Gameday!

[Matty10]

What about Jetta's form in tight, tough games? He seems a bit stand-offish to me, and waits too far from the contest, rather than risk getting hurt. Not that his role is in and under, but he needs to make it to more contests than he does in these sorts of games.

He is great in open spaces, when games are less physical, but we are less likely to get a lot of free-flowing games in the finals.

[swansprincess]

If LRT is injured, surely, SURELY Spangher should get a go.

[rojo]

Yes, I can't quite work out what Jets is supposed to be doing. Since the opposition have worked out how to counteract his A game he seems to be becoming more of a passenger with each game played - little energy or enthusiasm or confidence. He is reminding me of Ed B as he hovers around behind his opponent or off the play. The coaching staff have got to find another way to use his speed and skills to advantage.

[Cheer_Cheer]

How good was O'Keefe tonight ? Superb.. He would get my vote for best and fairest this year..

[crackedactor]

better team?

We cant match the big boys? Are u fuking serious.

Against pies n hawks we were the better team, it was a game of inches and we were unlucky.

One thing for sure is that we'll learn more out of the pies n hawks games than they will. An extra 1-2% improvement and we will win the return bouts.

We were the better team after in the first quarter, but after that we were not the better team. We play SCG better than anyone and only Jude bolton was missing from our team. Remind me of our MCG record. I think it is one win out of the past 11 games. If we play finals on the SGC, then yes we can find something more. That clearance problem for the centre bounce is a real worry. If Josh Kennedy does not get it, then no Swans player will.

[liz]

I have only read the last page of this thread, so apologies if I am just repeating what others have said.

Firstly, it was a terrific game of footy.

Secondly, we more than matched Hawthorn for most of the game. We just didn't get enough score on the board in the first quarter and a half when we were dominating possession. The late second quarter lapse was costly - stating the bleedin' obvious there, but we came out and matched the Hawks goal for goal in the second half.

Maybe we're just a smidgeon off the top couple of sides this year. I think we can beat them all - after all, we've only lost by small margins - but maybe just 3 or 4 times out of 10.

I do agree with the poster above that Jetta is not stepping up at the moment. He needs to actually try and win the ball on the ground occasionally - not dive into packs at will, but when there is a loose ball to be won and he is the closest Swan, he needs to actually attack the thing, rather than hope a team mate might get there first. Too many times, the ball was there to be at least contested and he stood back while a Hawk swooped onto it and ran away. He's had an excellent season and certainly has improved heaps but there is still plenty of scope for improvement.

[hot potato]

Jett's was sub material for the final quarter.
The whole forward line plays out of position so much, find it frustrating.
Bombing it in long not working. Have hit players on the chest leading into space.
Hawks seemed to get pretty lucky with hurried kicks thrown onto the boot landing mm clear in their hands.
Bloody good effort by Sydney though, well done.
If no injuries, a real bonus.

[Nico]

Jett's was sub material for the final quarter.
The whole forward line plays out of position so much, find it frustrating.
Bombing it in long not working. Have hit players on the chest leading into space.
Hawks seemed to get pretty lucky with hurried kicks thrown onto the boot landing mm clear in their hands.
Bloody good effort by Sydney though, well done.
If no injuries, a real bonus.

The reason Hawthorn got lucky is that they played in front.

[bennyfabulous]

Honestly how can anyone say that we cant mix it with the big boys. We lost by 7 points to the (undeserved) flag favourites. And really lets be honest if it wasnt for the 2 blatant umpire errors when the game was on the line in the last qtr then we would have won. This forum is becoming very pessimistic all of a sudden!

[Bexl]

Honestly how can anyone say that we cant mix it with the big boys. We lost by 7 points to the (undeserved) flag favourites. And really lets be honest if it wasnt for the 2 blatant umpire errors when the game was on the line in the last qtr then we would have won. This forum is becoming very pessimistic all of a sudden!

Don't know about would have won but I also think probobly would have won, and both of those were disgracfull. How the 50 was not paid when they pay it for FAR less and the holding the ball that they got the free, no way.

[Wardy]

I love Jetta but tonight he looked lethargic even a little lazy - we had some fabulous opportunities but marks didn't stick , over used the ball at times and we didn't man up as well as the Hawks did at times. Still it wasn't a thrashing and we should hv got that 50 late in the game when the hawks player said he didnt hear the whistle - which is crap because I heard it and I was a lot further away from the ump than he was. Still chalk it up to experience. The sad thing is that we finally got a massive crowd at the SCG and we blew it.

[liz]

How the 50 was not paid when they pay it for FAR less and the holding the ball that they got the free, no way.

That non-50m call was bizarre. It wasn't even the Hawks' first disposal after the whistle was blown. Everyone in the stands knew a free had been paid. Most of the players had stopped. The umpire had his hand in the air. Players regularly get pinged when they get the first possession away when they can't be expected to know whether a free has been paid. Just odd that that one was let pass.

[neilfws]

The sad thing is that we finally got a massive crowd at the SCG and we blew it.

"50,000 screaming fans" according to ABC Sport. May as well admit they just make up their facts these days...

Disappointed (that we could not continue on after the great start), but not gutted - they were always likely to come back. We do seem to get into a lot of these "whoever gets just over a goal up near the end will win" situations - and lose them.

Time to move on quickly, deal with the Cats next week and then get into the finals mentality.

[Nico]

That non-50m call was bizarre. It wasn't even the Hawks' first disposal after the whistle was blown. Everyone in the stands knew a free had been paid. Most of the players had stopped. The umpire had his hand in the air. Players regularly get pinged when they get the first possession away when they can't be expected to know whether a free has been paid. Just odd that that one was let pass.

Boils down to the fact that he didn't have the guts to make the decision in a tight finish. I am not suggesting any favouritism but you have to wonder how that is paid as a 50 metre penalty 999 times out of a 1000, and this time is the 1/1000th time. I suspect if it happened in our backline it would have been paid. If that was a GF would it have been paid? There was one earlier in the last Q when Reid was clearly pushed in the back around HFF. If that was Buddy it would have been paid?

[Goal Sneak]

Don't know about would have won but I also think probobly would have won, and both of those were disgracfull. How the 50 was not paid when they pay it for FAR less and the holding the ball that they got the free, no way.

In the context of the game, combined with the position on the ground, the free to Puopolo was both disgraceful and costly. A soft free in a tough match at a crucial point.

We have to play our best footy to beat the other contenders. Unfortunatley, we had a 10 minute lapse and paid the price.