West Coast Gameday thread

[Yuri H]

Ohimgawd that one felt good.

I thought we'd lost it for sure - but then ...

For all my recent wilting in faith for Barry H, he did good tonight. He def. seemed to be enjoying himself, stomping around scaring Eagles. And that heroic kick by Kieran Jack! Man, my neighbours must have heard my shriek of joy when that goal went through.

[DST]

Played some reasonable football early on, but they just seemed to be cruising early and it almost came back to bite us on the bum.

Was not at the game, but what was noticable is that West Coast started in the third quarter to push numbers to the open side of the ground to try and stop us switching the ball. This lead to us turning it over and stifled alot of the run from earlier.

Unfortunately in those situations we just don't have enough blokes who have good decision making skills to stay resist switching and pick outr way through the middle of the ground as we have the numerical advantage when teams do this to us.

Jude Bolton had a great game, tough in close and used it well.

McVeigh was able to get plenty of the football early and used it well.

Goodes faded in the end but really set the game up. We are a far better side when him and McVeigh are on song.

ROK playing his usual 5th on baller role suits him so well.

Jolly probably even with Cox which is a win really.

We might bang on about him, but LRT is critically important to our structure at present.

Merideth looks like he needs a rest and to be fair this board got stuck into Malceski last week for his lack of intensity at the contest and Merideth didn't go when he needed to in one contest in the last quarter which resulted in a West Coast goal.

Hopefully we can put a full 4 qtr effort in next week and beat the Power for 5-4 ration which is reasonable.

DST

[voodooguru]

When Reece was at the Pie Shop, he turned the ball over late. 1-1 so far.

Posted early in the 4th. I think we won't see that from him again, he'll recognise the pattern.

I thought Goodes was sublime. There's a betting slip in the safe upstairs, a slip of a thing at 65-1.

Great to see the Large Professor boot a bag, given that the syncophantic, disinformed scrawlers and talk radio lipservers of the Melbourne sports media have largely been calling for his dome.

[Lucky Knickers]

Hall was excellent tonight. His second and even third efforts were brilliant. He was imposing and kicked some good steadying goals when we needed.
Agree DST, Meredith looked off the pace.
Shaw - excellent early but serious blood rush to the head a couple of times. He needs to borrow Goodesy' "Buddhism for Beginners' and practice his breathing. I'll have to watch the replay of the 50m penalty against him. The one where he kicked the ball away. Looked to me like he'd already committed.
So glad to have Bird back. Jolly was outstanding against Cox tonight and agree we badly missed LRT when he was off.
Congratulations Keiran - wonderful winning goal.
I was really glad to see our forward pressure back. Much much better.

[Primmy]

Its been quite a while since we have had a SCREAMING finish to a game from the crowd. Frustrating and Wonderful. Good on Baz, Good on Goodes, Good on Keiran. And Good On US, We Was There!

Oh and I cannot agree with someones assessment of Bulldog; he had second and thirds up our end.

[SCGonasunnyday]

There were several times tonight when the west coast defenders looked genuinely scared of Hall and butchered disposals as Barry was running to tackle or shephard - and what do you know, Barry didn't give away free kicks for late tackles or slinging players to the ground without the ball. Great stuff.

Kieran Jack did more than kick the winning goal, he must have had several goal assists tonight, so many good passes to leading forwards.

[SimonH]

After tonight I was thinking: Sydney over the last 15 years is a great team to follow. They're disciplined, work hard, will always give you value for money, and frequently get your heart racing (even when they shouldn't).

The 2009 model are not potential flag-winners, but they're a solid unit who will win their share of games, with a potential for a bit of excitement as well (hell, who couldn't enjoy watching a side that has O'Loughlin, Goodes, and the immaculate disposal of McVeigh?).

It shouldn't be forgotten that Jack was in a position to create the final goal because the whole team worked hard to man up, so McKinley (I think) had no better option than the short sideways chip. And Jack himself kept his centre of gravity stable and his noggin over the ball-- he didn't take the tempting but un-Swans-like option of cleaning up the player but forgetting about the footy.

And Jack being the hero is also a great reminder that in Aussie rules it's only a week from being a feather duster to rooster (and potentially back again). Jack was deservedly named as being among our worst offenders in butchering disposals last week. And tonight, even before the match-winner, he kicked a ripper from long range into just the right space within the 50 to create a goal (to Goodes, I think).

[DeadlyAkkuret]

A few points/questions.

Some are saying Jolly played really well and matched Cox, yet a few flogs on BF think Cox smashed Jolly. I saw the game but didn't really pay attention to who won that battle.

Jesse White seems to be unable to impose himself enough. I know he's young and it takes a while for KPP's to really blossom, but I expected more of him when up against a team like WC.

Meredith needs a rest. The boy will be a gun but needs a good rest, he'll come back firing!

Jack played one of his best games, seemed to be everywhere and use the ball very well. Our midfield structure for the next 3-5 years looks to be in good hands.

Goodes looks best when he looks lazy. He just cruised tonight and was brilliant, makes it all look so damn easy!

Jolly is possibly the best kick for goal in our team.

Is Bazza really back? Big Bad looked much better tonight, was kicking those long goals and looked to be working hard. A game like that against Glass is just what he needed.

Micky O is more important to our team than I realised. He just adds something, and he plays so smart. When he's in the forward line you know anything can happen and he'll put so much pressure on the opposition's defence.

Buchanan and Ablett are crap. Possibly worse than Bevan, and you all know how I feel about him.

[top40]

Witnessing season 09 as a Swans supporter is like watching a tough, competitive men's tennis match. The aim is to hold serve to survive, or break serve to set out to win on the offensive.

In 2009 Sydney has thus far won all their home games, (like holding serve in tennis), and lost all their away games, (like the opponent holding serve in tennis)

For 2009, these close call Home wins against Richmond and now the Eagles are comparable to your favourite tennis player just managing to hold serve to stay in the match.

[Big Al]

That's the hardest I've seen Hall work for some time. His 2nd an 3rd efforts were a great thing to watch. It was Goodes and Hall which were the difference tonight.

As for Jack... U BLOODY BEAUTY

[hot potato]

Good to come out of that game with a win, looked all over for The Swans, WC missed some easy shots, should have won by a couple, but this is a captivating rivalry, and The Bloods don't give up.
Goodes brings composure under pressure in these games, ROK loves his new roving role, the more Hall is involved in the game the better they play, B1 has finally learnt the skill of kicking (for goal), MOl still moves with his old magic, he will teach Meridith how to weave, great to see Jack kick the sealer, excellent to finally have a good game in peak viewing time.
Most enjoyable , well done Swans.

HP

[voodooguru]

Witnessing season 09 as a Swans supporter is like watching a tough, competitive men's tennis match. The aim is to hold serve to survive, or break serve to set out to win on the offensive.

In 2009 Sydney has thus far won all their home games, (like holding serve in tennis), and lost all their away games, (like the opponent holding serve in tennis)

For 2009, these close call Home wins against Richmond and now the Eagles are comparable to your favourite tennis player just managing to hold serve to stay in the match.

'xactamentay.

[Triple B]

Oh and I cannot agree with someones assessment of Bulldog; he had second and thirds up our end.

Just home from the game and totally agree about Bulldog. I guess it was another case of off the ball work which doesn't show up on TV being missed. He was good IMO.

Can't agree on Jolly beating, or even matching Cox. Jols battled but was clearly responsible for not chasing his man twice for WC goals.

Bevan turned it around from his shocker last week. Only once did McKinley truly beat him and he also kept Le Cras quiet for a period in the 3rd quarter when Bevan was forced to go to him when the Illegals went tall in their forward line and Bolton was needed for a tall. His gutsy mark at the death just underlined why he is picked week in, week out.

Barry Hall was magnificent.

As for the non call of HTB at the death was the most gutless piece of umpiring I have witnessed. No excuse for not calling that one. Back to the VFL buddy.

EDIT: Disregard my rant re: OOBOTF in this post (now deleted) - replay shows me and me mate need to visit OPSM.

[ugg]

ROK to the midfield is a terribly exciting prospect for me. I think he looks right at home there, contesting those centre bounces. Roos hinted in the press conference he is likely to stay there as he offers something different, a tall presence in there that only Goodes provides at the moment. All predicated on the fact that Grundy will be playing the 3rd forward. Reg had to be moved back due to LRT's injury and then ROK was moved up forward.

[Big Al]

.

Barry Hall was magnificent.

As for the non call of HTB at the death was the most gutless piece of umpiring I have witnessed. No excuse for not calling that one. Back to the VFL buddy.

Yes

Absolutely YES... It wasn't even a line ball call.