Match thread: Swans v Bulldogs.

[wolftone57]

People are saying if Amartey had a tight hamstring he will be out at least two. Not this time. Cox addressed it in the presser. Totally preventative. McCartin had a virus, both back next week according to Cox. I liked what Buller did. He gives a contest, he is never going to be like the other Blonde 39, Capper, but he is honest and gives a good contest and when he does get the ball he brings his teammates into the play. That handball to Paps was super quick. He kicked a goal.

I want to give credit to two blokes who don't get much love. Lewis Melican's game on Darcy was sensational. Darcy only got 10 disposals, he kicked 3 because he gets the ball very close to goal. He also has players blocking very effectively. I think under the circumstances Lewis did an amazing job. When Darcy was in the ruck Lewis took Naughton and beat him. Lewis hot 17 disposals, 8 marks. If the forwards had kicked their set shots straight we would be saying he beat Dogs. The other bloke is not given much praise unlike Heeney, Gulden, Chad. Sam Wicks was wonderful. He had 18 disposals, 4 tackles. West kicked 1 goal. He kept West to 11 disposals and he also goes to the mids, so most of them came in the midfield.

If we kick straight. We win. simple really. Pity our blokes can't kick straight. It is a virus going around called the Inaccuracy Set Shot Virus and everyone seems to be infected but Isaac. The whole club because the Reserves have it too.

[liz]

delisting quite a few of those we recruited last year In what as i see a wated draft, both main and rookie. Paton is an example.

Does Paton count as an example if he’s the only one?

[lwjoyner]

Have they been told not to report frees for and agaiist. I went to bed at half time "p off" wtih umpiring Scrays got most of thema s they did in 2016 which was ap/ship on umpiring. all yr ,they were lucky to make to the gf, Unpires were scolded by AFL as worst effort seen I do remember.
Now is the time to try some of the other close recruits like Snell and if not injured Edwardes, We need to get ready for draft and delisting quite a few of those we recruited last year In what as i see a wated draft, both main and rookie. Paton is an example. And by the way does anyone know what the frees count was in the end.

[Thunder Shaker]

Highlights:

Heeney is one of the top 10 players in the competition. His 5 goals were all class and equalled his highest goal tally in a game.

Buller's goal. It's always good to see someone score their first.

Gulden's 30 disposals were more than anyone on the ground and he looked dangerous whenever he got near the ball.

Lowlights:

Another loss, but it was a far more competitive game than the recent games against Melbourne and Adelaide.

Kicking for goal was inadequate. Set shots in particular were awful. Some of those set shots were quite wide and far out, but more of the ones from straight in front should have been goals. 4 goals 10 from set shots and a few that did not score at all were not good enough. However, the rest of the score from general play produced 10 goals 2 behinds and that's a significant improvement.

The playing surface was awful. It was a minefield with large patches of anemic grass everywhere. The television coverage had a few occasions where they played spot-the-hazard with some closeups of the more egregious patches of turf. The playing surface needs to be fixed, and quickly.

That loss means we're probably not playing finals this year. That gives freedom to try new tactics and offer opportunities to get a few games into fringe players. I tried out the Squiggle ladder predictor this week and its average prediction was Sydney finishing tenth. Even by tweaking the tips to have Sydney winning all the games except one or two didn't get Sydney higher than eighth. The two-game gap (now three games) between Sydney and eighth is a gap that is hard to overcome. If we're not making the finals, let's at least shape them, starting with Fremantle next week.

Overall, it was disappointing to lose, but it was a good game.

[liz]

The SCG used to drain brilliantly . Do those big name concerts
stuff it up ?

I don’t think it’s as straightforward as a drainage issue. Back in the last century, before they fixed the drainage, the crntre square and goal squares would become thick mud patches after moderate rain.

Two thirds of the surface still seems fine, despite there being a bit of rain around (tiny amount yesterday; a lot over the last two months).