Cheer Cheer the Red and the Blight

[ScottH]

Full of??...... don't leave me hanging!.... Gas? Is it gas? It's gas isn't it?!

Most journos are, yes.

[hammo]

Rubbish article.

[NMWBloods]

To be totally honest (and shoot me down if you must) I really did prefer to watch last years GF. Dont get me wrong - I loved the '05 granny because I was there and we won, but we came too close to losing it. In '06 they fart arsed around in the first half and decided to play in the second half but it was too little too late.

But I agree with this - our style of play really was this stop and start stuff, and stangled the life out of it - that isnt footy - it was becoming a little bit like a rugby maul without the scrums and with occassional glimpses of attack.

I have watched footy ever since I was a kid and I have seen it change so much in that time, and not necessarily for the better.

Of course the AFL have had a big hand in sanitising the game with their stupid rule changes, But the Swans took the game to a level that wasnt attractive to watch. I dont think I'm alone in saying either how frustrating watching our boys has been on far too many occassions.

Unsurprisingly I tend to agree. The 05 and 06 GFs were exciting because they were close and we were in them. However, the 07 GF had a much higher standard of football skills. Neutral supporters do not enjoy watching Sydney games as a spectacle - hard to blame them really. I go to see a fair number of neutral games (and watch them on TV) and we are the only side that runs around in huge packs like U12s. It's not attractive football on the whole, notwithstanding some exciting patches here and there.

[Margie]

I thought the 2007 GF became boring. It was so predictable and one-sided that it was difficult to retain interest. Every team has it's style and time at the top. We've done well to remain competitive for all these years and with some evolvement of our game plan and players, will no doubt be back up there again. Hopefully soon!

[sprite]

Trevor who???

[top40]

[QUOTE=NMWBloods;407677]Unsurprisingly I tend to agree. However, the 07 GF had a much higher standard of football skills.

What; you enjoyed the last three quarters of that 2007 Grand Final game! I agree that Geelong were (and are) a mighty team, but watching them slaughter Port Adelaide was hardly an entertaining affair.

Even if you were not a Swans supporter, how could you possibily suggest that all of the dramas of 2005 and 2006 Grand Finals were comparative less interesting that the Geelong thrashing of Port last year.

[NMWBloods]

What; you enjoyed the last three quarters of that 2007 Grand Final game! I agree that Geelong were (and are) a mighty team, but watching them slaughter Port Adelaide was hardly an entertaining affair.

Even if you were not a Swans supporter, how could you possibily suggest that all of the dramas of 2005 and 2006 Grand Finals were comparative less interesting that the Geelong thrashing of Port last year.

I thought I made it quite clear - 05 and 06 were exciting for neutral supporters because they were close. They were not great football spectacles though and I don't know many (any?) neutral supporters who think Sydney play a standard of football that is enjoyable to watch.

[reigning premier]

Speaking of rubbish articles.... Mike Sheahan joins in...

Quiet day over at the Hun obviously...

Remember the interchange @@@@ up but forget about that goal Mikey??? Whatever....

[573v30]

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.

The Vic "experts" still can't get over the fact that Sydney won a flag and now they're joining the queue to bag them because we're not in premiership contention anymore.

[Xie Shan]

As if Roos invented the flood.
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.

I agree, I liked the way we played when we were at our best in '05 and '06. We got bagged (and rightfully so) for the crap style of play in early '05, but our guys just did what they did best. It may not have been as flashy as some other teams, but when we were good, we were very good. You cannot really compare us to Geelong in terms of the standard of football and the spectacle because they are just awesome.

[swanage]

Just wanted to put my 2c in. Been reading this forum for a while but haven?t posted till now.

I?m from the west of Sydney, a Rugby League supporter from birth, Football (round ball) player through childhood and you might say I?m a Swans bandwagon jumper. I had merely a passing interest in AFL before 05 although I?d enjoy watching games if they were on the telly at the time and had a moderate understanding of the way the game was played. A big part of what got me hooked on the Swans was hatred they seemed to invoke amongst the average Victorian, which was highlighted by the ?Ugly football? comment by Demitriou before we rubbed his nose in it in September.

The more I watched them the more I became fascinated with not just their struggle to win the premiership, but the way they went about it and what that meant for the games I watched. They had a handful of talented players, but they matched it with ?better? teams by sucking the life out of them, bringing them down to our terms, then beating them at our game. Sure it wasn?t the game at it?s purest, but it was enormously impressive to watch a team work around their limitations that way.

On top of that as we all know the way the Swans play lends itself to close games, which to me that more than makes up for any lack of natural excitement in our team. Myself and everyone I introduced to the sport became addicted to the well known spectacle of the Swans starting slow, finding the measure of the opponent then clawing back a victory from the jaws of defeat. And both the 05 and 06 GFs were sporting moments that for me matched everything including qualifying for the Football World Cup

The thing I like least about this sport is that it lends itself to blown out matches (which is understandable, it?s a momentum game). Last year?s GF was BORING. I switched the channel early in the third quarter because it looked like a training run. Sure Geelong are incredible but watching that game was like staring at high art, sure it was impressive but it didn?t hold my attention because the result wasn?t an issue. Not to mention I almost felt sorry for Port. I would even say I enjoyed watching the Rd 1 game v Weagles in 07 over the rd 4 flogging this year.

This may seem like the nonsensical ramblings of a guy who loves a team that?s winning but the thing is a lot of the people the AFL wants to win over in this city have learned the game through the prism of watching a team that grinds its wins out by wrestling the opposition down in close games. A lot of people say it?s not beautiful, but I say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and there?s NOTHING more beautiful than beating the Weagles.

And lets face it, in any sport you play to win. You play within the rules to achieve a result. That?s the single empirical fact that can not be overstated. If you?re too short-sighted as a ?neutral? observer not to appreciate how that result is achieved than your opinion doesn?t deserve to be published and read by thousands. Hack rubbish journalism and everything you?d expect from a News LTD paper (just thank god they don?t run this code of footy as well).

Wow that was long. Cookies to anyone who read all of that

[Margie]

I did - and they are very insightful comments.

[Go Swannies]

Swanage, I read it too. And largely agree. Last year's grand final was the uncontested aerial ping pong that I long derided AFL as throughout my NSW youth.

I find watching a high scoring game where players won't man up REALLY frustrating - including last Saturday at Telstra Stadium. I like contested footy and the Swans have given me plenty of that over the past few years and largely explains my passion for the team.

[NMWBloods]

in any sport you play to win. You play within the rules to achieve a result. That?s the single empirical fact that can not be overstated.

As I've said a few times before, sport isn't just about winning. It's also about entertainment. Otherwise why would certain sports be popular and others not.

[Wardy]

As I've said a few times before, sport isn't just about winning. It's also about entertainment. Otherwise why would certain sports be popular and others not.

I would prefer our team to man up (we dont) limit stoppages (we dont) - play free flowing footy ( we rarely do) they have to move with the times - because the current plan as it is isnt working. Sure it worked in the past - but we have been found out and teams run rings around us and lets not forget we only just beat Freo!. Roos is moving along with all these new ideas with coaching from the bench etc, but the game plan hasnt changed.