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Is the Swans playing at OR NEAR their best for four full quarters. That is what the top teams do week in week out. here's a curious thing... beat a contender by 13 points - we lead by 45 points, yet nearly everyone is unhappy. Why? If we had won against a contender by 13 points with 17 lead changes (like the Hawks/Geelong or Freo/Geelong or Sydney/Essaden (2011) games) we would all be @@@@-a-hoop.
The trouble with our team remains THE SAME AS IT HAS BEEN FOR FIVE YEARS and that is why we are frustrated/worried and not penciling in anything even APPROACHING a top 4 finish.
The trouble is week in week out we spend at least a quarter and half NOT SCORING (and getting badly outscored)....whether that be through sudden drop in intensity, shocking disposal errors, bad umpiring, poor decision making, tired legs, giving away stupid free kicks/50s or all of the above...we do it EVERY week. Even against poor teams like GWS.
I have absolutely no idea how we lengthen the amount of time we play well for....coaches job
but until we do it we are not contenders.
At this stage there is still a chance we COULD manage it because the gap between where we are and what we need to do is actually quite narrow. In another thread I highlighted 6 or 7 errors which cost us at least 40 points. Just 6 or 7 bits of play where if the player had done what he is perfectly capable of doing and we would have beaten a contender by 50 points...then we could get a teensy bit excited.
Errors as simple as 1) don't drop an uncontested chest mark at CHB 2) pick up a simple bouncing ball at HFF off the back of a pack 3) don't drop an uncontested handball and THEN fail to kick it to a man on his own in the square.
Seriously simple errors which we absolutely CAN get rid of.
There will always be disposal shockers - but as long as they are not in the worst parts of the ground they won't cause us to actually lose games.
All teams have disposal clangers so there's no need to really sweat those. As long as we clean up the DUMB errors we can contend. Really.
Birdy pick up the frickin' ball!
OK so the comeback to that is "we haven't cleaned up the dumb errors for the past five years of trying!"
To which I say...."yes, but we COULD!"
The other thing we NEED is a second tall forward...WC have Darling, Kennedy and Lynch PLUS a resting ruckman (Naitanui or Cox)
Hawkins and Podsiadly
Cloke and Dawes
Waite and...well somebody
IMHO Seaby, Mumford, LRT, Pyke or whoever the 2 ruckmen are need to be the 3rd tall when not in the ruck. The Hawks and Geelong might go in with only one TRUE ruckman....but the backup ruck is a FORWARD who can ruck not a Ruckman who goes forward.
Should have picked Darling when we had the chance. BIG error there (did we get Lamb instead?).
The trouble with our team remains THE SAME AS IT HAS BEEN FOR FIVE YEARS and that is why we are frustrated/worried and not penciling in anything even APPROACHING a top 4 finish.
The trouble is week in week out we spend at least a quarter and half NOT SCORING (and getting badly outscored)....whether that be through sudden drop in intensity, shocking disposal errors, bad umpiring, poor decision making, tired legs, giving away stupid free kicks/50s or all of the above...we do it EVERY week. Even against poor teams like GWS.
I have absolutely no idea how we lengthen the amount of time we play well for....coaches job
but until we do it we are not contenders.At this stage there is still a chance we COULD manage it because the gap between where we are and what we need to do is actually quite narrow. In another thread I highlighted 6 or 7 errors which cost us at least 40 points. Just 6 or 7 bits of play where if the player had done what he is perfectly capable of doing and we would have beaten a contender by 50 points...then we could get a teensy bit excited.
Errors as simple as 1) don't drop an uncontested chest mark at CHB 2) pick up a simple bouncing ball at HFF off the back of a pack 3) don't drop an uncontested handball and THEN fail to kick it to a man on his own in the square.
Seriously simple errors which we absolutely CAN get rid of.
There will always be disposal shockers - but as long as they are not in the worst parts of the ground they won't cause us to actually lose games.
All teams have disposal clangers so there's no need to really sweat those. As long as we clean up the DUMB errors we can contend. Really.
Birdy pick up the frickin' ball!
OK so the comeback to that is "we haven't cleaned up the dumb errors for the past five years of trying!"
To which I say...."yes, but we COULD!"
The other thing we NEED is a second tall forward...WC have Darling, Kennedy and Lynch PLUS a resting ruckman (Naitanui or Cox)
Hawkins and Podsiadly
Cloke and Dawes
Waite and...well somebody
IMHO Seaby, Mumford, LRT, Pyke or whoever the 2 ruckmen are need to be the 3rd tall when not in the ruck. The Hawks and Geelong might go in with only one TRUE ruckman....but the backup ruck is a FORWARD who can ruck not a Ruckman who goes forward.
Should have picked Darling when we had the chance. BIG error there (did we get Lamb instead?).
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