What round will we start to play footy?

[ScottH]

Originally posted by Mike_B
Geeze Scott, can't you spell??? There's no 'I' in team!!! But, there is 'me'.

Or Meat as in meathead.

[BarneyG]

Originally posted by Chubby Muffler
What struck me today was how slow the team looked. Guys being outstripped, just looking a bit lethargic.

When Brendan Lade out runs Crouch, then you know we are in trouble!

[swansrock4eva]

Part of the problem is that the final margins and a lot of the stats have flattered them a lot more than they should - against Essendon, they lost the first quarter, then virtually won the last three (or at least drew even), so the stats made it look as though it wasn't as bad as it should have been - the whole "statistically we weren't that bad" mentality. Simple gig - if you lost, you WERE that bad. I haven't seen the stats after yesterday but I hope they are less flattering than last week's could be construed as.

[wyatt]

Worst team member for mine yesterday - Paul Roos. I think Roosy has to have a good look at himself as well. Too slow to react to poor match-ups - particularly in our back line - and not game enough to put some offensive midfielders in the centre for the bounces (e.g. Williams, Goodes). Also, why was Barry Hall playing so deep in the forward line? He has made his mark over the last few years as a link man leading up the ground. When the ball is coming into the forward line under such pressure and not being delivered well, he is useless to us (as most forwards are under such circumstances). He should be up the ground, getting involved, and leading by example.

[ScottH]

Training Venue This Week.

[Mike_B]

If this keeps up, we could be the Sydney Skylabs - crashing back to earth.

[NMWBloods]

Originally posted by Schneiderman
I think Paul Roos summed it up best: we have become a team of champions.

And that sucks. Because we actually really aren't a team of 'champions' to begin with. At least St Kilda actually are, and it hasn't helped them yet either.

What has to happen to remind the team how to win again? Is it a certain number of losses? Some key players dropped? A really humiliating loss?

In some ways I think losing both of these past two games by just five goals actually does us more harm than if we had lost one or both by 100pts. Because at this rate our 'slow start' could leave us with no time and not enough hunger to make up the lost ground.

I agree with all of that. It would have been better for Port to have gone on with it and thumped us by 10+ goals (even considering the % impact).

In the late 1990s I always felt the Swans believed their press too quickly about being flag favourites. Not coming to play was something this group did occasionally but never really seemed to get above themselves. They seem to have now though.

[NMWBloods]

Originally posted by Mike_B
If this keeps up, we could be the Sydney Skylabs - crashing back to earth.

And people here were upset about all the negative pre-season reviews of the Swans...

[ScottH]

It's obvious the CS is suffereing post premiership hangover, once they lift their game the wins will start coming.

[JF_Bay22_SCG]

Originally posted by desredandwhite
We're clearly down across the board:

As for me, the anasthetic effect of the premiership will only last so long......

Like many others I was brandishing my 2005 Premiership scarf & cap yesterday.

If we keep playing the way we did yesterday I will banish them to the cupboard, as great as they DO look.

We are living in 2006 now. The legacy of our Premiership of course lives on but means absolutely nothing any more, apart from giving our opponents a greater motivation in wanting to knock us off.

JF

[Schneiderman]

Originally posted by wyatt
Worst team member for mine yesterday - Paul Roos. I think Roosy has to have a good look at himself as well. Too slow to react to poor match-ups - particularly in our back line - and not game enough to put some offensive midfielders in the centre for the bounces (e.g. Williams, Goodes). Also, why was Barry Hall playing so deep in the forward line? He has made his mark over the last few years as a link man leading up the ground. When the ball is coming into the forward line under such pressure and not being delivered well, he is useless to us (as most forwards are under such circumstances). He should be up the ground, getting involved, and leading by example.

I'll get accused again for being a Roos lovechild, but he deserves a defence nonetheless:

1. The players were uniformly crap. There was no change that would have made a single difference. You could have put any player annywhere and they would have been soundly beaten. Even the ever-reliable Craig Bolton probably only played the first half to his usually standards.
2. Williams and Goodes did go to the centre bounce at times. And got soundly beaten. Plus Williams got injured fairly early on.
3. Bazza did run around quite a bit. At the SCG there is no real CHF position, so he always has to play deep in the forward line. Thats where the first kick out of the centre will land. We just didn't kick that often from the centre.
4. When Bazza had a bit of a run on the wing, he was crap too. In one passage of play he kicked two passes and both missed. The other effort was a barnstorming run that gave them a free.

You can hardly blame Roos for the efforts yesterday. There is absolutely no way any coach could have gotten anything out of the team that turned up to play.

His true measure will come in how he turns them around from this pathetic effort, to the team they were last year. And if he does then he deserves a lot of credit. He did it in 2002 after Rocket left us in a shambles, so I still have faith.

[NMWBloods]

Originally posted by Schneiderman
You can hardly blame Roos for the efforts yesterday. There is absolutely no way any coach could have gotten anything out of the team that turned up to play.

Hey, I agree again. The players need to take responsibility for that woeful display.

[floppinab]

Originally posted by ScottH
It's obvious the CS is suffereing post premiership hangover, once they lift their game the wins will start coming.

Nup, can't even pin it on them, our banner stayed up while Ports was ripped to shreds (the fact they were lifting into the teeth of the southerly completely irrelevent of course)

[floppinab]

Originally posted by desredandwhite


As for me, the anasthetic effect of the premiership will only last so long......

Nope, if we get done every game at the SCG next year, all I'll have to do is cast my eyes atop the Member Stand and see "AFL Premiers 2005". That is one pretty sight. (I think a few missed that it went up there after the 1st q).

[floppinab]

Re: What round will we start to play footy?

Originally posted by swan_song
I just wonder at what stage of the season the lads will realise they have to get back to the selfless, gritty, team-orientated football they played last year.

Yep, as I said in another thread I reckon the club should offer a new class of membership the "Winning Football Round 8 to Round 22 only Membership"