Late Change for tonight's game - Davis OUT (Official Game Thread)

[tawfiq]

just got back from the game... absolutely disgraceful

for now i'm going to drag my sorry behind to watch the replay and see if things appear differently on tv...

do yourself a favor, dont watch it, its frustrating, depressing, disturbing and just pathetic

[Hazcam]

It's funny but when I and others said there was a risk that the team might slide this year and some players may fall backwards in performance there was some dismay and complaints about not supporting the team. Three goals to three quarter time is yet another example of how there are some dreadful problems with the side and changes have to be made before it is too late (some of us have been saying that for weeks - it's getting very close to being too late).

We've only kicked more than 10 goals to 3QT three times this year! We've kicked 12 or more goals for the game in half the games and passed 100 points in just a quarter of them.

Hopefully we don't get any more crap messages during the week about recognising they need to start better! We've won only 5 first quarters, 6 second quarters and five third quarters this year.

yep i hear ya
1st qtr starts r abysmal
the 3rd qtr isnt called the premiership qtr for nothing.
robert walls sumed it up perfectly, we're becoming a 1 trick pony and teams are getting used to it. i mean the lions and tigers matched it with us minute by minute.

of course the reason we've made the last 2 g/f is due to our impeccable defense, but we need to be sure fire in attack as well.

hell even the lowly blues score more than what we do for a whole game by half time!

richmond on friday night, 80-16 v melbourne
collingwood had it not been for some poor kicking should have been about that against us at half time!

but yep ur dead right.
a big loss to the cats could derail us

[Bleed Red Blood]

- we're fine in the ruck, our on ballers need to read the play better from the taps

Then you agree that's a midfield fault.

- centre clearances aren't that bad, it's 50/50 there

It is not 50/50.
When we DO get a clearance, it is not directed to any forward, just blindly hurried forward. (See Jude Bolton for this)

- the last kick inside 50 is becoming a major problem, this short kicking team work bull**** aint working anymore. it's all about long and direct, stick a tallie like everitt or goodes in the goal square and kick it to him one out and have guys like davis, buchanan, oloughlin and co around the spillage and have hall leading up the ground

And what has this got to do with Leo Barry?

- the biggest problem is our kick-in / getting out of our defensive 50 and defending the key goal kickers. in days gone by we would diffuse an attack by having numbers back and then running out of the backline. it's a bit hard to do that if leo is conceding 4 goals to the key forward every game.

Um.
And it's Leo's fault that the Pies' we're pressing so hard around the defensive fifty that we couldn't get it clear how?

and yes the 6 week stint davis had in the 2nds taught him a lesson and he's become a complete player now or close to. plus he's deadly accurate when forward.

He was already a complete player.

everyones accountable

I agree with that, but you have not shown why Barry should be dropped.

[Hazcam]

I agree with that, but you have not shown why Barry should be dropped.[/QUOTE]

haha
i dont know
he's just not as sure coming off half back, being so left oriented makes him predictable and when he gets unstuck its either a ball up inside 50, holding the ball or 10 handpasses back n forth till we get to the fwd arc. whereas teams like pies were playing the fast kick in. melbourne worked the zone defence to the pies perfectly 2 wks ago in their win on QBH

i guess him being the main guy in the backline and co captain/leader he needs to provide more spark. because he's pivotal.

with kennelly to come back hopefully soon and "dengis" roberts thomson coming back he isn't a certainty is leo.

im just frustrated ay. eversince 05 they've been driving me nuts! i literally have a crap weekend when they play poorly and lose in a frustrating manner.

also, i think out of all teams, our style of play doesn't tie in well with the new SOFT gaelic style rules that are in.

it just seems we have to grind all the time and it cant be good come september, we'll be burnt out by then.

God help our bloods!

[hammo]

Gee I'm glad I checked in from Hawaii to get the result Season as good as over. Think I'll get back to my holiday.

[Gary]

It isn't any better the morning after. It was just terrible at the ground. One thing that annoys me (apart from everything about selection / coaching / palying) is the "mono" ground announcer who never shows the slightest emotion even when telling people to make a noise. A real script reader that bloke. Sort of like our players i.e. I assume they are playing to a script that is indecipherable.
I agree that the Malceski performance was a mixed one...some moments of delight & some moments of farce (kick outs ineffective by the best kick in the team)...my sense was he was being carted all over the place trying to plug gaps...someone should have told him it was the titanic.
Let me get this on the table...it is sad to watch the decline of B1, Buchanan, Barry (both at the moment), into mediocrity, & wonder what selectors can possibly see in Bevan (does he have something on the coach?), Dempster, Grundy...time to stop. No its not...how many effective disposals did Kirk have last night...I reckon at least a dozen times he had the ball & couldn't move it more than a few inches....the rest of his kicks were up to his usual standard.

A more rational person would note that Collingwood played well...like they cared.

[Bas]

The pre-match performers showed more passion and co-ordination than most of the team.

There was no atmosphere at the game last night and I left after the first pies goal in the final qtr so as to beat the hordes to the bus.

We should all be given a refund on such a pathetic performance. I watched the game without alcohol assistance and it was even worse. This morning my bad cold is atleast helping not to fell miserable realising that the Swans seaons has coagulated into playing for next year.

I'm putting $20 on Geelong next week no matter what the odds are because I know I will win and make a profit! That's my opinion.

As they say, bet with your head and not your heart!

[AussieAnge]

I thought maybe there was no one upfield to kick to.

That was the reason Scott. Both teams flooded but the pies were much quicker at getting forward (or back) than us.
The only positive I can find for the night was that it didn't rain (it would have made an ordinary night much worse).

[Jeffers1984]

Just kills me to see a team which i adamantly believed had one more shot at the flag. I had no doubts in my mind that last years pain was going to spur them up for good things this year if they kept working. But they have fallen in a heap and that extends not only to the players but the coaches. Roos had clear warnings that his game plan can come unstuck as shown in the grand final but he didn't work for a plan B in the off-season.

The game plan relies on all 22 players being at their peak form and when we have marquee players such as Hall and Goodes out of form, this game plan will not work!

It is painfully obvious now that every player is being played out of form with this game plan and it must be absolutely frustrating for them.

[AussieAnge]

[QUOTE=ernie koala;315116]Grundy, not up to it.
QUOTE]

That's a bit harsh given the amount of time he spent on the ground. How you can judge that when he spent the majority of the game on the bench I don't know

[AussieAnge]

I think it was ROKL who posted earlier in the season that the team approach could come back to haunt us and I think he has a point. Instead of having a ping from near or in the 50 players were looking to pass to a team mate and making a mess of it. Dempster had the ball just outside the 50 and instead of trying to bomb it in long (and he can kick it long) he went the short pass and cocked it up. I was shouting for him to just kick it long.

[swantastic]

Paul Roo's said..

Its the worst game i've seen in 5 years

No @@@@ Paul it was atrocious.

[BeeEmmAre]

Atrocious, Gutless, Disgraceful, Abominable, Pathetic, Deplorable, Embarrassing. Need I go on?

I don't think so, Tim.

I'll never write us off, but it's gonna be damn hard to make the four from here. We really need to find a way to beat Geelong at the Cattery to stay in the hunt.

[NMWBloods]

It is still possible to make the top 4 from here.

Last year at rd 12 Freo were 6-6 and 87% and had just been belted by 11 goals against Geelong for their third loss in four games, two of them big. They were also belted in rd 13 against us, so were 6-7, 86% and 10th.

They then won their last 9 games to finish 15-7, 110% and third.

If we regain form then we could win 8 of our last 10, and 14 wins and decent percentage could nearly snag us 4th spot. However, it appears incredibly unlikely given how poorly we have played all year.

[Margie]

It is still possible to make the top 4 from here.

Last year at rd 12 Freo were 6-6 and 87% and had just been belted by 11 goals against Geelong for their third loss in four games, two of them big. They were also belted in rd 13 against us, so were 6-7, 86% and 10th.

They then won their last 9 games to finish 15-7, 11% and third.

If we regain form then we could win 8 of our last 10, and 14 wins and decent percentage could nearly snag us 4th spot. However, it appears incredibly unlikely given how poorly we have played all year.

Good analogy and yes, given that we have a few tough away games, a top four spot does seem very unlikely. There would have to be a drastic turnaround of form.