What's our problem?

[Triple B]

I am just wondering if you smoke too much of the wacky weed or something! I said in the Crows & Tiges games why don't you look. Against good sides and they are both pretty fast and good sides we get opened up! Simple, have a look at the replays if you don't believe me it is all there. I never said our defence was @@@@e I was talking about us bringing the ball out too slowly. If we bring it out fast we burn and so does Jetts or Hannas! But slow to a contest up high almost all day against Richmond was not going to win the game.

Can't say I've ever smoked any weed, wacky or otherwise, but I've certainly killed a few brain cells along the way thru legal means, so your point may still be valid.

That said, your ramblings weren't specific to the last 2 games, you just thru a few examples in from the past few weeks to prove how pathetic we are in your eyes....

"We take too long to bring the ball in after a kick in. All our set ups are geared up for this long kick out of defence and it stinks. We don't set up for a quick movement out of the defensive fifty. When we do get a free player down the guts the defensive players refuse to kick the ball to them and continue to go around the flanks. Reason, because that is the 'Game Plan'.

We don't set up in the forward line very well. All over the shop and the ball is just bombed in long with no system. Too much reliance on Reid & ROK. We do not honour the lead and kick over the leading players head to a contest up high.

Our Centre Bounce set ups never guard the offensive side or their defensive side and every side knows they can expose us on that side.

Our Wingers always go into the centre and never stay wide. Other sides expose this by leaving a wing or HB wide and shoot the ball out to a free man.

Any thing more you need? There is plenty. We work very hard and we have a lot of talent and the younger players are not slow. But I believe there are major faults in the game plan and good sides will always expose us. Some of the plan is outdated and some just sloppy"

Words like we 'always' and we 'never' and we 'don't' and we 'take' suggest this happens week in, week out. Well that's bull@@@@. We were pretty lamentable against Richmond (even though if the 3/4 time hooter didn't sound we may have found ourselves in front in another couple of minutes play), but we were far from lamentable against Adelaide, first quarter not withstanding.

Accept that we had a bad one, like all teams do every year, not produce an essay about all that is wrong with the team when we are travelling pretty damn well under the circumstances....

[Lucky Knickers]

I'm beginning to think there is something to our MCG hoodoo. I've spent some nights contemplating this and believe i have hit on a solution.
As I'm going to watch us play in Perth this year, I am going to lead a posse of Swans fans (please PM if you wish to participate).
We are going to kidnap Daniel Chick.
We are going to bring him back to the MCG.
Then we are going to tar and feather him, sacrifice him in the goal square at the Ponsford end then burn him on a BBQ in the carpark whilst we drink Grange and eat Cheesels (I believe this is the food of champions)
If that doesn't work I'll head back over and get Hunter and Cousins.

Seriously guys, we are without our two best players in Goodes and Mummy. There aren't many teams that can cover the loss of two such significant players to our structure.
There's still light tho'
JPK and Jetta are playing super footy.
Jack, Hanners, Melcho and Parker are improving every week.
Seaby has done really well covering for Mummy.
Jude and ROK are going well for old blokes.
Ted, Smooch and Marty are standing strong.
More importantly we know that there is oodles of improvement that can come from Reid, Shaw, McGlynn, Reg, et al.
So last weekend we lacked the effort and intensity that we have played with to date.
That is one thing that the boys can control totally and they will turn that around. They have too much pride not to do so.

[Triple B]

If that doesn't work I'll head back over and get Hunter and Cousins.

If we are going to sneak Cousins back across the Nullabor, who's supplying the boogie board bag???

[Nico]

Part of our centre bounce problems is that Seaby stands and jumps from the one spot. He moves towards his opponent, makes contact with the opponent and most of the time it falls right at their feet. The opposition knows this and pounces on the footy. Both Adelaide and Richmond had quick players at centre bounces that allowed them to win quick possession from the predictable tap. The way Seaby rucks means he can't knock it metres forward and out of that situation, which would give one of our plyers the opportunity to run onto the footy. On Saturday when did get first possession in most cases it was a sideways movement and rarely clean, so the Tigers were able to quickly tackle and dispossess us.

Mumford changes that dynamic, because if he doesn't make clean contact and the ball falls at their feet, he always has a second effort which means he can effectively keep the ball in our possession. Seaby rucks to negate his opponent whereas Mumford, in the mind of his opponents, needs to be negated, so the odds come back in our favour.

[Frog]

At the risk of getting banned - Frog, you must have watched last Saturdays game with the biggest smile on your face because you could finally spew some of your "Longmire is crap" diatribe.
Five wins on the trot and a narrow loss to a very good team must have been driving you bat crazy!

Well, for starters, I won't ban you. So no need to worry. I cannot adjudicate on people commenting on my posts anyway, so I'll leave that to my fellow moderators.

Jewels, you and everybody else are going to misconstrue this anyway, so I might as well go all out. Jewels, I didn't see the match on Saturday. One, I live on the Gold Coast. There is precious little I see here. Yes, it is on at other times. Two, I started work at 3:15am that morning and finished at 20:30 (or 8:30pm) in the city. By the time I got home, about 10pm and with a massive 2 hours of sleep the night prior, I couldn't have cared less if someone bombed the Gold Coast. I just went to bed, moreso because I had to start again at 6 the next morning. So there are no other times for me to watch the game.

It pisses me off no end. I am a Swans supporter. I don't own this site because it is a fun thing to do. To be quite honest, it sucks. Because, as you so eloquently point out, you are afraid of me - You are afraid that I am going to ban you, simply for pointing out your opinion which happens to differ from mine. That is a nice preposition to put me in and really puts me at ease to respond in a calm and rational manner. I suppose thanks suffices.

Now before you get all flustered, you and everybody else here is allowed to disagree with me. That is what you get in a democracy. But don't you or anybody else that partakes in the "who should be dropped next week" threads even dare to tell me I cannot have an opinion on the coach and how I think my beloved Swans will not win a premiership under Longmire. I sincerely hope they do, I sincerely hope he makes me eat humble pie with peanuts sucked from a monkey's arse. But I hold Longmire in the same regard as I held Thomas at St Kilda. A waste of space in the box. And, I am allowed that opinion. You do not have to agree with it.

Now lets look at what I don't agree with. Every single one of you that start and respond in those threads I mentioned before, you know, "who should be dropped" ... These are your players!! They are your team!! You can the crap out of some week after week, some are premiership winners. How dare you?

How many have we got? 38? 40? 42? Of course you all know that Longmire is the coach, and he has a coaching group. Then there is a selection committee. These people put a team on the ground. The coaches create a game plan, maybe with or without the captains/leadership group (but, I do not, for a minute, pretend that I half know this is how it happens).

If you feel that every player on the field in a game gets told to go out there and do his best without some direction as to what the game plan asks of them, then you have every right to can the crap out of every player that does not put in. If you feel that half the players are told what the game plan is and the other half is told to follow the leaders, then you have every right to can the crap out of the other half of the players if they do not perform. If you believe, like I do, that the game plan involves all players, including the bench warmers and the substitutes, then what the hell gives you the right to can a player that in your eyes was a waste of space in the team if he did exactly what the game plan asked of him. How dare you even presume to know the game plan?

If a game plan is in place, and every player plays his part, and we lose, and the coach has NFI, I'll guarantee you it is the coach I am going after. Because his NFI means he had the perfect plan and every player executed it perfectly. We just got beaten. But he doesn't know how.

I didn't see the match. I didn't have to. Matter of fact I have not seen a match yet this year and I saw but one last year, and a practice match at the Gold Coast. I wish I could see more games. I am so far removed from my last game now, I should give it all away and follow croquet or something. Maybe there won't be those that think it is OK to can the crap out of players that do what they are told, but then frown when the coach is called to task.

Stand up John Longmire, mould these guys into a team and have them run like a champion team. Mediocrity is not an option.

Now please, go to town on me. Just remember it is my opinion, and I am allowed to have one. Same as everybody that thinks LRT and Everitt are useless, same as everybody that thinks they know the right mix for the team and will set the ins and outs. Just like last year, and the year before.

Scott is losing it at Geelong - He won last year because he had a champion team. Buckley is losing it at Collingwood - there is just no substitute for Malthouse. Coaches aren't always the messiah. They are human and get it wrong too.

And maybe I shouldn't have responded, but I didn't want to appear as afraid as you.

[Nico]

Wolfy makes a fair point about playing around the flanks.

A bit like the old wedding telegram:

To the groom from your football coach,

"Treat your wedding night like our game plan,

Don't waste your time going around the flanks, go straight up the middle".

[Big Al]

A bit like the old wedding telegram:

To the groom from your football coach,

"Treat your wedding night like our game plan,

Don't waste your time going around the flanks, go straight up the middle".

Doesn't work unless you have a fully functional tall forward.

[Nico]

Doesn't work unless you have a fully functional tall forward.

This is true. It certainly straightens up the structure.

[Auntie.Gerald]

our forward pressure is simply not good enough

we back ourselves to get goals thru pressure on the ball and turnovers and that just didnt happen against the tiges

we made them look good !

[Wardy]

I'm beginning to think there is something to our MCG hoodoo. I've spent some nights contemplating this and believe i have hit on a solution.
As I'm going to watch us play in Perth this year, I am going to lead a posse of Swans fans (please PM if you wish to participate).
We are going to kidnap Daniel Chick.
We are going to bring him back to the MCG.
Then we are going to tar and feather him, sacrifice him in the goal square at the Ponsford end then burn him on a BBQ in the carpark whilst we drink Grange and eat Cheesels (I believe this is the food of champions)
If that doesn't work I'll head back over and get Hunter and Cousins.

Seriously guys, we are without our two best players in Goodes and Mummy. There aren't many teams that can cover the loss of two such significant players to our structure.
There's still light tho'
JPK and Jetta are playing super footy.
Jack, Hanners, Melcho and Parker are improving every week.
Seaby has done really well covering for Mummy.
Jude and ROK are going well for old blokes.
Ted, Smooch and Marty are standing strong.
More importantly we know that there is oodles of improvement that can come from Reid, Shaw, McGlynn, Reg, et al.
So last weekend we lacked the effort and intensity that we have played with to date.
That is one thing that the boys can control totally and they will turn that around. They have too much pride not to do so.

firstly the Grange and Cheezels are for grand final day and by invitation only secondly you are 100% correct, we are missing a number of huge and important players at the moment and their absence is telling. But, we as members and fans need to not only keep the faith but we all need to stay calm - it's only round 7 !!!!!!! this is the best start we've had in a bloody long time. See where we stand at the halfway point then we can either go nuts and request a public stoning of the coaching staff and the regular offending players or we can rejoice in the great start we have had. Let's just see what happens in the next 6 weeks.

[WeHaveTheGoodes]

Doesn't work unless you have a fully functional tall forward.

This is true. It certainly straightens up the structure.

[cruiser]

Clearly, our forward line is our biggest problem. Now try to imagine what it would be like with Travis Cloke in it. If Sydney can find a million or so to lure the big man north I think they should do it.
Dogs, Demons in hunt for Cloke

[Melbourne_Blood]

Would we still have the salary cap room? I dont think he'll leave the Pies anyway

[Swansongster]

Would we still have the salary cap room? I dont think he'll leave the Pies anyway

I reckon Cloke would have been discussed and dissected. We have a good track record of recruiting key forwards. Agree that salary cap probably rules us out and that he will stay at Pies for potential post-career earnings.

[cruiser]

With Jude Bolton likely to retire at the end of the season it'll free up some salary cap $$$.