Swans V Pies

[msb]

Heres an idea, lets worry about the port game first before collingwood!? It is a massive game tomorrow night and will be very tough to win IMO.

[sWAns63]

Absolutely correct and precisely what worries me.We don't have the free flowing forward system or the genuine fire power players to kick a big winning score no matter how many times we get it down there. They have Medhurst , Didak ,Cloke plus Anthony.All genuine threatening forwards.Our backline is courageous,our centreline dominant , our ruck ruling the hitout and only a 9 points win? I think we look a lot better with White and Goodes in key positions but this has to be Goodsey's game . Him and White need to kick a bag.We will not develop new forwards from the reserves by the look of things this year,Bradshaw and Moore will come back and this therefore is the forward line we have to work with.We need it to be threatening!

Hopefully we've made enough changes over the seasons like McGlynn, Rohan, Jack & Hanners etc. to at least have a fair contest though I feel we're still a few young ones short. We need more youth to throw themselves into the contests also the forward line has to be treated like a forward line and not some rest stop for the weary midfield who'll just become easy targets for their opponents. I live in hope but I'm not confident we'll have anything new to offer.

[Peace]

Here's a question for you. If you think Collingwood's defenders are pretty average, why are they travelling so well?

They haven't exactly choked their oppositions.... they just have excellent attack and almost everyone on their team kicks goals, plus they also have very high rotations which have put a lot of other teams off because they forget who they are playing on. Malthouse is a sneaky fella.

[Cheer Squad]

They haven't exactly choked their oppositions.... they just have excellent attack and almost everyone on their team kicks goals, plus they also have very high rotations which have put a lot of other teams off because they forget who they are playing on. Malthouse is a sneaky fella.

Well, we've got quite a new faces this time, so let's all hope that confuses them a bit...

[dimelb]

The Essendon game was a match we should've won anyway.
We played at home the dons were down to a bench of one for a good portion of the game, so we were playing against tired players for that amount of time and with all that we still only won by 9 points

If we had kicked as straight as the twos we'd have won in a canter.

[liz]

Despite winning last week, there is massive scope for improvement within the current team. Whether than comes in time to challenge the Pies, or even later in the season, remains to be seen. But our kicking accuracy, especially out of the backline, was very ordinary early in the game. In the first 6 weeks of the season I believe we were ranked number one for kicking efficiency but it has fallen away since then. Part of that is because we've played better teams, and teams who have put more pressure on. But even so, there is plenty of scope for improvement without major changes to personnel - having Tadhg back will help though, because his acceleration creates space for others.

Our forward line was pretty disfunctional last week, with Goodes having a shocker and Playfair adding little. Jesse kicked 3 goals but none from a mark IIRC. We know he can lead straight and fast but either he's not yet learned how and when to do it, or the midfield is not spotting him up. We can reasonably expect Rohan to keep improving with each game he gets, though maybe not for him to kick 3 goals each week. Just his chasing, tackling, second efforts and attack on the ball will create opportunities for him and for others and he certainly adds a different dimension to the forward line.

Despite dominating the tap outs and clearances last week, I thought it was apparent that the Essendon midfield was much better and quicker at spreading when they won possesion that our's was. When you watch teams used to regularly being on top in the middle - such as Carlton - they are very good at spreading quickly. Hawthorn did it very well in the first half of the last quarter against us, when Mitchell started dominating in the middle. If Mummy and others can keep creating clearances like they did last week, hopefully the midfield will become a bit bolder, and be more confident to spread quickly and get some cleaner ball moving forward.

So overall, while last week's win was great to achieve, it happened on the back of lots of very scratchy play, mostly created by three players having blinders. That could be bad because those three are not going to do that every week, but also gives plenty to be optimistic about in terms of short term scope for improvement across the team as a whole.

[Peace]

Well, we've got quite a new faces this time, so let's all hope that confuses them a bit...

Exactly! this year we have a really good chance i reckon.

[Cheer Squad]

Very good performance in Adelaide tonight.

Now we can start really looking forward to the Collingwood game.

I hope Hannebery's shoulder is OK, but he's got a fortnight up his sleeve to recover.

[Big Al]

Very good performance in Adelaide tonight.

Now we can start really looking forward to the Collingwood game.

I hope Hannebery's shoulder is OK, but he's got a fortnight up sleeve to recover.

Pun intended???

[Cheer Squad]

Pun intended???

LOL. Didn't even notice that.

[Triple B]

You would hope it was only a stinger. He went back on almost immediately and even though he winced a bit at various times afterwards, the game was well and truly won and i'd be astounded if they let him go back on if he had actually done some damage.

[top40]

Subject to September, this is Paul Roos' last coaching game against the Pies. Except for the first time he coached a Swans game against Collingwood, (a memorable win in Round 6 in 2003 at Docklands), he has always been effectively out coached. Yes, I even include here the narrow victories the Swans had against the Pies at Homebush in 2004 (by six points) and 2005 (by a point). Those wins were against signficantlly injury depleted Collingwod sides, (they finished bottom four in both years), and where in the latter instance, Sydney were the eventually Premiers.

I am no football coaching expert. But typical of a fan, I have my two cents worth. If I was the football department, (and yes, I know, they're professional enough that they probably have already done it), I would look closely of all the games in the past season or so where Collingwood have lost. Notably 2009: Rounds 1(Adelaide), 5 (Essendon), 8 (Carlton) ,16 (Hawthorn), 22 (Western Bulldogs); and 2010 Rounds 3 (St Kilda), and 10 (Brisbane). In losing those 7 games, is there a consistent theme that shows weaknesses that a team such as the present Swans can exploit.

It's time Paul Roos outcoached Mick Malthouse.

[Dalai Lama]

Coach Longmire is also yet to win agaqinst Kristy's dad - so time to take ye olde tether off the perissodactylous mammal (Equus caballus)?

[Jesse Richards]

New giant killers: Smith, Hannebery, Mumford, Kennedy, McGlynn, Pyke (!) Rohan. Plus Jolly will be playing for them, not us. Maybe Nick Smith will keep Daisy quiet and we can get on with it. Quietly confidant, if Roos and Longmire adjust the game plan to get the ball into our 50 more quickly (that run out of defence might work well at training, but too many opportunities for Collingwood to pressure a turnover) and if the umps are reasonable. Rohan up forward, not in the backs, pleeease - that scrappy play of his works great inside our 50 but not in the opposition's.

[dimelb]

New giant killers: Smith, Hannebery, Mumford, Kennedy, McGlynn, Pyke (!) Rohan. Plus Jolly will be playing for them, not us. Maybe Nick Smith will keep Daisy quiet and we can get on with it. Quietly confidant, if Roos and Longmire adjust the game plan to get the ball into our 50 more quickly (that run out of defence might work well at training, but too many opportunities for Collingwood to pressure a turnover) and if the umps are reasonable. Rohan up forward, not in the backs, pleeease - that scrappy play of his works great inside our 50 but not in the opposition's.

I'd love to see Smithy smother Daisy into oblivion. I think he's obnoxious.