Are we a genuine premiership threat?

[Matt79]

I know this is a big call, yes a long way to go and I don't want to be too positive but I simply wanted to pose the question to RWOs.

Are we a genuine premiership threat?

In majority of seasons I would have said no, but IMO this seems to be a season like no other, anyone can beat anyone on a given day. Yes WC have been the out and out leaders for the season but most teams would give themselves a shot of beating them at the 'G' on the last Saturday in September.

We have (so far) had one of our best runs with injury and there are not too many excuses for not doing well (aside from we are not simply good enough, if that proves to be the case).

What do you think?

[swans_premiers]

I think we should wait until we get the 12 wins then focus on top 4 before talking about the premiership

[Matt79]

Originally posted by swans_premiers
I think we should wait until we get the 12 wins then focus on top 4 before talking about the premiership

I know I was being too positive, but are we a threat?

[ScottH]

We are more of a chance than the Pies and Bombers!!!

I don't like to think that far ahead, BUT, it would be really nice to think so!!!

[liz]

I was feeling moderately optimistic. Then I saw some info posted on WLF this evening that showed that the premiership team has been ranked top 3 in attack pretty much every year for the past couple of decades.

I think we're currently 15th!!!

[Go Swannies]

BigFooty has a pretenders and contenders thread that has it pretty right. I think we have kept ourselves in the running. Other real possibilities are Toasters (obviously), the Saints and maybe the Roos and Crows though I have some reservations about both - but their game plan, like the Swans, will suit finals footy.

I suspect last weekend will damage the Eagles more than they realise - we showed how to play them on gorunds other than Subiaco. I think they may lose a few on the way home.

Swans - this month has been a great time to finals-harden them against the best teams. It just depends if it takes too much out of them. But they only have to make it through eight more games. Can't, just can't, lose any more winnable games like the Tigers one. I'd gibe us odds of about 6:1 and only have West Coast higher because of their probably easy finals run at homw. However, lose to the Crows and Lions and may be battling in the eight - it's that sort of year.

We'll certainly have a much better idea at the end of this weekend.

[Plugger46]

I think we are. We're no better than we've been in the last two years, but I don't think the opposition is as good. So yes I'd say we are a threat.

[cruiser]

Re: Are we a genuine premiership threat?

Originally posted by Matt79
Are we a genuine premiership threat?

This week, yes. Hopefully yes next week too. And hopefully yes all through September.

[Bron]

Of course. Let's just stick with the Captain who has taken us to a win over the main threat!

What's different? Confidence. Which means they back themselves. The 5% that makes the difference is above the shoulders. Dare I say it? Dream Believe Achieve.

[Xie Shan]

I was thinking about this, specifically about what Kirky said in the SMH on Monday:

We are just honest and hardworking, and persevere and just don't give up. We're sort of a relentless bunch of blokes. Everyone talks about us not having a lot of class but we know, as a team, we are a really good team.

A good honest team doesn't necessarily make a premiership threat, but in this season you just never know. They might just be rewarded for their perseverance come finals time. And Kirky is right - they do have a lot more class than people think. Just think of the combined brilliance of Goodes and Hall in the 2003 QF; Tadhg's dashing runs; Schneider's goal sense in 2003 and on Sunday; ROK's strong hands and penetrating kicks for goal.

It's going to be tough - there are teams out there, most significantly West Coast and St. Kilda, who do have more class.
But I read a comment on Bigfooty a few days ago that the Swans effectively play finals every week, such is the intensity of their game. This experience will only help when it comes to the real thing, but let's hope they don't run themselves into the ground getting there, like Lleyton Hewitt in the second week of a grand slam after fighting his way through a string of tough five-setters.

[Sean]

I would probably say no - but that opinion would change a lot if we could take 2nd spot. Beat Adelaide this week and that is a definite possibility.

IMHO next year and the year after will be better chances. Roos is doing a great job of giving experience to our young players and over the next two years we will have a lot of depth and a lot of competition for places. If just one or two of those young players steps up then we will be a very good side.

The thing that makes me the most confident is that our skills aren't great and we probably don't really have a top 4 list - but we are currently 3rd. Imagine how good we'll be when our skills and list are the equal of anyone's!

[Mike_B]

Originally posted by sydfan83
I read a comment on Bigfooty a few days ago that the Swans effectively play finals every week, such is the intensity of their game. This experience will only help when it comes to the real thing, but let's hope they don't run themselves into the ground getting there, like Lleyton Hewitt in the second week of a grand slam after fighting his way through a string of tough five-setters.

I think Robert Walls said the same thing last year - that it's difficult to keep up finals intensity football week after week after week. It becomes even harder whn the opposition are playing finals intensity football too to recover and get yourself up over and over. This is my biggest concern.

[cruiser]

I dont think that Sydney are alone there though. The closeness of the ladder at the moment means that only West Coast can afford to lessen their intensity a little. Many of the top 8 sides will play each other over the remaining weeks leading to the finals.

[Xie Shan]

I was thinking more of how the Swans have to work so hard to win games - it's far more mentally/physically draining to have to play like that every week. True, there are no more easy games for the other teams in the top 8 either, but with the Swans, it feels like every game is a war of attrition! (Again, much like Lleyton...that's the best analogy I can think of at this time)

[liz]

Originally posted by Sean
The thing that makes me the most confident is that our skills aren't great and we probably don't really have a top 4 list - but we are currently 3rd. Imagine how good we'll be when our skills and list are the equal of anyone's!

Our skills against the Demons were pretty damn good for most of the game, despite the intensity from Melbourne. And they were superb in parts against the Cats. And not perfect against the Weagles but not noticeably worse than the opposition's.

It comes down to confidence and they have it in bucket loads at the moment. The number of really stupid decisions is right down at the moment as well, while the frequency of calculated risks is up.

Particularly encouraging is that the rookies seem to be playing thinking football most of the time, even under intense pressure. Dempster made one poor choice on Sunday when he handballed to a static Mathews in the midfield after the ball had been very smoothly cleared from the backline and he had the time and space to kick long instead. But he later showed composure by not only spotting Jolly alone in the pocket but hitting him lace out over distance.

And there was a passage of play involving Malceski (in the second quarter, I think) where he was about to rush into a contest to help out O'Keefe, but then realised O'Keefe probably had the upper hand in the contest but would need to dish the ball off quickly. He positioned himself perfectly for a quick handball feed and then kept the movement going with a constructive handball himself. Indeed, although Malceski didn't see a huge amount of the ball and missed a goal he should have kicked, I thought his work through traffic was pretty good.