Mark Stone defects to the dockers...

[BSA5]

Let's not let the facts get in the way of a good sledge. Swans were the number 1 stoppage team in the league in terms of clearances.

Beat me to it. We're quite a way in front as well. Stoppages aren't the problem, it's what we do afterwards that makes things tough.

[aardvark]

Thought we might do a straight swap for Barry Mitchell?

Might be better for young Tom if his father isn't looking over his shoulder every minute of the day.............

[Ruck'n'Roll]

Let's not let the facts get in the way of a good sledge. Swans were the number 1 stoppage team in the league in terms of clearances.

I don't know what the numbers were this seaon, but were we . . .

#1 in total number of stoppages won?
or
#1 in percerntage of stoppages won?

I only ask because if there are more stoppages in Swans games than anyone else, the two numbers could be very very different.

[caj23]

Beat me to it. We're quite a way in front as well. Stoppages aren't the problem, it's what we do afterwards that makes things tough.

That's the equivalent of having more shots on goal but putting most of them out of bounds on the full!!

Can't say he was that successful if we were unable to take the ball away from a stoppage in a meaningful manner as opposed to throwing it on the boot and kicking forward blindly

[Triple B]

Let's not let the facts get in the way of a good sledge. Swans were the number 1 stoppage team in the league in terms of clearances.

I'm not sure if that #1 ranking is based on just pure numbers, in which case the Swans should rank highly given they do have more stoppages than anybody.

I never said we were God awful at the stoppages, but I still maintain we setup too negatively and the only time we appear to have an attacking mindset is when Goodes moves to the stoppage or centre bounce.

It's fair to say a lot of it has to do with personnel, Kennedy, Bolton, Bird, ROK and Kirky before them aren't exactly burst out of the middle players, but I just got a bit sick of Bolton, Joey and especially ROK just throwing it on the boot willy nilly sending it downfield and hoping.

My take was because they are very defensive first minded at stoppages, when Mummy puts it down their throat, they have an opponent an inch away (the guy they are trying to stop), thus the quick throw on the boot. If we can back Mummy (and Pyke is also very good if he gets the #2 gig next year) to win a lions share of hitouts, maybe we can become the hunted and put blocks on for our attacking mids and free guys up to get it and burst like we see Goodes doing at his best. Kizza is capable of playing that burst midfielder, as are a few of our young guns, although they are probably a few years from being able to consistently go on the ball fulltime.

Just my take on it all...

[Triple B]

Are you channeling Nico?

Not likely, but I reckon I could be channeling Stevie Wonder and still see we have a defensive setup at stoppages...

[ugg]

I don't know what the numbers were this seaon, but were we . . .

#1 in total number of stoppages won?
or
#1 in percerntage of stoppages won?

I only ask because if there are more stoppages in Swans games than anyone else, the two numbers could be very very different.

I'll post the stats later tonight but IIRC #1 in total stoppages (by a country mile) and about 9th or 10th in percentage won.

[dimelb]

I don't want to overstate this, but one factor is Kieren having a down year by comparison with his achievements last season. Probably injury and perhaps nervousness about the extent of his recovery are involved, but if he can get himself right and be set free to play his instinctive attacking game, we will do better. I'm not keen on seeing him used as a tagger - which he's OK at - but I'd rather see him told to compete with e.g. Judd instead of attempting to shut him down.

[Chilcott]

I'm not sure if that #1 ranking is based on just pure numbers, in which case the Swans should rank highly given they do have more stoppages than anybody.

I never said we were God awful at the stoppages, but I still maintain we setup too negatively and the only time we appear to have an attacking mindset is when Goodes moves to the stoppage or centre bounce.

It's fair to say a lot of it has to do with personnel, Kennedy, Bolton, Bird, ROK and Kirky before them aren't exactly burst out of the middle players, but I just got a bit sick of Bolton, Joey and especially ROK just throwing it on the boot willy nilly sending it downfield and hoping.

My take was because they are very defensive first minded at stoppages, when Mummy puts it down their throat, they have an opponent an inch away (the guy they are trying to stop), thus the quick throw on the boot. If we can back Mummy (and Pyke is also very good if he gets the #2 gig next year) to win a lions share of hitouts, maybe we can become the hunted and put blocks on for our attacking mids and free guys up to get it and burst like we see Goodes doing at his best. Kizza is capable of playing that burst midfielder, as are a few of our young guns, although they are probably a few years from being able to consistently go on the ball fulltime.

Just my take on it all...

I agree with Triple BBB's perceptions of our midfield set-up and would like to see the stoppage stats in the games we lost.

I found that in most games we lost and even in some we won, our midfielders were very reactive. E.g. wait for an opposition midfielder to get the ball first, then pounce on him.

Maybe things will change next season, where we are the hunted, instead of the other way around. We might lose the number 1 stoppage mantle, but the efficency of our midfield clearances might increase.

[Vonsteinman]

Hmmm... can you really say that the bloke who was stoppage coach at West Coast through the mid 00s doesn't have an attacking mindset?

[Nico]

Let's not let the facts get in the way of a good sledge. Swans were the number 1 stoppage team in the league in terms of clearances.

And lets not let the word "stoppages" confuse the issue. I have no problem with our work around the ground. It is our work at centre bounces where we lag badly and every opposition club knows that and plays to that weakness. We block and stand off opponents whereas they make a beeline for the footy. The number of scores opposing sides get against us from direct clearances drives me mad. We win back half of the centre clearances and our forwards get a lot more first use opportunities. As it is now we let the opposition get it into their forward line too easily and have to work bloody hard to get it out of there. Have a look at the semi final. The first half Hawthorn won the centre clearances hands down. We got it back in the third quarter, but the last quarter they flogged us. There are times when we get our hands on the footy at centre bounces but are unable to break free. Somethings have to change in how we set up, who have in there and how desperate we are to get first use.

I hear coaches and special comments people on radio say so often how clean centre clearances are so valuable, and more so with presses etc these days, yet we continue to fail in this area.

[Nico]

I'll post the stats later tonight but IIRC #1 in total stoppages (by a country mile) and about 9th or 10th in percentage won.

Ugg, I don't know that I have ever seen stats where centre clearances are separated. All I know is that I watch the footy every week whether live or on TV, and our clean centre clearances are disproportionally low. Goodes is the exception but like most Swans supporters we are gobsmacked as to why he is not in the guts for centre clearances a lot more often.

[ugg]

Pro-stats have this stat but since they are a paying service I'm not going to post the exact numbers here, but we are in the bottom 3. Still you have to scale this to the number of centre bounces. We don't score that many goals in relation to the Top 8 sides and our defence is pretty miserly too so I would wager that the Swans average less centre bounces than the league average.

In fact I might do that now.

[Dosser]

Hmmm... can you really say that the bloke who was stoppage coach at West Coast through the mid 00s doesn't have an attacking mindset?

Stoppage tactics for West Coast in the mid 00s was rock, paper, scissors as to whether they tap it to Judd, Kerr or Cousens.

[ugg]

Pro-stats have this stat but since they are a paying service I'm not going to post the exact numbers here, but we are in the bottom 3. Still you have to scale this to the number of centre bounces. We don't score that many goals in relation to the Top 8 sides and our defence is pretty miserly too so I would wager that the Swans average less centre bounces than the league average.

In fact I might do that now.

It turns out that Pro-stats do have 'Opposition Center Bounce Clearances' as a stat so I did a simple ratio of 'Center Bounce Clearances' : 'Opposition Center Bounce Clearances' as a metric and the Swans are ranked 7th. Surprisingly Fremantle are 16th despite having Sandilands.