Thoughts

[ROK Lobster]

Originally posted by Damien
Hurts me more than last year.

We are at real risk of falling behind some teams next year, Geelong and St.Kilda are going to take the next step, and Brisbane and Port will not be going anywhere....

Thought a window had opened for us...how wrong I was to dream.

SPOT ON (imho )

[hammo]

LRT isn't up to standard to solve our CHB problems. I simply don't think he is good enough although happy to be proved wrong down the track.
His injuries have also put back his development.
We must trade well to find a ready made player to fill this role.

[ROK Lobster]

Here is an idea from left field - and I expect to be shot down in flames, but...

R O'Keefe for CHB.
Big enough - just
Good mark
Good kick
Good footy brain
And could drift down occasionally and kick a goal,

Thoughts (please be gentle)

[NMWBloods]

Interesting thought - not sure if he is quick enough.

[Norris Lurker]

It was a disappointing end to the season. The ball just wasn't bouncing the Swans' way - little things like marks that would normally be taken bouncing off, some shocking umpiring, losing Williams and Mathews. When St Kilda started to find space late in the second term and Riewoldt got on top all the signs were there.
The Swans showed great spirit late in the third to fight back and get within a couple of kicks. I was in M14, and it was in fine voice then; thanks to peterh_oz and his assistants for getting the chants going. But that ridiculous free to Milne and that other goal on the siren killed the momentum.
The Swans have done OK this season. Despite having worse injuries, and being inconsistent, they'll only finish 1 place below last year. There's definately scope for improvement, especially if players like McVeigh and Bevan can continue to develop. How the Swans go with the trades will be a key factor, but if they do well out of that there could be some exciting times within the next couple of years.

[Nico]

Don't subscribe to the gloom and doom of some for next year.

We had a poor run with injuries and lost a number of close games.
Most scribes had us over achieving in 2003. How wrong they were. Anyone who says we over achieved this year really doesn't know anything about footy. Pretty hard to over achieve 2 years running.

Melbourne and Geelong improved this year but had little affect on where we finished. Every year clubs go forward and backward. The same will happen next season. With very much the same personal and a bit more luck, and some hopefully, improvement to our list we should be there again.

Perhaps we need to have a change to our game plan to produce more goals, and put some space between us and the opposition in games. Bit more consistency by stringing more wins together and less ups and downs would also help.

[Wil]

Most depressing thing is coming on to this board and seeing everyones reactions. Yeah, lets trade Goodes. McVeigh is hopeless, Should we have gotton Wallace... etc etc.

We got beaten on a wet friday night in Melbourne by a Melbourne team who came out to win. Swans played so as not to lose and if you do that... you will lose. The most worrying thing is how much we rely on Williams in our team. The second worrying thing is how much loss of control of the team seemed to happen as St. Kilda started to run away with the match.

There is still alot of promise in our team - Goodes, McVeigh, Roos which we can keep building on as we get more finals experience. Lets hope for a good pre-season and a dominant CHB and a skillful attacking midfielder to come from somewhere...

[NMWBloods]

Originally posted by Wil
Swans played so as not to lose and if you do that... you will lose.

This is a major worry with our game plan as it is, and something I highlighted in my finals preview. We do not put teams away and usually keep them in the match.

We need to add a more attacking angle to our game, which is different to the reliance on running it off half back. If we can combine the tempo control of locking the ball down, with the potential for launching attacking football off half back or from the midfield then we can become a very dangerous and powerful side.

[Wil]

Originally posted by NMWBloods
This is a major worry with our game plan as it is, and something I highlighted in my finals preview. We do not put teams away and usually keep them in the match.

Well to use Swans usual tactic of hanging on to the match is fine - when you are up by 5 goals but not straight after the first bounce!

I have coached other sports but not AFL so don't know much about AFL tactics. But surely the first thing Sydney wanted to do is come out firing early, get a couple of goals on, and make St. Kilda start thinking about how they got flogged against Brisbane and therefore never get their confidence up. Our stupid first half game plan just allowed St. Kilda to slowly build their confidence back up until they blew us out of the park in the last qtr. St. Kilda will make it to the Grand Final with this renewed vigour thanks to playing us.

[Bron]

Originally posted by Wil
Most depressing thing is coming on to this board and seeing everyones reactions. Yeah, lets trade Goodes. McVeigh is hopeless, Should we have gotton Wallace... etc etc.

Hear Hear. But I say, bah humbug.

Whilst last night was disappointing ... hugely disappointing ... we now just start looking forward to next year. We have shown that we can beat any team in the competition. We now need to focus on doing that consistently.

What are the upsides?

We have had a few players have surprisingly good seasons ... Bevan emerged, Monty stood up, Hall made a huge leap forward in maturity and versatility, Nicksy has come back to form, Pebbles is looking good and Magic has still got it. Stephen Doyle started to emerge and was able to finish the season unscathed.

Generally, our backline was strong and resilient and held back the opposition. This is despite often being out muscled on paper. And despite having key players injured for extended periods early in the season.

Our coach has tried some new strategies. In some cases, these were incredibly successful. In others, it was a learning experience. The coach has shown that he has the respect of his players and that last year was not just a reaction to post-Eade.

We now have time for some critical players - Goodes, Micky, Willo - to take the time to repair and recover from their injuries. Careful management should have us ready for the new season.

The Club has a CEO who is now 12 months into the job and is making improvements. There is a lot of improvement required, but I believe things are moving forward.

We have a strong football department under Andrew Ireland.

We have fabulous facilities for players and this appears to be paying off, with relocated players appearing to commit to Sydney as home.

We have committed and loyal fans who care deeply about the Club, witnessed by the outpouring of support to the Club after Wally's death, the many who have trekked around the country following the team and the many who now gather together to watch away games. The Swans is a viable team in Sydney, after years of insecurity.

[NMWBloods]

Originally posted by Wil
I have coached other sports but not AFL so don't know much about AFL tactics. But surely the first thing Sydney wanted to do is come out firing early, get a couple of goals on, and make St. Kilda start thinking about how they got flogged against Brisbane and therefore never get their confidence up. Our stupid first half game plan just allowed St. Kilda to slowly build their confidence back up until they blew us out of the park in the last qtr. St. Kilda will make it to the Grand Final with this renewed vigour thanks to playing us.

Yep - I would have thought to put them under massive pressure from the first bounce and build up a lead. My thoughts before the game was that we needed a 4-5 goal lead at half time to win. If we didn't have that then St Kilda would still have some belief and combined with their huge talent pool would be able to reel us back in.

It was the same thing for Geelong v. Port. Geelong needed to make Port feel deja vu in the first quarter so the element of doubt crept in. Instead Geelong were weak at the ball, Port kicked a few goals and their confidence soared.

[NMWBloods]

Originally posted by Bron
What are the upsides?

I agree with your upsides, and I feel next year and further could be quite interesting.

The main problem is you didn't list an upside for our weakest area - the midfield. That's naturally because there is not a lot of genuine upside at the moment. We have a few players coming through who might be able to add something, but that is very uncertain and we lack champions in this area. Unless we can unearth something, the potential upside is limited.