Saints v. Swans gameday thread

[Foreign Legion]

So we play a team with no 'noted ruckman' - what do we do - we play a 20ish game Canadian and an undersized (partially injured) goer. That is a stupid start. The one game that Seaby may have been able to influence, we don't play him.

To me, that means he won't play again this year - and it also means Jesse White is on shaky ground. Tactically, I think it was foolish but others may differ. LRT seems to still be carrying an injury - not that you'd know from his efforts - but why the hell is he asked to play ruck/key forward? Not exactly his special subject....

TDL as a super sub was a joke - how can a smallish forward impact a game when the ball isnt getting in the forward 50? For a start, if it is, then you don't need another forward!!! Baffling decision. To me, the sub needs to be either a super paced impact player (Rohan etc) or a midfilelder to help out. TDL is neither but deserves 4-6 weeks as a permanent forward to see if he can make it - we have bugger all other natural forwards.

[DamY]

So it sounds like I missed a game well worth missing. I have also missed (until now) the usual heartbreak and pain on here as a result of what seems to have been a pretty listless performance. A good team gets up and dusts themselves off after a game like this, hopefully learns a few lessons, makes some changes and gets ready to defend our home turf again next week. This is a close competition this year and in my eyes there is no shame in losing the matches that we've lost so far as long as we can harden up a bit and get out there and do it better against the Dogs next week.

Thank God, some balance! Some people post like the Swans took your firstborn! Yes it was disappointing, but guess what? We haven't been good against teams that spread well, kick accurately and right now, ruck well. Are we a Top 4 team? Probably not. Can we make it? Possibly. So enjoy the freaking ride with its highs and lows because unfortunately we have ZERO influence over the result and our only way of communicating with the club is by match attendance and membership. I doubt many of you whom are passionate enough to join a Swans message board would bear sitting out a Swans AFL match. Until GWS is competitive your options are limited so buckle your seatbelts, it's gonna be a bumpy season!!


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[Wardy]

So it sounds like I missed a game well worth missing. I have also missed (until now) the usual heartbreak and pain on here as a result of what seems to have been a pretty listless performance. A good team gets up and dusts themselves off after a game like this, hopefully learns a few lessons, makes some changes and gets ready to defend our home turf again next week. This is a close competition this year and in my eyes there is no shame in losing the matches that we've lost so far as long as we can harden up a bit and get out there and do it better against the Dogs next week.

You are right of course it is a close comp and after a good sleep and the light of a new day - it really is still early in the season - we still are in the 8 let's put it behind us and look towards next week. (word of warning Jono - the Lenny love will really get on your tits after a while - and we really were very ordinary, sorry to say, suggest you have a few beverages while you watch )

[Captain]

Seaby is old and slow but still well ahead of Pyke. Says it all really.

[Nich]

At some stage beginning after the 1st qtr ended, Saints had kicked 11.13 to 3.2.

Make no mistake - we got flogged. Their inaccuracy saved complete embarrassment.

Ouch.

[giant]

Soft & buttery as a freshly baked croissant. Given the way poor Josh Hunt was tormented last week, there are several Swans that will be happy we don't get the same press coverage. I can't believe the number of Swans that ducked their heads, pulled out of contests, fumbled under "perceived" pressure - in short, dogged it.

I don't know who that mob were but they weren't the Bloods. Next please...

[Nico]

Thank God, some balance! Some people post like the Swans took your firstborn! Yes it was disappointing, but guess what? We haven't been good against teams that spread well, kick accurately and right now, ruck well. Are we a Top 4 team? Probably not. Can we make it? Possibly. So enjoy the freaking ride with its highs and lows because unfortunately we have ZERO influence over the result and our only way of communicating with the club is by match attendance and membership. I doubt many of you whom are passionate enough to join a Swans message board would bear sitting out a Swans AFL match. Until GWS is competitive your options are limited so buckle your seatbelts, it's gonna be a bumpy season!!


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"I doubt many of you whom are passionate enough to join a Swans message board would bear sitting out a Swans AFL match".

I hope I am not quoting you out of context, but this line is a very inaccurate rant, and probably offensive to most RWOers.

Look, perhaps you are right. Maybe we should limit all footy chat sites to the warm and fuzzy posters, at the footy warmly clap good deeds and suck it up and stay silent when players commit clangers and ban all talk back on Melbourne Sports radio, and leave to the those that know best, the ex footballers who are termed experts. After all what would us long term hardened, game loving supporters know about the game.

[Melbournehammer]

At some stage beginning after the 1st qtr ended, Saints had kicked 11.13 to 3.2.

Make no mistake - we got flogged. Their inaccuracy saved complete embarrassment.

Ouch.

i wrote up the match report for the carlton game at the same venue last season. in that match my recollection was that carlton kicked about 12 goals betwen us kicking our third and our fifth.

but again a few goals in junk time in the last quarter showed that we hadn't given in the towel.

it was a similar game. we played well for fifteen minutes and then just got smashed around the ball, and at half time we were still in it on the scoreboard but that was the only place where we were.

i think the gameplan really goes awry when we are under pressure because longmire or the players drop so deep around stoppages but we simply have no-one to relieve pressure by kicking to someone who can take a mark which means that other teams can comfortably press the ball with all of their players.

anyway i am depressed about where we are as a team. i actually thought pre-season that we had a good chance of improvement this season, but the injuries we have sustained really have shown that we have a lot of players who try really hard but very few that can win games. and we are exactly where we were seasons ago when baz went mental - without anything resembling a forward line.

[Flossie]

Finally a sensible comment. I dont post on here much but I cant believe the doom and gloom of some of the people on here. We are 6-3, if memory serves me correctly we were worse than that the year we won the grand final. A couple of comments have really amazed me - someone said the worst game they have watched for 17 years - you must be kidding or were you asleep at some of the games in the early 90's. Then the comments "we are pretenders" Are Geelong, Collingwood, Hawthorn pretenders? They have all been smashed in games. I agree we didnt play well last night, but every team has bad nights. If we get to round 20 and we have more losses than wins I might agree with some of the doom and gloomers on here. Until then I will stay optimistic and not join the chorus of blame.

[swansprincess]

we may be 'only' 6 and 3 now, but based on yesterdays performance we have every chance of being beaten next week and we won't win against the dons the week after, so then it'd be 6 and 5. And that is a worry. We are not going well enough now when considering we have such a hard draw at the back end, to think we will definitely make finals. It's not necessarily 'doom and gloom' talk but realistic even if it is negative.

[lwjoyner]

I decided not to get n to R&W online when I got home last night but most comments I have just read where how I frlt. My membership cost 170$ or there abouts to get 6 games in Victoria but his covers a game at Geelong which you cant get into 1 against the dons at Edihad which again you struggle to get tickets too one against Carlton ditto to Essendon and I have to pay 25$ to get a seat on level one in addition to my season ticket and as a self funded retiree its beginning to get a bit much. And we see them play like they did against Richmond last night. I dont mind getting beat its the way they do no effort no heart etc. And the same playeers again let the team down. AJ (I know a lot of you supporters like him but his decision making and execution with the ball is poor, LRT will NEVER be a 2nd ruck and fwd just out him back to where he started and say just STOP you opponent from getting a kick. Shaw is like AJ the mistakes he is making are deplorable. Bird has obviously lost it again he started the season fine. Iris is not Irish 1 still hasnt got it yet. Nick Mal is struggling Jude last night was poor wasnt the same person (maybe he was crook) Beeny even though he played Ok fumbled a lot. I could go on. Poor old Moorey cant get a game and I know he is not quick but he thinks football and surely deserves a chance to show his worth again. Greg W was not quick but look at how he turned out, I could go on but selectors pick s better balance team.

[DamY]

"I doubt many of you whom are passionate enough to join a Swans message board would bear sitting out a Swans AFL match".

I hope I am not quoting you out of context, but this line is a very inaccurate rant, and probably offensive to most RWOers.

Look, perhaps you are right. Maybe we should limit all footy chat sites to the warm and fuzzy posters, at the footy warmly clap good deeds and suck it up and stay silent when players commit clangers and ban all talk back on Melbourne Sports radio, and leave to the those that know best, the ex footballers who are termed experts. After all what would us long term hardened, game loving supporters know about the game.

My point was that there is obviously enough passion in the posters here to join a Swans message board, that I doubt that they would throw up there hands and say "BAH! You Swans are so useless, I'm not coming to games anymore!". This site would be for pretty passionate Swans fans, not the fair weather fans.

I don't think that is offensive, it's just a statement. Most of the people here love their footy so much they wouldn't stop going to games because the Swans weren't winning week in week out, or had some poor performances.

I'm not denigrating anyone


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[DamY]

I'm not saying that no-one should criticize the players, club or coaches, but sometimes people take it too far. If selection was put down to half the threads on here, I doubt anyone in our top 22 would even get a game.

My other point was that it is ultimately out of our hands unless someone here is on the selection panel or has Horse's phone number. I can picture the conversation now: "John, the forums really wanna see Grundy in reserves.. They're baying for his blood"

"hrmm well he did have a shocker. What else have they been saying?"


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[Nico]

My point was that there is obviously enough passion in the posters here to join a Swans message board, that I doubt that they would throw up there hands and say "BAH! You Swans are so useless, I'm not coming to games anymore!". This site would be for pretty passionate Swans fans, not the fair weather fans.

I don't think that is offensive, it's just a statement. Most of the people here love their footy so much they wouldn't stop going to games because the Swans weren't winning week in week out, or had some poor performances.

I'm not denigrating anyone


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So I did take you out of context. Maybe it was the words you used; "bear to sit out a Swans AFL game". Sounded to me that you were questioning whether RWOers even went to the footy.

Nothing wrong with fair weather fans coming on here. They are just as entitled to their opinion.

[wolftone57]

There weren't too many good players last night and we were let down by our experienced players. Macca was soft and kept moaning to the umpie and fudging frees (which he didn't get just because of it). Bolts was non-existent. ROK did a few good things in the first and disappeared until swung into defence as a loosey. Still managed to be in the wrong place most times. LRT should be in the backline. Reg didn't protect Teddy from being blocked by his player 4 times, you'd think he might just wake up after the first. Teddy did at least try. Smithy, I never thought I would say this about him but he ducked it! Mal and Shaw kicked to anyone but our players.

Horse: got the match ups wrong, got caught out time and time again. Tried a very old game plan of just bombing the ball and we got flogged because we couldn't get the ball out of our back line. Yes we push far too far up and bring the ball in far too slowly that is why we get caught on the spread. TDL on was a @@@@ move by an obviously first oh @@@@ second year coach. Oh! By the way you got totally out-coached. You were reacting not being proactive. He had you just where he wanted you. He kept mixing up his mids and you got caught out every time. I am not sure if our mids actually knew who they were on half the time. But you didn't try the obvious in the second quarter and put Tommy in the ruck! WHY?

Backs Coach John Blakey; The kick out strategy would have to be yours John and it SUCKS!

Forward Coach Henry Playfair; Henry fight harder for your forward structure and the placement of players as in TDL! Please advise Horse that bombing the bombing the ball in blind is not good for the forwards.

Mids Coach Stewart Dew; Boy oh boy were you shellacked! Your lot took a hiding and the set up in the centre square is the main culprit. Add to that the wingers staying too far off waiting and you have disaster. Your lot got caught out on the transitions. Did they actually know who they were on? It seemed at one stage three of them were chasing either Lenny or Stevens around. When they set up on their defensive side your guys get caught out every time, WHY?

Reserves Coach Jared Crouch; You get off only because you had the bye! But you might like to suggest some things to Horse if he is willing to listen. Like keeping the run on style and not shutting it down when we get ahead. Getting rid of those terrible kick ins.