Mid-season review - what do you want from the rest of the year

[swans_premiers]

Be interesting to see if everyone who doesn't want us to just make the finals is feeling in the start of september when the two teams start lining up before the games singing the national anthem while we're on our off season thinking "ah well atleast we played a few kids" hopefully in 3 years we can make the finals...BULL@@@@. You have to be in it to win it....who says in 3 years the chances are going to be any better? You have to live in the now and do your very best..I hope the players have the same attitude.

Footy is a funny game. It's only round 11. in round 15 1975 there weretwo teams 4 games ahead of all the others on the ladder...only one made the grand final and lost by 10 goals.

Even if things go the same as they are now... it means you can throw a blanket over half the teams to make the prelim...and come prelim against teams who are known to choke in finals such as saints n geelong then anything can happen....

Still 11 rounds left..all it takes is a team to string a few wins together or someone to break the confidence of geelong n saints with a with a loss and a few injuries and it can all head downhill quickly for them.

Saints won 10 in a row in 2004...didn't win the premiership.
Cats lost 1 game all year leading into the grand final....didn't win the premiership.

Don't for a second think these two are the only teams playing for the premiership.

[Jewels]

Be interesting to see if everyone who doesn't want us to just make the finals is feeling in the start of september when the two teams start lining up before the games singing the national anthem while we're on our off season thinking "ah well atleast we played a few kids" hopefully in 3 years we can make the finals...BULL@@@@. You have to be in it to win it....who says in 3 years the chances are going to be any better? You have to live in the now and do your very best..I hope the players have the same attitude.

Footy is a funny game. It's only round 11. in round 15 1975 there weretwo teams 4 games ahead of all the others on the ladder...only one made the grand final and lost by 10 goals.

Even if things go the same as they are now... it means you can throw a blanket over half the teams to make the prelim...and come prelim against teams who are known to choke in finals such as saints n geelong then anything can happen....

Still 11 rounds left..all it takes is a team to string a few wins together or someone to break the confidence of geelong n saints with a with a loss and a few injuries and it can all head downhill quickly for them.

Saints won 10 in a row in 2004...didn't win the premiership.
Cats lost 1 game all year leading into the grand final....didn't win the premiership.

Don't for a second think these two are the only teams playing for the premiership.

Great post, totally agree!

[SwansFan1972]

Hope you are right!

I have been guilty of calling it a race in two, but as you say, anything can happen and the two in question do have a habit of weaving gold into straw! Apart from cheering home the swans, the other great entertainment each season has been watching the Saints routinely muck their seasons up year after year. The difference this year is the strong Swans influence there (and I'm not talking flash in the pan Schneids - one great game in two years). Ross Lyon, and perhaps more importantly, Dave Misson have added steel there that they've never had before. Whether that pair can beat the St Kilda spirit and culture will remain an interesting sideshow for the rest of this year!

I guess all we can ask for is that our Swannies are the best they can be, they need to lift things in a few areas - but there should be enough there to do it. Hopefully the will, application and skill will come to the fore when it counts!

One other aspect I hadn't really focussed on in relation to the awful away record is that, realistically, the only team we were expected to beat on the road of those we've played is Freo(but they played their best footy in two years after getting stung all year, and we were a bit flat). Against all the others, we went in as underdogs, and those teams (with the exception of the very lucky Hawks) are not coincidentally all in the very top bracket of the ladder.

Using history as a guide, hopefully the second half of the season will be much stronger (as it has been in the last five or so years). As Swans_Premiers says, anything can happen.

I feel suitably admonished, and will allow a bit more hope to enter my thoughts for the rest of the season!

[ROK Lobster]

All I want is for Nick Davis to come back.

[satchmopugdog]

All I want is for Nick Davis to come back.

That just needs to be your own little sticky.

[laughingnome]

IF Sydney fail miserably this year we can start talking about the draft. The draft for the fans is a concession after an awful season. So lets forget about that for now because our season, while it hasn't been fantastic, is not as bad as Fremantle.

Of the remaining rounds, I'm embolding games I think we ought to win.

Collingwood (h)
Adelaide (a)
Nth Melbourne (h)
Essendon (h)
Carlton (a)
Melbourne (a)
St Kilda (h)
Richmond (a)
Geelong (h)
Collingwood (a)
Brisbane (h)

That is little different to what I would have said at the start of the season. Do it by blooding younger players or by going with experience, I don't care. Just keep doing it.

I'd also like to see the reserves kick into gear. With 8 games to play the small competition is still there to be taken, and by most accounts our reserves have been playing like the seniors - with too many lapses in performance. Get some consistancy so we can hang our hat on the future of the club, with or without senior performance.

*I know DoK, Thornton and a few others have been playing well, just like J Bolts in the seniors. But we need more then a few names week in, week out. For the past 5 years Richmond has had Richardson, Brown, Bowden and not much else.

[Plugger46]

Well said swans_premiers.

[Puppy Eyes]

Agree with Swans Premiers. This is sport FFS. I DO NOT EVER want to see my side perform at anything other than their best. Culture is much much more important than draft picks. The subtle difference between winning and losing games this year has simply been one of concentration. St Kilda, Bulldogs, Hawthorn were all games where a committed 4 quarter effort would have won the game. It wasn't an issue of talent. It was one of effort. And we haven't been helped by injuries to young players. We are a competitive side, against the top sides, and we should continue to try to beat them because that's sport. If I want "business realities", I'll work on the weekends.

[Hartijon]

"Be interesting to see if everyone who doesn't want us to just make the finals is feeling in the start of September when the two teams start lining up before the games singing the national anthem "

I personally want the Swans to win every game,make the finals and win another premiership.That goes without saying! Of course every true supporter wants this .its axiomatic!

How to do this is the question! I believe the best way to do this is to rebuild urgently.That does not mean dropping the older stars who are currently holding us together.It does not mean tanking for better draft picks.It does not mean throwing in a bunch of kids and getting thrashed by 100points. It means treating the old brigade and the younger players as equals. It means dropping out of form Ablett and Malceski and putting in Laidlaw and Thornton. It means finding a way to play Currie and White at the same time.It means developing Pyke with a few more senior games. It means giving Brabazon and DOK a chance.It means giving all our boys in the 2's more chances than they have had in the past. It means more experimentation with personel and plan.

The results might even be better this year but clearly will be better in a couple of years with more experienced players available. Sure we can make the finals and thats great but if you think we can win the big one this year ,you haven't seen Geelong,St.Kilda ,the Doggies and Hawthorn play.Realism works ,fantasy dissapoint coz it doesn't work!

[Jewels]

Sure we can make the finals and thats great but if you think we can win the big one this year ,you haven't seen Geelong,St.Kilda ,the Doggies and Hawthorn play.Realism works ,fantasy dissapoint coz it doesn't work!

Think back 4 seasons ago.
At rd 11 2005, we were 6-5 and had just scraped a win over bottom of the ladder (and tanking) Carlton after being whacked the week prior by similarly placed St Kilda. There was one seemingly invincible team (WC) and a few others (Dees and Crows) hitting their straps and looking mighty fine.
Who would have thought at the split round that year, how that season would finish?
I'm not saying we are going to do it again this year, while my heart says yes in my head I know we are a long, long way from that team, but the point I am trying to make is that at the split round 2005, what if we had turned up our toes, given up on the season and thrown all the kids in the deep end to "get experienced", we would now be 75 years in the wilderness and counting.
While there's life there's hope!

[Hartijon]

Think back 4 seasons ago.
At rd 11 2005, we were 6-5 and had just scraped a win over bottom of the ladder (and tanking) Carlton after being whacked the week prior by similarly placed St Kilda. There was one seemingly invincible team (WC) and a few others (Dees and Crows) hitting their straps and looking mighty fine.
Who would have thought at the split round that year, how that season would finish?
I'm not saying we are going to do it again this year, while my heart says yes in my head I know we are a long, long way from that team, but the point I am trying to make is that at the split round 2005, what if we had turned up our toes, given up on the season and thrown all the kids in the deep end to "get experienced", we would now be 75 years in the wilderness and counting.
While there's life there's hope!

Yes and I remember well being laughed at for suggesting at the start of the season that the Swans could do it and go the whole way. They had potentially a fabulous team that just needed to knit and play with desperation which Roosey got them to do. It would not have been realistic to write off their premiership hopes in 2005 midway because at their best (and we saw flashes of this,) they could match the best teams at that time.

This year is completely different: older slower personell with less potential for anything except more injury(Leo),other teams being able to counter our game plan easily, rule changes which have killed Bazza and Leo's style of play.A realistic assessment says we can't do it and to be competitive for a premiership in the next couple of years ,we better rebuild starting against Collingwood.

[Plugger46]

Think back 4 seasons ago.
At rd 11 2005, we were 6-5 and had just scraped a win over bottom of the ladder (and tanking) Carlton after being whacked the week prior by similarly placed St Kilda. There was one seemingly invincible team (WC) and a few others (Dees and Crows) hitting their straps and looking mighty fine.
Who would have thought at the split round that year, how that season would finish?
I'm not saying we are going to do it again this year, while my heart says yes in my head I know we are a long, long way from that team, but the point I am trying to make is that at the split round 2005, what if we had turned up our toes, given up on the season and thrown all the kids in the deep end to "get experienced", we would now be 75 years in the wilderness and counting.
While there's life there's hope!

I made a similar point last week. We were deadset outclassed by St.Kilda on that night, yet we would beat them in a preliminary final only 3 months later.

[Jewels]

Yes and I remember well being laughed at for suggesting at the start of the season that the Swans could do it and go the whole way. They had potentially a fabulous team that just needed to knit and play with desperation which Roosey got them to do. It would not have been realistic to write off their premiership hopes in 2005 midway because at their best (and we saw flashes of this,) they could match the best teams at that time.

This year is completely different: older slower personell with less potential for anything except more injury(Leo),other teams being able to counter our game plan easily, rule changes which have killed Bazza and Leo's style of play.A realistic assessment says we can't do it and to be competitive for a premiership in the next couple of years ,we better rebuild starting against Collingwood.

Perhaps my memory is fading as I don't remember seeing any "flashes" of anything by the half way mark of 2005 other then a VERY ordinary football team. We had had no spectacular wins, had not beaten any team of note except PA, the previous years premiers, who were themselves ordinary all year and had been comprehensibly thrashed by WC and Saints.
Maybe I'm kidding myself but I don't remember thinking there was even a whole heap of potential at that stage of the year. I do remember being shattered when the wonderful Stewie went down and thinking that our season was gone with him.
As I said before, in my head I know there will be no miracle come backs this year, but I think Roos has it right when he says he will wait for the next two games before doing anything rash.
If, by some miracle we scrag wins against our two biggest nemesis' we'll all be jumping back on at a rate of knots and fancying our chances against the Cats and Saints.
I guess the bottom line is that I love my footy team, I'll support them through thick and thin and I just don't get the defeatist attitude so many on here have.

[Hartijon]

For "Defeatist" read realist and you will get it

[SwansFan1972]

Perhaps my memory is fading as I don't remember seeing any "flashes" of anything by the half way mark of 2005 other then a VERY ordinary football team. We had had no spectacular wins, had not beaten any team of note except PA, the previous years premiers, who were themselves ordinary all year and had been comprehensibly thrashed by WC and Saints.
Maybe I'm kidding myself but I don't remember thinking there was even a whole heap of potential at that stage of the year. I do remember being shattered when the wonderful Stewie went down and thinking that our season was gone with him.
As I said before, in my head I know there will be no miracle come backs this year, but I think Roos has it right when he says he will wait for the next two games before doing anything rash.
If, by some miracle we scrag wins against our two biggest nemesis' we'll all be jumping back on at a rate of knots and fancying our chances against the Cats and Saints.
I guess the bottom line is that I love my footy team, I'll support them through thick and thin and I just don't get the defeatist attitude so many on here have.

Are you sure you "don't get the defeatist attitude"?

Seems to me you get it pretty well - would likely feel something similar to knowing there will be no miracle come backs this year, or being shattered when Stewie went down thinking the season went with him in 2005.

We all support them through thick and thin, but it's not a defeatist attitude to form opinions based on what is in evidence. BUT (and its a big, important life sustaining but) when the evidence suggests things are miserable, that's where hope kicks in! And we all have that! And we all have 2005, which was more about hope and dreams than anything else really!