Game Thread Sydney v Collingwood

[stellation]

Sanctimonious rhetoric.

With all due respect, in another thread you've criticized White for failing to hold a mark then in this thread you're forgiving Crouch's inability to pick the ball up on the wing because it was slippery.

[Bear]

With all due respect, in another thread you've criticized White for failing to hold a mark then in this thread you're forgiving Crouch's inability to pick the ball up on the wing because it was slippery.

Thank you for the respect, and with all due respect back, I mentioned White's inability to hold marks as a broader issue - i.e. I said it was usual for him to not hold marks in a contested situation, so was clearly not just referring to last night.

Feel free to have another read of the White post.

[SwansFan1972]

Just so obvious. Stands out like dog's proverbials. Just like a shag on a rock. How can they all not see it? They must be blind. Every week we get totally shafted. If not for the cheating umpires and AFL we would not have lost a game and we'd have another few flags.

You know that one had nothing to do with the umpires? Or did it...!?!

The point was there shouldn't have even been a centre bounce for Didak to feed off, but it's Sunday afternoon, so sorry for not being clearer.

And I actually said "cost us the chance". No-one can say for sure what path the match goes on if a decision does or doesn't get made. But more generally, I do stand by the belief we get different treatment to other teams.

Don't for a minute undersell the influence of the AFL and umpiring department at curtailing the swans. All the rule changes since 05/06 have been crafted to combat the Swans style of play. The AFL is hardly an inactive or innocent bystander. If I had a dollar for each time I've heard opposition fans bag the Swans for flooding AND supposedly ugly stoppage/congested style football, I'd be pretty wealthy. That all comes from the AFL, who branded our playing styles in both the eras when they were our dominant tactics as ugly and a detriment to the game. It makes me laugh that you can't flood and do man on man, but opposition fans still bag us for both.

And "ugly congested footy" as described then by the AFL used to be known as man-on-man. In the good old days of the 70's and 80's, that style is looked back on with rose coloured glasses, but when the swans did it it 05/06, the AFL hated it!

So until we can produce a team with the run of the Cats, the defence of St Kilda, the superstar kids of Carlton, the twin towers of Brisbane and the discipline of the Crows, we are always going to be on the nose with city hall.

The inference is we are in for a bloody long wait. Cue music for "when I'm 64".

[stellation]

Thank you for the respect, and with all due respect back, I mentioned White's inability to hold marks as a broader issue - i.e. I said it was usual for him to not hold marks in a contested situation, so was clearly not just referring to last night.

Feel free to have another read of the White post.

That's a lovely response after suggesting someone else had been sanctimonious.

White dropped a couple of overhead marks, Crouch fumbled the ball a couple of times, the ball would have been rather slippery and I think both are understandable. Surely it's fine to have a bit of a chuckle at it.

[stellation]

On another note, does Didak normally spend that much time in the middle for Collingwood or was it just because Pendlebury went down?

[Nico]

I think you're getting selfish confused with selfless.

In that case the answer would be yes, Crouch has been one to sacrifice his own game for the betterment of the team throughout his career.

Not his best game last night missing a couple of slippery balls on the wing (where the ground was below par due to the stand rolling over it the night before for rugby league). But has been effective this year since back so hardly in line for the 2s on form.

It seems an injury affected him last night so - like most players may need a rest to get fit - and to play his usual effective role.

Perhaps I should have qualified the comment slightly. I was referring to the fact that he played injured regularly in his long run of consecutive games.

[Agent 86]

Davis was tackled and dropped the ball FFS! It should have been a free kick to us. We had momentum but instead they are given a shot at goal with that outrageous 50m penalty, our momentum is killed and our season looks to be over. I'm mad as hell.

And Hall is a street thug level psycho.

Yep, maybe the free was there - but the 50 was very harsh. It was pretty obvious TR didn't hear the whistle. 50s should be for deliberate fouls. Rubbish decision that ruined what should have been a classic close game.

Yep, Baz just gets worse. Loose cannon & liability at the moment. Sad. That chase & tackle could have been a turning point, but he nearly has it overturned by being stupid & follows it up with a poor kick. Focus on the game baz & forget about the cheap shots.

[Nico]

Yep, maybe the free was there - but the 50 was very harsh. It was pretty obvious TR didn't hear the whistle. 50s should be for deliberate fouls. Rubbish decision that ruined what should have been a classic close game.

Yep, Baz just gets worse. Loose cannon & liability at the moment. Sad. That chase & tackle could have been a turning point, but he nearly has it overturned by being stupid & follows it up with a poor kick. Focus on the game baz & forget about the cheap shots.

When he is outside 50 he lets himself down badly after working so hard to get possession. If I had a dollar for every time he's butchered a pass in this position I'd be a millionaire.

[Agent 86]

Finally, the umps, have they been worse - seriously?

Ummm... yes. Much.

[Nico]

Another stat. Collingwood kicked 8 goals 8 from turnovers to our 4 goals 8.

4 goals = 24 points, there is the game. It seems to me if we get the disposal right or change things round to free up players all these turnovers will reduce dramatically.

[Bas]

It seems to me if we get the disposal right or change things round to free up players all these turnovers will reduce dramatically.

Has anyone got a large drum so we can get this through some of the players thick heads.

Football is not equal to rocket science.

[Agent 86]

Someone probably has linked it elsewhere, but Roos is seriously pissed with Crouch. He said after the game that Crouch said he was right to play on thursday night and that they trust senior players, but then criticised Crouch for being on one leg all night. Said he clearly should not have played.

We all know how Roos feels about selfish players...

Well, he should probably know by now not to ask him if he's ok to play.

[Lohengrin]

On another note, does Didak normally spend that much time in the middle for Collingwood or was it just because Pendlebury went down?

No. Yes.

He does get a run in the middle, but I think it was more than normal last night.

[connolly]

On another note, does Didak normally spend that much time in the middle for Collingwood or was it just because Pendlebury went down?

A key to Malthouse's strategy against us is to run his small fast forwards through the midfield against us to expose our lack of pace. So Didak, Dick, Medhurst, Davis all get a run in the middle. The theory is very simple. In the past our midfield bench players have all been very pedestrian. In addition we didn't have the quick small forwards that could be similarly rotated to match up against them as quick impact midfielders. So as our rotating midfield tired Malthouse threw more pace at them. Malthouse rotates his quick players off the bench and out of the forward line at us. This increases the pace that we have had to deal with. So Didak plays in the midfield much more against us than any other club. Significantly we did better against them last night because we had quicker second string midfielders and quicker small forwards. Malthouse developed this tactic several seasons ago because we had a slowish midfield and a forward line that was not rotated into the midfield. There is another reason which i won't raise because you will claim anti-ND bias. But let it suffice to say that Malthouse knew his strengths and weaknesses better than any coach in the comp.

[Agent 86]

On another note, does Didak normally spend that much time in the middle for Collingwood or was it just because Pendlebury went down?

Dunno, but he murdered us last night (and he didn't even need Christopher Hudson to help).

That soccer-kick from the sideline that went so close to dribbling thru was pure genius & a few other 1 percenters were crucial. He seems to save his best for us.

The classic idiot savant?