Match Thread. Grand Final!!! Swans v Lions.

[Meg]

Hmm. I thought there might have been some content in the comments re Cox. Called him 'exceptional', with 'senior coach aspirations', but entrenched in Sydney. Well, he's not going to coach the Giants!

Haven’t Cox’s responsibilities been overview of game strategy plus the ruck/midfield? How did those two areas go last Saturday ……?

[MattW]

I think Harley tapped the AI button on his laptop before he came up with that spiel. Being all slick just doesn't fly sometimes, Tom.

Hmm. I thought there might have been some content in the comments re Cox. Called him 'exceptional', with 'senior coach aspirations', but entrenched in Sydney. Well, he's not going to coach the Giants!

[KTigers]

Sadly his letter to members didn't give me much comfort either.

I'm not going to delve into the Longmire conversation any more than I have, but what really continues to disappoint me is there is plenty of talk of 'we are hurting' etc - but no recognition of the bare fact that, from here, the only redemption is to win the Premiership Cup (maybe not next year - but soon). IMHO (and of course there is good reason I'm only a fan and not involved in footy) every message should effectively be saying we will leave no stone unturned until such time that we are able to achieve redemption by lifting the cup.

Feels an awful lot like 2022 at the moment - we feel bad about it all, but not going to commit beyond that.

Well, I guess they are not going to fire Longmire and that's really the only option open to them, and there is no other "reset" button to push, so it's
just business as usual. Thats what they (the club) and us (the fans) are left with. Hollow, is the word I think for this situation.

[mcs]

This won't improve the mood of many RWOers.

https://www.afl.com.au/news/1237036/...-john-longmire

Sadly his letter to members didn't give me much comfort either.

I'm not going to delve into the Longmire conversation any more than I have, but what really continues to disappoint me is there is plenty of talk of 'we are hurting' etc - but no recognition of the bare fact that, from here, the only redemption is to win the Premiership Cup (maybe not next year - but soon). IMHO (and of course there is good reason I'm only a fan and not involved in footy) every message should effectively be saying we will leave no stone unturned until such time that we are able to achieve redemption by lifting the cup.

Feels an awful lot like 2022 at the moment - we feel bad about it all, but not going to commit beyond that.

[Mr Magoo]

Sorry did I miss something - did we finish last ?


I can understand the anguish but we were minor premiers and we did win two finals. While we do have to look at our approach to GF day (and I dont think the answer is a bunch of phycologists) Im not sure sacking the whole team and coaching staff is the answer.

I would be looking at the following changes if mental application is the issue :
1. Trade either or both of florent and mcinenerny - both go missing in hard situations
2. Trade Logan or amartey - both mentally not strong and showed it more than once this year. Keep one but only because we dont have a ready made bigman to come in unless they trade in.

[KTigers]

I think Harley tapped the AI button on his laptop before he came up with that spiel. Being all slick just doesn't fly sometimes, Tom.

[Industrial Fan]

I’m more deflated that John is staying, absolutely think his time is up - but I’ve made that point enough already.

not looking forward to next year - but will remain a supporter of the club albeit from a greater distance than this year. It’s the most disconnected I’ve felt from the team since I started following in about 97-98

[Dow]

I will always support Sydney, but I wont trust this current crop, Now to move on and focus on 2025

[Sandridge]

This won't improve the mood of many RWOers.

https://www.afl.com.au/news/1237036/we-are-unbelievably-fortunate-sydney-swans-chief-tom-harley-backs-john-longmire

[KTigers]

I feel you're pain KT. Even after more than half a century following the red-and-white it still hurts - although this years granny result wasn't a compelete surprise. Still hurt.

It's Thursday now, and I'm still seriously bugged about it. Someone else here said the worst thing is they felt they just couldn't trust the team (to show up) anymore.
I'm with them. And in a month or two, the Swans are going to debit my card for two-and-a-half grand for the seats I pay for every year as if nothing had
happened. I know he's dead now, but we really need a coach like John Kennedy in that clip where he's screaming at the players, "Don't think.... Do". I always liked that.
It just says it all.

[Hotpotato]

To me The squad were relieved to be facing the Lions and not Hawthorn or Geelong. They got within a couple of points in R18 without Rowie, Paps, Haywood …
and believed at last this Granny was in the bag . Mental as Anything, thats their band this yr.

[imuninformedtwo]

Could it be that the whole team was waiting ... qu1, qu2, qu3 ..... for the Heeney explosion. There was no Heeney explosion. Only Rowie, Fox, and maybe Jordan, Melican, Harry struggled on giving it their all. Would you believe that Florent was listed in the best players?

Really - Ollie was? I hadn't seen that. I thought some of his defensive accountability in the first half, on Lohmann in particular, was as bad as it gets - alongside Errol's stuff on the wings. I know he got a bit of the ball later, but it was long gone by then.

[rojo]

Could it be that the whole team was waiting ... qu1, qu2, qu3 ..... for the Heeney explosion. There was no Heeney explosion. Only Rowie, Fox, and maybe Jordan, Melican, Harry struggled on giving it their all. Would you believe that Florent was listed in the best players?

[Ruck'n'Roll]

I feel you're pain KT. Even after more than half a century following the red-and-white it still hurts - although this years granny result wasn't a compelete surprise. Still hurt.

[KTigers]

When you listen to the full interview, Roos' comments were a bit more nuanced than the headline suggests.

The bit I would argue with was we're an easy team to score against. Saturday would make the case we are, but that was down to 101 things (well, maybe one - no effort). Generally, not so. We had one of the best defensive records in the league, only two teams previously cracked 100 against us and we held a good ball movement team like GWS to 80 or less in three games. And his critique of us as a side that is exposed by 'run ons' from other teams - well, we are hardly on our own there.

Where I do think he has a valid criticism is we can get done around the ball and depend on turnover and surges in scoring to get the job done. The surge scoring I'm ok with as that's a function of the brilliance we have at our disposal. When we set up and apply our will at the contest and clearances - as we did in the last quarters against Collingwood, or the GWS final - it's lethal. But it's too rare and not yet ingrained in our DNA as an indispensable part of the game plan. We really do need a sustained commitment to it, and players like Mills who can make it happen.

There won't be a team ever that hasn't been cracked open by the opposition piling on six goals in ten minutes. More than a few times. It's the nature of the game.
The problem is when they down the tools and walk off the building site. That game against Port was like the players had all gone on strike. The 22 GF and Saturday
weren't much better. Seriously, losing the tackle count badly when you are 12 goals down. That's appalling. Maybe someone should start a class action against
the team to recoup the many thousands of dollars fans from Sydney spent getting to the game just to watch them show very little interest in chasing the ball.
Longmire? I'm sure he tries his best at the $1M a year they are paying him, but what's the difference between losing 4 Prelims (Hinkley) in a row and losing
4 GFs (Longmire) in a row. I'm not sure which is worse. All I ever want is the team to show up for 2 hours 45 mins once a week. That's it.
Obviously, I am asking for too much.