Swans vs. Magpies

[Melbournehammer]

Jesus Christ. So you've given up have you and thrown in the towel for the Geelong and Hawthorn games?

I am so glad this team shows more spine and fight than some of the so-called supporters.

I was just complimenting you on the other site too.

Actually I don't have much doubt we will struggle to beat Geelong in Geelong. I thought us a good chance in 2011 because our form against st kilda the week before was very very good, but we missed a lot of chances. I thought us a bit of a chance last year but they smashed us. I have made that trip down there for twenty years. I am a pretty good judge of how we are traveling and I don't think we are traveling as well as they are. But guess what - I will be traveling down again this year.

I think we can beat hawthorn.

But here's the thing. To be a supporter doesn't mean that you blindly support. That's being stupid. That's being a hird fanboy. Being a supporter means you cheer for your team but not without a brain.

We will find it very hard to muster the wins to finish top four. If that makes me not a supporter in your book then oddly enough it's something I can live with. I actually call it rational.

[DeadlyAkkuret]

Yeah and as I said, being confident of my team that has been very successful is not one-eyed or blind. When we're struggling to make finals and losing to average sides every week I'll reconsider, but right now I have every reason to believe our best is better than most and definitely better than Collingwood.

[dimelb]

Outplayed in the 2nd half. They forced us into poor disposal and for whatever reason we decided tonight to over possess. The number of times we tried a chain of handpasses that were not on and handballed to a player in a poor position drove me nuts. I am sure people at the game were yelling to kick the bloody thing. Collingwood cleared the ball from our forward line far too easily. We got absolutely slaughtered out of the middle particularly after half time. They worked us over with short kicks and we were mostly a long way behind our man.

Thought Smith had about his worst game and McGlynn clearly was miles short of a run. Kennedy seems to be struggling a bit. My observation is that Parker struggles against the better sides. His disposal was scrappy and got caught too often because of lack of leg speed and the need to stop and prop/bulk/finesse, call iot what you like. On leg speed: we seemed really slow through the midfield which to me was partly because we stuffed around with it through the midfiled instead of moving it quickly by foot.

The people at the game weren't the only ones yelling!

[DamY]

I got told off for yelling, but I don't give a crap, I paid just as much as those around me to sit in that seat. The number of times we hand balled or kicked to a Collingwood player was downright infuriating. But at least they turned up to play. Annoying as it was, Collingwood brought their A-game.

Kurt was outstanding last night, I thought McGlynn was underdone and should have been pulled earlier. Midfield had bugger all support, defence was under the pump all night. O'Brien and Cloke are dirty players though, I hate them. It was almost like it was impossible for the Swans to keep possession of the ball, I remember yelling at Andrejs to just freaking hold the ball instead of just kicking it blindly and then he ended up kicking the much-needed goal. Dane Rampe is a godsend

[msb]

I didn't see that coming last night but I certainly haven't given up hope of top 4! All the teams have a let down, hawks against tiges and I think Geelong has lost 2 out of their past 3, it was ours last night. We'll bounce back hard IMO and wouldn't be surprised if we won all 3 remaining games.

[stellation]

I don't recall a worse defensive display around the ground from our chaps in the last lord knows how long. It wasn't just leg speed in the middle, we consistently were setting up around any stoppage or loose ball with minimal coverage for Collingwood's mids that gave them the extra space; I don't know if that's possibly how we've become accustomed to being able to setup because JPK is so dominant winning clearances and with him having an off night it was a glaring problem.

[annew]

I didn't see that coming last night but I certainly haven't given up hope of top 4! All the teams have a let down, hawks against tiges and I think Geelong has lost 2 out of their past 3, it was ours last night. We'll bounce back hard IMO and wouldn't be surprised if we won all 3 remaining games.

I hope you are right but there is no way we will beat Geelong and hawthorn we are exhausted.

[DamY]

I hope you are right but there is no way we will beat Geelong and hawthorn we are exhausted.

Fair enough but I think it's a bit OTT to lose faith just yet. A few guys had an off night and we obviously needed everyone contributing against a fired up Collingwood playing for their life (so to speak). I know Jesse wasn't flawless today but he wasn't the worst. The mark he dropped could have possibly been due to the lights shining in his eyes, I wonder what it's like to be on the pitch at ANZ. I knew the game would be close, was hoping we'd win but it wasn't to be. But I think this will be a loss that will hopefully give the boys a kick up the bum and get them back on the winner's list as I'm not used to our current team losing too many games in a row!

[Alan]

Let's not forget last year we lost to Hawks, Cats & Pies in the last 4 weeks of the season, and that was with our best side on the park, with the exception of McGlynn. The only win we had was against the bulldogs.

[Swansinger]

I got told off for yelling, but I don't give a crap, I paid just as much as those around me to sit in that seat. The number of times we hand balled or kicked to a Collingwood player was downright infuriating. But at least they turned up to play. Annoying as it was, Collingwood brought their A-game.

Kurt was outstanding last night, I thought McGlynn was underdone and should have been pulled earlier. Midfield had bugger all support, defence was under the pump all night. O'Brien and Cloke are dirty players though, I hate them. It was almost like it was impossible for the Swans to keep possession of the ball, I remember yelling at Andrejs to just freaking hold the ball instead of just kicking it blindly and then he ended up kicking the much-needed goal. Dane Rampe is a godsend

Unbelievable ! Were you surrounded by a bunch of librarians ?!

[DamY]

No, just some grumpy fella who must have been upset when I groaned/yelled (but not cursed - there are children at the games) when we turned the ball over. I even got told off for clapping too loudly by him as well when we kicked a goal! He was an older gentleman so I didn't say anything back to him out of respect but seriously, if you don't like crowd noise, just watch the game at home on TV. It's not like I sat there having a chinwag about who I slept with last night, it was about the game (except I did complain about all the stupid Redfoo/X Factor advertisement, that was really excessive) His wife was quite mean too, someone from the Cheer Squad was trying to get the crowd chanting and she said "sit down you moron" :|

[lwjoyner]

Sure we were beaten by a fierce tackling side tonight, but what if the free was paid to Teddy in first qrt for a blatant push by Cloke, the momentum changed then and they slowly got on top. That free was not the only one that went against us but that baldy ump was poor and has always umpired against the Swans.

[neilfws]

When I saw Hanners' haircut, I had a bad feeling about what was to follow.

Needs to go back and get the rest finished. Maybe should have done it at half-time.

Not much else to say; they were pretty good, we were woeful. Can only hope it's an aberration, based on our recent form. Had hoped the days of the long trip home from ANZ after a disappointing Pies loss were at an end for now, I guess not quite.

[mcs]

The people at the game weren't the only ones yelling!

Glad its not only me then - im giving myself a self imposed ban from watching them play Collingwood unless im at the ground!

Really disappointing performance, really flat, especially in midfield.

One thing became crystal clear last night - we cant win the flag without the individual h brilliance of goodes and the midfield leg speed provided by jetta (or perhaps if he is not fit rohan).

Compared to the mcg game earlier in the year, it was like chalk and cheese!

[annew]

Let's not forget last year we lost to Hawks, Cats & Pies in the last 4 weeks of the season, and that was with our best side on the park, with the exception of McGlynn. The only win we had was against the bulldogs.

But we still finished top 4 last year, if we don't win 2 of the last 3 we will not finish top 4.