Sydneys boring game plan

[liz]

I'm certainly expecting (hoping for) a combination of 2003 and 2004's game plans next year. I like to see last year as adding to the team's repertoire.

It's also worth bearing in mind that we rarely saw the team's 2 most attacking, "flairy" midfielders in full flight last year, which probably contributed to the sometimes dour style. If Goodes and Williams can recapture some of their 2003 approach the team will look a whole lot different.

Add a fit Davis and Schneider playing midfield cameos, and there's plenty of reason to hope we might see more flair and less grind.

[JF_Bay22_SCG]

Re: Sydneys boring game plan

Originally posted by footyhead
What can we do about Sydney's boring game plan?
I am afraid that it is really turning a lot of Sydney siders off AFL football.
Is there anything we can do ?

When I first saw this thread I thought "here we go, another Footyhead moan". But now that I think about what he wrote, I actually agree with him.

I never really noticed it much at the games. But when I compared our games to even that of other finalists like Geelong St Kilda or Port, it really hit home how scrappy and ugly our game plan was in 2004.

Everyone was happy to pat each other on the back at the Club Best & Fairest, but if some of these people were happy with the spectacle it provided us the fans, they must have been mistaken.

Ok, at the end of 2003 we were all asking whether clubs would work out our running game. They had. Roos adopted a way to get around it to a degree. But to the naked eye some of the footy was akin to two teams of 36 players all running after the flight of the ball. On our pinhead-sized oval we have an artificial advantage. But as shown in wet conditions, going from ball up to boundary throw-in will get us nowhere when we don't have guys like Williams to move the ball upfield quickly.

Where to from here, well I don't know to be honest. I have been a big fan of Roos to this date. (Hey, I was one of the funky protesters with the cool dog! ) But I will go off him as a coach if he adopts such cynical tactics to win matches in future.

In Sydney we have not only the aim of winning and for our club to be successful but to be advocates for our sport. If I had new friends coming to the Adelaide match this year they'd have gone home at 3/4 time.

The scary thing I have been thinking is that by playing defensive stoppage-happy football is that Roos is admitting to the world that he has little more quality in his squad with which he can better more a free-flowing game.

Footyhead, you have got us all thinking. Thank You!

JF

[floppinab]

It's interesting that it flys in the face of Mr. Heads other bug bear about the need to maintain middle of the road success to ensure that we maintain an adequate level of support.

I took some virgins to the Crows game last year, spent the whole game explaining 'it's not usually like this'.

I think actually playing this way and winning will turn supporters off more than playing 'flash' with a few superstars and finishing lower down the ladder.

[footyhead]

Re: Re: Sydneys boring game plan

Originally posted by JF_Bay22_SCG


Footyhead, you have got us all thinking. Thank You!

JF

Well with regard to that, I do try. Even though I cop a lot of flack for it (evrything from being citisized for bad spelling to being told I have no faculty of reason to being called a moron and a
troll !)
I care as much about the Swans as the next guy, I just don't care what the next guy thinks about me.

[NMWBloods]

Well you don't do yourself too many favours with your constant negative outlook (and bad spelling! ), however there is no doubt that there are a number of people here who will never hear of anything negative against the Swans. Understable if we were a successful outfit, however given we are one of the least successful clubs in the competition, the blind support with no room for inward assessment is rather bizarre.

The mood from some people is always to look for excuses or silver linings, even when we've played badly or thrown away games we should have won or underperformed for the season. There is also the eternal and overblown optimism, and little tolerance for people who don't buy into that as if these people can somehow affect the fortunes of the team by not truly believing that this is the year.

[dread and might]

we have to remember that the Swans i.e. the organisation; has to balance the belief that we can't afford to sink to the bottom for a few years and rebuild that way, with an effort to win a flag.

Many people were angry with the lack of agression shown in the trading period, but there has to be interest from the other direction, i.e a player has to actually want to come to sydney.

Similarly, a coach has to balance getting results with keeping the "entertainment" level at a point where people will come to the games. This is more the case in a market like sydney. Some would say the coach has no responsibility as far as entertainment is concerned....i'm not getting into that one.

I'm not here to defend the gameplan of 2004, but you can only work with the 22 players you have on the day. If the swans believe they can win games by creating stoppages to make up for their lack of midfield creativity, what will make them change???

I want to see us kick big scores again and have forwards that kick a bag of 8 or 9 but we won't know wether that can happen until we see the start of the new season.

MY.....HUMBLE......OPINION.

[Old Royboy]

Our midfielders have not been great at reading boundary/ball up taps from either our ruckmen or the opposition?s. The result is that more often than not we are second to the ball.

This is countered because we are one of the best tackling teams ? thus another ball up, and another, and another.

One solution is to get better at clearances; a top tap ruckman would obviously help, also a smarter in and under midfielder with clean hands and vision. (where?s Cressa?)

Could this be why our first two draft picks were a nearly mature ruckman and an in and under midfielder?

I hope Roos is concentrating on clearances in the off season. I also hope he is thrashing young Monty on the track, as I think he has better hands and football brains than Bolton, Kirk & Co. and can be the man under the pack we desperately need.

If we can?t improve this area of our game, look for more of the same style next year.

[NMWBloods]

Yep - effective clearances and first use of the ball are very important, and two areas where we don't compete that well.

[ScottH]

Originally posted by Old Royboy
Our midfielders have not been great at reading boundary/ball up taps from either our ruckmen or the opposition?s. The result is that more often than not we are second to the ball.

In which Kirk(or whoever) will lay a tackle forcing another ball up.

Or

Players will fall all over the ball in a way to smother the opposition from getting their hands on the ball, if we can't get it.

Or

We get tackled trying to get the ball, forcing yet another ball up.

Our fierce tackling does create a lot of stoppages.

[JF_Bay22_SCG]

Originally posted by NMWBloods
Well you don't do yourself too many favours with your constant negative outlook (and bad spelling! ), however there is no doubt that there are a number of people here who will never hear of anything negative against the Swans. Understable if we were a successful outfit, however given we are one of the least successful clubs in the competition, the blind support with no room for inward assessment is rather bizarre.

Welcome to the strange world of the Sydney sports fan. To a southern stater the mentality is just so hard to understand. I think I read that a Brisbane player thought it was strange when after a thrashing you'd get supporters coming saying "We'll be there for you. You'll be right". Compare that to Richmond supporters having dung delivered to their football club office. Or chicken's hearts being delivered to the Demons.

I once got told off when started bagging the players when I followed the Raiders rugby league team. They said that you should never never never bag the players. I then asked them what is worse, passing comment on players who aren't putting in, or getting up and leaving at half time (as most of Bruce Stadium did that day )

JF

[sharpie]

Originally posted by JF_Bay22_SCG
I then asked them what is worse, passing comment on players who aren't putting in, or getting up and leaving at half time (as most of Bruce Stadium did that day )

Its not a matter or one being worse than the other. They are both much the same thing. Some people react with their words, some with their actions.

[swansrule100]

Originally posted by Margie
Recently watched a 2001 game against the Crows at AAMI (round 16, I think). We won by about 50 points and played a fast, attacking brand of football. Jude looked young and crumbed impressively on a couple of occasions. Admittedly we had Kelly, Dunkley, Creswell et al, but hopefully we can get back to a more attacking style in 2005 - it's so much more exciting to watch!

now that was a good win

but that side would get beaten by the current one

[swansrule100]

Originally posted by NMWBloods
People may not like Footyhead's continual pessimism (and he is the boy who cried wolf to some degree) but there is no doubt that the Swans are playing some of the most boring football witnessed in many years. Hopefully, we can add some excitment to our game plan such as we saw in 2003.

I have never turned off a tape when rewatching a game before it has finished when we have won the game until this year. I think I did it at least 2 or 3 times this year.

agreed
some were not re watchable or needed a lot of fast forwarding
they showed glimpses of the excitement in 2004 and when they did they looked the real deal

hopefully 2005 has the best of the past 2 years and it means a flag

having said that if we win i dont care how

but very few boring teams win flags
i cant really think of one off the top of my head.......

[Red]

We've spent on year playing free-flowing, and one year playing lock-down.

If we come out next year and play a couple of each style in the first few rounds, we could well become the most difficult team to predict and therefore to plan against.

[swansrule100]

yeh should be good
the best of both years is what we need