.....Gotta be disappointed with the second half

[liz]

Originally posted by chammond

In contrast, I thought Powell's performance was very ordinary - I doubt he'll ever be anything more than just a back-up defender.

And I wish LRT was having more of an impact on the field . . . he looks good in bursts, but goes missing for ages. And his decision-making is so painful . . . it looks like he has to have second and third thoughts before he does anything?

Those are pretty harsh comments Cliff. Agree that Powell didn't have a huge impact but was he on the ground that much? When he was he seemed to be up the ground, rather than in defence, and I thought he showed a few nice touches.

As for LRT, I thought it was one of his best games yet. He seemed to play more instinctively than usual and was involved in some good set-ups of play. There were times where the whole team's decision making process looked laborious last night and he was better than many in this department, I thought.

[Dpw]

Originally posted by lizz
Those are pretty harsh comments Cliff. Agree that Powell didn't have a huge impact but was he on the ground that much? When he was he seemed to be up the ground, rather than in defence, and I thought he showed a few nice touches.

As for LRT, I thought it was one of his best games yet. He seemed to play more instinctively than usual and was involved in some good set-ups of play. There were times where the whole team's decision making process looked laborious last night and he was better than many in this department, I thought.

Agree with you Lizz and after watching the westcoast v bulldogs It puts in perspective how good our guy's decision making was really.

[Schneidergirl]

I'm probably repeating here but...

Can't wait till Kennelly Schaubs and Schneider are back.

Leo is just so fantastic to watch!

LRT was terrific last night.

Goodes, Crouch and Willo were outstanding.

Maybe Hall had oil on his hands last night. He didn't seem to have much one on one time with the ball.

Can't wait till OUR first (home) game of the season!

[chammond]

Originally posted by lizz
There were times where the whole team's decision making process looked laborious last night and he was better than many in this department, I thought.

Can't argue with that Liz . . . there were plenty of times when it was all too obvious that it was a first round game.

With LRT, I've no doubt his decision-making will improve with experience, but I guess I was expecting that he would get more involved this year, after his rapid rate of improvement last year.

When he's around the ball, LRT looks great, but he went missing for such long periods. Did Roos have him off the ground for lengthy spells? It's hard to tell on the TV.

With Powell, I was disappointed with his apparent lack of improvement. He's had a strong pre-season by all accounts, and created some interest on this board, but really I think the reason he had little ground time was because he made virtually no impact.

If Powell doesn't grab these opportunities, he's going to be leap-frogged by Rogers, Sundqvist, Ablett etc. Maybe I was expecting too much, but I was hoping he'd put in the kind of effort that we saw from James.

[Reggi]

Originally posted by chammond


With Powell, I was disappointed with his apparent lack of improvement. He's had a strong pre-season by all accounts, and created some interest on this board, but really I think the reason he had little ground time was because he made virtually no impact.

If Powell doesn't grab these opportunities, he's going to be leap-frogged by Rogers, Sundqvist, Ablett etc. Maybe I was expecting too much, but I was hoping he'd put in the kind of effort that we saw from James.

Stop baggen me Love Child!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

played out of position - in the middle rather than the forward line - he's a good mark rather than a ball winner - when he had the ball he looked ok. Bit of patience.

In fact it would be very tough to make changes to this side even though we are due to have Doyle, Schneider and Kennelly back over the next few weeks

[chammond]

Originally posted by Reggi

played out of position - in the middle rather than the forward line - he's a good mark rather than a ball winner - when he had the ball he looked ok. Bit of patience.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know.

I guess I want him to do well, and I don't think he did enough. Probably being too harsh.

[Barry Schneider]

At least Barry got a free.Woooohooo.
I wish he would wear a Matthew Lloyd mask,he would get hundreds.
Agree that clearances and delivery into the forward line were poor but it is good to see we will be very competetive this year.(I admit I was a bit concerned, just a little bit mind you)

[JF_Bay22_SCG]

Originally posted by motorace_182
There couldnt possibly be another miss as bad as Ricky's....must run in the family

Frigging hell, what is it with Sydney ruckmen and missing game-winning kicks? First Mott, then Goodes, now Ball.

FELLLLLLLLLLLLLLAS, what the hell is going on?

It is just oh so frustrating. with the Sydney (and even Brisbane) papers filled with reports of the woes of the Canterbury Bulldogs, we'd have won the hearts and minds of the whole city had we beaten the Lions. I swear we'd have gotten 35000 plus against Freo.

But alas it wasn't to be. The sobering thought though is that Brisbane did kick 3-6 in the 3rd quarter. Had they kicked straighter, the game could well have been blown out of our reach earlier.

If somebody said before the game that we'd nearly beat Brisbane up there, I'd nearly have taken it.

Guys, if last night is anything to go on, we are right up there with the TOP contenders for the premiership. Despite everything, there was still an incredible amount of good to come out of this match. As once again, we had the Premiers and benchmark football side of the 21st Century very very worried.

I'm worried that the Dockers may catch us off guard next week. I'm expecting them to be right up there with Brizzie and St Kilda, so we'll have to be on our game.

JF

[JF_Bay22_SCG]

Originally posted by lizz

As for LRT, I thought it was one of his best games yet. He seemed to play more instinctively than usual and was involved in some good set-ups of play. There were times where the whole team's decision making process looked laborious last night and he was better than many in this department, I thought.

Yes, wasn't he excellent. He was so much faster in his decision-making than he was last year. I don't know whether that had more to do with himjust being more confident, or just more able to read a game. But it definitely was one thing that stood out.

I think we badly missed Schneider as a goalsneak in the forward line. Especially after Davis went off, we had little at ground level. Micky O and to a lesser extent Adam Goodes looked to be playing with injuries. Especially in the case of the former, they just weren't themselves for much of the night, even if a half-fit Goodes is still more than able to get the ball and distribute it skilfully.

JF

[sfan]

With LRT, I've no doubt his decision-making will improve with experience, but I guess I was expecting that he would get more involved this year, after his rapid rate of improvement last year.

When he's around the ball, LRT looks great, but he went missing for such long periods. Did Roos have him off the ground for lengthy spells? It's hard to tell on the TV.

While I think LRT has great potential he still is learning the game. When the ball comes to him without too much time to think about it he is OK. He handballs well but his kicking still needs a lot of work. It looks like he has put in a few kilos but is still a long way from a key position player IMHO.

[NMWBloods]

Originally posted by chammond
What??

The defence kept the triple premiers to 11 goals!

Although let's not forget that nearly a third of their goals come from players not playing or injured early.

It would be much more accurate to say that the Swans' attacking was really bad throughout the game. Take Davis out of the equation and we would have been walloped!

Yep - we struggled to find targets with their flooding, plus Hall was really out of sorts.

Originally posted by Lizz
Those are pretty harsh comments Cliff. Agree that Powell didn't have a huge impact but was he on the ground that much? When he was he seemed to be up the ground, rather than in defence, and I thought he showed a few nice touches.

Powell played only 62 min, less than anyone (except Davis) and managed 7 disposals. I thought he looked okay, although nothing flash and didn't get overly involved. Seemed to play a bit up forward and a bit in the midfield.

[Reggi]

Just an aside an observation on this game.

Robert Walls and assorted commentators praised a 'depleted' Brisbane for their courage in getting over the line 'with their backs to the wall'.

Must say that is the most depleted side with 3 Brownlow medalists, 2 Norm Smith Medalists, and 21 Premiership players, that we have ever come up against.

On their home ground.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm

[Nico]

And we had 4 players who have little match experience. 2 FIRST gamers and 2 blokes who have played a handful of games.

It took a Swans supporter on radio today to put Walls & Co straight on this one.

[Reggi]

Originally posted by Nico
And we had 4 players who have little match experience. 2 FIRST gamers and 2 blokes who have played a handful of games.

It took a Swans supporter on radio today to put Walls & Co straight on this one.

Did they? I switched it off - certainly we were down Schneider, Kennelly, Schauble and ??Doyle.

It was a little unfair - what did the Swans supporter say / Walls if you don't mind recounting

I would have said 2 debutants, and 3 inexperienced, ie handful of games Ablett, James and Powell

[dendol]

Your point about Robert Walls' comments are valid, but I think that the absence of Brown and Lynch more than make up for our playing of rookies - with all due respect to Schneider, Kennelly, Schauble and Doyle.

Although they had Pike, Keating and Leppitsch in the forward line, imagine if they had two gorillas in Lynch and Brown in the lineup. The result could have been vastly different to what we saw.

Brisbane also played a few rookies: Hadley, Brennan, McGrath..