Round 1 V St. Kilda - Game Thread

[SwansFan1972]

Happy to do that for ya Primmy!

Can't claim it as original though - was a nickname for him that has stuck in many circles from a few seasons ago. Can't remember exactly which season but it was Round 1, STK v Lions at Gabba - season opener, his first match (I think) as captain and he lasted about five minutes. Lions crunched him and he went off with a shoulder - then spent the rest of the quarter bawling on the bench!

Memories about it are clawing their way to the front (if that's where the coherent action is) of my brain. Post match was hysterically taken up by the Melbourne media because the Lions also roughed him up on his way off the ground. According to them, the poor boy should have been left alone by those nasty lions because he was so obviously injured. The fact he wasn't probably shows why the Lions were able to win three flags on the trot and fall in a tired heap pushing for a fourth, while the Saints blew their most gilt-edged opportunity in nearly 50 years - and in my opinion, won't get that close again for another 50.

[Legs Akimbo]

He certainly didn't, but I have to say that watching it I was thinking "I'd love them to now show Richard Colless giving Roos a big spray over getting out coached!".

That's not me taking an overly anti-Roos stance, it's really on the whole coaching staff. No Plan B again- the overall gameplan seemed fine, but we were getting beaten in key areas (how many of our F50 entries were easily killed by loose St Kilda players?) and there seemed little attempt (to me at least, I may have missed it) to shake things up in those areas. There's more to game time coaching decisions than just switching a player.

Agreed. Bundling up some of the comments on other posts.

1. We have lost our recent Saints games by small margins
2. There is not much between the teams
3. We got the rough end of a few umpiring decisions and Reiwoldt plays under different rules to other forwards. St Kilda win games becuase of this
4. St Kilda is a better coached sides. They were mode disciplined, have a more flexible game plan which changes depending on the state of the game.

I don't think St Kilda have a better list than us. The difference in all recent losses has been the coaching. Like Collingwood, St Kilda know how to beat us by crowding our forward line and breaking fast to their leading forwards. Roos has never had an answer to this and he will retire with a record that shows Mick Malthouse and his disciple Lyon outfoxed him every time.

Ticks

- Mal is back
- Goodes will be one of the best or best CHF in the comp this year
- Tiger looked the goods and just needs to brush off a few cobwebs (and have a panadol or three)
- Jetta. Look great but definitely felt he was holding back in his first game. Will get better as he gains the confidence to take on the other player. One thing I did notice was that he was caught one out in the last quarter when the ball came in and he actually beat his immediate opponent one on one. Was bloody impressive actually.
- Mumford and Seaby. Very different - good combination that will take us far. Thought Mumford was actually super impressive even though his possession count was modest. He is definitely an impact player. Love his work



Crosses

- Has the game plan really changed? Are we too one dimensional.
- The forward line looked disfunctional - we are a small short. Whilst Moore was okay, we need Bevan, Rohan or Vez to be in there locking it in and creating more pressure
- Do we need to have a better rotation system of Goodes / Bradshaw and White? At present we look a bit 'tall'
- The team looks unbalanced in the middle. We have too many running halfbacks - Shaw, Tiger, Mattner, Eski and we too few attacking options in the middle. I would love to see Hannebury in the side as I think he is the offensive midfielder we are lacking. I want Bird back in because he breaks the lines when the crush is on. I thought Kennedy was actually pretty impressive, but seems to lack confidence.
- Mattner - was pretty awful game from a generally uber reliable player
- Shaw - didn't like his game at all. Thought he kept taking us wide and some disposal was poor.

[BigD]

Overall, not a good performance by the Swans. However did well to stay competitive all game. They do need to do a bit of work on their ball skills, too many turnovers when they were building to scoring chances and inaccuarcy hurt.

Now, on to other matters. I thought the umpiring was atrocious. Who's backside do the Swans have to kiss to get some of those weak decisions that St Klida got over and over last night. It is also worth noting that the goal umpires switched ends after half time after one of made a massive clanger in the 2nd Qtr and we all got on him from behind. St Kilda goal( I think it was their 6th straight) just missed the post...NOT. I was directly behind said post and there was no doubt in my mind that it took a coat of paint as it went past. How ironic that the umpires are sponsored by OPSM.

[cruiser]

I've been trying very hard not to blame the umpires as its too often an easy cop out that deflects from the fact that when the final siren sounds, your team wasnt good enough. But bugger me, we were crucified last night with too many soft or non existent critical free kicks being paid to the Saints (and that bawling Sooky) that just killed us. Then there was the point that should have been a goal for us. This morning I feel that we may not have the 4 points (damnit!) but we had a moral victory.

I just wish we were backing up against any other team but Adelaide next weekend.

With Lloyd gone, I think Riewoldt now becomes my most hated player for all the protection he receives from the umps. They really do apply a different set of rules to him.

[Red]

I agree with the general feeling of this thread, disappointed in losing but buoyed at our prospects. We have a lot more potential improvement in our new line up than St. K so an 8-point loss is encouraging.

The main reason for the loss imo was accuracy in front of goal. We has more shots than them but they didn't kick a single point until the 3rd qtr! That doesn't happen very often at all and we're a bit unlucky to cop it in Rd 1.

Of course the maggots helped their goal-accuracy with some very soft frees directly in front. I can't find the goals-from-frees figures* but I'm certain St. K was well served in this stat. But I thought we received quite a few soft frees as well, which I'm not at all used to. And astonishingly, we actually got +11 more free kicks than the opposition!! I suspect having a full-forward that doesn't get pinged for going near the ball is going to benefit us greatly in this area. Overall, we can't blame the umps for this one.

I think we really missed Bevan's attack on the ball and forward pressure. Kennedy had better get it together quickly because I reckon Bevan has a lot more impact.

Otherwise, apart from some rustiness, pretty happy with the performance. And quietly confident about our prospects next week in a usually torrid game for us.

*EDIT: Stats from Footywire

Goals Analysis

[swansrule100]

happy with the effort. I thought we looked our best when we were quick and went down the guts, too often we got lost in slow movement down the wings. One positive for me is that i think theres a lot more improvement to come, i think bradshaw for instance will be better for the run. I was very happy with seaby and mumford as well as mcglynn and kennedy. I would like to see hannenberry in if he isnt injured or anything like that but im confident we can have a good season. I think the umpires were rubbish but we lost because of mistakes in defence where stkilda made us pay. You cant make basic errors against a top side

[Nico]

My take on the game. Firstly, the umpiring. We had 29 frees to 18 so we hardly had a poor go from the umpire. Where I see it though is the inconsistency. You could argue all day about a couple of the frees to Riewolt but technically they could have been there. There is no argument though that a couple of frees we didn't get were critical. 1. Goodes was held twice by Blake in the one play right in front of goals, the crowd picked it, the cameras picked it up but at least 2 umpires chose to ignore it. 2. LRT was slung after the ball rolled free by Ko@@@@ski and almost spear tackled into the ground, balls goes free for a goal. Every other time that is a free and as I understand a reportable offence these days.

Malceski - A welcome return and highly efficient.
Mcveigh - High stats and good last quarter but I thought he was negated most of the time as he was rarely free to deliver effectively.
ROK - Top first and last quarters but seemed shut out of it in the middle stages on effectiveness.
Jude - serviceable and dogged.
Moore - I thought he showed something. He got caught a lot but managed to handball off ok and had 91% TOG. His work in traffic was commendable.
Goodes - How can anyone criticise him. 100% TOG and when we needed him he bobbed up. Was grabbed hold of all night and it staggers me that our fowards rarely get these frees.
Kennelly - a couple of posters were not impressed with his game. 18 kicks and 10 handpasses says differently. He has never been a close tagging backman. His style is to sweep and run off. His last quarter was brilliant, as when we looked gone he was the one who broke the lines and bounded down the wing to set things up. He was the one who put himself in the hole at CHF when he got poleaxed. I don't think it should have been 50 for a late spoil but more the violence of the spoil. It was slightly after the event and high and the knees were in the back
Kirk, c Bolton and Jack - serviceable
Seaby and Mumford - good, particularly the last Q. Look a good combo. Grundy - very good footballer. Kennedy - disappointing for mine. He really struggled in close, couldn't get the hands free and his disposal was poor. A couple of time he turned it over by going the wrong way under pressure. I'll wait and see on his footy smarts. Thought he could have gone to the contest a couple of times close in but didn't. Not as hard as we perceive perhaps.
Shaw - Good early but looked like he needed the run. Was looking for petrol tickets late in the game. LRT had a bad game.
Mattner - was good late but rather he not play a tagging role. Bradshaw - short of a gallop and pre season, and new club.
Jetta - did he not go the bounce because of the surface. He was in the clear a few times and could have burst away but decided to dispose of the ball quickly. Nerves perhaps. Did I detect a couple of short steps twice out there. Looked frightened of Riewolt on one occasion.
White - Looked the goods early but blocked for space thereafter. Work in progress.
McGlynn - wasted until the last half of the last quarter as a tagger. Went into the guts, got 2 clearances late and looked far more at home. Finds the footy as a true midfielder and much prefer him to Kennedy who may be better as a tagger.
Richards - sigh.

Roos had every right to be savage at 3Q time. The last goal came with 24 seconds on the clock from a kick out. We went to sleep right up the middle. They kicked it out and there was 12 seconds on the clock when they got possession on the half back flank. Unforgiveable.

Apparently we were well on top in clearances. Well it wasn't from centre bounces. We got smashed again out of the guts and nothing has changed from last year and the year before and the year before. In the last quarter Hayes took the ball away from between the 2 rucks when the ball hit the ground. Who knows where our 3 midfielders were. If we do get first hands on it the clearance is scrappy. We have new rucks who did well but strewth we need some new personnel at the these contests. On SEN this week it was discussed how critical good clean centre clearances are against the "zones" and how it is so hard to keep setting up from half back, when teams flood back. I live for the day when we win these at least 50% to give our forwards good clean open space and one on one chances to put genuine pressure on defenders. If we got this right I reckon we are good for 3 or 4 more goals a game.

[Hartijon]

mattner and others

Boy did Roosey give the back line a spray! What got into Mattner?Gave the Saints a goal for a stupid retaliation which was pretty boys mind game to milk a free.Come in sucker! Went over the mark before the umpire called play on...not smart and 50 metres later another Saints goal. Then we have the Tiger missing the player twice with over cooked passes resulting in two goals,Grundy holding the pretty boy's guernsey...(only the Saints can get away with that). Overall a game losing effort from the backline which lacked the much vaunted run we all thought it would haVE. And coaching? What coaching? St Kilda played a loose man in defence that blind freddy could see who repeatedly repelled our attacks.Response? Zero.
We lost because we were out coached and our normally reliable boys in the backs made big mistakes.Great to see Ted hold his own and not brain fade!The umpires were crap but they always are with us.

[mcs]

Just watched the replay and generally agree with what people have said here. I still think that 1 point was in fact a goal (It might not have been past the fat padding on the goals, but the whole ball imo was over the line). Kennelly should have been 50- the umps got it wrong when they said he didn't mark it. I think he had marked it just before Dawson spoiled- even though as Hudson said how the hell was he suppose to mark it.

Generally though, I think there are a lot more positives than negatives to take out of last nights game. The big question remains however whether we can get rid of the cheap turnovers and stupid skill errors from our game. If we can manage that, we could have a fantastic season imo.

[liz]

Kennelly -last quarter was brilliant, as when we looked gone he was the one who broke the lines and bounded down the wing to set things up. He was the one who put himself in the hole at CHF when he got poleaxed.

I think you've picked up on something no-one else has mentioned. While Kennelly was rusty with many of his disposals last night, his leadership in the last 5 minutes stood out like a beacon - refusing to believe the game was gone, knowing (and vocally telling everyone around him) what needed to be done, and then making his actions speak as loudly as his words.

He was always one of my favourite players, but I don't think I realised until last night just how much I'd missed watching him. It is exciting to think he'll get better as he gets back into the swing.

[Nico]

I think you've picked up on something no-one else has mentioned. While Kennelly was rusty with many of his disposals last night, his leadership in the last 5 minutes stood out like a beacon - refusing to believe the game was gone, knowing (and vocally telling everyone around him) what needed to be done, and then making his actions speak as loudly as his words.

He was always one of my favourite players, but I don't think I realised until last night just how much I'd missed watching him. It is exciting to think he'll get better as he gets back into the swing.

I thought he was bloody good all night. His consistency across 4 quarters was there in the role that he plays. As Shaw gets more match fitness his bounce off half back will give us more impetous.

One thing I missed in summary was the dumb brain fade by Grundy in the last quarter when he jumped into Riewolts back. He stuffed what I thought was a pretty good effort on him.

We had all the better stats except on 17 less tackles yet left the money in the bag. A bit like an electioon where one party gets more primary votes but fails to get over the line.

There was very little in it and the efficiency was equal on 71% apiece. I think we will get better and are in a much better place than last year after round 1. Tough one in Adelaide next week though.

[BSA5]

My thoughts and player ratings, as posted on another forum:

1. Mark Seaby - Darren who? Well, it was a very Jolly-like game (perhaps minus a goal or two). 14 disposals, 5 marks and 33 hitouts. Popped up everywhere and was very useful. Who said this bloke was a spud? 7
2. Rhyce Shaw - A bit up and down. Was held well at times, and broke away at others. Wasn't dominant, but was decent enough. 6
3. Jarrad McVeigh - Great. I really wish I hadn't taken him from my SC team, but he has struggled against Jones in the past, so it was great to see him up and about and playing well. Took a while to get into it, but after half time, was BOG, and by a fair way. 29 touches, 7 clearances, ran the ball hard and used it well. Almost got us over the line. 8
5. Ryan O'Keefe - A great game for ROK. 33 touches, 6 clearances, 7 tackles and a goal. Disposal let him down at times, but he was relentless through the middle. 9
6. Craig Bolton - Solid in defence. Made some mistakes he'd be disappointed with, and lost Milne a couple of times, but other than that he was his usual, stingy self. 7
9. Nick Malceski - Best on ground. Could not be happier with his first game of the year. Was the Melcho of 07, and more. He was hard at the ball (13 contested possessions), found plenty of it in very important situations, mopping up brilliantly in defence, and he simply did not make mistakes. Absolutely rapt. 9
12. Josh Kennedy - Like his preseason, started very slowly, but worked his way into it and by the end was playing as well as anybody. Had 18 touches, and I wouldn't be surprised if 14 came in the second half. Won some nice clearances, and was basically the big, hard body in the middle Roos wanted him to be. Not pretty, but effective towards the end. 5
15. Kieran Jack - Typical little terrier-type game. Played spent time on Goddard and Gram, and was generally pretty effective on both. Goddard only really came into play in a big way after Jack left him. 21 touches, 10 contested, kicked a goal, but butchered the ball a little. 6
17. Tadhg Kennelly - Well, Dream Teamers will be happy. Found lots of the ball, but his disposal was woeful at times. Meh, it's been well over a year since he last played in the big time, I won't hold it against him. When he did use it, however, he was great, and his reading of the play doesn't look like it has diminished in the slightest. His tendency to always look inward first when coming out of defence is a mighty, mighty asset. 7
18. Jesse White - Just could not get involved. Looked like he could be in for a big one early, with a couple of nice touches out on a lead, but that was followed by a couple of dropped marks, and then a whole lot of nothing. In fairness to him, St. Kilda flooded like nothing else, and it was rare he had space to lift his arms, let alone lead or contest in a one-on-one. Just wasn't his night. 2
19. Daniel Bradshaw - Faced many of the same problems as Jesse, but perhaps was experienced enough to be able to fare a little bit better. Also benefited from being in the right place at the right time a couple of instances. On limited game time, not a bad performance, and coming directly off a highly interrupted preseason, I'm not worried at all, but really was not all that effective. 4
21. Ben McGlynn - Tagged Montagna, and lost. Wasn't all that involved, and while Montagna wasn't as damaging as he can be, he was still an influence through the middle. Pretty poor game first up, he'll be disappointed. 3
24. Jude Bolton - Typical Jude game. Nothing flashy, but had 23 touches, 13 contested possessions, 5 clearances, and 8 tackles. Front line soldier, slogging it out. Lacked class with his disposal at times, but that's not what he's there for. 7
25. Ted Richards - A bit anonymous. Did nothing on the rebound, really. Did pretty well on Schneider though. The matchup was a bit of a non-event, which as a defender, is what you want. A Richards game with only 3 marks is a rarity though. 5
29. Martin Mattner - Well, his game certainly wasn't boring. A couple of very silly frees paid against him, one cost us, one didn't, but made up for it at the other end, booting two goals. Did well on Gilbert and Goddard, when he was on them. He just couldn't be everywhere at once. Did OK overall. 6
30. Lewis Roberts-Thomson - Started off nervously, making some blues, but got into the pace of things fairly quickly after that. Did well on Kozzi, and was unlucky to concede that first goal, which should really go to the umpire (though it was a great kick by Kozzi). He was pretty decent. 6
31. Brett Kirk - Went to NDS, probably broke even. NDS had a bit more of it, but wasn't that effective. Yep, Kirk used the ball better than Dal Santo. Who'd have thunk it? 6
32. Lewis Jetta - Solid enough debut from the young lad. Did some nice things, but never really had the chance to put the afterburners on and show what he can do. Was pretty classy when he had it though. Not the sort of player who needs too many touches to influence a match. 5
33. Jarred Moore - Good game through half forward and the midfield. Tackled hard, and won some good ball. 12 of his 19 possessions were contested. Really is a miniature wrecking ball, and just has that ability to bash things up and get the ball moving in the direction you want it to. We are a much better side when he's playing well. 7
37. Adam Goodes - Great start for Goodesy. Didn't see a whole lot of it, but everything he touched turned to gold, and goals. Kicked an early contender for goal of the year with a half-volley from 45 metres out, and was even better in setting one up with a 30 metre soccer through the air from the boundary right into Bradshaw's lap. Ended up with 3 goals, and had 4 assists on top of that. As far as effectiveness per touch goes, was the best on ground. When he warms up, watch out. 8
39. Heath Grundy - Took Riewoldt, and looking at Riewoldt's stats, you'd probably say he lost badly. I disagree. Grundy out-pointed Riewoldt many, many times, and it was really only sheer supply, a lucky bounce and a bad umpiring decision in the final term that gave the St. Kilda captain his four goals. Grundy was also more effective around the ground, using the ball sublimely coming out of defence. Riewoldt had a few touches around and about, but I was gobsmacked to see he had 22. Many small, cheap touches padded his stats out. Not having a go at Riewoldt, he was great, but Grundy was up to the task on most occasions, and on another night might have come out on top. 6
41. Shane Mumford - Good solid game in the ruck. Didn't see a heap of it, with just the 1 mark and 9 touches, but some of his tapwork was fantastic, and his follow up work was just as good. Laid 6 tackles, a great effort for a young ruckman. Lots of enthusiasm, puts his heart into everything. Makes you smile watching him, even when he's not that busy. 6

[Plugger1300]

I thought Seaby was the best Swan on the night. He won the hitouts and we in turn won the clearances. He has really surprised me. I was one of the people who thought he was a Spud!
The Swans would have to be the most frustrating team for us supporters (i love them to do death) continually turning the ball over with sloppy skills, so many close games. What was with the continual backtracking in defence and then kicking or handballing to an opponent. Thought we really let this game slip and with Adelaide next week it not a good start. In saying that if we can get our skill levels up we will surprise some good teams.

Great to see Tagger back, Mal was good.

Kieran Jack,Moore,Kennedy need to learn how to kick

[Plugger1300]

Couldn't agree more this post. Every point you make is spot on.

[Midfield]

39. Heath Grundy - Took Riewoldt, and looking at Riewoldt's stats, you'd probably say he lost badly. I disagree. Grundy out-pointed Riewoldt many, many times, and it was really only sheer supply, a lucky bounce and a bad umpiring decision in the final term that gave the St. Kilda captain his four goals. Grundy was also more effective around the ground, using the ball sublimely coming out of defence. Riewoldt had a few touches around and about, but I was gobsmacked to see he had 22. Many small, cheap touches padded his stats out. Not having a go at Riewoldt, he was great, but Grundy was up to the task on most occasions, and on another night might have come out on top. 6
. 6

I though he was super (even though riewoldt was bog), becoming a very important player for us (i wish we never played him as a forward). Beat nick on almost every 1 on 1 (as he did a few weeks earlier). 8+ for mine.