Swans - Blues - Match thread

[Frog]

If you only point out problems and don't offer solutions, then you will be pigeonholed with 95% of the population and your winge is ignored.
Yes, they are serious. We need a sub, it's AFL rules. Next week we make Mumford the sub. No? Kennelly perhaps? No? OK, I've got it,
Richards. Maybe not.

Perhaps you want to tell us why Everitt as a sub is such a bad thing compared to everyone else.

[Nich]

Because he is not an impact player. You want someone in the middle around the ball who will turn things around for you. You want someone hungry for the ball.

[stellation]

I don't overly mind using Andrejs as a sub, I think he's fairly versatile. I think tonight an extra true mid coming on fresh would have made a difference, though.

I think Bird would have been an interesting sub tonight.

[laughingnome]

The entire game Carlton was beating us in the clearances, but it didn't really become noticable until Jack got injured and couldn't run with Judd. Judd then turned it on, and ROK, God Bless Him, couldn't go with. When Betts started making Smith pay, I thought it was the time to bite the bullet and try Smith on Judd. But the fact remains that without Jack we lack a quality shut-down player that can run with the best.

[Hartijon]

IMO we lost tonight because firstly at selection we ignored the lessons of the Geelong game.What that showed us was that Jetta was getting bad habits of staying away from the play waiting for the handball and needed a run in the twos.Jesse was not the answer up forward and we need to reinvent the forward line.Everitt has lost whatever he once had.
Pace will rip us up. My solution at selection was Parker for Jetta,Pyke for White,Johnston for Everitt.Bevan to be used only in attack because he ALWAYS leaks goals as a defender.(Why can't they see that?) TDL is then a better option than Bevan up front..Instead we get Moore who I admit had a good first quarter then vanished until his signature crucial miss from 30 metres running straight in in the last quarter.How many times has he done this? Pyke was ok ,more upside than Jesse as you can see the improvement with him.

Then as mentioned above we were outcoached.Agree about ROK on Judd.It killed us!
Finally we had no crumbers.In the wet you crumb behind the pack.So many times in the forwards thats exactly where the ball went .TDL would have kicked 4 last night there was so much loose ball near our goals.Moore didn't have the engine to get there in time.
Our second half lacked desperation and its obvious we rely on Jack for the spark.is injury was a turning point. Macca is also not giving us enough.

[Legs Akimbo]

Bit depressed about losing last night. Some really worrying signs for the season ahead.

1. Agree selection policy at present is not good. The idea is you pick your best 21(+1). Seems we are doing a lot of tinkering with the personnel and with their positioning. Unsettles the team IMO. Difficult to get good at a role if you don't know what it is.
2. Too many passengers, too many cameos, not enough four quarter match winners. Hannebery, Smith, Jetta, White, Grundy (not last night), ROK, McVeigh and a few others have gone backwards. How many A graders on our list? I think one.
3. Leadership - Agree on McVeigh, Goodes is clearly trying, but boy, do we miss Kirk.
4. Disposal, quality has dropped for sure.
5. Coaching - Why can't we get the sub rule right? Why all these changes? Why is disposal deteriorating? Why are players seemingly going backwards?

Is it the Indian Clubs ? Seriously, thank goodness for some solid citizens in McGlynn, Kennedy, Richards and Bolton.

[Mike_B]

In the 1st qtr on the wing Jetta did not even attempt to enter a contest and it was the softest display of footy I have seen for awhile. Enough of the crap about how he is skinny framed etc. Put your head over the ball young man! He has to go I'm sorry. Don't give me any wet weather excuses. There comes a time to man up.

Agree entirely. Yes there are times when as a speedy player you can stand off the packs and be a receiver. Last night was not one of those occasions - it was a night for putting your head over the ball and doing the hard yards, and he didn't. I think a spell in the 2s would do him good, but with everyone else clamouring for so many other changes, who else do we have really knocking the door down....perhaps he will be spared till Rohan is fit again.

[Foreign Legion]

Agree entirely. Yes there are times when as a speedy player you can stand off the packs and be a receiver. Last night was not one of those occasions - it was a night for putting your head over the ball and doing the hard yards, and he didn't. I think a spell in the 2s would do him good, but with everyone else clamouring for so many other changes, who else do we have really knocking the door down....perhaps he will be spared till Rohan is fit again.

Yep Jetta is a liability in the wet - we know his running is his strength, but he doesn't apply any physical pressure and is too easily knocked off the ball. If he does go back to the 2's (not this week) he needs 3-4 solid weeks before I'd consider him again. But, I think he can still make it - god knows, we need leg speed.

The Sub issue is one we don't seem to have resolved - not sure what the answer is yet, but Mumford is going to fall to bits with the pressure he is under. Just imagine if Mumford or Goodes gets injured.....

[Mike_B]

A really disappointing night last night. While we started well, and seemed to have learned a bit about playing wet weather footy from the Geelong game, it all fell apart after half time. We looked slow, disinterested,m spent plenty of time ball watching and simply refused to show any desire to PLAY IN FRONT. It's a pretty standard tactic in footy, let alone in the wet. The lack of a goalkicking small forward showed, it was a perfect night for one of those, but we don't have one. Bevan goes ok as a defensive small forward, but he's not going to kick goals for you in the wet and Moore, well I'm not too sure what he really provides (huge speccy aside) - not quick, not super skilled (his skills are ok).

I dare say we will see some changes next week, but the thing that has to change more than anything is not playing behind your man, and an intensity and desire, because it just washed away last night.

[giant]

The entire game Carlton was beating us in the clearances, but it didn't really become noticable until Jack got injured and couldn't run with Judd. Judd then turned it on, and ROK, God Bless Him, couldn't go with. When Betts started making Smith pay, I thought it was the time to bite the bullet and try Smith on Judd. But the fact remains that without Jack we lack a quality shut-down player that can run with the best.

Well there's an understatement - by the last qr he was getting clearances like he was the only bloke in the centre square. We could have plucked someone from the crowd and they would have put more pressure on him. Smithy just had an absolutely Barry all night, topped off by conceding more goals in a 5 min period than he did in half a season last year. And Mummy was torched by Warnock as well. Thinking about it, I'm not sure how we got so close. Besides Ted on Waite and McGlynn and Kennedy, I struggle to think of anyone else who had a win (tho it was nice to have Tadhg back as well).

And while I'm in mid-tirade, if Goodsey is going to spend the week telling us how awesome his great peer Judd is, he can't then sit by and spectate while Judd rips the game from us. Weak as piss.

At half time, I was thinking that the conditions were so bad, that it wouldn't really mean much who won - but I was wrong. The game was there to be won in the final qr and Carlton wanted it more than us - and that stinks.

[satchmopugdog]

Can't be bothered reading the rest of the thread as I am battling with post game depression big time so some therapy here. Sorry if repeat stuff that others have written but I need to do something positive

1. Reid played really well as a defender. I really liked him
2. Tadhg did some good things
3. Mattner tries his heart out
4. Moore's mark
5. The impact of Jack's injury made me realise how good a player he is now.
6. Pyke has improved yet again
7. I saw Simon and Peter in the crowd
8. The game gave me something to watch other than the wedding
9. I love TED RICHARDS and JOSH KENNEDY

[Damien]

I don't have much to add, however if we had capitlised on our first half and in particular our 2nd quarter domination, we would have had it sewn up at half time...that 2nd half was just terrible (and Carlton very good). I need Mark Seaby in this side and Jesse White far far away from it. Jetta for a spell in the twos, speed is great but you have to know how to adapt in this game.

Well done to the 28K who bothered showing up last night, atmosphere and crowd brilliant considering the weather and the stupid wedding, Carlton fan turnout was very very impressive, I imagine at least 7-10K of that 28K were Carltank fans.

[liz]

The lack of a goalkicking small forward showed, it was a perfect night for one of those, but we don't have one.

Don't we have McGlynn?

And Mummy was torched by Warnock as well.

The stats say Mummy had 43 hitouts to 24 to Warnock, and 12 possessions, 4 marks, 9 tackles and 2 goals to Warnock's 7 possessions, no marks, 3 tackles and no score contribution. To my naked eye during the game, I thought Mumford was one of the few Swans having an impact and I didn't notice Warnock other than as a big body competing at clearances.

[giant]

For witch hunt purposes, who was the player that squibbed that vital contest in the last qr? Everett took a good mark in the centre square, went wide to the HFF and the player instead of attacking the footy has waited for it, Dan has only got half a hand to the ball and the Blues have swept it away. That was the game right there. I want names!!!

[liz]

For witch hunt purposes, who was the player that squibbed that vital contest in the last qr? Everett took a good mark in the centre square, went wide to the HFF and the player instead of attacking the footy has waited for it, Dan has only got half a hand to the ball and the Blues have swept it away. That was the game right there. I want names!!!

If it is the same incident I am thinking off, my reaction live was that it was just a woeful kick from Everitt who, as a fresh player on the ground, didn't have the fatigue excuse for missing his target by so much.