Rd 17 Sydney v Melbourne Game Thread

[mcs]

I realise games can look very different on TV to live, but on workrate and almost on effectiveness (Goodes might just pip him but was a little quiet in the middle of the game) I would have Jack as our best. I thought he was playing on Davey, who had touches but certainly was the reason we were carved up, plus he had numerous inside 50s, and chased, tackled and harrassed about as well as any Swan out there today.

On Kennelly, I agree he had a shocker today (though he was marginally better in the second half) but he has been close to our best for the previous two weeks. He is not, at the moment, the player he once was but is far from an "unmitigated disaster".

Overall, the defence was all over the shop but the way the ball came in so relentlessly, it was almost impossible to stop. The major reason why the game was such a shambles for Sydney was because the older, slower midfield brigade of Bolton, Kirk, McVeigh and O'Keefe were completely unable to have any impact on the contest. Also Mumford was beaten decisively for possibly the first time this season. I am in the camp that thinks a huge amount of the credit has to go to Melbourne. Right across their team they were on song with disposal quality, willingness to run, and tackle pressure. Even their scrubby and speculative kicks were hitting a team mate lace out. Sure, we should have put on far more pressure but in that mood, the Demons would have troubled every single team in the competition, and trounced all but the top handful.

Fair enough liz, but I do think he has been poor far more often than he has been good this year, and certainly is a shadow of what he was. Maybe a disaster is a bit over the top, but I'm not convinced that Kennelly has a great deal left to offer- but I'm more than happy to be proven wrong.

[Swans500]

Hey....just to brighten at least myself up....Fremantle lost by more than us today....albeit against a theoretically better side....

[swansrule100]

Fair enough liz, but I do think he has been poor far more often than he has been good this year, and certainly is a shadow of what he was. Maybe a disaster is a bit over the top, but I'm not convinced that Kennelly has a great deal left to offer- but I'm more than happy to be proven wrong.

i think they were too excited to get him back, his spot was taken and didnt need him. Having said that he is being asked to play one on one as a key defender too often this season

[liz]

Hey....just to brighten at least myself up....Fremantle lost by more than us today....albeit against a theoretically better side....

And Adelaide are losing at the moment...

[liz]

i think they were too excited to get him back, his spot was taken and didnt need him. Having said that he is being asked to play one on one as a key defender too often this season

I think we've looked at our best coming out of defence this year (not necessarily today) with the pairing of Malceski and Kennelly. It is bit stiff in some ways on Shaw and Mattner, both recruited to cover the impending departure of Kennelly, but Shaw has reinvented himself in a few ways (I don't think his season has been nearly as poor as some on here would have one believe) while Mattner could be pretty effective as a big, relatively quick, midfielder but is needed in defence because of the loss of Bolton.

[giant]

Melbourne were unbelievably good today - and I mean that literally. They kicked seven straight from their first 9 inside 50s. WTF???

[sWAns63]

Melbourne were unbelievably good today - and I mean that literally. They kicked seven straight from their first 9 inside 50s. WTF???

Yeah can we get them to get rid of the blue in their guerseys and make it white

[Melbournehammer]

I think we've looked at our best coming out of defence this year (not necessarily today) with the pairing of Malceski and Kennelly. It is bit stiff in some ways on Shaw and Mattner, both recruited to cover the impending departure of Kennelly, but Shaw has reinvented himself in a few ways (I don't think his season has been nearly as poor as some on here would have one believe) while Mattner could be pretty effective as a big, relatively quick, midfielder but is needed in defence because of the loss of Bolton.

I'm not sure tadgh has actually played too many good games. i agree that mal is our most damaging hbf but he looked dradfully slow - and some of the worst performances have been when his opponent has got up and going early.

mattner is by far and away the best of those four defensively.

[dimelb]

Home from the G after staying to the bitter end and a quick squiz at the thread.
I am in need of comfort food.
A couple of obvious things to start with.
First, the umpires had little or nothing to do with our display, which at times resembled the Keystone Kops.
Second, Melbourne played very well indeed today and would have beaten almost any other side on that form. This was so apparent that I was able to be philosophical about our loss instead of melting down in rage, frustration and disappointment. As Mrs d said, they played like Collingwood: manned up tight in defence, which caused serious problems for us, and played on quickly and accurately by hand and foot. No wonder they have such a good record against the Pies this season.
We badly missed LRT and Smith. It is unfair and unreasonable to expect Ted to handle, say, Paul Johnson; and the Melbourne mosquito fleet needed more attention than we could give them today. I think we were forced into the decision to play Shaw down back, but we lacked in that area.
The midfield generally were too slow to the ball, and Melbourne's mids seemed to read our ruck taps better than our blokes did. I haven't seen the ruck stats, but my impression is that Liz is right about Jamar, whom I would have as BOG. The combination of this with our undermanned backline was one of the main reasons we were walloped. The forwards didn't get much of a chance, but White did just about all he was asked to do, McGlynn worked hard, and Goodes was a class above most other players on the field.
The other main reason we went down was Melbourne's skills. Their kicks, handballs, marks, positional support and general determination left ours way behind. They reminded me of last year's Doggies. On their day, they will be very hard for anyone to beat.

[Robbo]

It was a spineless performance and 90% of our players showed almost no passion but we did get Melbourne on a bad day.

[liz]

The stats from today's game show just how misleading many game stats can be, especially disposal effectiveness and clearances. The stats say we only had only 15 fewer possessions that the Dees, that we had marginally higher % effective disposal, and that we won the clearances!

Superfooty | Herald Sun

[BSA5]

The stats from today's game show just how misleading many game stats can be, especially disposal effectiveness and clearances. The stats say we only had only 15 fewer possessions that the Dees, that we had marginally higher % effective disposal, and that we won the clearances!

Superfooty | Herald Sun

Doesn't surprise me at all that we won the clearances. It was the kick after the clearance that we failed. Our disposal efficiency might have been about the same, but I'd love to see kicking efficiency in particular. Melbourne had far more kicks than us, and in most cases, an effective kick is a lot more difficult, and a lot more influential, than an effective handpass.

[swansrule100]

I think we've looked at our best coming out of defence this year (not necessarily today) with the pairing of Malceski and Kennelly. It is bit stiff in some ways on Shaw and Mattner, both recruited to cover the impending departure of Kennelly, but Shaw has reinvented himself in a few ways (I don't think his season has been nearly as poor as some on here would have one believe) while Mattner could be pretty effective as a big, relatively quick, midfielder but is needed in defence because of the loss of Bolton.

i would like to see mattner have a go in the centre bounces personally.

[Margie]

Like Mrs D (dimelb) I thought Melbourne played like Collingwood. Which is probably why they came within a kick the first time they played the Pies this year and drew in the second. They were fast and furious, and showed up our lack of pace.

We've had a very unsettled line-up all season and despite different match-ups and positions being tried, we've only really clicked for a few games. Injuries to key players have had a huge impact and despite cries to "try the kids", I don't think there's many left to bring in.

Jack tried very hard today, as did Hanners, McGlynn and Goodes. It all went pear-shaped in the first quarter and from then on it looked (on t.v. at least) like panic stations.

[Industrial Fan]

Seemed a bit like a game of under 5's soccer today.

We'd get our hands on the ball, handpass within about a 2m radius, turn it over to see Melbourne clear it easily from the congestion and setup a quick entry to the F50.

I must admit I did get a laugh from Meredith running too far in the D50. No awareness at all.