Sydney vs Fremantle game day

[mpr104]

Originally posted by Thunder Shaker
A 38-point win will help tho

Was a good win in the end. Had 29 scoring shots which means we are attacking more.
I think the guys relaxed a little when 51 points up, 10 mins to go...was very scrappy last stanza.

[NMWBloods]

Probably just blew 2%.

Our % was 94.8%.
It is now 98.9%.
If we had won say 130-70, then it would have been 101.1%.

Could make a difference at the end of the year.

Good, solid win, but not outstanding.

Great game by C Bolton.

Good work by Buchanan and Kennelly, and a great return by Williams.

Good games by Hall and MOL, but too many wasted opportunities by the former.

Solid games by O'Keefe, Davis, Ball, McVeigh and Kirk.

Ablett was pretty quiet.

Very ordinary by Saddington.

[Thunder Shaker]

Channel 9 voting for Lou Richards medal:

7 Amon Buchanan
7 Barry Hall
6 Troy Cook
6 Leo Barry

They showed some Buchanan highlights before revealing the votes. There were 4 or 5 times that Monty got the "first meaningful possession" from a clearance.

The ladder will be interesting after this round. Adelaide (7 wins) and Geelong (7 wins) play each other in Geelong, and the Roos (6 wins) play the Tigers (7 wins). If the Cats and Crows don't draw, and Richmond go down to the Roos, we will be outside the top four on percentage.

[ScottH]

Thought Kennelly was really good, too, as well as ROK.

Probably ROKS best game this yr.

And Young McV got us off to a good start.

[Nico]

Good win but why kick short and wide to the 50 metre line to a tagged leading forward, when they were so inexperienced on the full back line.

We had the chance to belt a team and we let it slip. To some I might be hard to please, but it is very frustrating to have a team on its knees and let through 2 easy goals in time on.

Can some one tell me. Is allowing the opposition to run it out of our forward line without pressure a part of our game plan. A bit more pressure and we would have kicked a few more goals.

[ScottH]

Your not the only one Nico, we need to bury teams when we are in that position, esp when our % is so crap.

On the running out of our F50, you are a bit harsh there, the fwds kept it in there fairly frequently, with great pressure.

[cruiser]

Good win. I think that some people here have been a bit tough on them today. Great 3rd quarter. Buchanan was every where and did some good stuff, although he also had a couple of clangers. Pity I couldnt get to the game due to a badly sprained ankle. It was weird watching them play at the SCG on TV. Important win in terms of consolidating a spot in the top 8, especially with a run of tough games coming up in July.

[punter257]

Yeah it was a good win however we had the dockers on the ropes and didnt finish them off as we should have. we had all the momentum and as always let the opposition get a few cheap goals in red time. so damn frustrating and as others have mentioned it has cost us a % of over 100.

i must say that it is satisfying to score over the tonne for a couple weeks in a row. well done to buchy for a great game and roosy mentioned dempster for a great job on heath black. just b4 half time i just assumed black wasnt playing so it shows what a great job he did. kirk came back in the 2nd half and it was great to see willo's polish in the midfield.

[ScottH]

I thought young Benny had a reasonable game, a few "dumb" possesions but all in all, he did OK.

[punter257]

and how good is leo barry at avoiding tackles! the man is a master at it. good to see him set up play from defense.

we showed some good run through the middle at times but we definitely mucked around with it too much. missed too many targets but generally we fixed the situation with numbers around the footy

[Ablett_20]

that was a great win! Swans can now have a rest and then go and beat collingwood!

[NMWBloods]

Originally posted by Thunder Shaker
The ladder will be interesting after this round. Adelaide (7 wins) and Geelong (7 wins) play each other in Geelong, and the Roos (6 wins) play the Tigers (7 wins). If the Cats and Crows don't draw, and Richmond go down to the Roos, we will be outside the top four on percentage.

We will be 6th - just ~3% behind Richmond and ~23% behind Adelaide and ~6% in front of the Kangaroos in 7th. StKilda are in 8th but with nearly a 9% advantage over us.

[SimonH]

That stuff about 'Paul Williams is crucial to Sydney's game plan' wasn't just rhetoric. We look like a different team with him. On a conservative estimate, he set up 4 goals, and it's an absolute pleasure to see the ball in the hands of a guy who will pick the right option every time.

Buchanan played a sensational game, easily the best of his career. Completely deserved listing as Sydney's best (which presumably means BOG) in the afl.com.au review of the match. You're bound to have a couple of clangers if you get leather poisoning from touching the ball so much (particularly at the stage of his career he's at). He hit his targets much more often than not, and most importantly he got a huge proportion of his touches in the tough 50/50 ball situations at the clearances.

On the minus side, Jason Saddington was a bit of a ball magnet today (it kept finding him rather than vice versa) which just highlighted how completely lacking confidence and out of sorts he is. He needs to sit down and have a long chat with the coaching staff about where the hell his career is going. At least he dobbed one goal.

And there is no other player in the AFL more worth paying your money to watch than Micky O.

[SimonH]

Originally posted by ScottH
I thought young Benny had a reasonable game, a few "dumb" possesions but all in all, he did OK.

Dead right. Ben did get one undeserved free from his 'take the ball and brace for the tackle' tactic. But, at least by his standards, he showed a great willingness to move the ball fast and bring our runners into the game. Odd tactic by Roosy to have him playing most of the day in the forward line, but it worked a treat. More please.

[liz]

Came away from the SCG very thankful that the good Freo didn't turn up today. They were pathetic.

Which makes Sydney's performance just OK. Fumble, fumble, fumble all afternoon and some of the handpassing options were dreadful. We must have given Freo at least half their goals through dumb, dumb turnovers.

There were some bright spots though. The sheer class of Williams and O'Loughlin shone out like a proverbial sore thumb, and Davis isn't that far behind them.

Was probably McVeigh's best game to date. His work in the first quarter in front of goal was outstanding.

B2 on Pavlich - enough said.
Leo on Medhurst - nearly as good.
Crouch on Farmer - did enough.

Just a so-so game from Kennelly for me (because I think he can become an absolute star) but it's great to see how his reading of the play continues to improve.

Will Jolly be on holiday for the next couple of weeks?