Where will the improvement come from?

[Go Swannies]

We'll have a lot better idea of the answer to this on Sunday morning. Remember that the Swans took it up to the Cats for 3.5 quarters earlier this year. I think the kids simply ran out of puff at the end (though the rest of the comp think the Cats were simply playing with us).

Lots of good points in this thread. Moving Goodes forward was a masterstroke last week but I often see Roos simply being outcoached. It'll be interesting to see what he does this week.

And the mark of the Swans has always been the team's ability to lift for the big games - that's been true since the Port final in 2003 when we were given no chance and gave them a football lesson. If the Swans win on Saturday then we have a great chance in the finals (and should be able to lock up 4th - or @@@@ it up if we get outcoached by Mick M again).

But we can't play the same flat footed, error ridden footy that we've fallen back into in so many games this year. We just need a bit more self confidence and skill and luck (especially goals vs posters) and the end of the season could be lots of fun.

I don't think a win on Saturday night is out of the question. And the shiver that'd send through the comp may carry us well into September.

[BRISWAN]

Ed Barlow needs to find the form he had in the first 5rounds.
Get him in there - this guy could be our next Goodes.
He has speed - height and a mongrel that inspires others when his on!!!

Mickey O has been a revalation this year (with a full re-season under the belt)
we need him back on board....... fast.

Everitt era maybe over but he is a far better option than Playfair upfront - and our back up ruckman still need time. (His form will be a big influence on our success from here on in) .

Buchanan will come good and is in ourbest 22 without doubt.

LRT and Grundy are not in our best 22 at the moment. Despite the masses, our backline can exist on speed, skill and lack height.
(Minimise the clangers....please!)

Bevo/Ted/Mal/Marty/Tadhg/CBolts are my preferred back 6 when all fit and firing.

Rok/MickeyO/Vespa/Buchanan/Hally are all capable of kicking bags.

Our middle is solid as always - but needs Goodes firing for the Rolls Royce factor. McV has been a saviour this year and Kirky and Jude are great stoppers. Our young brigade (Birdy/Moore/Jack) have done themselves proud
as back-up.

Ablett is a great kick and I still rate him highly - but he needs to regain confidence in the magoo's.

Crouchy could be a smokey for us - has done some good stuff in the past few weeks.

Fozzie must be hungry too.....if he is fit - we could do worse than to give him a run against Geelong to see if he has anything to offer.

Let's have a good crack this week and take Coll/Bris to carry on some form into finals.

Go Boys!!!

[reigning premier]

Backline and Goodes.....

Our Fwd line is starting to click into gear. Hall looks like he's returning to form and with the likes of Vezpremi, ROK and B1 regularly contributing, we should be able to kick enough goals to win. Throw a rested and rejuvenated MO'L into the mix and there's enough goals there for us.

The mids are doing OK but will probably never beat a midfield with the likes of Ablett, Bartel & Corey. A break even would be teh best we could hope for.

The backline is desparetely missing it's run. Even if it is Leaping making ridiculous runs against players with twice his pace, we need to run and run hard.

And of course the great wild card, Adam Goodes. He needs to play good, consistant football regardless of his postition. None of this brilliant one week, missing the next. On just an average day, he'll beat his opponent 99/100. And that's what we need from him.

[Lucky Knickers]

The improvement must be from our backline - our kick-ins are woeful and against Geelong we cannot afford cheap turnovers in our D50 and gift them goals.
Tadhg has got to run into form - I thought his game last week was an improvement but there is still a big difference between his best and what he's showing right now.
Freo didn't pressure us much coming out of defence but Cats sure will.

[DST]

It sure is.

Look at the 2006 PF for example - Dockers were in great form, but we were near certainties to beat them and we delievered.

What's changed since then considering the Dockers are much, much worse. Confidence.

Much worse?

The only form that counts is the last 4 to 6 weeks when you are playing a side, anything else beyond that is useless.

Based on the last 4 to 6 weeks the Dockers were a tough opponents and the game showed that.

DST

[BSA5]

Ed Barlow needs to find the form he had in the first 5rounds.
Get him in there - this guy could be our next Goodes.
He has speed - height and a mongrel that inspires others when his on!!!

Mickey O has been a revalation this year (with a full re-season under the belt)
we need him back on board....... fast.

Everitt era maybe over but he is a far better option than Playfair upfront - and our back up ruckman still need time. (His form will be a big influence on our success from here on in) .

Buchanan will come good and is in ourbest 22 without doubt.

LRT and Grundy are not in our best 22 at the moment. Despite the masses, our backline can exist on speed, skill and lack height.
(Minimise the clangers....please!)

Bevo/Ted/Mal/Marty/Tadhg/CBolts are my preferred back 6 when all fit and firing.

Rok/MickeyO/Vespa/Buchanan/Hally are all capable of kicking bags.

Our middle is solid as always - but needs Goodes firing for the Rolls Royce factor. McV has been a saviour this year and Kirky and Jude are great stoppers. Our young brigade (Birdy/Moore/Jack) have done themselves proud
as back-up.

Ablett is a great kick and I still rate him highly - but he needs to regain confidence in the magoo's.

Crouchy could be a smokey for us - has done some good stuff in the past few weeks.

Fozzie must be hungry too.....if he is fit - we could do worse than to give him a run against Geelong to see if he has anything to offer.

Let's have a good crack this week and take Coll/Bris to carry on some form into finals.

Go Boys!!!

Eh? "Looks like Tarzan, plays like Jane" Barlow? Mongrel?! Where did you get that from? Soft as cheese, er, butter! Seriously though, while I do rate him, he is definitely no mongrel, and that is what is holding him back. And his first 5 rounds weren't all that flash either. Not bad, but not exactly mind blowing. There is a reason he was dropped (OK, to be pedantic, he was out with injury at first, but he was never recalled, even when fit).

And Ablett isn't a great kick either. A looooooonnnnnngggggg kick, but not a good one. Other than that, I pretty much agree.

[Ludwig]

Last week's game plan execution was the most positive thing I've seen all season, and I think they will be the key to our improvement in these final weeks of the season. Week after week, there has been chatter about 'playing on' and 'backing ourselves', but last week we really did it. Regardless of the scoreline, the Swan (and Freo as well), just kept the ball moving forward all game.

A few times, especially with Hall, the movement slowed after taking a mark. But most of the guys kept the ball moving. It went against us a number of times, but we have all been saying that we need to do what we did on the weekend.

The improvement will come from getting better at that sort of game, which is really the Geelong game plan, only that they do it so much better than anyone else.

We all know that we are not quite as good as Geelong, but if we can play the way we did on Saturday, and we can field a healthy team of our best players, we have a shot to play them in a Grand Final.

[MarshallG]

If we keep going the way we are we are simply finals fodder. So where does, IYO, does the lift need to come from if we are to be contenders?

The lift has to come from their confidence.

They are the type of team where they equal more than the sum of their parts.

If they have the confidence / belief in themselves they get the running game happening and when they get the running game happening, ...

[RogueSwan]

... Bevo/Ted/Mal/Marty/Tadhg/CBolts are my preferred back 6 when all fit and firing...

I think Bevo is much more valuable as a defensive forward. Let him tackle the @@@@ out the defenders and hopefully get a few shots on goal.