Pressure on Swans

[Snowy]

http://www.theage.com.au/realfooty/news/Rohan-Connolly/Pressure-on-Swans/2005/05/02/1114886315983.html

[Snowy]

http://www.theage.com.au/realfooty/news/Rohan-Connolly/Pressure-on-Swans/2005/05/02/1114886315983.html

[NMWBloods]

Correct link

SNAP!

Good article - some interesting and astute points.

[Snowy]

Think mine works too!

[ScottH]

All links work.

Lets hope this is the kick in the pants, the team/Roos needs to get the team scoring. With the talent we should have in the forward line, we should be kicking good scores every week. But if the ball isn't delivered quickly/properly or there just isn't anyone inside the F50, well we have all seen the results.

[NMWBloods]

Originally posted by Snowy
Think mine works too!

Yep. First one didn't and then I posted the correct one at the same time as you!

[Schneiderman]

Originally posted by NMWBloods
Good article - some interesting and astute points.

You think? I thought Rohan successfully argued himself into his own corner.

To paraphrase: "Sydney cant afford to lose games because the stakes are so high, so Paul Roos is doing the wrong thing by trying not to lose them". What?

To quote:

"Coaching Sydney can be a far more political exercise than coaching even a Collingwood or Richmond.... a truly national competition can't afford to have a weak link in the biggest marketplace in the country.
...
It seems an unnecessarily conservative mindset"

So he tells us why Sydney is being conservative, and then argues they shouldn't be.

Not what I'd call astute, although I do agree Roos needs to explore other avenues when he is convinced this one wont work.

My favourite part is how he claims Roos never experienced pressure before! Because his whole career was based on what? Luck?

I'd suggest Rohan has never experienced pressure before.

[NMWBloods]

I was thinking about:

"Enough to make you wonder whether that fear of failure, paradoxically, has left Roos and his team unwilling to take the necessary risks to win.

"Why does a team good enough to finish a quarter away from a grand final berth less than two seasons ago and fifth last year feel compelled to stack more numbers behind the ball than even the most downtrodden rival simply hoping to avoid a thrashing from a better-equipped opponent?

"Why are the Swans so obsessed with trying to find spearhead Barry Hall in space and with the uncontested mark when the big man is one of the strongest and most physically capable key forwards in the game?

"Why, in order to create that space, sacrifice the goalkicking talents of Ryan O'Keefe and Nick Davis, both pushed so far upfield they might as well be midfielders. O'Keefe has kicked only six goals in six rounds, Davis eight, while Hall had had a modest return of 16?

"It seems an unnecessarily conservative mindset, particularly given that opponents are now more prepared to play Roos' team at its own game, refusing to be frustrated by the rugby-like nature of a match against Sydney, eventually out-Swanning the Swans."

and

"Is Roos creating a crutch for himself by claiming that his team, which made the finals for a second year in a row last season, is really an underdog having to employ whatever means necessary to compete on an even footing with rivals it has somehow managed to outperform until now?

Sydney needs continued success for the national competition's sake as much as its own. But has that pressure become so great that the Swans and their coach, preoccupied with not losing, have forgotten what it takes to win?"

=========================================

Essentially, we are so worried about losing, that we are playing cautiously and making mistakes which is paradoxically making us lose and it is becoming self-reinforcing. It was basically the point I made when I mentioned the Richmond game yesterday.

[footyhead]

I love this part.


"They mightn't be as talented as a lot of other teams in the competition. But the last two-and-a-half years have showed that we have got as much will and heart and scrap and fight, and the Sydney fans love that," he surmised.

Although Roos is partialy correct, we have in recent years enjoyed their endevour, I do not know which Sydney fans he is thinking of when he says that "Sydney fans love".. their current style of play.

Not many I would suggest, I myself and many other I know of have been anable to watch whole games and whole replays of games, because the lack of spectacle has been so boring.

This has been the case even in games that Sydney have won !!!

Get a real perspective Paul. No one loves your teams current style of play, at best people will put up with it if they think it will bring the ultimate rewards. It will not, so fix it !

[RogueSwan]

Originally posted by Schneiderman

I'd suggest Rohan has never experienced pressure before.

Or maybe he has and this is the best he could come up with.

Editor: Write a story on the Swans.
Connolly: who?
Editor: you know, that team not from Melbourne.
Connolly: Who?

[pillowtalk]

Interesting points especially about O'Keefe and Davis - does seem valid.

Although they have been happy with his game (and he?s enjoying himself), I heard they are now thinking of playing Davis back in the forwards due to Hall?s poor misses and lack of goals. Apparently he started last week off the bench for no other reason than to add some flair and come on as an impact player.

What is so frustrating with this is that it is week 7 (?) and they are still trying to work out where to play players ! Isn?t that what pre-season is for ? Obviously to work on fitness but couldn?t they work out positions then as well ? It?s great to have competition within the team (and keep players on their toes) but this shouldn?t be a game plan.

I understand that if something isn?t working, you?ll have to fix it but to be trying and testing out combinations this late into the season doesn?t seem right.

[footyhead]

Originally posted by pillowtalk


I understand that if something isn?t working, you?ll have to fix it but to be trying and testing out combinations this late into the season doesn?t seem right.

Yeah seems like incompetence actualy.

[Sanecow]

Eade was made aware more than once during his seven-year stint of the philosophical importance of a successful Sydney to the code as well as the club. And Sydney's strategic importance to the competition would be even more to the forefront of AFL thinking now, with a new broadcasting rights deal about to be negotiated and some perhaps sceptical Harbour-based television network executives still to be convinced.

And RogueSwan reckons the political importance of the NSW market is the stuff of the X-Files.

[mocaholic]

Originally posted by RogueSwan
Or maybe he has and this is the best he could come up with.

Editor: Write a story on the Swans.
Connolly: who?
Editor: you know, that team not from Melbourne.
Connolly: Who?

You missed the last bit:

Editor: You know, the team that plays Essendon this week!
Connolly: Oh, the SWANS!

[b0ek]

Originally posted by RogueSwan
Or maybe he has and this is the best he could come up with.

Editor: Write a story on the Swans.
Connolly: who?
Editor: you know, that team not from Melbourne.

Connolly: Geelong? Since when have they been called the Swans?