SWANS v giants

[AMcK3220]

solid effort - 10 in a row remains a fair statement

[Gary]

OK ... you can't get the wind and cold vibe from an arm chair ... but ... I'll take our narrow win over Port ... at least we are in the ballpark with the best ... last week was ordinary against an ordinary side ... tonight we played a young side with great potential and beat them easily without IMO playing consistently well ... disposal very ordinary too often ... won't get away with that sort of performance against the big boys. Without those occasional bursts from Buddy it may have been a different story.
Grundy only had about 2 brain fades and is amazing me this year. Parker got a lot of disposals but seemed to muff quite a few.
No room for complacency but I sense there is some.

[ScottH]

Malceski didn't do his AA chances any harm tonight. It was such a polished defensive performance from a true pro

Grundy gave a few heart in mouth moments with his disposal though

Agree. He was great last night.

And it wouldn't be a Grundy game with out a few heart attacks.

[O'Reilly Boy]

It was bitter cold at the ground. I didn't think that they were all that bad at all. Only one goal against to half time is very impressive against any opposition. The wind was nasty, and swirling in through the gap at the Members'/Ladies' wing so that up in the O'Reilly it felt like a southerly, even though the flags were showing north westerly. Looked to me like many of the short, stabbing kicks ballooned in the breeze?McGlynn must have missed three by a fingernail?while longer kicks either went too long or fell short, particularly on the members' wing. The final quarter was embarrassing, but the game was well won, and the season is very long. Buddy's burst through the pack was astonishing, as was Cunningham's. Jetta is doing terrific things, and just seems to be enjoying himself a bit more at the moment. GWS seem like a particularly nasty crew of nigglers, with Mummy no exception.

[mcs]

They really do play some niggly football, and its frustrating to watch.

[lwjoyner]

Our kicking is deplorable, even if it is windy, Mal and Heaths kicking was shocking. For someone who can kick the bladder out of the ball Mal tries this Hawk chip too often and as for reg I am not sure what he tries to do. We really need to improve our skills we should have won this game by 100 points.

[Swanny40519]

I'm sorry Ugg but some of Mal's disposal was absolutely disgraceful. He has trwo kick outs that came back immediately because he stuffed up. He also short kicked far too much tonight. I don't see his performance as an A grade one at all. He got lots but baked a lot of it. Reg should hang his head in shame because of some of his disposal. Our back half was pretty ordinary in disposal tonight. If it weren't for the mids I think they might have conceded much more.

Agree. I thought Mal's disposal the last few weeks has been terrible and I questioned whether there was something wrong with his leg. He has continually missed targets, turned the ball over and just being sloppy. Reg had a shocker and Rampe was not as effective compared to last year. I think it may be time for McVeigh to go down to half back like he did last year as I think our defence is going to struggle with the Weagles talls over in the wild west.

That dork Patton is hopeless. A great kick but that is where it stops. When he tackled Buddy in the last quarter and slammed him into the ground then stood over him and punched him in the back, I thought that was very poor. All the crown near the fence was giving him heaps after that.

[Auntie.Gerald]

i must say after the run of the Tigers midfield hurting us we had to make some changes in the mids.........I did like KJack back in the middle with much more minutes and Pykey minimising Mummys effectiveness

Keiran was in great form in the first half and really helped our centre clearance work - out of the middle we were 15 to 9 !!

Some interesting Stats :

Contested Possession - Swans 155 vs Giants 132

Hit Outs - Swans 26 vs Giants 40

Clearances - Swans 38 vs Giants 34 (Giants were 8 below their average clearances and they beat us by 14 hitouts but obviously to not much advantage given our clearances)

1%s - Swans 53 vs Giants 32

TACKLES - Swans 62 vs Giants 75 ( we were 11 under our average and Giants were 2 above there average - funny enough both teams average the same amount of tackles per game)

[ernie koala]

I thought Zac Jones has had a fair start to his first two games

only 19 and in his first year with the club

Last night had the fairly traditional stick close to your man type of Swans initiation into Snrs.........only the 13 Disposals and 1 goal but I felt that when they let him play more in the midfield in the last qtr he didnt look tired at all.........he actually still looked sharp.

He isnt quite as quick as I was hoping for a replacement of a Reece Shaw role......... but plenty quick enough for the midfield and to be fair i would suspect the coaching instruction was simply play the easy ball ie move it onto the key senior players asap when handling the footy

I thought for a 2nd game, he was fantastic...What he has got that's quick... Is a quick, footy smart, instinctive mind.

He goes about it like he's been out there for years, he's a beauty.

[111431]

I'm sorry Ugg but some of Mal's disposal was absolutely disgraceful. He has trwo kick outs that came back immediately because he stuffed up. He also short kicked far too much tonight. I don't see his performance as an A grade one at all. He got lots but baked a lot of it. Reg should hang his head in shame because of some of his disposal. Our back half was pretty ordinary in disposal tonight. If it weren't for the mids I think they might have conceded much more.

fully agree re malceski's disposal - misses far too many targets when under no pressure. Rampe has the same problem - kicks it a mile but never to one of our players !

[Jewels]

They really do play some niggly football, and its frustrating to watch.

That was particularly irritating, especially after the wonderful spirit in which the Port game was played two weeks ago.
I didn't think we were too bad, did what we had to do in the first half to get
the game under control, cruised in the third and put the cue in the rack in the fourth.
We have now won ten in a row for the first time in eighty odd years, so we must be doing something right!

[Ludwig]

Although there were plenty of disposal errors and poor decision making on both sides, in fairness, the game was played under a lot of pressure throughout. It was high intensity and good contested footy. GWS didn't let up and continued playing the kind of footy that started after their blowout loss to Richmond.

There was a lot more quality football than poor football, IMO. Even players, like Reg, who had some bad moments, played pretty good footy over the 4 quarters. Pyke was very good in the ruck and negating Mummy, but his marking ability seems to have abandoned him; hopefully it's just a bit lost touch that will come back quickly.

I don't know where some of the criticism of Mal comes from. He always makes a blunder or two, but his overall game has been fantastic. The way he takes on the game sets him up for a mistake now and then and I find it quite remarkable how few errors he makes under the circumstances. There's hardly a player in the league that plays better two way footy. He launches himself into the play at last line of defence and repeatedly finds the right spot to be in to start the Swans counterattack. Should be a lock for AA.

I think Goodes is playing some decent footy. I don't think his kicking is off either. He's made some 'interesting' decisions the last few weeks, but his clever decision making, in general, is one of the reasons that he is valuable to the team. He's set up a number of goals with some clever handballs. I get the feeling he could step up his game if he wanted to.

A final word on Buddy. I think he's moved into Ablettland. Gaz must have been a bit lonely there in his own 'once in a lifetime' category, but Buddy has to be the most dynamic player going around atm.

[Matt80]

Agree. I thought Mal's disposal the last few weeks has been terrible and I questioned whether there was something wrong with his leg. He has continually missed targets, turned the ball over and just being sloppy. Reg had a shocker and Rampe was not as effective compared to last year. I think it may be time for McVeigh to go down to half back like he did last year as I think our defence is going to struggle with the Weagles talls over in the wild west.

That dork Patton is hopeless. A great kick but that is where it stops. When he tackled Buddy in the last quarter and slammed him into the ground then stood over him and punched him in the back, I thought that was very poor. All the crown near the fence was giving him heaps after that.

In fairness to Patton, Buddy had been displaying arrogance for the five minutes before Patton had nailed him. Buddy was chirping at the GWS players (probably telling them that Bondi life is incredible and was he was glad he did not have to train at Homebush).

Buddy then arrogantly palmed off a GWS player on the mark when the umpire called play on. Buddy did not even bother to move left or right, he just stuck out his left hand. He looked like he was toying with GWS and Patten knew that.

Patten stood up for his club and should be congratulated for that even though it did not look good for Swans supporters.

[wolftone57]

Although there were plenty of disposal errors and poor decision making on both sides, in fairness, the game was played under a lot of pressure throughout. It was high intensity and good contested footy. GWS didn't let up and continued playing the kind of footy that started after their blowout loss to Richmond.

There was a lot more quality football than poor football, IMO. Even players, like Reg, who had some bad moments, played pretty good footy over the 4 quarters. Pyke was very good in the ruck and negating Mummy, but his marking ability seems to have abandoned him; hopefully it's just a bit lost touch that will come back quickly.

I don't know where some of the criticism of Mal comes from. He always makes a blunder or two, but his overall game has been fantastic. The way he takes on the game sets him up for a mistake now and then and I find it quite remarkable how few errors he makes under the circumstances. There's hardly a player in the league that plays better two way footy. He launches himself into the play at last line of defence and repeatedly finds the right spot to be in to start the Swans counterattack. Should be a lock for AA.

I think Goodes is playing some decent footy. I don't think his kicking is off either. He's made some 'interesting' decisions the last few weeks, but his clever decision making, in general, is one of the reasons that he is valuable to the team. He's set up a number of goals with some clever handballs. I get the feeling he could step up his game if he wanted to.

A final word on Buddy. I think he's moved into Ablettland. Gaz must have been a bit lonely there in his own 'once in a lifetime' category, but Buddy has to be the most dynamic player going around atm.

Sorry Ludwig but I am a bit concerned with Mal twice giving the ball up from kick ins. The trouble I am having is that his very short kicking is not very good. hi long and medium passes are superb. But you can't give the ball up 20 metres from goal as he has done for the last three weeks on 4 occasions. Most of them went back over his head for goals and one a point. He is a great player, it is just some of his kicks short are a worry. I love his long range passes they are the best in the comp. His medium passes are super but his very short passes have an element of doubt about them. I close my eyes when he goes really short, expecting the worst.

[mcs]

Sorry Ludwig but I am a bit concerned with Mal twice giving the ball up from kick ins. The trouble I am having is that his very short kicking is not very good. hi long and medium passes are superb. But you can't give the ball up 20 metres from goal as he has done for the last three weeks on 4 occasions. Most of them went back over his head for goals and one a point. He is a great player, it is just some of his kicks short are a worry. I love his long range passes they are the best in the comp. His medium passes are super but his very short passes have an element of doubt about them. I close my eyes when he goes really short, expecting the worst.

We've given the ball directly away quite a few times over the last month directly from kick ins. Its not a good habit to be getting into, and its coming from the fact sometimes we are triyng to be too 'cute' when kicking it.

- - - Updated - - -

Although there were plenty of disposal errors and poor decision making on both sides, in fairness, the game was played under a lot of pressure throughout. It was high intensity and good contested footy. GWS didn't let up and continued playing the kind of footy that started after their blowout loss to Richmond.

There was a lot more quality football than poor football, IMO. Even players, like Reg, who had some bad moments, played pretty good footy over the 4 quarters. Pyke was very good in the ruck and negating Mummy, but his marking ability seems to have abandoned him; hopefully it's just a bit lost touch that will come back quickly.

I don't know where some of the criticism of Mal comes from. He always makes a blunder or two, but his overall game has been fantastic. The way he takes on the game sets him up for a mistake now and then and I find it quite remarkable how few errors he makes under the circumstances. There's hardly a player in the league that plays better two way footy. He launches himself into the play at last line of defence and repeatedly finds the right spot to be in to start the Swans counterattack. Should be a lock for AA.

I think Goodes is playing some decent footy. I don't think his kicking is off either. He's made some 'interesting' decisions the last few weeks, but his clever decision making, in general, is one of the reasons that he is valuable to the team. He's set up a number of goals with some clever handballs. I get the feeling he could step up his game if he wanted to.

A final word on Buddy. I think he's moved into Ablettland. Gaz must have been a bit lonely there in his own 'once in a lifetime' category, but Buddy has to be the most dynamic player going around atm.

Goodes is playing some good footy, but to me its pretty clear that his right knee must be completely busted. He isn't comfortable taking a set shot from outside about 25 metres, and is always looking for his left on the run. The footy brain is still ticking over very nicely, but I fear the body is hampering what he could do. But that's not to say he isn't in our best 22 - he clearly is, but I think its becoming very clear that it is likely that 2014 will be the final year of a glittering career.