Cheer Cheer the Red and the Blight

[cruiser]

And I liked tempo football at its best - wait, then strike. Unfortunately, with the lack of skills and loss of urgency it has become wait, wait, then turn it over. We were really worth watching with the power of Hall, the guile of O'Loughlin, the urgency of Bolton J, the grit of Kirk, the run of Kennelly and the hair-raising antics of Barry. And now the era is ending.
Time for the next step, but I'm glad I was here to see that one.

Well said Di.

[cruiser]

I notice that Kanga supporters are still whinging about the draw, despite White having no part of the play in the final moments of the game.

I couldnt believe the way they brought that up last night on On the Couch.

[573v30]

I couldnt believe the way they brought that up last night on On the Couch.

Were Walls and Sheahan bagging the Swans again?

[Triple B]

It got a run on Footy Classified as well.

What about Caro going into bat for us against Hutchy

[Go Swannies]

Geelong limit contested possessions but they don't play aerial ping pong.

Aerial ping pong referred to a style of play when players would roost the ball down field to a large pack of players and the ball would often be quickly returned the same way. Almost every mark was contested in contrast to the modern game when keeping possession is the priority.

I heard Warren Ryan of all people talking about the 2007 grand final on the ABC a few weekends ago and he likened Geelong's style to touch football, where any contested possessions were minimised as much as possible through rapid hand passes. He admitted he didn't know the first thing about AFL but was transfixed by the style Geelong were playing as it was so similar to the rugby codes.

It seems to me that Roos' contribution to AFL was taking the element of rugby where man on man, ie stopping the man and getting the ball off him was everything. Now the Hawks (with their zone defence) and the Cats do a remarkably efficient job of preventing you from getting the ball within scoring range - and then swarming out of defense to score against you. If the bounce back wasn't so savage it'd be called flooding (or if the Swans did it).

The Pies succeeded in breaking it by playing very intense man on man v the Cats but the Swans certainly aren't up to something as draining any more.

It'll be interesting to see what the next evolution is. It'd be nice if it was created by the Swans and Roos but that seems unlikely. We can only be sure that there will be a new gameplan that brings the current leaders back to the pack.

[dimelb]

I cannot understand the commentators who describe our style as man on man. I only wish it was.

[johnno]

What I hate is that throughout the season, I have heard some media people commend Demetriou and Anderson on the recent rule changes because we have a lot more high scoring games than what we had a few seasons back. Well my response to this is...have you noticed the jump in goals being obtained by free kicks? more to the point soft free kicks? If you look at the stats in the monday papers, they have an area near the bottom of the stats which writes: goals, free....mark...play. Obviously meaning how many out of the teams total goals came from, free kicks, taking a mark and from general play. Well this season, each team seems to averaging 4-5 goals a game from free kicks. I've seen a lot of football this season(not just swans matches) and let me tell you and all the media people who say this is good for for football...its not, I watch this and I cringe and say to myself, this is sad to watch, demetriou and Anderson have ruined this game. Yeh sure, we are seeing a LOT more game that are say... 24 goals to 21 goals, but it is crap when 8-10 of those 40-45 goals in a single match are given by umpires for crap decisions in the forward fifty.

[swannymum]

I prefer close games to non-accountable football. Some to-ing and fro-ing and then a goal.

It is hard to get excited over large scores when there seems to be little struggle in getting in there. Bang goal. Bang goal. Yawn. Watching a team steamroll another is not a spectacle.

And Geelong floods as much as anyone. Sure they are great competitors but watching them leaves me cold.

[CureTheSane]

....and now they're joining the queue to bag them because we're not in premiership contention anymore.

We are.

[connolly]

Wardy, I'd be very happy if a few of them went back to roving school.
We don't seem to have anyone who knows how to rove the ball (ala Kels).

Have a look at the Bevanator. Front and centre. Front and centre.

[CureTheSane]

The Swans are a frustrating team to watch at times.
And we never get to celebrate those 60 metre goals on 45 degree angles as the players always look for a target and never have a shot.

They refuse to do quite a few things that bring on that wave of exhilaration and excitement.
But that style of play won us a flag.
As a whole GF's are tight contests with a lot of the 'usual' flair missing.
The Swans don't play all that differently to other sides in GF's, but they are able to play them better as they've practiced all year.

I thought the 2005 GF was more exciting than any other mentioned.
Can't comment for non Swans supporters obviously, but SURELY they enjoyed such an exciting finish.

Last year I got bored and started doing some work with the GF on in the background.

[cruiser]

Were Walls and Sheahan bagging the Swans again?

There was probably more discussion about Sydney than any other team and I wouldnt have called it bagging so much as honest assessment. But right at the end when they were looking at the ladder they commented on the extra man in that game against North and what a difference it would have made going into the final round if we had been penalised our 2 points, giving them to North.

[Dogzbody]

This is just another case of Sydney bashing....we never get good press and probably never will (for whatever reason).

As Mike Sheehan is the chief football writer at the Herald Sun (and I dont rate him), I wouldnt expect anything quality from his minions.....

Footy is about contests and has evolved through phases. The reason that we won in 2005 is that we locked down play and then attacked ridiculously in short bursts...unpredictably. That was good to watch, as it became a game of cat and mouse.

I love watching Geelong play now for the same reason, watching teams haplessly try and compete....get some hope...and then get steamrolled when they lift another gear.

If I wanted to see the same thing year in year out I would go and watch Rugby League

Anyone who thinks champion footy is based on the same formula regardless of era is an ignorant twat. Mike, Trevor et al are a bunch of journos who think they know a lot, but really proclaim very little of any content worth considering.....the fact that people subscribe to it is stupid.

Could say more, and more forcefully but Im sure you get my POV

[Dogzbody]

.......and on the 19 man thing

Kirky's snap was a goal, I was sitting top tier on the rail just to the eastern side of the posts....perfect view.

In my opinion the footy gods sorted that one out. Two cases of bad judgement one from us and one from the umpire.....a draw was all it could have and should have been.

and realistically this scenario should only be taken into consideration for the 2 teams involved.........how you can turn this into "How this affects Richmonds chances of making the finals" is beyond me.

Nth are now going to play Top 4....good on them they've earnt it.

[ROK Lobster]

We play ugly, unattractive footy. When we play well, it is tight, enthralling stuff. When we play poorly, it is just bloody horrible.

However you see it the perception is out there that we flood, are unattractive, and are blight on the game. Right or wrong, that is how many see us. It was not how we were seen in the second half of 2002 or 2003. 2003 is probably my favourite season in 20 years or so of following the Swans. Hopefully as we rebuild we go back to playing some exciting, thrilling, at times reckless footy.

FFS we are not premiership contenders anyway, why not win a few thrillers rather than win a few where we have choked the life right out of the contest?