Match thread: Swans v Bulldogs.

[BRS328]

i don't think Paton is a wasted draft pick. He has played really well in the reserves and probably would have played another couple of games if not for a virus and concussion. His form in the reserves has been very good. If he can convert that to AFL then we have a real player. Mind you he plays back in the AFL but Mids in the VFL.

Paton has had numerous chances in the senior team this year and been totally lost at AFL level. I would be more than surprised if he is still there next year. Just does not seem to be able to handle the pace and pressure. I do acknowledge that he is a good VFL player

[imuninformedtwo]

Media variously reporting the Swans have lodged complaints with both the AFL and SCG and that the Dogs were privately peeved too. The ground curator is bizarrely trying to say it was all fine Thursday, which either suggests he’s dumb as a rock, or the AFL signed off on a dangerous ground during the inspection. Either way, not good.

The curator also suggested the ground now needs a full break for a week, which means Sydneysiders will be able to watch us train at Tramway Oval I guess.

The AFL is also sending its chief agronomist up to Sydney, because that will apparently fix everything. Also, when I saw David Gallop was chair of Venues NSW, which replaced the SCG Trust, a lot made sense. I dealt with him 20 years ago in a past life, when he was running rugby league. Let me tell ya: one of the most venal and least impressive people I’ve come across in my life. A dodo for the ages and door handles have more charm and IQ.

I’ve got more chance of not having a drink for a week than they have of getting the surface right for the Freo game.

[UUaswan]

Pretty much guarantees Buller gets another game next week, which he deserved. He didn’t have a massive impact, but he made a batch of contests, brought the ball to ground, and did some nice things. I’d be inclined to choose him over McLean if Amartey comes back, which seems likely with the nine day break.

McCartin should be back as well.

Amartey, Mclean Full-time Fwd
Grundy Ladhams Ruck

Freo need to work against tall fwd or they will out mark us, plus their big ruck division

We played those 4 last time we played them, we even stupidly had McCartin as a Fwd

[Thunder Shaker]

It's not to do with water. It is the surface itself. The turf they have laid is not stable and therefore moves easily.

if that turf has just been laid, then it might be the reason it is slippery. But the reality is, that is not good enough. It is dangerous. a player could break a leg on a slippery surface.

It was reported on ABC News that there was a concert in April that caused some damage to the playing surface. Two months should be more than enough time to fix it.

We're still doing remediation to fix patches of grass, when technology is available that could prevent damage to the turf. For some cricket matches, cricket pitches are curated off site, and then dropped into place for cricket matches. Similar technology could be used to remove patches of established grass from the playing surface for events and relocate them elsewhere, replace these patches with temporary artificial footings, then restore the turf when the event has concluded. These turf patches could be cut as deep as needed to ensure the grass has minimal damage after being relocated twice. Because these patches are bare, it is possible to use artificial materials such as thick rubber (perhaps made from recycled car tyres) to fill in the holes for the event.

Why don't stadium curators do this instead?

[dejavoodoo44]

Pretty much guarantees Buller gets another game next week, which he deserved. He didn’t have a massive impact, but he made a batch of contests, brought the ball to ground, and did some nice things. I’d be inclined to choose him over McLean if Amartey comes back, which seems likely with the nine day break.

McCartin should be back as well.

Or if we play all three, we could give Buller a bit more time as a backup ruck. I actually think he's looked better in that role, this season in the VFL, than he has as a key forward. He gets a few taps, takes some strong marks, and the extra involvement, means he seems less frustrated, than he is hanging around as a key forward, hoping to get some decent service.

[UUaswan]

Pretty much guarantees Buller gets another game next week, which he deserved. He didn’t have a massive impact, but he made a batch of contests, brought the ball to ground, and did some nice things. I’d be inclined to choose him over McLean if Amartey comes back, which seems likely with the nine day break.

McCartin should be back as well.

Buller set shot was a big red flag, looked like a yank that had just been taught the game, terrible

[imuninformedtwo]

Francis has been given a week for his whack to the ribs of Bramble. Plus there were various other fines.

MATCH REVIEW: Versatile Swan learns fate over strike - https://www.afl.com.au/news/1352179

Pretty much guarantees Buller gets another game next week, which he deserved. He didn’t have a massive impact, but he made a batch of contests, brought the ball to ground, and did some nice things. I’d be inclined to choose him over McLean if Amartey comes back, which seems likely with the nine day break.

McCartin should be back as well.

[Thunder Shaker]

Is it me or is it true that we look like we are defending the handball game a bit better but their talls just got the better of us.

It wasn't the Bulldogs' talls that won the game for them. It was their better scoring accuracy in front of goal.

This has been a recurring theme all season.

Games we've lost this year with more scoring shots:
Round 6: 10.17 (77) Port Adelaide 13.7 (85) - 8 point loss, 7 more scoring shots.
Round 9: 8.15 (63) Essendon 11.5 (71) - 8 point loss, 7 more scoring shots.
Round 16: 14.12 (96) Western Bulldogs 16.9 (105) - 9 point loss, 1 more scoring shot.

A selection of other games where we've scored more behinds than the opponents:
Round 2: 9.14 (68) Fremantle 9.11 (65) - won by 3 behinds.
Round 12: 5.11 (41) Adelaide 21.5 (131) - lost by 90 points but we scored more behinds. Accuracy was 31% vs 81% (scoring shots only). Had we scored at a similar accuracy, the score would be 13.3 (81): still a big loss, but only by 50 points.
Round 15: 9.17 (71) Port Adelaide 7.10 (52) Won by 19 points (2 goals 7 behinds). This was not either team's finest hour for accuracy this year.

(I have omitted other games where we scored more behinds in winning games but the percentage accuracy for both teams was similar: round 4 vs North Melbourne, round 8 vs GWS Giants, round 10 vs Carlton and round 13 vs Richmond. There were also five losses where we scored fewer behinds than the opponents. We have not played any game this year where we won with fewer behinds; last year we had six such wins.)

[imuninformedtwo]

On the surface one could think that without Amartey and McCartin.....and then losing Rampe so early, that it was a great performance to be so competitive and yes it was.....but to kick 3.8 from set shots, according to Cox (but 4.10 according to afl.com), this could have been a win for the ages. Bit frustrating but we are definitely on the up now form wise.
Got to build on this.....and kick bloody straight!

The other feature of last night that wasn’t great was where and how we turned the ball over. There were the couple of bad kicks from Blakey in the last quarter, but in the second and third, we missed some targets by hand or fumbled in the middle of the ground when in control of the play and got whacked. Mills had a couple of uncharacteristic errors which were costly, the McInerney attempt to toe a ball off the ground was another and there were one or two others. They’re hard to defend given the players were streaming forward and the defence hadn’t had time to set up behind the ball having just worked to clear it.

I reckon Cox would have been as frustrated by that as the goal kicking. They were often small margin errors but very costly.

[dejavoodoo44]

Francis has been given a week for his whack to the ribs of Bramble. Plus there were various other fines.

MATCH REVIEW: Versatile Swan learns fate over strike - https://www.afl.com.au/news/1352179

[stevoswan]

On the surface one could think that without Amartey and McCartin.....and then losing Rampe so early, that it was a great performance to be so competitive and yes it was.....but to kick 3.8 from set shots, according to Cox (but 4.10 according to afl.com), this could have been a win for the ages. Bit frustrating but we are definitely on the up now form wise.
Got to build on this.....and kick bloody straight!

[UUaswan]

I wouldn't use the language you did, but agree Ladhams is a better option than McLean and I'd like to see that change.

Agree but it shouldn't necessarily be either or

Mclean isn't a Ruck, play him fwd or not at all
Wilbur kills it alongside 2 talls

If we want to play 2 Rucks, Ladhams is our only option unless they play Green who i suspect isnt ready, we need to think about where Green is at next year as Grundy will be 32 and Ladhams won't hang around for VFL

[MattW]

I posted before the game that Ladhams should be in for McLean and in the event the latter proved himself a liability whilst Ladhams had another big game in the ressies.

Can anyone explain what McLean is currently bringing to the game that Ladhams wouldn't easily eclipse if he got selected? Anyone?

I'll spew if the change isn't made next week, it smacks of Horse's pig headed selection policy of previous seasons.

We should have one that one, add it to the couple earlier in the year where we dominated the important stats but didn't win.

We're done for the year now, make use of it to try different things, get a soft 2026 draw and better draft picks in what's shaping as one of the weakest drafts in recent memory.

I wouldn't use the language you did, but agree Ladhams is a better option than McLean and I'd like to see that change.

[BFG]

I posted before the game that Ladhams should be in for McLean and in the event the latter proved himself a liability whilst Ladhams had another big game in the ressies.

Can anyone explain what McLean is currently bringing to the game that Ladhams wouldn't easily eclipse if he got selected? Anyone?

I'll spew if the change isn't made next week, it smacks of Horse's pig headed selection policy of previous seasons.

We should have won that one, add it to the couple earlier in the year where we dominated the important stats but didn't win.

We're done for the year now, make use of it to try different things, get a soft 2026 draw and better draft picks in what's shaping as one of the weakest drafts in recent memory.

[SwanSand]

Is it me or is it true that we look like we are defending the handball game a bit better but their talls just got the better of us.
again their ability to find a player like freijah so low down in the draft was an absolute steal.
our bottom players are really poor and that’s why we lose. Campbell, mills, McLean were all terrible. Campbell was given a tagging role but he is not the most defensive player to stick with it.