Match day thread Swans v Freo

[swantastic]

I thought Benny did a very good job today on Bell.

[Robbo]

Finally. Well played today.

[swantastic]

Finally. Well played today.

Yep they were pretty good in the last but they really should have punished Freo,22 points thats just not good enough.Schneider 1-4,ROK 2-2 but in there defence the weather was flecked.

[R-1]

Hard to take much of anything out of that game. In tough conditions we beat a team that is known for cracking under pressure, despite our dreadful accuracy keeping them in it. I suppose it's good that we never looked like losing, but then, Fremantle haven't looked threatening to us for at least a couple of years.

[573v30]

Woohoo!!!!!!!!!!

FINAL SCORE

Sydney 11.23 89
Fremantle 9.7 61

A real team effort from our boys in the wet conditions, Freo looked all out of sorts in the midfield and if it wasn't for the free kicks they were receiving and our crappy accuracy in front of goal we would've won by at least 75 points. The game was clearly won in the midfield, most of the clearances won by Sydney and the pressure applied by the midfielders in rough conditions was great. I can't believe it but Mathews played a pretty good game and did a good job tagging Bell at times.

Another key difference was the forward line. Sydney had a lot more opportunities than Freo in the wet conditions but failed to capitalise on several occasions keeping Freo in the game. Fremantle had much less opportunity on goal and capitalised. Hall & O'Loughlin were much more influential than Pavlich & Tarrant and when Farmer went off with an injury, the momentum swung our way.

Our defence was great with C. Bolton and Barry well holding Pavlich and Tarrant to few opportunities and Kennelly's run from the defensive 50 was sorely missed in the past few weeks. The only downside was the poor kicking at goal, some bad clangers from the regulars and stupid umpiring decisions that reminded me of the Pies vs. Saints game yesterday. Still, a great win by Sydney and Carlton should be no match for the inform Red & White.

[tawfiq]

good win

that was awesome, i cant help but think, if we had kicked straighter we couldve had 150 points+ on the scoreboard

[TheMase]

I am quite happy with that effort!

We played the conditions a lot better, tried to run and carry when the opportunity presented and kicked long and hard.

Our scoring was inaccurate because for once WE WEREN'T always trying to pin point the pass. We would kick long to a contest in the forward and our work around the stoppages was first rate.

Key differences today:

- Forward defensive pressure was excellent.
- Kicking long to contests
- Work rate around the stoppages
- Not afraid to run and link up
- Pressure across the midfield meant even in bad conditions the ball was scrappy going forward for Freo
- Did not always try and hold the ball in, but tried to keep it moving at stoppages
- Given the conditions, our disposal by hand and foot was much improved. We were hitting targets.
- Midfield was good, particularly Fosdike and Schneider. Schmidt was great in close.

Much better overall effort, and if we do that in dry conditions, we might even see the Sydney of old.

[punter257]

how many times did we hit the post?

i reckon it was about 5 or 6

[Foreign Legion]

how many times did we hit the post?

i reckon it was about 5 or 6

I reckon 5 times but at least we "could" have won it by heaps.

Kirk is an absolute marvel - not a hell of a lot of skill - but 900 metric tons of guts. He inspires the team and honestly, looks to be the Captain.

Fossie, Goodesy, Benny and Pebbles were all good but I think our effort last week has been overlooked - lets hope we hammer the Blues next week.

[573v30]

TLM medal voting will be very interesting this round.

[doctor swan]

as a benny basher i ll give credit where its due, u wore bell like a glove good constructive game according to game plan. on the other 2 jury is still out

[swansrule100]

was not the best win ever a lot of things still need improvement. But it seemed to be a win that shows we may be heading on the right track. Its just a small step toward getting the season back on track and we must win next week.

[SimonH]

At the SCG, clearances from the centre square practically count double compared with other grounds. When we nabbed at least 4 or 5 in a row in the 3rd quarter, it was pretty much game over. Take a bow Kirk, JBolt, Schneider, Goodes, Fosdike, and even McVeigh and Mathews (!).

As absolute stars of the team go, ROK is rapidly putting BBBH in the shade. I wonder where we'd be without him. The guy's workrate is just unbelievable.

[hammo]

The positive with all the behinds is that at least we're getting shots at goal. On an 'on' day we could easily have kicked 18-20 goals.

If ROK and Schneider in particular get their accuracy up then the team will be better for it.

All in all, an encouraging win but plenty to do skills wise.

I thought Kirk obviously was a standout but Goodes, Fosdike, J.Bolton, ROK, Teddy all were excellent for the most part.

We should thump Carlton next week and get right back on track.

[stellation]

Apart from the ins and outs it was nice to see that there were also some changes to our overall structure. ROK appeared to spend more time back across HF and Davis spent pretty much the entire game in the midfield (and a lot closer in at stoppages than usual. I thought both moves worked well.