We've been waiting for 8 weeks.....

[sharp9]

To get out of third gear and we just can't seem to do it.

We've played at 85% for the past couple of months...enough to tough out wins against lower sides. We've shown glimpses of what we can do but just can't manage it for a whole half, let alone a whole game.

Our Backline is equal best in the league. Our forward line is the envy of most other teams...when fit.

Our defensive midfield is number one, easily.

BUT our midfield disposal is just not good enough to contend right now.

The questions.

Will Williams and Maxfield ever worry other sides again?
Will Mathews and Fosdike ever worry other sides at all?

For the past two months I thought that the answer to these questions was yes....it's just around the corner. But after being a mediocre underperforming midfield for 4 months maybe have a, wait for it, plain old mediocre midfield.

As long as those four get lots of the ball there is nothing for top teams to worry about. Maybe they will turn it around; stop fumbling and start hitting targets with monotonous regularity, but it is hard to see any rational reason why that should happen.

I don't know what we should do about it. I'm just sure that this is the single area where are not up to it. Seems easy to say we only need to fix one thing. But it's one REALLY BIG thing that can't be fixed without

a) miraculous turnaround in individual form

or

b) getting rid of four stalwarts of the club and trying some others.

Very depressed today, but surprisingly calm in the face of the facts.

[swansrule100]

If we take what you say as fact i think the decision cannot be made until the end of the year..

williams has been good when he plays this year

mathews is capable of playing in defence as well as midfield and has more to offer than fosdike who needs a big end to the year


as for maxfield hes been ok.... real good in some games... but he is a shadow of his former self..
i watched 90s the decade that delivered last night and saw some awesome play from him... that long left foot hitting the target or getting a goal on the run from 50....


its something to view at the end of the year

i dont consider our backline that good though.

Its led by Schuable... who knows whats ahead for him
Barry is the man back there but is continually playing on bigger players... and then we give up his dash off half back

kennelly belongs in the midfield as does goodes..

saddington has struggled there
c.bolt plays well but he is a bit light for some key forwards


i agree with ur assessment of our forward line though...but whens it ever fit?

[NMWBloods]

Re: We've been waiting for 8 weeks.....

Originally posted by sharp9
Will Williams and Maxfield ever worry other sides again?
Will Mathews and Fosdike ever worry other sides at all?

For the past two months I thought that the answer to these questions was yes....it's just around the corner. But after being a mediocre underperforming midfield for 4 months maybe have a, wait for it, plain old mediocre midfield.

As long as those four get lots of the ball there is nothing for top teams to worry about. Maybe they will turn it around; stop fumbling and start hitting targets with monotonous regularity, but it is hard to see any rational reason why that should happen.

I actually think Williams' and Maxfield's disposal is more effective than one of our leading possession getters - J Bolton.

They possibly make more clangers, but they are also far more damaging. Bolton gets lots of the ball, but does little with it.

At least he's better than Fosdike, who either gets no ball or when he does he fumbles.

Mathews is a strange one - I bagged him mercilessly a couple of years ago, but then had renewed faith in him last year as his disposal became better. However, now I worry that, like some others, he peaked in 2003 and he's really not going to get a lot better.

As I said elsewhere, the midfield may be reliant on the group of younger kids coming through. Problem is, can we hold a decent forward and back line together in that time...?

[Tubbs]

I cannot agree with anyone bagging Benny Mathews over the last two seasons, in my opinion he rarely makes an error, and his disposal is usually first rate. I think you'd find if he was offered as trade bait, the other clubs would be queueing up for a defensive midfielder like him.
I love Fozzy but it frustrates me when he has games like he did on Sunday. The thing you notice at the game is just how much running he does off the ball to create options, but as we all know his disposal can often let him down. Days like Sunday where he keeps bobbing up in space only to turn it over must drive the match committee insane!
As for alternatives, I'd love to see Kennelly in the middle but he's got to do the work in the gym first.
What about Nicksy? I used to love watching him steam off half back and setting up the forward line by putting one on Magic's chest from 60m! Give him a run on the ball. I think we truly miss his disposal running out of the backline and feel he should return there if Davis ever returns.

[NMWBloods]

Originally posted by Tubbs
I cannot agree with anyone bagging Benny Mathews over the last two seasons, in my opinion he rarely makes an error, and his disposal is usually first rate. I think you'd find if he was offered as trade bait, the other clubs would be queueing up for a defensive midfielder like him.

His disposal in 2020 and prior was woeful. His disposal last year was very good. This year it's not bad, but mixed. I don't think he's playing as well as he did last year.

I love Fozzy but it frustrates me when he has games like he did on Sunday. The thing you notice at the game is just how much running he does off the ball to create options, but as we all know his disposal can often let him down. Days like Sunday where he keeps bobbing up in space only to turn it over must drive the match committee insane!

I was a Fosdike fan for ages as he looked like he should have good skills and sometimes it is great. However, he too frequently lets the team down the wrong option or poor delivery.

As for alternatives, I'd love to see Kennelly in the middle but he's got to do the work in the gym first.

I think he's big enough to play as a midfielder.

What about Nicksy? I used to love watching him steam off half back and setting up the forward line by putting one on Magic's chest from 60m! Give him a run on the ball. I think we truly miss his disposal running out of the backline and feel he should return there if Davis ever returns.

With Davis in the forward line it might work to have Nicks at HBF, but he doesn't have the ability to play midfield though. With Davis back though, I suspect he will be a pinch hitter off the bench, and be a very useful one at that.

[stellation]

Originally posted by Tubbs
I cannot agree with anyone bagging Benny Mathews over the last two seasons, in my opinion he rarely makes an error, and his disposal is usually first rate.

[redunderthebed]

i am amazed about the same old posters using the same old crap about old benny m.
i think he has played very well in all games this year , he had an excellent year in 2003 and he is considered highly by all the coaching staff and players. He is , i believe, leading or close to leading the possessions .
his role is to take one of the opposition mid fielders and, often, Roos switches him onto a player that others cannot 'hold'. He is also, apparently, called on to be the loose defender. He does get easy possessions here and ,sometimes he looks slow as he seeks options but surely you can understand that sometimes the options are not there and it is important to hold up play.
i think his kicking has been brilliant this year and his contested marking has been improved. He has , as a sometimes mid fielder, been the major tackler.Sometimes it is the small things that count and i remeber some bagging Cressa because he did sometimes appear 'invisable' but managed to keep others out of the game.
I think that there will be no chance that he'll be traded for a couple of years(and i agree, there would be a lot of clubs after him) and i think that he is an improver. Certainly he ain't no Buckley but wouldn't we be happy with a Licuria.

[chammond]

Originally posted by redunderthebed
i am amazed about the same old posters using the same old crap about old benny m.
i think he has played very well in all games this year , he had an excellent year in 2003 and he is considered highly by all the coaching staff and players. He is , i believe, leading or close to leading the possessions .
his role is to take one of the opposition mid fielders and, often, Roos switches him onto a player that others cannot 'hold'. He is also, apparently, called on to be the loose defender. He does get easy possessions here and ,sometimes he looks slow as he seeks options but surely you can understand that sometimes the options are not there and it is important to hold up play.
i think his kicking has been brilliant this year and his contested marking has been improved. He has , as a sometimes mid fielder, been the major tackler.Sometimes it is the small things that count and i remeber some bagging Cressa because he did sometimes appear 'invisable' but managed to keep others out of the game.
I think that there will be no chance that he'll be traded for a couple of years(and i agree, there would be a lot of clubs after him) and i think that he is an improver. Certainly he ain't no Buckley but wouldn't we be happy with a Licuria.

You make some very good points. Mathews is very much a quiet achiever, and much of what he does goes unnoticed. But he keeps improving season by season, and will surely be a key part of the Swans for many years yet.

The two things that stand out to me are his uncanny ability to read the play and get to contests, and his courage in going for marks when he knows he's going to get cleaned up.

It seems to be fashionable to pick on the mistakes that Mathews makes, but in reality he makes amazingly few clangers when you consider how much he gets the ball.

I don't think there's any doubt that if we decided to trade Mathews, there would be a queue of offers from Melbourne clubs.

[swansrule100]

Originally posted by NMWBloods
His disposal in 2020 and prior was woeful. His disposal last year was very good. This year it's not bad, but mixed. I don't think he's playing as well as he did last year.

2020 he is going to be quite old to be fair

[NMWBloods]

Originally posted by swansrule100
2020 he is going to be quite old to be fair

But at least he'll have the AFL games played record! And he'll still be in red and white!

[swansrule100]

ur gonna pick every mistake i ever make now arent you? :P

[NMWBloods]

Originally posted by swansrule100
ur gonna pick every mistake i ever make now arent you? :P

No - you picked up my mistake. I was simply running with it.

[swansrule100]

good cos ud be kept busy with my typos!!!!


hows ur tipping going this year NMW?

[NMWBloods]

Originally posted by swansrule100
hows ur tipping going this year NMW?

I stopped entering tipping competitions a few years ago. I found I was barracking for teams I hated because of my tips, so I wasn't enjoying watching the games. I like to just watch games and enjoy the football.

[swansrule100]

yeh its frustrating sometimes

luckily i usually forget who i tipped