Match thread: Swans v Lions.

**UUaswan** · 2026-06-25T12:12:30+00:00

Originally posted by mcs

I actually think our top liners have been okay. Chad has played well, Heeney has battled hard (been held excessively a lot tonight), Curnow has been by far our best forward, Gulden been okay for first game back.

its the bottom end where the problem is.

I'm not so sold the gameplan is as big an issue as some make out. But for it to work we need our bottom handful playing reasonable well. Not being anonymous or downright awful. Amartey may as well not be out there, Ladhams has reverted to his worst tonight (though he hasn't played much at AFL level this year), Cleary tries hard but he is clumsy, Bice has had a nightmare.

I feel queasy when the guy we have a 5yr near million dollar deal in front of is looked at as a bottom player.
Simply cant be irrelevant when your asking what he is asking

**Daisi** · 2026-06-25T12:12:50+00:00

Originally posted by mcs

Getting blokes back will help. But there are a few that sadly more often than not go to absolute bathwater when the pressure gets going. Its not something you can solve quickly or easily unless you have outrageous depth like Brisbane do. However, we will be helped if we can get some of our missing troops back into the team that naturally will shift out some of those players as they cascade down.

Fair dinkum Grundy. How hard is it to stay on your @@@@ing side of the line. 4 times tonight!

Thanks mcs....Very interesting and intelligent take on things..Thanks for responding

**mcs** · 2026-06-25T12:13:10+00:00

Good on Edwards for that thumping tackle on that cat. Nothing wrong with that tackle (A free but nothing more in it). A bit more physicality from a few others wouldn't go astray.

**dejavoodoo44** · 2026-06-25T12:18:44+00:00

Originally posted by mcs

Good on Edwards for that thumping tackle on that cat. Nothing wrong with that tackle (A free but nothing more in it). A bit more physicality from a few others wouldn't go astray.

Should have been a reverse free for Edwards being hit late.while he was out of play.

**dejavoodoo44** · 2026-06-25T12:19:48+00:00

AFL site saying both Amartey and, uggh, Gulden out injured. Are they?

**mcs** · 2026-06-25T12:20:52+00:00

Originally posted by dejavoodoo44

AFL site saying both Amartey and, uggh, Gulden out injured. Are they?

In between their wank sessions over the lions, Ch 7 Commentators suggested Amartey had an achilles issues. Hopefully Gulden was just precautionary.

**dejavoodoo44** · 2026-06-25T12:22:52+00:00

Originally posted by mcs

In between their wank sessions over the lions, Ch 7 Commentators suggested Amartey had an achilles issues. Hopefully Gulden was just precautionary.

Let's hope.

**crackedactor 01** · 2026-06-25T12:23:54+00:00

Now you can see how we cannot handle the physical aspect of playing in a Grand Finals.

**UUaswan** · 2026-06-25T12:24:35+00:00

Gulden was cramping

**crackedactor 01** · 2026-06-25T12:24:54+00:00

What a Fantastic game by Warner. It would have been a 12 goals plus defeat without him.

**UUaswan** · 2026-06-25T12:25:22+00:00

Never seen so many deflected balls go in their hands We slipped all night
We fumbled they didnt
Both teams were robbed by high tackles
But
Handballing for the sake of it has to stop
When the average punter is talking about stopping what Sydney are trying to do, its maybe time the coaching staff stepped up.
We have 3 tall fwds, kick it long, deep and high
Grundy stop playing stupid games
Cleary and Bice can go to the 2s
Amartey can go back as well, might solve his contract issue, been a mouse for over a month now

**Hotpotato** · 2026-06-25T12:25:54+00:00

We beat them by 44 (round 1)
They beat us by 43 (round 16)

So we’re in front.

**imuninformedtwo** · 2026-06-25T12:27:46+00:00

Originally posted by mcs

I actually think our top liners have been okay. Chad has played well, Heeney has battled hard (been held excessively a lot tonight), Curnow has been by far our best forward, Gulden been okay for first game back.

its the bottom end where the problem is.

I'm not so sold the gameplan is as big an issue as some make out. But for it to work we need our bottom handful playing reasonable well. Not being anonymous or downright awful. Amartey may as well not be out there, Ladhams has reverted to his worst tonight (though he hasn't played much at AFL level this year), Cleary tries hard but he is clumsy, Bice has had a nightmare.

A pretty good take on things.

I also reckon you find out a bit about players in games like that. Good on the Chad, what a game. He was best on ground in a side beaten by 40. Well done Isaac for battling through, Rowie, Curnow, Edwards, and a couple of others get a tick. But Bice was flat out awful and just refuses to put his body over the ball and can’t make good decisions with the ball in hand, Cleary ain’t it, and Lloyd was caught out defensively. And if anyone has seen Amartey, let me know. We should throw a packet of chips at him and say sign.

There was also a bit of an effort thing. The Lions were obsessed with protecting the corridor but still consistently found players on release on the wings. That’s running power and endeavour. It’s where we missed McInerney and our lack of midfield depth was exposed. That’s my biggest worry in a big game. Do we really run seven or eight deep. Brisbane, Freo and Geelong do. We don’t.

**UUaswan** · 2026-06-25T12:32:52+00:00

Originally posted by imuninformedtwo

A pretty good take on things.

I also reckon you find out a bit about players in games like that. Good on the Chad, what a game. He was best on ground in a side beaten by 40. Well done Isaac for battling through, Rowie, Curnow, Edwards, and a couple of others get a tick. But Bice was flat out awful and just refuses to put his body over the ball and can’t make good decisions with the ball in hand, Cleary ain’t it, and Lloyd was caught out defensively. And if anyone has seen Amartey, let me know. We should throw a packet of chips at him and say sign.

There was also a bit of an effort thing. The Lions were obsessed with protecting the corridor but still consistently found players on release on the wings. That’s running power and endeavour. It’s where we missed McInerney and our lack of midfield depth was exposed. That’s my biggest worry in a big game. Do we really run seven or eight deep. Brisbane, Freo and Geelong do. We don’t.

Said it for ages, we are by far the easiest team in the top 8 to move the ball against

End to end transition is normally from turnover, teams get it against us from kick ins when we should be set up

Its almost like we defend so losely and back shoulder, its the exact opposite of how teams defend us.

**mcs** · 2026-06-25T12:47:52+00:00

Originally posted by UUaswan

Said it for ages, we are by far the easiest team in the top 8 to move the ball against

End to end transition is normally from turnover, teams get it against us from kick ins when we should be set up

Its almost like we defend so losely and back shoulder, its the exact opposite of how teams defend us.

We place far greater reliance on getting well structured behind the ball than a lot of other teams, which means we do let teams move the ball more easily up the ground than others. That is fine when we are firing on the turnover and moving the ball well - but if the other team is on and we can't get our hands on the pill, it spells trouble. It didn't help tonight that most of our tall forwards were utterly useless, and there was zero forward pressure for large chunks when we clunkily moved it in. And Brisbane's work rate was just too much across the park.