Match day thread with subs v GC (Jetta Sub) Bird Out / Moore In

[Plugger1300]

Has everyone been hanging out with Sauce too much. People need to calm down and relax. Yes it was scrappy and we might have won by more but it's a win.
We have been playing the same way for years with much success. The third qtr is a perfect example we almost didn't score a goal which is customary for a swans performance but we still won by 70.

People are saying if we played any other team we would have lost. Ridiculous we played at the level we needed and won. Against most other teams we would have risen to the level needed. The players aren't machines if they feel they can coast and get away with it they will. It's human nature.

Let's look at the positives like Parker and Reid. Smooth mover Smith and Sphanger. Now for TDL to get fit and we might be getting somewhere

[Melbournehammer]

You must have been watching a different game as they were nothing more than witches hats and even their coach rated it as their worst performance for the year. (Yes even worse then the 139 point drubbing from Essendon and the 119 point loss to Carlton)

cant agree more. i thought it was a really really insipid game from both sides. we did enough to win (and win by 70 points) but their pressure was non-existent.

i cant help but think that once gary ablett went off both sides kind of put the cue in the rack and just played out what they both thought was going to happen anyway.

i think we will have to improve significantly to go with freo this week and improve even further against the dogs. fortunately there is a fair bit of room for improvement. its not as though we are playing to the best of our ability but i do wonder whether the season is the same as 2007-2010 where we are a fair way of the elite teams but we have enough experience and a strong enough will to win to beat those around us.

which is why i see the next two games as the turning point for the year. lose both and we miss the finals. win both and we should finish first six.

[ernie koala]

Just read all the posts in this thread and the undeniable "truth" is that Longmire (and by extension all the coaches) just has to go! Hell, we are a disappointing sixth on the ladder (when most experts predicted a major decline), have unearthed some gun youngsters, have lost both our bookends (19&6), have had the first two in our B&F from last year out of the side for many games, have used all but three players on our list (besides the retirees) plus blooded a rookie .......... It is just impossible to view the season so far as anything other than lamentable. That 1000 odd games of AFL footy of the coaches just doesn't cut it when the highly credentialled critics on RWO are able to skillfully and methodically peel away the layers and expose the weaknesses and missed tactics that their more celebrated coaching staff have failed to notice or address.

Why read all the posts if you think no one here is worthy of an opinion?
I'm sick of reading posts like this one of yours, which belittle those who dare criticise.
Not all the criticisms on here are valid, some are, some aren't.
Conversly not all the praise on here is valid, some is, some isn't.
You seem to think that those who heap praise know what their talking about.
Yet those who criticise aspects of the swans footy have no idea.
You can't have it both ways, so please, in future could you also bag those who give unfounded one eyed praise?

[Sauce]

Has everyone been hanging out with Sauce too much.

Maybe they are seeing the swans for who they really are?

I watched the game last night and that was the most boring, @@@@ful thrashing this year. Sure there were some stand outs, but over all one cannot help to feel that gold coast were beyond useless and we are one of the less skillfull sides in the comp. Turn over after turn over, bad field kicking, either half volleys or way over the head kicks, hand passes to players in stationary positions with a player on them, drop marks.

It was a pathetic game.

[Sauce]

but i do wonder whether the season is the same as 2007-2010 where we are a fair way of the elite teams but we have enough experience and a strong enough will to win to beat those around us.

Hence my thread about finals. What is the point of playing finals when it will mirror the same crap as those years. Win week one by thrashing someone below us then get thrashed by one of the top 4 sides.

Is that the finals experience we want to give the "kids" it hasnt done much as we have been the same since 2007. Waste of time money and effort.

[ernie koala]

cant agree more. i thought it was a really really insipid game from both sides. we did enough to win (and win by 70 points) but their pressure was non-existent.

i cant help but think that once gary ablett went off both sides kind of put the cue in the rack and just played out what they both thought was going to happen anyway.

i think we will have to improve significantly to go with freo this week and improve even further against the dogs. fortunately there is a fair bit of room for improvement. its not as though we are playing to the best of our ability but i do wonder whether the season is the same as 2007-2010 where we are a fair way of the elite teams but we have enough experience and a strong enough will to win to beat those around us.

which is why i see the next two games as the turning point for the year. lose both and we miss the finals. win both and we should finish first six.

Yep, I agree the swans season certainly has a familiar feel. We are a good honest team who will be there or thereabouts come September, but not a contender.
Looking at our schedule, games that a few weeks ago looked likely wins are now going to be hard fought. ie Resurgent Dogs, Bombers and Saints. This week against Freo is a must win IMO.

[ABloodsMan]

[Mr Magoo]

Hence my thread about finals. What is the point of playing finals when it will mirror the same crap as those years. Win week one by thrashing someone below us then get thrashed by one of the top 4 sides.

Is that the finals experience we want to give the "kids" it hasnt done much as we have been the same since 2007. Waste of time money and effort.

But if you were to take this attitude to its furthest extent, then shouldnt we just stop the comp now and hand the flag to Collingwood because they are clearly the best team in the comp at this stage and whoever plays them in the GF will struggle to match them based on current form.

If we go back to 2005 , West Coast were about to embark on a dynasty that was to last for the next five years and werent likely to lose anything. Swans were boring and lucky to make the top four and had struggled against its fellow top four contenders all year . Not saying that this season has any hallmarks of a lead into a premiership but at the same time , we were not some sort of dominant leding team that year or the next yet we almost went back to back. And in the years leading into 2005 we had done exactly what you say. Played finals had a good win or even two and then were comprehensively beaten by a top four team. Didnt hurt the classes of 2003 or 2004 in their premiership pushes of 2005, 2006.

Last year we were one goal short of a preliminary final , we werent thrashed in the second week. So whos not to say that finals experience is not worthwhile.

I do know one thing though. Very few teams win a premiership after not having played in finals the previous year.

[Sauce]

But if you were to take this attitude to its furthest extent, then shouldnt we just stop the comp now and hand the flag to Collingwood because they are clearly the best team in the comp at this stage and whoever plays them in the GF will struggle to match them based on current form.

If we go back to 2005 , West Coast were about to embark on a dynasty that was to last for the next five years and werent likely to lose anything. Swans were boring and lucky to make the top four and had struggled against its fellow top four contenders all year . Not saying that this season has any hallmarks of a lead into a premiership but at the same time , we were not some sort of dominant leding team that year or the next yet we almost went back to back. And in the years leading into 2005 we had done exactly what you say. Played finals had a good win or even two and then were comprehensively beaten by a top four team. Didnt hurt the classes of 2003 or 2004 in their premiership pushes of 2005, 2006.

Last year we were one goal short of a preliminary final , we werent thrashed in the second week. So whos not to say that finals experience is not worthwhile.

I do know one thing though. Very few teams win a premiership after not having played in finals the previous year.

You can apply that logic to any season after 2007. It's been a carbon copy every finals campaign.

Sure it's good to use 2005 as some kind of guide on how we can still win the flag, but it's become contrived.

Does anybody honestly believe we can match it with the skillfull sides? Does anybody think we are going to magically improve our skills by 250% and beat the top 4 sides when it has been the same woefull skill errors that have cost us wins or has shown the wide gap that exists between us and the top 4?

I don't at this stage.

[msb]

Hence my thread about finals. What is the point of playing finals when it will mirror the same crap as those years. Win week one by thrashing someone below us then get thrashed by one of the top 4 sides.

Is that the finals experience we want to give the "kids" it hasnt done much as we have been the same since 2007. Waste of time money and effort.

Oh here we go again FFS what do you want the club to do if not try and play finals???

[msb]

You must have been watching a different game as they were nothing more than witches hats and even their coach rated it as their worst performance for the year. (Yes even worse then the 139 point drubbing from Essendon and the 119 point loss to Carlton)

Really, he said that it was worse than the essendon loss?? I didnt hear his comments. No I wasnt watching a different game, I guess I was more just referring to how I was impressed by some of their kids even though they didnt put it on the scoreboard, goodesy even said so himself after the game. I think we should just take a 70 point win anyday cause we are not an elite team.

[Hartijon]

Maybe they are seeing the swans for who they really are?

I watched the game last night and that was the most boring, @@@@ful thrashing this year. Sure there were some stand outs, but over all one cannot help to feel that gold coast were beyond useless and we are one of the less skillfull sides in the comp. Turn over after turn over, bad field kicking, either half volleys or way over the head kicks, hand passes to players in stationary positions with a player on them, drop marks.

It was a pathetic game.

When I was playing,the worst game of the year was always against the bottom side. When you have been anticipating 40 metre kicks and you get 30 metre kicks from your opposition you find yourself in the wrong place.When you adjust you are 50 metres from your next target not 40 metres.This then affects your delivery. The best response is prima donna individual play and forget the team stuff. Play on,take spekies.Poor quality opposition will drag you down as anyone who has played the game will tell you.

I therefore take no conclusions from this game and certainly see the poor skills as only partly due to the Swans. They could turn it all around quite easily and return to the early season promise of challenging the top 4. No needs for dramatic horror predictions based on a game that we won easily against cannon fodder.

[Sauce]

When I was playing,the worst game of the year was always against the bottom side. When you have been anticipating 40 metre kicks and you get 30 metre kicks from your opposition you find yourself in the wrong place.When you adjust you are 50 metres from your next target not 40 metres.This then affects your delivery. The best response is prima donna individual play and forget the team stuff. Play on,take spekies.Poor quality opposition will drag you down as anyone who has played the game will tell you.

I therefore take no conclusions from this game and certainly see the poor skills as only partly due to the Swans. They could turn it all around quite easily and return to the early season promise of challenging the top 4. No needs for dramatic horror predictions based on a game that we won easily against cannon fodder.

Not always the case. I have seen games where the opposition has been really crapola and yet the team doing the flogging didn't miss a heartbeat. We do have a tendency to drag teams down to our woeful skills level so your theory has merit.

After the final siren went i was left feeling annoyed at what i saw..especially after watching a lot of top 4 teams play this year.

[Plugger1300]

Saucy you are bringing me down with these comments. Cheer up
No need to feel annoyed by winning. At least you don't go for North or Port...do you?

[Mr Magoo]

The one thing I got out of the game was that I didnt feel for one moment that Gold Coast looked like challenging us.

I agree with Hartjon, when you play bottom teams you can sometimes lower yourself to their level of play and while we did that in some areas and we still missed some easy chances , we never at any stage looked like losing.

The real test will be freo, a resurgent bulldogs and saints in the coming weeks. If we beat those teams I think we can look forward to the finals with some confidence of causing some real heartache.

If we dont then we will probably be cannon fodder for some real grand final aspirant. So be it . Still cant see how either scenario is not a better result than just throwing it all in now and dropping out to finish tenth.