Blame senior players for inconsistency: Roos

[swantastic]

It can't be the coaching, no sir!

no way its the players fault for not following instructions.

[swantastic]

It will be a long year or two. Get used to it. Any win will be a bonus from now on.

thats a bit harsh Bas.

[Jewels]

It will be a long year or two. Get used to it. Any win will be a bonus from now on.

Well, that's life and footy!
I don't think you can really get the full thrill of the highs unless you've gone through a few lows and it's been a long time since, as Swans fans, we have had to really endure a low.

[Bas]

It will be a long year or two. Get used to it. Any win will be a bonus from now on.

[Primmy]

Just got back from the Markets near the SCG, and walked around MOD and Bulldog. Wearing crumpled civvies it comes across with a shock. These guys are KIDS. We expect so much from them.

I agree the older boys have to be more accountable, but the kids -godelpem - need to step in and step up. They can't sit back and say "its not up to me" because Kirky, Goodsy, Hall, Jude, etal have been the backbone of the seniors and they are held in fine regard etc. Its time they put passion into play and become the backbone as well. Even if they look like they have just skivved off school.

[Mr Magoo]

I just speculate. Its fun and I see no other reason for posting

Taking the personal references out of the discussion (but for the record I watch most games once live and once on replay. ), my reference is not to each of them personally but all of them as a playing group.

In fact I disagree with your thoughts on Richards against St Kilda. He was Mr Everywhere in the first quarter but in my opinion went missing in the second and third quarters. Maybe you have stats that back up your assertions?

[goswannie14]

At the moment the biggest concern is not the young kids and its not the aging stars , its the group in the middle.

None of them seem to step up if the older brigade fail to lead the way . By that I mean , when the going gets tough if kirk, hall , bolton , goodes, okeefe start to look out of sorts, I am yet this year to see the likes of Bevan, Ablett, Malceski, Moore, Richards etc grab the game by the scruff of the neck or [provide any sort of spark. It almost seems like they go "oh well" kirky, goodes and hall arent firing so we're no chance. Its about the guys from this "middle" group promoted to the leadership group started to show the leadership qualities they seem to think they have.

How closely do you watch the games? Richards was trying to do that in the first round, and Ablett has only played one game....against Hawthorn!

[Mr Magoo]

At the moment the biggest concern is not the young kids and its not the aging stars , its the group in the middle.

None of them seem to step up if the older brigade fail to lead the way . By that I mean , when the going gets tough if kirk, hall , bolton , goodes, okeefe start to look out of sorts, I am yet this year to see the likes of Bevan, Ablett, Malceski, Moore, Richards etc grab the game by the scruff of the neck or [provide any sort of spark. It almost seems like they go "oh well" kirky, goodes and hall arent firing so we're no chance. Its about the guys from this "middle" group promoted to the leadership group started to show the leadership qualities they seem to think they have.

[AnnieH]

I think it's just Roosey's way of saying they sucked ... all of them.

[Old Royboy]

Young players can be inconsistant because they are physically and mentally immature. Old players can be inconsistant because they are physically and mentally worn out. Any other player can be inconsistant if he is mentally frail, unhappy, poorly motivated or playing with injury.

These factors apply to every team in the comp, though those teams with the highest number in the "prime" 23-29" age bracket are likely to suffer the least.

What I have seen from the Swans is that the degree of inconsistancy has increased as the percentage of players in the senior citizen and <50 games categories has increased.

Only the very best coaches can keep their players motivated and at their mental best year after year. For most there is eventually a "use by" date where the best solution is to recruit a new coach. Roos is well aware of this - and has stated as much many times in the past.

[desredandwhite]

How on earth did they get that headline?

While Roos attributed his team?s inconsistency to an influx of younger players in the side, he said the club?s leaders needed to bear the brunt of any criticism.

That doesn't translate to "Blame senior players for inconsistency".

The younger kids will be a bit inconsistent in their performances. Okay, nothing really wrong with that statement.

The senior players must cop the criticism for the overall performance. Okay, that seems fine to me too. The leaders need to be accountable for the result - 5-6 kids might be a bit up and down but it's up to the likes of Kirk and Goodes and Hall to step up, give a bit of guidance to the kids and lead by example.

I think some people here are reading a bit more from that article than there is. Roosy's statement is, as always, completely factual while giving nothing away.

[ernie koala]

Sydney Swans coach Paul Roos says senior players must shoulder the blame for the side's inconsistency

He also attributes the inconsistency to "the influx of young players" Yeah right, Meridith. Roos just can't help himself, he has this deluded notion that the Swans play more kids than other teams. The reality is we play less than nearly all teams. The only teams I can think of that play less kids are Geelong (for obvious reasons) and St Kilda.

[reigning premier]

In retrospect and talking to a few people since Saturday the consensus is our game plan doesn't work in the wet when it rains most of the game and is slippery. We persisted in going short and hand passing when a big kick deep into the forward line would probably been a better plan. The more you handle the ball on a wet day the more the margin for error.

Sure Brisbane got 2 and 3 players back but that was because they could see were were not pushing players forward. Easy pickings when we rushed a kick in or had no other option but to boot it long under pressure. Maybe that is an area that Stellation is talking about.

He is right on one thing. There were a number of senior players who were right out of it.

Still can't get over McVeigh on Johnstone and being dragged to their goals. One positive player out of the picture, QED.

Concur on the wet thing... As soon as it stopped raining, we started getting on top.

[royboy42]

Crouch was doing a pretty good job on Johnstone before he got the hammy..it was cos of the necessary restructure that McVeigh got the job.

[Mr Magoo]

McVeigh wasnt getting any possessions so they had him tagging someone who was in Johnstone. Shouldnt have went to the goal square with him though. Thats just bad midfield coaching.

As for Kirk, he wasnt tagging in round one and looked terrible so maybe they thought it better to get him back to basics in a tagging role.

Generally midfield were terrible and gameplan was not adjusted to the wet conditions.