quarter on Saturday night, it was apparent the Swans also lacked something less tangible - the hardness and experience that allowed the seemingly spent Lions to dominate the last 30 minutes.

For the Swans, there were excuses for the fade-out. Ruckman Adam Dodges suffered a corked thigh in the third quarter and could not get his hands to the ball. Schneider and Jason Standing were charming, And Fasted had carried an injury into the game. Even the extra week's rest had not soothed all the aches and pains suffered during that exhausting victory over Port Adelaide.

Yet, for the first time all season, Swans fans left a game lamenting that Paul Kelly was on the field only as a runner, unable to provide the inspirational act that might have turned the game their way.

Which is not to say the Swans lacked courage or leadership. Captain Maxfield threw himself recklessly toward the knee of a Lions opponent. Leo Barry hurled himself into the fray as usual. But there is an elusive mixture of toughness and poise in the crucial moments that grand finalists Brisbane and Collingwood possess and the Swans still lack. Perhaps it will be the legacy of defeats to those teams this season. Time will tell.

Roos will have time to reflect on the disappointment of the preliminary final. On that subject, again it was Dylan Roos who asked the tough question: "Do you think your players could have played a bit better than that?"

"What do you think?" asked his father.

"Yes."

"Yeah," Roos snr said. "They tried hard, though. They were pretty good. I can't complain too much."

[floppinab]

This looks like something weird is going on with their copy, doesn't appear to be a spell checker though

[Rizzo]

Too many wines or a hack.

[Go Swannies]

I think you'll find the story was telephoned through and only checked by a Sunday sub-editor. It's correct in the copy of the SMH that was delivered to my place.

[ugg]

I think I can work out all the names except Fasted. Who's that supposed to be?

[Go Swannies]

Fosdike?

[sharpie]

Hey, at least he reported on the whole game, not just up to half time like James MacSmith normally does. Maybe his dribble about the pre-match walk on the ground just didn't cut it, so they had to call up a reserve journo at the last minute.

[Snowy]

Richard Hinds is based in Melbourne so maybe doesn't know the Sydney players as well as journos up in Sydney. I don't get the Sydney papers so I am not sure what the locals one are like.

[Damien]

Originally posted by Snowy
Richard Hinds is based in Melbourne so maybe doesn't know the Sydney players as well as journos up in Sydney. I don't get the Sydney papers so I am not sure what the locals one are like.

Is he really?

He writes all about the swans all the time up here. Thought he would know heaps about them.

[ugg]

Based in Melbourne but writes a lot for the Herald on the Swans and tennis.

They've fixed the online article now, "Standing" and Schneider have gone from being charming to cramping hehe.

[Swansinger]

And his name was attached to the Sun-Herald report , talking about the "record 80,000 crowd".!!

Too lazy to check their facts . Was going to write to him but really couldn't be a**ed.