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

[swan_17]

the best part of the second half was the punch up...

[sfan]

Brisbane's best player in the crunch time in the 3Q was Pike. The oldest player on the ground. They had to move Saddo off him.

[swan_song]

Pikey is a gun...Saddo just demonstrated again tonight why I don't rate him as a backman...he tries to outmark, rarely does he do the disciplined thing in using the punch... at least Heath seemed to have got that message (the idea though when punching in defence is to try not to direct the ball to the opposition). Anyway, lets not forget that Jason Mott's miss from 30 aside, we ran the best team of the past 20 years, maybe of all time, to 2 points on their own turf, and maybe should have won it...

[motorace_182]

lets not forget that Jason Mott's miss from 30

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

[Donners]

It wasn't just Saddington. The defending was really bad throughout the game. IIRC Brisbane's first goal came from three Sydney players crashing into each other and leaving two Brisbane players open, and I lost count of the number of times Sydney players were out of position.

[dendol]

Originally posted by Donners
It wasn't just Saddington. The defending was really bad throughout the game. IIRC Brisbane's first goal came from three Sydney players crashing into each other and leaving two Brisbane players open, and I lost count of the number of times Sydney players were out of position.

It happens when you have two of your usual defenders out. Schauble is the 'general' of the backline, so when you take him out, and then Kennelly as well, its gonna be tough for the new guys to get it right all the time back there. Good effort though, especially for James and Leo.

[liz]

Originally posted by dendol
It happens when you have two of your usual defenders out. Schauble is the 'general' of the backline, so when you take him out, and then Kennelly as well, its gonna be tough for the new guys to get it right all the time back there. Good effort though, especially for James and Leo.

I reckon that's spot on.

The TV coverage showed a bit at one of the breaks (prob at quarter time, can't quite remember) with the defensive group having discussions among themselves. It was Mathews who seemed to be the most vocal, explaining (particularly to James) where they should be positioning themselves.

For James to effectively hold down the FB position for most of the game with only 8 AFL games experience was a very impressive effort. If he can string a few games together and get some confidence he could become a key player for us.

[Mark]

agree re scahuble, but also badly missed kennelly run out of defence also.

He always makes himself available, taking the pressure of the player with the ball. I suspect this is why we played such a slow rebound style game

All round tho with personnel a very good first up effort

[chammond]

Originally posted by Donners
The defending was really bad throughout the game.

What??

The defence kept the triple premiers to 11 goals!

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!

[stellation]

agree totally that the backline looked lost without Schauble... too many cases of not following the old one up one down idea... it was actually really annoying me.

[Cheer Cheer]

It is really good to see that Leo Barry has not taken a backward step from last year and looks like to take it up another notch again this year.
If he keeps this form up it will an injustice if he doesnt make the AA half back flank left side.

And how good was his mark running back into play! The swans coaching staff will play that again and again...

[Destructive]

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

I think we have a little problem with pressure kicks.

[Nico]

Originally posted by chammond
What??

The defence kept the triple premiers to 11 goals!

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!

Absolutely agree Hammo. It was the poor centre clearance work by the onballers and delivery into the forward line by the onballers that was the problem.

One thing fairly obvious is that McVeigh should be on the ground the whole game from now on. He looks the natural replacement for Cressa and he is the opposite to what people have been saying. He is a hard nut, has good skills and most importantly gets where the balls at.

[Nico]

The third quarter was disapponting, but again Roos had Williams off the ground for some time as usual, as was discussed here recently. I don't who else was resting but it enables the opposition to regroup.

But boy we were very good in the last quarter. Barry Hall gives away a dumb free, a couple of errant kicks into the forward line and Balls miss probably meant a loss instead of 2 goal win.

Also I hope Roos gave Fosdike a bit of a blast for his 2 shocking toe pokes that should have hit players on the chest but fell woefully short. And can anyone tell me why Maxfield so often kicks across goal when he is running inside 50 under little pressure and should be having a ping at the sticks. I have been baffled by this for some time.

[chammond]

Originally posted by Nico
One thing fairly obvious is that McVeigh should be on the ground the whole game from now on. He looks the natural replacement for Cressa and he is the opposite to what people have been saying. He is a hard nut, has good skills and most importantly gets where the balls at.

Yeah, I think the form of McVeigh and James were the overriding positives to come out of the game.

McVeigh seems to have so much time when he's got the ball - a sign of real class. James by comparison is all bustle and determination - he's still very raw, but could be a top quality defender in the making. It's exciting to think what they might develop into.

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?