Match Thread..Swans v Crows

[BeeEmmAre]

We lost to the Crows. We always lose to the Crows. All the teams below us also lost. It's not the end of the world.

[ROK Lobster]

We lost to the Crows. We always lose to the Crows. All the teams below us also lost. It's not the end of the world.

We can't beat decent sides. That's not the end of the world either. Just means we are a crap side, with injuries, and a massively overrated coach. Not the end of the world, but not the start of a promising run home either. Any easy early draw flattered us. Season 2008 - all over.

[cruiser]

We can't beat decent sides. That's not the end of the world either. Just means we are a crap side, with injuries, and a massively overrated coach. Not the end of the world, but not the start of a promising run home either. Any easy early draw flattered us. Season 2008 - all over.

But the Crows arent a decent side! They had just lost 5 straight.

[ROK Lobster]

But the Crows arent a decent side! They had just lost 5 straight.

You are making me feel even worse. At least we smashed Carlton

[Nico]

I'll take your point on Richards, however until he went forward I thought he was having a dog of a game. As for LRT well I closely watched him and his best spoils were on Swans players.

The other thing that really grabbed me last night was the number of Swans players running around with no intention of going for the ball - just intent on minding their opponent so he didn't get it.

There were about a dozen instances I saw where a Swan could have run in and picked up a loose ball but instead they had their back to the ball facing a Crows player.

Ben Mathews has built a career on this and he was the worst offender last night. But Benny's presence must have made this infuriating tactic contagious - Ablett, Jack, LRT and even Richards were all doing it.

Correct Hammo. As I said in an earlier post, when we play Collingwood and Adelaide we go ultra defensive. Why we didn't go long to the square and over their half back flood staggers me. Example: On TV we got a back view of Mattner running up the centre of the ground around the back of the square. Up ahead was 2 one outs at FF and one probably about CHF, yet he decided to go sideways wide to the HFF. He kicks it long enough to go to one of those contests. There was no concerted effort to put deep forward pressure on their backs.

Our forwards were slow to react and on most occasions played yards behind their man.

My only excuse can be that the team biorythms were out of cync last night. Looks like the yoga has worn off, they are all warm and cuddly now and have forgotten how to get to contests. Last night looked remarkably like the worst of the Eade era.

[NMWBloods]

You are making me feel even worse. At least we smashed Carlton

And totally destroyed WC - wasn't that one of the great wins as it was heralded at the time!

[bedford]

I must say,that was one of the worst performances in Roos time at the club.
The one thing that stands out is the DUMB footy we play when teams flood back on us.
The one thing that stands out is when we go forward we wait for the perfect option,with the flood on it will rarely happen so we wait till the ump waves us on,then we bomb in to a pack or to an opponent standing short of the pack who markes and cleares to an open forward line.Instead of waiting why not get it in quick before more defenders get back No that would be going against a boring game plan.
The other problem is Hall and MOL lead to the pockets and have to shoot from acute angles and Mick is a unrealiable kick,when Hall is in the team they only kick it to him and when he's behind it he carnt out mark his opponent,so he had Bassett as well last night what is wrong with kicking it to the spare player which was probably Moore.
To play Goodes is one of the stupidest selections in my long time supporting the club,to see a superstar of the AFL getting beaten by a bum is a disgrace.The crap with Mal is nearly as bad,come out in the open and tell us the truth what are they hiding.Has anybody in Sydney actually seen him train or can go down ther this week and see if he does then we might know.
And finally the Fox commmentaters were a disgrace,Russell is a joke and will get a call on 3aw ,Al Lynch is a person who i thought was a great player would have loved him in red and white,but is insiped.Why do they keep saying shot on goal isnt it shot AT goal.Their comments on how badly Goodes was playing showed they had done no research leading up to the game,dont we miss Clynton Grybas.
If Roos does stand down next year we need a complete change ,no Longmires,Blakey's or any others from this great era it will be time for change as the kirks and other over 30's will be gone.
Wouldn't it be great to watch a side that plays attacking footy,you will lose sometimes but at least you will enjoy watching it.
What we watched last night was A DISGRACE

[Nico]

Bedford, that reminds me of the game before Eade got sacked. You can blame injuries but the selection of Goodes and Mathews and the trading for Everitt were coaching decisions. Any chance of accountability statements, probably not.

At least with Crouch, Mathews, Everitt and maybe another senior player going there will plenty of cash to go for a quality midfielder like Kerr.

We now have to be adventurous for remaining games or perish. To stick to the crap they served up last night will spell disaster.

[Nico]

Did anyone notice how many times a player was running through the centre, back of the circle, then got a call from behind, stopped and propped then passed to a player wide, often Craig Bolton. Problem here is Adelaide had all the time in the world to get their 18 players back.

Looked like a set play, but the pass then went very wide to the HFF and short, over the head or ran out of bounds.

[hammo]

Did anyone notice how many times a player was running through the centre, back of the circle, then got a call from behind, stopped and propped then passed to a player wide, often Craig Bolton. Problem here is Adelaide had all the time in the world to get their 18 players back.

Looked like a set play, but the pass then went very wide to the HFF and short, over the head or ran out of bounds.

We seem to be coached to play exactly the opposite way to Geelong, Hawthorn and the Bulldogs.

[Xie Shan]

We missed Leo more than I thought we would. Defence looked a little lost without him, and the Crows aren't exactly known for their forward line, but they did everything right last night. Ted tried to stand up in the second half and the scoreline would have been even worse without O'Keefe but otherwise we pretty much sucked. The highlight of the match was the spectator that caught the ball just around from the O'Reilly concourse in the third quarter.

Perhaps Roosy was right when he said it's very hard to win matches in this competition without a healthy team. On Offsiders this morning Gerard Whately reckoned pretty much everyone from 4th down (i.e. including us) is making up the numbers.

[Triple B]

The highlight of the match was the spectator that caught the ball just around from the O'Reilly concourse in the third quarter.

Highlight

Someone should belt the knob in the mouth. ROK is standing there pleading for the ball back to move it on before the Crows get numbers back, again, and this knob is raising the ball to the crowd like a wanker.

[Xie Shan]

Highlight

I agree. I was just commenting on the quality of the match (i.e. forgettable) more than anything. It was pretty crappy stuff.

[hot potato]

Did anyone notice how many times a player was running through the centre, back of the circle, then got a call from behind, stopped and propped then passed to a player wide, often Craig Bolton. Problem here is Adelaide had all the time in the world to get their 18 players back.

Looked like a set play, but the pass then went very wide to the HFF and short, over the head or ran out of bounds.

Yep, it's so infuriating to watch, even more so when a Swan does take a mark and there is not one player running past to take a h/ball to drive the ball forward while the opposition have not yet regrouped.
Watch the last 15 or so mins of the Blues performance against the Dogs today, AFL at it's best. The Dogs barely touched the ball.
sometimes you just have to enjoy the game, whoever it is performing at that high level.

[BSA5]

Bedford, that reminds me of the game before Eade got sacked. You can blame injuries but the selection of Goodes and Mathews and the trading for Everitt were coaching decisions. Any chance of accountability statements, probably not.

Nothing wrong with trading for Everitt. Spida gave us a lot last year, and has given us time to develop Currie and Orreal. He has also without a doubt helped Jolly develop his game. Without Everitt having moved to the club, there is no way the Swans would be sitting as pretty as they are right now.

As for Goodes, if a dual Brownlow medalist says he is fit, as he undoubtedly did, you play him. Goodes had the same injury during the Carlton match, and was still able to make an impact when moved forward. Unfortunately, that didn't happen against the Crows, due to poor delivery and the superior Crows' defence, but that can hardly be predicted. With a malfunctioning forward line, we needed a bit of game breaking class down there, and even when his mobility is severely hampered, Goodes can still produce moments of magic. Didn't happen, and his injury clearly (and unfortunately) flared up as the game went on, but I can definitely see where the coaching staff were coming from in selecting him.

And Mathews, well, do you think Nick Smith would have done any better? Yes, Smith et al have much more upside, being young, but when you're fighting to break a bad streak against a team with the wood on you, at the same time looking to secure 4th spot even further, do you concentrate on blooding a youngster, or do you put your best side out there on the day? Mathews has the experience. He is far, far from the player he used to be, and he didn't play well by any means, but would you rather his 9 possessions, 4 marks and 1 goal, or Smith's 4 possessions, 1 mark and 1 goal, which was his game against the Hawks? And I know, you can't make assumptions like that, but still, it gets the point across.