Disappointing

[Charlie]

We dominated that quarter, and should be 40 points up. Instead, we messed up far too many times going through the centre and half forward lines, and when we did get it forward, wasted opportunities through poor kicking!

Someone needs to tell Schneiderman, for example, that he doesn't have to kick it himself every single time. I know its unfair to pick one player in particular, but it really was a glaring lack of judgment.

Saddo was doing well taking Pavlich out of the game, even if he was doing less himself. So when Pavlich goes to full-forward, what do we do? Give him to C-Bolt... and what should have been 40 points becomes 12 points!

For a half of football where we dominated possession, we have precious little to show for it.

[NMWBloods]

Very ordinary half of football.

Schneider blazing away was disappointing as was Hall yet again running into an open goal and missing.

Saddo had done a pretty good job trailing Pavlich around the park, however I don't think we have anyone who can match up on him in the forward line very well. I can't see anyone (from any side!) stopping either of those two marks he took.

Our disposal has been poor - way too many OOBOTF and some of the I50 (sorry - I45!) has been quite blind, going straight to the Freo guys falling back along HBF.

Kirk is doing a good job.

J Bolton needs to tighten up on Hasleby.

Crouch has done a great job on Farmer, with some good rebounding, although his disposal continues to be mixed.

Mathews getting involved a lot, but just appears a fraction slow and unaware of the opposition at times.

Kennelly had a great start, but seems to have faded a bit.

We really need to be careful this qtr - our 3rd is often our worst and Freo got on top us in the 3rd qtr last year.

[Foreign Legion]

Even more dissapointing when "Allan Moffat" - or a facsimile - is the only thing available on afl.com.au.

Just heard... Saddo to the forward line - I think it will work!

Cheers from NJ

[Foreign Legion]

Post lost in transit from New Jersey - bloods going ok according to Neil Cordy on radio. What is wrong with Goodesy?

[Foreign Legion]

What's happenning? AFL.com stuffed!

[NMWBloods]

A solid, if not spectacular, win in the end by 31 points.

Very good second half by Hall, finishing with 5.3 and some good leading and strong marking.

Great game by Fosdike - he seems to stepping up to replace Cressa with a quiet, yet effective haul of 25 possessions.

Back line was pretty solid - James, C Bolton and Barry were all good.

Fantastic game by Crouch - completely shut down Farmer while being dangerous on the attack himself, including an outstanding running goal.

Nice effort by Bevan, 2 goals and a fairly solid effort in the backline.

Good game by O'Keefe - some nice marks and goals, and having a positive influence.

J Bolton seemed to play a better second half, getting more of it himself and restricting Hasleby better.

Overall, a reasonable win, without being spectacular. It's nice that we have the ability to win now without needing to play a fantastic game.

[Sid]

Well said NMWBloods. Only disappointing thing is that Saddington had another shocker today. I reckon if James can take the FB position, the Schauble could go back to his preferred CHB. James definitely played well there.

Bazza showed that he could keep the forward line competitive without Magic and Davis. Overall, a definitely great performance.

[sfan]

Overall, a reasonable win, without being spectacular. It's nice that we have the ability to win now without needing to play a fantastic game.

Agreed, a sign of a good sign is that you can win when you do not play all that well. I thought we were off the boil a little but finally got going and won well. Nic F and ROK were better. ROK and Scheiderman's kicking are a little loose when shooting for goal and need to tighten at training this week. Well done by the irishman in his comeback.

[liz]

Originally posted by NMWBloods
A solid, if not spectacular, win in the end by 31 points...

NMW's post pretty much sums it up. Very workmanlike but it was against a decent team (even if they were pretty ordinary today) and had it not been for very ordinary concentration in that second quarter when we were so far on top, it would have been 50 points+.

Good to see Tiger back out there - looked like he hadn't missed a beat, though he faded a bit.

Very impressed with Pebbles' effort. He will need to keep it up with Magic and Davis now out for a while, but can't ask for much more than he did today.

Interesting comment about Fosdike - have to admit I barely saw him while watching the game at the ground and thought he'd had a really quiet one. But then it is often hard to see what's happening in the packs from a distance.

Still loads of improvement to come so can be reasonably satisfied with a regulation 4 points.

[Cheer Cheer]

Originally posted by lizz

Interesting comment about Fosdike - have to admit I barely saw him while watching the game at the ground and thought he'd had a really quiet one. But then it is often hard to see what's happening in the packs from a distance.

Yeh that is often the case when sitting in the crowd, however he did have a blinder of a game. Racked up about 14 handball receives IIRC and really used his aerobic capacity and ran all day.
Commentators rated him BOG along with Barry Hall.
Good to see Fosdike cut them up.

[Bleed Red Blood]

Great to win the game and the four point's without being spectacular.

I thought ROK had a great game and can only gwet better (I hope).

Fosdike played really well, Jude Bolton doesn't seem to have improved from last year.

Great 45 metre arc.

[Bleed Red Blood]

Originally posted by Bleed Red Blood
Great to win the game and the four point's without being spectacular.

I thought ROK had a great game and can only gwet better (I hope).

Fosdike played really well, Jude Bolton doesn't seem to have improved from last year.

Great 45 metre arc.

Also, Williams wasn't great today though I think that might be the first time he's gone missing since he left the Pies.

[Bleed Red Blood]

Swans too powerful for Dockers
4:15:55 PM Sun 4 April, 2004
David Wiseman
Sportal/exclusive to afl.com.au
The Sydney Swans have recorded their first victory of the 2004 season with a 31 point victory 15.12 (102) to 10.11 (71) over the Fremantle Dockers at the SCG today.

Halfway through the third quarter, the Dockers had fought their way to just two points in arrears and it looked as though the game was developing into an arm-wrestle, but seven consecutive Sydney goals assured the Swans of a comfortable victory.

Led by Barry Hall with a goal in every quarter and five in total and 25 possessions to Nic Fosdike, the Swans were in control for most of the match.

The Dockers were not helped by an ankle injury to Des Headland and knee injury to Graham Polak which prevented the two key players from playing.

In wet conditions, a scrappy opening saw Fremantle build a seven point lead thanks to two goals from Justin Longmuir and one to Matthew Pavlich but the Swans fought back with goals from Brett Kirk, Paul Bevan and Hall to go to the first change with an 11 point lead. Bevan?s was his first in league football.

The Swans dominance continued after quarter time and after just four minutes Hall?s third major and Tadhg Kennelly?s first saw Sydney establish a handy 22 point lead.

Paul Hasleby broke free from his yoke to get the Dockers back into the game and after the Swans kicked five straight behinds, two late goals both courtesy of Pavlich restricted Sydney?s half time lead to just 12 points.

A Dockers fightback in the early stages of the third quarter saw them edge within two points of the Swans but Sydney goals to Ryan O?Keefe, Jared Crouch, Hall and one to Jude Bolton with just six seconds remaining gave the Swans an invaluable 24 point lead heading into the final change.

After the Swans kicked the first three goals of the final quarter, the match was over.

The Swans had the better of the matchups with Kirk continuing
his fine form of last year managing 16 touches of his own whilst restricting Bell to 22 possessions, down from his 38 in the opening round.

The Swans now face Geelong at the SCG next Saturday night whilst the Dockers return to the confines of Subiaco where they will host Adelaide next Sunday.

SYDNEY: 5.1, 7.6, 12.9, 15.12 (102)
FREMANTLE: 3.2, 5.6, 8.9, 10.11 (71)
GOALS: Sydney: Hall 5, Bevan 2, O?Keefe 2, Maxfield, Kirk, Kennelly, Crouch, J.Bolton, Schneider
Fremantle: Pavlich 3, Longmuir 2, Waterhouse 2, Simmonds 2, Farmer
BEST: Sydney: Fosdike, Hall, Matthews, Kennelly, O?Keefe, Crouch Fremantle: Hasleby, Bell, Pavlich, Waterhouse
INJURIES: Sydney:. O?Loughlin (hamstring) Fremantle: Headland (ankle) replaced in starting side by Dunn, Polak (knee) replaced in starting side by Cunningham.
REPORTS: Nil.
UMPIRES: Rowe, Head, Goldspink.
CROWD: 21,366 at SCG.

[Captain]

Originally posted by lizz
Interesting comment about Fosdike - have to admit I barely saw him while watching the game at the ground and thought he'd had a really quiet one. But then it is often hard to see what's happening in the packs from a distance.

Too true.

I hardly spotted Fosdike as well. Looked to only get a handful of possessions.

Well done to him though, let's hope he can consistently perform this year.

[NMWBloods]

Originally posted by Bleed Red Blood
Also, Williams wasn't great today though I think that might be the first time he's gone missing since he left the Pies.

Started poorly I thought and then seemed to improve. Picked up Hasleby in the second half and seemed to do a pretty good job on him, which is possibly why we didn't see as much of him in the second half. I think he still had over 20 possessions though.