Game Day GWS vs Swans Rd 1

[dimelb]

It reminded me of the final against Freo last year. As then, tonight we looked tired, and lagged further behind as time went on. Our quality midfield was soundly beaten, which contributed to the dysfunctional performance of our forwards.
We struggled for accuracy both in field kicking and in front of goal. Our rebound out of defence was patchy and heavily reliant on Rhyce, who is a great runner but an indifferent kick.
Our ruck division was OK when Pyke was there, but at times even when he practically handed the ball to a mid on a silver plate, it was dropped, while GWS were much better structured around the ruck and handled the ball much more securely on the whole. LRT was not much of a contributor in this area and couldn't do anything with the mark he took reasonably close to goal - perhaps because of a slight groin strain for which he was subbed out. I suspect his days as a swing player may be over, but he would still be a valuable defender, especially if Alex J can't return soon. We have to put another ruckman on the park, so we are exposed there to an extent.
What to do about the weariness? It is a worry, and I'm sure flogging them at training will only make matters worse.
Still, there is a long season ahead and things can change. They certainly need to.

[bodgie]

dimelb I think we were working toward a week 3 start

[Glenn]

Looks like it is going to be a Barry Hall situation with Buddy and the Umps, when will they stop allowing the blatant holding and shoves in the back.
Looked good in patches, but the night was summed up by a cheap turnover from Macca kicking the ball in, late in the game the Giants made the Swans look flustered with their pressure, and the poor skill errors from Sydney did the rest.

[Mug Punter]

Wrong question. A better question is whether we can trade Buddy to GWS for either Cameron or Patton. Either would do.

Not a chance, they must be thanking their lucky stars that they missed our on him. Patton, Cameron and Boyd are the making of a power forward line that could be almost impossible to stop. Instead of Buddy they have been able to afford Mumford, Shaw and Hunt. Interesting the contrast with Gold Coast who have built their squad around a strong midfield (O'Meara. Martin, Swallow), they looked super slick against Richmond.

Our next game is high stakes against a team that looking as bad as us, albeit against stronger opposition. Two teams on the slide that I believe cannot make the top 4 based on their puerile first round efforts. I don't mind getting beaten, it's part of sport, all you ask for is to go down swinging and tonight we just did not want it badly at all.

It's extremely worrying and Horse has to start earning his coin now. As for our fat full forward, nothing less than a dramatic improvement and significant contribution will do ANZ in two weeks.

[ugg]

Felt we were too Buddy focused going forward. Reid had a significant height advantage over Haynes and but for the first goal we didn't seem to want to take advantage of that fact

[vincere]

The Giants played seriously good football today. It's not often we're beaten in tackles and contested possessions, so it was not only skilled but hard footy. The high number of clangers is also a reflection of the Giants' intensity. They grew in belief as the game went on. Today may prove to be the turning point in their development.

We were thrashed in stoppages. We had one genuine ruck and one backup, both recently recovered from injury, against a bloke who had a point to prove, and did. Omitting a second genuine ruckman looked like it would be a mistake and probably was.

We didn't take advantage of our opportunities, either in periods when we were dominating or in shots for goal (at one stage, seven points up for eight more attempts).

We have a lot of aging players. It would be fantastic if they all play as well as they did four years ago but age rarely works like that.

Virtually all our players were down today, but it's unfair to single out players like Hanners, whose 9 tackles suggests he was playing a role I'm not sure is the best way to use his talent, or ROK, whose seven disposals would have made him our highest ball winner by a long shot had he maintained that as an average.

Our forward entries have lacked system for a long time. Whether it's due to the forwards, mids or team instability isn't clear, but questions need to be asked about some of our coaching assistants, who never seem to get a mention.

As for Lance, his stats are the result of a number of factors, poor delivery and lack of support being two big ones.

While we're having a go at the players, the fans don't come off too well. Attendance was very disappointing and the crowd too often subdued. It's easy to cheer when the boys are kicking goals. It's when they're not kicking them that they need our support more.

Like everyone, I looked forward to this season more than any since 1996, when I arrived in Sydney and started supporting the Swans. It's been a pretty gut wrenching afternoon, with AJ's injury the horror cherry on top. It's the roller-coaster of passionately following sport. The highs will come again - soon.

[AnnieH]

well, that was seriously disappointing, wasn't it?

[ugg]

I don't buy this ROK too slow excuse. I think there is something more to it. When Kizza withdrew he should have been straight back in.

[bodgie]

I don't buy this ROK too slow excuse. I think there is something more to it. When Kizza withdrew he should have been straight back in.

+1

[AnnieH]

We really missed Kizza. And it was just damned awkward listening to Bolts commentate on MMM.

I left just after Joey fumbled and they kicked the goal that put them in front. I don't often leave a game early... but, for me, losing this game hurt more than losing 26 games in a row.

- - - Updated - - -

Oh yeah... a bit buddy-centric. Please not that @@@@ again.

Am I the only person that sees three players free when buddy's surrounded by four?

[Triple B]

Well Mick was right. Laidler is no good.

I'd have preferred Dre tonight to honest

I'll obviously need to put myself thru the agony of the replay because when I left the ground I thought Laidler was one of our better contributors, along with Reg.

Barring Mitchell, the midfield were lamentable....

[ugg]

Well, they weren't lamentable for the whole game. Kennedy was hot in the first half then was clamped down upon. Parker and McGlynn were also lively in the first quarter, including combining for that magical snap from the boundary. But on balance for the whole of the game Ward, Treloar, Scully et. al. were clearly the better unit.

[Industrial Fan]

Well, that should get the forum rolling for season 2014.

[MightyBloods]

I don't buy this ROK too slow excuse. I think there is something more to it. When Kizza withdrew he should have been straight back in.

agree

[DamY]

Major overreaction guys. GWS came good today. Swans ran out of legs. Simple as that from my seat