Richmond v Sydney

[Pmcc2911]

Re Pyke , I didn't see the first half but Pykes rucking (hit outs to advantage) in the last 10 mins were a big factor in tieng up the game and getting the points

[Auntie.Gerald]

it has been very interesting to watch our style of play combat teams with much superior stats re clearances, disposals etc for 3 or 4 weeks now

Not winning nearly as many clearances as our opposition has meant our guys have had the ball come into our backline but we have generally outnumbered the attack in a higher percentage then not having the players back..........we have coped with this, no doubt rejigged our defensive structures to make sure that we have a counter attack and can contain a game in our 50m arc

The positive has been that players like Lance upfront now have a "Pagan's Paddock" upfront due to our field position and then counter attack..............There are more significant periods of the game where Buddy has his player one on one with lots of room to move........it has been working and has been very tough for teams to defend against a free running Buddy.

I think that we are very comfortable defending in our defensive 50m and then breaking fast via a kick more often then hand pass............but it appears this tactic is more so to create space for our big dominant key forwards and hit the scoreboard

The most interesting stat for me is still our TACKLES..............when we have higher tackles we win - even when every other stat (besides the scoreboard) goes against us we win when we have higher tackles

- GWS we had less tackles we LOST
- PIES we had less tackles we LOST
- NORTH we had less tackles we LOST

In every other game except for against the DEMONS we had higher tackles and we WON !

I think it is fair to say that we have always had our coaching department make this as one of our prime indicators of controlling and winning a game. For me when you think of what occurs when you tackle a player we tend to find that the attack generally has pushed high and wide of the play in anticipation of maintaing the attack.............so when you make a tackle and successfully win the ball the opposition is in the most vulnerable position ie on the wrong side of their opposite number.

I think under Roos and Horse I have understood more the reason for the incredible "Tackle Count" emphasis then I did as a player.

As a player I always thought winning the tackle count keeps your team in the game through a physical presence and glues your team to rolling up their sleeves to be competitive week in week out. It shut down games so your team can reset on their opposite number and or reposition them self. It kept the game at a tempo you could have greater control on especially if you were up against teams with superior uncontested play and or faster etc. The reality is that is all true and all very very important ......BUT

BUT the more I watch footy over the last decade my understanding of the tackle count being in your favour also leads directly to provide a higher percentage of opportunities in a game where your attack can spread and wriggle free of a defender. When a tackle is made and "IF" you can then be the dominant team extracting the ball team then you have won a ball in a situation where the attack ie the team that previously had the ball prior to the tackle has more players loose or in attack HENCE in a position not to defend.

My gut feeling is that if we had the patience to sit down and watch every tackle in a game that the above concept would be true in a greater percentage then the opposite hence the direct correlation between winning the tackle count and winning a game and the emphasis by the Bloods to make this much higher then the opposition week in week out !!!

[Swanny40519]

Very thought provoking AG.

The problem last night when we did get our tackle count up was that we either hand balled directly to a player under more pressure or if we were clear, then we kicked it directly to a Richmond player.

I don't know how many times Mel turned it over, but if you look at last weeks games and this one, something is very wrong with his left leg. He cannot hit a target. He had a lot of brothers last night.

It reminded me of the first game against GWS. "Oh well it is just the Tigers - we will just show up and win the game easy". That dose not happen and we looked very second rate for a lot of the game. Without Buddy, Sammy,Josh and Bird in the second half, we would have lost that game.

Thought both ruckmen (if that is what you can call them) were deplorable. A lot of soul searching.

Overall 4 points keeps us in the run for a top two position, but gee we need to win the next couple of games with a bit more polish.

[aguy]

We never do well when we are expected to win easily. Fortunately we got the 4 points and I think taking some of the expectations about being overwhelming flag favourites will actually be better for us. We play much better under pressure and when we are underdogs.

[lwjoyner]

Saying Tom D was better than Mike amazes me, I must had been at another game. When Mike went into the centre square after half time we did better,

[swannymum]

Umpiring terrible for both teams. Lots of square ups in the last quarter, bad luck to Richmond about that mark in the last....

If you freeze the video you will see Rance with a clamp around Buddy's gut. All the outcry about this particular free kick from Tiger fans. They were extremely lucky earlier ones weren't paid....

[Jewels]

Overall 4 points keeps us in the run for a top two position, but gee we need to win the next couple of games with a bit more polish.

I'll settle for a win regardless how they come. As ugly and as bad as we were last night, good teams find a way and that's exactly what we did last night. We've had a tough couple of weeks, remember The Cats after they had consecutive six day breaks?
At least after what happened in round 1 complacency shouldn't be a problem and the eight day break this week should help a lot.

[Conor_Dillon]

We were 26 points down against a team playing out of their skin on their home deck and coming off back-to-back brutal games/6 day breaks, this was a really gutsy win, albeit ugly.

The negativity in this thread is astounding, there was plenty to take out of tonight.

? Cunningham's last quarter was brilliant, I knew he had pace to burn but his endurance is obviously first class as well...was absolutely everywhere!

? Buddy, need I say more? An above poster mentioned his will to win, it's fantastic. He is lifting us at the moment the way Carey did with North, I'll put my hand up and say he is displaying leadership qualities that I didn't know he possessed.

? Jetta is finding plenty of the ball on the outside and really starting to lift his pressure game, laid some tackles and did some very handy inside work that I didn't know he was capable of tonight.

? Brandon Jack seems to be finding his feet really well, his disposal wasn't perfect tonight, but who's was? His tackling and strength in the contest is remarkable for a slightly built, second year, 14 game player. After another pre-season or 2 he is going to develop into a really complete player.

? Zak Jones did not miss a beat. Not many first game players -especially after starting as sub- come on and slot in so seamlessly. He knew his role and played it well. Absolutely loved the aggression and competitiveness. 6 tackles in your first half of footy is no mean feat.

? Reid looks like he's warming into the season nicely and is arguably playing the toughest role in the team -the swing man. In a scrappy, unattractive affair his two big contested marks and goals really stood out, his set shots seem to have improved as well. Not to mention his tackling and pressure is absolutely top notch for someone of his size.

? Laidler really stood up tonight, did some clutch things in that last quarter and barely lost a contest all night, possibly his best game in red and white.

? Kennedy and Parker were both slightly down by their extremely lofty standards yet they still laid 23 tackles between them...this is what gun midfielders do, they find a way to influence a match even when they're not at their best. All of Sydney's mids do this better than any other team.

[dimelb]

All good points Conor_Dillon. Nice to have something to set against the failure to switch on at the start.

And to your list I would add Craig Bird, whose switch onto Cotchin after half time helped change the balance of the game. He does his stuff most of the time quite unobtrusively, which is why, in the AFL Survey, I named him as the AFL's most underrated player.

[Nico]

A few have been a bit harsh on Pyke. He was clearly short of a run and will be much better for the hitout.

[swannymum]

Further to the free kick to Buddy, here is the image...
Rance holding Buddy.jpg

[ShockOfHair]

It was interesting to hear Lethal, Harley and Carey talk last night about how good teams find a way to win even they show up not switched on. They would know.

I don't mind so-called ugly footy. It's hard footy where every possession counts and if anyone does get on the outside that play becomes even more valuable.

The umpires make several hundred decisions in every match. A few are going to be completely wrong. Unless we scrap 90% of the rules, it's not going to change.

[Conor_Dillon]

All good points Conor_Dillon. Nice to have something to set against the failure to switch on at the start.

And to your list I would add Craig Bird, whose switch onto Cotchin after half time helped change the balance of the game. He does his stuff most of the time quite unobtrusively, which is why, in the AFL Survey, I named him as the AFL's most underrated player.

Yeh Birdy is a gem, it's no surprise that he has been a regular in the top 10 in our B&F, I don't think this year will be an exception!
On another note, it will be very interesting to see which clubs try and poach him, they'll come and come hard but I'd be shocked if he left.

[Nico]

Cunningham was timid in the first quarter. There were a couple of times when he didn't appear to want to make the contest. After quarter time he played very good footy. He continued to run and showed his endurance as a midfielder. You could probably say it was a breakout game for him. He made space really well and gave players the incentive to kick to his advantage so he could use his pace to run onto the footy.

A frustrating thing was that we kicked to small players on the fly who were covered. We also had real trouble hitting a player on the chest when they were in the clear, so allowed Richmond to shut us down as we went to gather the footy. Poor field kicking.

- - - Updated - - -

Thought Reg was pretty solid last night.

[Go Swannies]

I had dinner at half time while screaming at the TV to put Bird on Cochin. Im glad JL listened - he would have heard me from Sydney.

Anyone want to do a statistical analysis of "ugly" Swans games this year vs "wet" or "damp" Swans games this year? Fair to say that a wet finals series will likely put us out.

Pyke has just come back from how long off? He did some good things. Tom was always going to play against his old team but he could do with a rest. Maybe 8 days will be enough. But suggesting we bring Tippett back and drop him in the ruck isn't smart. I'd like to see him play out the season - not be preparing for 2015. I bet it's Sam that does back up. And that we alternate Tom and Mike over the next few weeks.

We need Benny's hardness back. But more ugly wins before Tippett, Ben, Dan and perhaps Tom - and an energised Rohan - would set us up well for finals. Gotta beat the team that's already beaten us this year first, though.