Game day thread - Syd V Carl - Eski out - Grundy In (may contain spoilers)

[HBAsyd]

HERE IT IS!

go the fist pumper...it makes me all warm and fuzzy to see that from Roosy

[hot potato]

Exciting win, would have bben very dissapointing to go down so gutsy effort by the Swans, excellent game by Jolly, Jude ROk, but the first half was pretty lacking in intensity and second to the ball. A lot of poor kicking (for goal) kept us in it. Carlton are a good side.
Swans still have a lot of skill work to do.
A huge relief to get over the line.
I'm sure Hally's brain has healed now.

[NMWBloods]

An excellent result. As I thought a month ago Carlton was going to be a major challenge and after a crappy first half (mainly first quarter) it was a very good second half. In particular it was pleasing to see how much play-on football we had and how effective it was for scoring goals.

Best players IMO:

Jolly - fantastic game around the ground with disposals, marks and goals, as well as some great ruck work.

Kirk - brilliant stopping job on Judd.

Ablett - excellent effort on Stevens as well as getting a bit of it himself.

Bevan - very good defensive pressure in the forward line, as well as popping up for some good goals.

O'Keefe - fantastic running effort all day, getting a lot of the ball, taking some good marks, kicked some excellent goals, and delivered the ball really well I50 (12 times!!)

J Bolton - one of the best games I've seen from him in a long while. Really good at clearing the ball effectively today.

McVeigh - great game, positioned himself really well in the forward line as well as getting a fair bit of it around the ground.

Solid contributions from Jack, Moore and Everitt.

I wish they'd leave Grundy as a permanent forward for a while though. Even though we kicked 18 goals I think more structure and a key forward would help.

We still have lots of work to do but at least we're giving ourselves a good chance by getting closer to securing a top 4 spot.

[annew]

We have a new entry in the most stupid comment/egg on the face competition.

I'll wear that but I was also hoping that if I really thought that I would be proven wrong. Thank goodness I was.

[swansrule100]

was good to see jack and moore back in a bit of touch as well.

[NMWBloods]

Paul Roos said on the radio that Goodes is carrying an injury - he did not say what it was.

I thought he mentioned a groin strain in the press conference.

[swansrule100]

Paul Roos said on the radio that Goodes is carrying an injury - he did not say what it was. We must bring back Hall now!!

if you are fit enough to be on the field then you have to put more effort in than that.

Others have not been excused from a lack of chasing and effort in the past, he was pathetic most of the game, not just the lack of possies, but the way he would just watch gibbs create play and work off him.

[hammo]

Spida showed that he just needs to get up his match fitness and he'll still be a very important player for us. I thought he was 200% better today, hopefully the knockers lay off him for a while.

[connolly]

An excellent result. As I thought a month ago Carlton was going to be a major challenge and after a crappy first half (mainly first quarter) it was a very good second half. In particular it was pleasing to see how much play-on football we had and how effective it was for scoring goals.

Best players IMO:

Jolly - fantastic game around the ground with disposals, marks and goals, as well as some great ruck work.

Kirk - brilliant stopping job on Judd.

Ablett - excellent effort on Stevens as well as getting a bit of it himself.

Bevan - very good defensive pressure in the forward line, as well as popping up for some good goals.

O'Keefe - fantastic running effort all day, getting a lot of the ball, taking some good marks, kicked some excellent goals, and delivered the ball really well I50 (12 times!!)

J Bolton - one of the best games I've seen from him in a long while. Really good at clearing the ball effectively today.

McVeigh - great game, positioned himself really well in the forward line as well as getting a fair bit of it around the ground.

Solid contributions from Jack, Moore and Everitt.

I wish they'd leave Grundy as a permanent forward for a while though. Even though we kicked 18 goals I think more structure and a key forward would help.

We still have lots of work to do but at least we're giving ourselves a good chance by getting closer to securing a top 4 spot.

Agree with all that. And although young O'Dwyer didn't get the ball much he laid some really important tackles on the half forward line. The kid looks OK.

[hammo]

if you are fit enough to be on the field then you have to put more effort in than that.

Others have not been excused from a lack of chasing and effort in the past, he was pathetic most of the game, not just the lack of possies, but the way he would just watch gibbs create play and work off him.

Yep he was doing everything that Davis has been accused of doing, or not doing, in the past.

[liz]

Solid contributions from Jack, Moore and Everitt.

Thought Bird had some important touches too. Early in the season he wasn't quite weighting his passes correctly but he's markedly improved in this department as the season's gone on. His kick over the top to McVeigh was perfect. And I like his second effort instinct too. After he had his kick smothered in the forward line, he was back in the contest before you could blink.

I'd also add Richards to the list of best players. I thought he took some sensational marks, provided rebound from defense and held the backline pretty much together.

[eggbeater]

Especially loved the team goal where BEVAN handballed it over for MCVEIGH to score!

[2005]

Spida showed that he just needs to get up his match fitness and he'll still be a very important player for us. I thought he was 200% better today, hopefully the knockers lay off him for a while.

Im one of them Hammo.
Agree. He was much , much better today especially after 1/2 time.
It was the major area we had Carltons measure today.
Hope Spida , can back it up now.

[NMWBloods]

Agree with all that. And although young O'Dwyer didn't get the ball much he laid some really important tackles on the half forward line. The kid looks OK.

Yeah, I quite liked the look of him. Made a fantastic pick up and handball in the first quarter too.

[mcs]

I thought Richards was very very good today and I think overall hes had a good season. O'Dwyer didnt get much ball but looked up for it and made some excellent tackles. ROK was sensational today, Jolly had an excellent game, the youngsters were much better today then the last few weeks (Jack and Moore and Bird). Great game to watch- we were lucky they couldnt finish us off when they got to 30 odd points in front, but was a gutsy fightback to firstly get back into it and then go on and win it.


Lets hope our injuries are not too bad as the next four weeks are just so critical to us. Play well and get say 3 wins and have a few results go our way and the last two weeks including the Pies game could be redundant in terms of the 4. To make that happen though we simply have to beat Adelaide and Freo at home, and beat one of the dogs or Geelong. For Collingwood does not have an easy draw- the Bombers always step up when they play them, then they have Hawthorn and St Kilda to follow. Not to say the damned pies wont go on and win all 3 of them, but they could easily drop 1 or 2. Unfortunately our mini slump has let a lot of other teams into having an outside chance at the 4 as well, but the pies are still the main threat I feel.