Who starts this style of play?

[swannymum]

The Swans are often criticised for their style of play. Sunday's match was horrible.

I heard Robert Walls on a number of occasions saying comments like "there are 17 swans in the defensive half".

As there were as many opposition players also in that half, what comes first: the chicken or the egg?

Do our opposition teams believe that they should undertake this tactic to win against us and start doing this? Or is it all the Swans' fault?

We have shown on many occasions that we can play a different style (refer the Port game).

Am I right in thinking that once you are tarred with this brush, lazy media commentators and opposition fans keep harping about it?

Your thoughts?

[reigning premier]

What have I told you all about listening to Walls????

The man is the biggest @@@@wit in the game. Tim Lane runs a close second.

No more listening to Walls or even referring to his inane drivel as comments OK??

TY...

[goswannie14]

The Swans are often criticised for their style of play. Sunday's match was horrible.

I heard Robert Walls on a number of occasions saying comments like "there are 17 swans in the defensive half".
As there were as many opposition players also in that half, what comes first: the chicken or the egg?

Do our opposition teams believe that they should undertake this tactic to win against us and start doing this? Or is it all the Swans' fault?

We have shown on many occasions that we can play a different style (refer the Port game).

Am I right in thinking that once you are tarred with this brush, lazy media commentators and opposition fans keep harping about it?

Your thoughts?

It couldn't have been Walls, the game was on 7 and he works for 10.

It was probably that wanker McAvaney.

I think some times it is us, someitmes it is the opposition. Round 1 against St Kilda, the siren went to start the game and St Kilda were playing an 18 man defence from the start.

[swannymum]

It couldn't have been Walls, the game was on 7 and he works for 10.

It was Walls on radio 3AW.

[goswannie14]

It was Walls on radio 3AW.

Well that's even worse, listening to him on the Radio, when there are options. Unfortunately when he is commentating on TV there are no alternatives.

[NMWBloods]

It's not just the flooding - everyone does that. It's the dozen players within a few metres of the ball - the Swans do that more than anyone. Then it's the slow, laboured rebound from the backline combined with lots of sideways chipping. These things just emphasise the flood. Geelong and the Bulldogs often flood for example, but then rebound rapidly and directly from their backline into their forward line.

[Goal Sneak]

Geelong and the Bulldogs often flood for example, but then rebound rapidly and directly from their backline into their forward line.

I agree. We used to rebound quickly too a couple of years ago. I don't know why we don't anymore. No Malceski doesn't help, but I think its either lack of confidence or not running hard enough for each other.

[NMWBloods]

I agree. We used to rebound quickly too a couple of years ago. I don't know why we don't anymore. No Malceski doesn't help, but I think its either lack of confidence or not running hard enough for each other.

I watched specifically what we did a few times. We have so many guys around the ball that when someone breaks free we still have about ten guys standing around next to each other. A few break free but don't really have anyone to give it to and there is no one further up the ground. We don't have too many guys who can break lines or hit targets, so we go sideways and wait until the 30+ players filter back into our forward line. It's like U10s footy!

[573v30]

Well that's even worse, listening to him on the Radio, when there are options. Unfortunately when he is commentating on TV there are no alternatives.

Bruce, Watson, Schwarz vs. Walls, Hunt, Cummings. You might as well watch the game with Mute on or use Game Day Live because the commentary was crap.

[Claret]

I think MMM did the game too, but not with their A-team.

[reigning premier]

I think MMM did the game too, but not with their A-team.

Didn't mind Triple M.....

Taylor led the call... Special comments from Doc Larkins, Rodney Eade and I think Frawley....

[Goal Sneak]

We don't have too many guys who can break lines or hit targets, so we go sideways and wait until the 30+ players filter back into our forward line. It's like U10s footy!

I noticed that alot against the roos. It's like we have been watching the kids at half time each week for our gameplan! I think our lack of contested marks, especially inside 50, makes this style so much harder to justify (not to mention watch)

[NMWBloods]

I think MMM did the game too, but not with their A-team.

BT, Schwass, Dunstall, Eade - pretty good.

[shaun..]

It's like U10s footy!

Must be spending too much time coaching his sons' footy games.

[liz]

It's not just the flooding - everyone does that. It's the dozen players within a few metres of the ball - the Swans do that more than anyone. Then it's the slow, laboured rebound from the backline combined with lots of sideways chipping. These things just emphasise the flood. Geelong and the Bulldogs often flood for example, but then rebound rapidly and directly from their backline into their forward line.

The slow laboured rebound from the backline is, at least in part, attributable to tactics that other teams instigate against us - ie the uber flood. The Eagles used it to very good effect when they brought that weakened side over to Telstra Stadium in round 1 last year. Other teams used it against us a lot last year too. And why not, because it is very effective. Other teams know that the Swans like to play man-on-man, so most of the midfielders will follow their man back into our forward 50, further clogging it up. And then when a turnover arises, teams can exploit our midfield's relative lack of leg speed to run unimpeded through the middle of the ground and kick to a one-on-one contest where our shortish defenders are most likely to be vulnerable.

It both counters one of the Swans' strengths (when Hall is present and fit) in that our forwards are very pretty good one-on-one and with a little bit of space and work hard for each other to create even more space. Plus it exploits our two major weaknesses in lack of leg speed in the middle and lack of height in the backline.

The obvious way to counter it is to rebound more quickly from the backline since the uber-flood / slow chipping is in itself a bit of a chicken and an egg. Having players delivering into the forward line with better kicking skills than Bolton, Ablett and Kirk (and Mathews last year) would help too.

Sydney's recruiting suggests they are trying to remedy it. The club recognised that it was vulnerable to losing one (or both) of Kennelly or Malceski since these are the two most likely to instigate rapid rebound so they went out and got a 3rd player of this ilk, in Mattner. While I think Mattner's played well so far this year, I don't think he's been providing as much rebound as was hoped for. But the absence of LRT from a key defensive post has meant that Mattner's mostly been playing as a true defender. Hopefully that might start to change now. And if the miracle works and Malceksi returns for the second half of the year, we might finally get to see he and Kennelly work in tandem for more than the odd match here and there.

The drafting of Vezspremi and Meredith last year suggests an emphasis on improving the kicking skills of the midfield over the medium to long term since both were described as being very good kicks at junior level. And the introduction of the likes of Barlow, Jack and Moore into the team may start paying dividends sooner rather than later since all look very capable of hitting up a target from some distance (albeit not yet consistently).

So while the Swans are undoubtedly the instigators of crowding the contest, you can't ignore that at the same time other clubs are trying to negate our strengths and exploit our weaknesses. And when both we and our opposition are more successful at stopping the other's strengths than exploiting their weaknesses, you get a borefest such as last weekend and the round 1 Saints game.

The very best teams - Geelong now, West Coast recently - have beaten the Swans without resorting to playing the game on Sydney's terms. But the good but lesser teams that have not actively tried to counter Sydney's strengths have come up short. Port, the Western Bulldogs and Hawthorn are three obvious examples of teams that seem to want to back their speed and skill level against Sydney's grunt but none (yet) have had success with this approach. It will be interesting to see what tack the Doggies take this weekend, given that they've markedly improved their own contested ball winning ability since last year.