Celebration Thread

[j s]

Noticed that the Bombers ran out thru the umpires race (instaed of their own) for their warm up. Very cosy!

[floppinab]

A lot of positive vibes here but....

"Sydney coach Paul Roos said the Swans 'dodged a bullet' in the first quarter."

And that's the truth, if we were six or seven goals down at quarter time like we should have been one might wonder on whether we could've got back.

To the boys credit we did turn it on in the second.

Probably the back six's worst quarter for a while (holding teams to low scores sets a high expectation I guess!!!). Essendon were hell bent on maintaining pressure in their F50 and were able to come up with a number of goals from contested plays there, a few of them more than just a little bit soft as well.

66 handballs for the night, probably our lowest in a month, the run from the back half never got going. But after quarter time it was noticable that we were happy enough to hack it out of clearances (Kirk 14 kicks, just 2 HB) and let the forwards do the work. Happy to see this, with the talent we have up forward, force it in there quickly and let them do the rest.

[Nico]

Out all night at a restaurant 21st, saw the lst Q on replay. If I can't see the full reply will have to rely on P46 for votes or even worse his old man. What a dilemma.

Sensational win and hopefully we have finally got rid of those disposal blues. Blokes on ABC Radio said Doyle dominated the 2nd Q ruck duals and at one point said who will he palm it to this time. They were most impressed. Didn't hear much though. The dragon was filthy I took the trannie to the turn in the first place. Funny though how many people we after a score update.

[BAM_BAM]

Originally posted by floppinab
"Sydney coach Paul Roos said the Swans 'dodged a bullet' in the first quarter."

if you can dodge a bullet you can play dodge ball!! Sorry but the ads for Ben Stillers new movie were played serval times at each break last. It's stuck in my head.

We were lucky their accuracy was poor in the first quarter (wouldn't want to be Job Watson this morning), but the second was great to watch. And the way our forwards move into the midfield looking for the ball is just inspiring.

[Mike_B]

Originally posted by floppinab
66 handballs for the night, probably our lowest in a month, the run from the back half never got going. But after quarter time it was noticable that we were happy enough to hack it out of clearances (Kirk 14 kicks, just 2 HB) and let the forwards do the work. Happy to see this, with the talent we have up forward, force it in there quickly and let them do the rest.

Actually, that was our lowest handball tally for the season (previous low was 73 againts Adelaide in Rd 15). I have no problem about a force the ball forward mentality - Brisbane do this all the time, and it's thestyle of footy that will hold up better under intense pressure at the business end of the season.

[Rizzo]

Any clearance stats?

The difference to me between the first and second quarters was moving Kirk into the centre rather than having him run in from outside the square. He's not the most fleet of foot but can get his hands on the ball. Brillant game!

Doyle - 31 hitouts!

Hall - deadset legend (the whole forward line worked well)

Monty - Hard nut. Great game.

What a night. Probably the best weather we've had out in the sticks.

As an aside - I've never seen a goal post wobble as much as it did in the 2nd quarter before Lloyd kicked his non-goal.

[Thunder Shaker]

Originally posted by monopoly19
Also, Leo Barry is the most compellingly frightening footballer to watch, ever, in the whole history of the world.

Yes, I'm sure there's a lot of people that love watching him out of morbid curiosity

[BAZooka Woman]

The win didn't affect me at all ..

So you heard me yelling WOO HOO (H)all the way home? That was only 'cos I caught the first train back.

So you saw me running round and round the courtyard in my Swannies scuffs? Just needed the exercise.

So you noticed me stay up and watch the replay and rewind all the best bits? Just wanted to check my video was working.

So my flat's covered in tributes to Barry today? Just needed to cover up some ugly marks on the wall.

Didn't care, really.

AS

[Snowy]

McVeigh had 46 minutes. Interesting listening to Shaw whinge on the radio about Essendon's injuries and how McPhee getting injured hurt them. Well he was getting towelled by Hall and in any case MOL and Davis were always going to be too strong for those other types they would have thrown up. Imagine how potent the forward line would be if the midfield was stronger and provided more opportunities! Willo looked serious not despondent at the end but he is obviously carrying a niggling injury.

[Schneiderman]

Simply an awesome forward line, and we still have Schneider to come back into it as a super crumber (which we "sorta" miss at the moment).

Tonights game demonstrated to me just how far this team has come in the last year. Boring football my butt! How frustrated Sheedy was... Essendon shut down the run and handball game, only for us to crank open the smash-and-grab plan.

We can officially now:
1. Create run from HBF
2. Bomb it long into the 50 and take contested marks
3. Kick goals from 50 to negate a super-flood in the defensive 50
4. Lock down a game and win a low-scoring slog

We are IMO a more threatening side in this years finals than last year. There is no longer one way to shut us down and make us lose. And with fitness, form and injuries coming good at the pointy end of the year, look out Brisbane and Port

[NMWBloods]

Yep - we do appear a bit more multi-dimensional and tougher than last year. As I said a few weeks ago, it appears that perhaps our uncertain performances during the year were partly caused by a subtle shift in game plan to give us more options (as well as injuries of course).

I still think Buchanan and Schneider changing in the forward pocket and on the ball could be a very useful combination.

[Schneiderman]

Originally posted by NMWBloods
I still think Buchanan and Schneider changing in the forward pocket and on the ball could be a very useful combination.

IMO Schneider has more "freak" talent, Buchanan more fitness. Schneids is more a foward pocket and Buchanan a true midfielder. Thoughts?

[footyhead]

Originally posted by Schneiderman
Simply an awesome forward line, and we still have Schneider to come back into it as a super crumber (which we "sorta" miss at the moment).

Tonights game demonstrated to me just how far this team has come in the last year. Boring football my butt! How frustrated Sheedy was... Essendon shut down the run and handball game, only for us to crank open the smash-and-grab plan.

We can officially now:
1. Create run from HBF
2. Bomb it long into the 50 and take contested marks
3. Kick goals from 50 to negate a super-flood in the defensive 50
4. Lock down a game and win a low-scoring slog

We are IMO a more threatening side in this years finals than last year. There is no longer one way to shut us down and make us lose. And with fitness, form and injuries coming good at the pointy end of the year, look out Brisbane and Port

Did you see the Lions play today ? Essendon are no where near that level.

[liz]

I think the team is smarter now than it was a year ago, and more versatile. Having two competent ruckmen fit and in decent form is another big plus.

Where we are probably a bit down is on brilliance through the midfield, mostly because Goodes isn't able to play at the level he was a year ago. Wonderful as the rest of the team was against Port last year, Goodes was absolutely sensational and a major reason why the team won. Of the shorter players, Williams is probably the next most likely to inspire through brilliance, and he too is currently a shadow of his "normal"self.

Unless through some bizarre set of results next week we land up travelling to Perth for week 1 of the finals, I'd be as confident as you can be going into a knock-out match against any of the likely opponents in the first round. If we win one and at least have a pretty decent crack at the semi it will be a pretty reasonable result for an inconsistent and frustrating year.

[NMWBloods]

Originally posted by Schneiderman
IMO Schneider has more "freak" talent, Buchanan more fitness. Schneids is more a foward pocket and Buchanan a true midfielder. Thoughts?

I think Buchanan has more awareness and vision. Schneider has more talent. Not sure about fitness and speed of either them relatively speaking.

I think they can both do the midfield/forward pocket role.


In terms of Liz's comments - good observation on Goodes and Williams. They are clearly our two most creative midfielders and both of them have been down this year, mainly due to injury. Goodes might be regaining some form but Williams still has a bit to go it seems. Whether we can cover them, which becomes more critical in finals, will be a key issue.