watta ripper

[treespirit]

Lizz is on the money again.

I think the relief on Roos' face at the end showed more than anything how aware he is of how bad the team was for most of the game. We had enough of the ball but our kicking was abysmal. We must lead the league in turnovers. Hall, Williams and Davis appear to be the only reliable kicks (except for Hall at goal atm). I really think Hall would be a great CHF. He is the best deliverer into the 50, not that he has much to beat.

[Jimmy C]

Great win

Thankfully, we were playing a side who are having abyssmal last qtrs atm.

Soak it up. Eddie's yobs and the Lions should get us feeling "as per usual"

Still, I've gotta say-Schneider is ace, Ball was looking tonnes stronger, and let's hope Magic keeps it up.

[sWAns63]

Just finished watching the match. What a great win! We had our backs to the wall in the 3rd term, but we came home like a train. I feel so happy now, it looked like the Swans of old throwing themselves into everything. Well done Swans!!!! Looks like we've found a goal sneak in Schnieder. Keeping the win in perspective, Collingwood are gonna be very hard to beat, but at least now we are a chance of beating them. I would've loved to have been there at the game......Everybody celebrate.....Cheer cheer the Red & the White!!!

[port1978]

Well done Sydney.....I thought you guys had lost at 3 quarter time, but that was such a great last quarter you played.
Hope you guys can do the same thing against the Wobbles next week!

[Swansinger]

Sad to see Craig Bolton injured , but pleased that he was off the park.
I'm sure I saw Neitz praying he'd be okay to continue.

What's Roos got in store for him next ? Doing the job on Tarrant then Lynch , maybe ?

He is too small to be picking up the opposition's key forward.

[NMWBloods]

Originally posted by robbieando
The problem is our midfield is nothing like Melbourne's so I was happy with how we were going because I knew Melbourne relied on Neitz too much. He was killing us, but at the same time no one else was kicking their goals. So I was saying to Dad if we keep him to 6 goals we'll win because Melbourne don't go elsewhere for goals.

Neitz has kicked 12 goals in their two wins and 3 goals in their two losses. That would suggest that he is a good barometer for their success, and with 6 last night that would suggest a possible win for Melb. Problem for Melb was that Brad Green was shut down early by Saddington.

[NMWBloods]

Originally posted by lizz
This feels weird but I actually feel less postive about things after that match than for the past 3 weeks. I know the last quarter was excellent, and they showed some spirit, but Daniher must be fuming about just how bad Melbourne were in that final quarter.

But the result shouldn't blind us to just how ordinary the Swans were up until 3/4 time. I think the effort was there but they just looked clueless most of the time, the pressure skills were terrible - how many times would two or three Swans just stand around the ball and watch a Melbourne player pick it up and sprint away unhindered? - and at times the fumbling and poor decision making hit new heights even for the Swans.

I agree entirely. Great last qtr, but embarrassing first three. I think that is a much bigger issue.

Hopefully they will take encouragement and self-belief away from that final quarter. But, boy, Roos still has a huge amount of work to do.

I think confidence is the best (only?) thing they can take from this game, besides 4 points of course!!

On the positive side, Schneider really did have another super game. Even up to 3/4 time I thought he was good - possibly only he, Ball and Cressa could hold their heads up to that point. Good to see Ball getting better and better each week. Him staying fit for the rest of the year could be the difference between mediocrity and the wooden spoon. Whether or not that's a good thing...

Great to see both Cressa and Ball back. Sad to see our reliance on the older guys again.

[EMJ]

Great game all round. Don't believe it was embarrasing the first three quarters. All the team put in tonight. Great to watch especially to the press and their comments. They showed guts and determination to pull up a win from 20 points down.

Neitz is an arrogant pig - came out pumped to win and show his brute force - while he had Matthews in a stronghold he took a swing at Schauble. They got their just deservings by the guys winning the game. Go the mighty Swans.

[chammond]

Great last qtr, but embarrassing first three. I think that is a much bigger issue.

It's not hard to see where you and Liz are coming from, but I've watched the game 3 times now (life? . . . . what life?) and I reckon the Swans more than held their own for the first half. The main problem was that BBB was having a crappy game, and only Nicks was providing any kind of positive leading. If Ball had've been on his game, we would have had a comfortable lead at half-time.

The third quarter was as bad as it gets (I hope). We forget that Roos is as much a novice in his job as any of the young players, and at that stage he had that 'rabbit in the headlights' look as Daniher made the most of the Swans fumbling and poor disposal.

The turning of the game came when Davis, Schneider and O'Loughlin started to provide real alternatives in the forward line. O'Loughlin in particular suddenly created panic in the Dees defence. This lifted the midfield, because they found that all their in and under work was no longer going to waste.

The big question is, of course, which Swans will come out next week . . . the one from the 4th qtr, or the one from the 3rd??

Great to see both Cressa and Ball back. Sad to see our reliance on the older guys again.

That's the most pertinent comment I've read today.

[liz]

Originally posted by chammond
It's not hard to see where you and Liz are coming from, but I've watched the game 3 times now (life? . . . . what life?) and I reckon the Swans more than held their own for the first half. The main problem was that BBB was having a crappy game, and only Nicks was providing any kind of positive leading. If Ball had've been on his game, we would have had a comfortable lead at half-time.

The third quarter was as bad as it gets (I hope). We forget that Roos is as much a novice in his job as any of the young players, and at that stage he had that 'rabbit in the headlights' look as Daniher made the most of the Swans fumbling and poor disposal.

The turning of the game came when Davis, Schneider and O'Loughlin started to provide real alternatives in the forward line. O'Loughlin in particular suddenly created panic in the Dees defence. This lifted the midfield, because they found that all their in and under work was no longer going to waste.

Now that I've watched the game again - excluding the third quarter making up for that by watching the final one 3 times - my view has softened slightly. Both teams were pretty ordinary in the first quarter, while the Swans played some decent footy in the second quarter. I was so depressed at 3/4 time while at the game (possibly the worst quarter of footy they've played this year given that the opposition wasn't particularly good) that I probably didn't register just how well they played in the final quarter.

I haven't completely changed my mind about the amount of work Roos has left to do, but if the team can work out why things worked in that final quarter they have somewhere to start.

Apart from the work-rate of the forwards that Cliff mentioned - and I'd add Ball to that group too; he was great up forward with his contesting as well as his marking - the huge difference in the final quarter was we got pretty much all the centre breaks. Up to that point we were getting slaughtered out of the middle, even in the reasonable second quarter. The fact that we were getting the ball forward so quickly helped the forwards to look vastly improved.

There's no way any team - even the Lions - can play a whole game with the intensity that the Swans played that final quarter. But if we can start getting at least our fair share of centre breaks in other games I reckon we'll win as many games as we lose with the skillful, (mostly) tough, and varied forward line we have.

[desredandwhite]

Originally posted by lizz
There's no way any team - even the Lions - can play a whole game with the intensity that the Swans played that final quarter. But if we can start getting at least our fair share of centre breaks in other games I reckon we'll win as many games as we lose with the skillful, (mostly) tough, and varied forward line we have.

Too right Liz - When we're being carved up in the middle, our defence looks ordinary, AND our forward line looks like a pack of buffoons because their delivery is panicked and rushed.

[robbieando]

Thats what I have been saying for a while now. Our midfield is what needs improving more than anywhere else. Have a good midfield the rest just follows. Our aim at seasons end is to get ourselves some quality midfielders in a trade or draft. They have to be young of course

[liz]

I don't dispute our midfield needs to improve overall, but my comment was specifically about centre bounce clearances. I reckon that's as much about coaching as it is about the cattle there to perform the role.

[desredandwhite]

a frightening thing was that I saw the ruckmen doing rucking drills in the centre square during warmups.. Longmire I think was holding the pad thingie, Stinger was tossing the ball up and PK was acting as the rover - the way he moved around the ruckman was uncanny - like he never stopped playing.

I guess we need guys who can GET it out of the middle again

[SWANSBEST]

If we had a ruck coach rather than a forward coach filling in as a ruck coach then I am sure that our clearances both at the centre and boundary line would improve.
While we were not great up to half time we were still 6 points in front. The 3rd quarter was bad but the team was very gutsy in the last quarter considering the injuries we had . I was listening to th ABC and they were puzzled why we bag our players so much , particularly , Jude Bolton