Round 1: Saints (match thread)

[NMWBloods]

Ablett - first game back with limited pre seasons I think the Coaches will be happy he got through ok.

Why include him at all without a pre season? He added nothing.

And IMHO I would add what a terrible selection going in with 1 ruckman as LRT looked good when on the ground and would have been more value to us if he had spent the full game in defence.

Yep - should have included White to give him a run as backup ruckman.

Also, I think our forward line needs major restructuring. Hall is struggling.

They should look at Barlow at CHF (and LRT at CHB), which will give us sizeable, mobile (young) big men in key positions.

[Xie Shan]

don't have much to add as it's all been said already. Pretty scrappy match, thought our endeavour after quarter time (after a terrible start) was fine. Just some genuinely dumb footy, which, like others on here, worries me!! They seem to lack confidence, perhaps they just need a game like the comeback against Brisbane in 2005 to remind them what they can do.

Oh, and I would dearly love to be able to change my sig, but on last night's showing I don't think it's going to happen. 12 goals for the match in perfect conditions, such a waste!

[Mel_C]

I can't believe St Kilda are second favourites for the flag. We were bad but they were just as bad. I hate playing the saints because it is always an ugly shocking game. Their coaching staff didn't have much faith in the side seeing as they nearly had every one of their players in our 50 in the first quarter when they were killing us. And then at the start of the second qtr when they were leading by 3 goals they had an extra guy in defence!

I was sitting right near the saints bench and when schneider came off and was about to get rubbed I noticed the swans premiership tattoo on his ankle.
His comments were interesting on the Footy Show this morning about how he was surprised at how tough it was to play against us.

Anyway enough about them...
- We definitely needed another ruckman. Jolly kept getting tired and was constantly near the interchange waving to get off instead of going for the ball when it was right near him!
- Goodes was tagged successfully so Roos should have moved him to the forward line earlier than what he did.
- O'Keefe needs to give Hall some lessons on how to mark the ball!
- Can't believe both Hall and Goodes were not paid frees when the Alien (riewoldt) and Ko@@@@zke were given soft frees.
- Very pleased with our young guys especially Jack.
- All the talk on the radio last night and this morning is about how ugly we played.

[JudesaGun]

I don't know how anyone can possibly defend Bevan's performance last night. He was on Milne for most of the first half and not only got comprehensively beaten but on more than one occasion was 3rd.4th man up only to spoil a teammate and leave a Saints crumber alone on the ground.

He has no awareness, little to no foot or handskills, gives away silly free kicks and turns the ball over constantly. What possible value does he give to this team?

NEXT WEEK:

Out:
Bevan
J.Bolton (needs a wake up call)
Grundy
Ablett (clearly struggling with injury)

In:
Barlow
Fosdike
Schmidt (assuming he is healthy)
White (need another ruck while Spider needs a few more weeks - imagine what Lade/ Brogan will do to Jolly next week!)

[hudsta]

I don't know how anyone can possibly defend Bevan's performance last night. He was on Milne for most of the first half and not only got comprehensively beaten but on more than one occasion was 3rd.4th man up only to spoil a teammate and leave a Saints crumber alone on the ground.

He has no awareness, little to no foot or handskills, gives away silly free kicks and turns the ball over constantly. What possible value does he give to this team?

NEXT WEEK:

Out:
Bevan
J.Bolton (needs a wake up call)
Grundy
Ablett (clearly struggling with injury)

In:
Barlow
Fosdike
Schmidt (assuming he is healthy)
White (need another ruck while Spider needs a few more weeks - imagine what Lade/ Brogan will do to Jolly next week!)

IMHO


Out

Bevan ( lack of skill)
Grundy ( good start to his career but has not gone the next step)

In

Fosdike ( I thought he was still a few weeks away)
White ( Very promsing player)
LRT to the defence ( he makes the backline structure look a lot better)

[liz]

Have only read the last 2 pages of this thread, so am probably repeating what's been written already. But feel the need to get things off my chest.

About the only positive from that game was that after quarter time, the Swans managed to drag the Saints down to their level. Indeed, I think the Saints' skills were even more comically bad than the Swans'. But then, I don't really give a toss about the Saints' skills levels, only ours.

How many hospital handpasses were there? The efforts in trying to get the ball from the 50m defensive arc to even the middle of the midfield were woeful. The Saints' defensive pressure around that part of the ground was quite good - better than the Swans' by some margin, I thought - but the Swans played into their hands with some dreadful decision making. It was like there were 5 Benny Mathews out there at times.

I find it really hard to pass judgement on the forward line after a game like that. The delivery they were getting was so woeful (other than some Moore gems) that it's work out who did all they could have done. I do wish the decent goal kickers would back themselves a bit more. When Hall marked 40m out directly in front, he really should have taken the shot himself. I know he found Bird in space, and I think it was a shot Bird will prove himself more than capable of nailing when he finds his feet, but Hall should have been able to kick that one himself. And McVeigh's effort from a relatively straightforward shot was woeful. It's not just that he missed - more the margin by which he missed. Surely he should be able to get it vaguely on target from there? And why did it take Davis so long to make up his mind to have a shot from just outside 50m? We all knew there was no way he was going to find a target in a crowded 50m, and surely he didn't doubt his ability to make the distance. It was super kick in the end - I just hope he is encouraged to do it more often because with 18 opponents in your forward 50, it's about the only way the Swans are likely to kick goals.

Really hard to find players who had even competent games. Jack certainly gets a pass mark, and I thought Monty was OK too. I didn't notice the blues that others say Moore made - I just noticed his wonderful delivery forward, so he gets a tick from me. Kennelly wasn't too bad - he showed a bit of purpose in trying to get the ball out of defence, and I thought LRT did OK in the main (though he could at least try to look convincing taking a shot at goal). Kirk did a decent defensive job but his hands weren't clean.

The biggest disappointments for me were

- Bolton (J) who I thought might be OK this season after some goodish pre-season games, but was a complete non-existent factor out there apart form his goal

- Jolly, who just played dumbly most of the evening

- Mattner, who never really got into the game and looked very tentative bringing the ball out of defence

Goodes was piss poor by his standards too, though at least he had the "excuse" of a heavy tag.

It's a real shame that injuries have cut down some of the other less exposed players who should be pushing for the senior team. Thornton, Laidlaw and Schmidt fit and available and pushing for spots would put some decent pressure on the senior players to pull their finger out. As it is, Barlow's about the only one likely to press for a spot next week.

I am looking forward to the reserves getting going so that the likes of White, DOK, Smith, Vezspremi, O'Dwyer and maybe Meredith can make a serious push for a senior spot.

[ROK Lobster]

About the only positive from that game was that after quarter time, the Swans managed to drag the Saints down to their level.

That has been our greatest strength in recent seasons Liz.

As for your question, why did it take Davis so long to have a shot from outside 50? I expect the answer is team rules - looking for an option probably earnt him more votes from the coaching staff in the Sydney B&F than the goal itself.

[goswannie14]

About the only positive from that game was that after quarter time, the Swans managed to drag the Saints down to their level.

And why did it take Davis so long to make up his mind to have a shot from just outside 50m? We all knew there was no way he was going to find a target in a crowded 50m, and surely he didn't doubt his ability to make the distance. It was super kick in the end - I just hope he is encouraged to do it more often because with 18 opponents in your forward 50, it's about the only way the Swans are likely to kick goals.

Liz, I'm a little confused as the 2 sentences that are in bold appear to be contradictory, can you please explain that?

I should explain my confusion, you state that we dragged them down to our standard, but then say it was the Saints who were playing the 18 man defence within their defensive 50.

[liz]

I don't think the two statements are in the least bit contradictory because they refer to different aspects of the game.

Yes, the Saints were ultra-defensive in their set-up and that certainly contributed to the style of the game. I don''t think it accounts for the fact that so many of the Swans and (after the first break) the Saints were incapable of hitting a free team mate with a 15m kick or 5m handpass. Or why the Saints became just as hestitant and ring-a-ring-a-rosy in midfield as the Swans. Tactics aside, the skills of both sides were deplorable.

[Robbo]

From every game of football you watch, you learn at least one thing. From this game I learnt that Barry Hall is finished. Pure and simple.

Needs to be dropped. The longer we keep him in the side the worse things will get for the whole team.

Seriously, he can't catch and he just plays dumb football in general. He isn't even a shadow of his former self.

[2005]

From every game of football you watch, you learn at least one thing. From this game I learnt that Barry Hall is finished. Pure and simple.

Needs to be dropped. The longer we keep him in the side the worse things will get for the whole team.

Seriously, he can't catch and he just plays dumb football in general. He isn't even a shadow of his former self.

ROFL !!

[swansrule100]

From every game of football you watch, you learn at least one thing. From this game I learnt that Barry Hall is finished. Pure and simple.

Needs to be dropped. The longer we keep him in the side the worse things will get for the whole team.

Seriously, he can't catch and he just plays dumb football in general. He isn't even a shadow of his former self.

from every post on a football forum you learn something as well

[goswannie14]

from every post on a football forum you learn something as well

Unfortunately from some of them you only learn how stupid the poster is.

[Fat Cat]

How can anyone blame St Kilda for the crap game last night. The Swans turn most games into visual diohrea.

[swansrule100]

are we an ugly boring as watching paint dry team? or is it other teams flooding?

or are we just ugly when we lose?

i think when we play last night we deserve the ugly tag, judging by other places like big footy we must be the least popular to watch afl side. I think too many people jump on the bandwagon there and believe what they read.

When we play ugly we lose when we play half decent footy we win more often than not.

I think in some ways we need a few floggins to wake up the coaches