Round 13: Sydney v Richmond

[bodgie]

Well... I thought maybe something was said. But yes. sucked in and blown away.

[Nico]

Really disappointing. How so many players can go missing is a half of footy... In reality we haven't played great footy for most of the year, but have still managed to chalk up wins. This game is gonna be a turning point for our season, it's just a matter of which direction it sends us in... Jack, Hanners , Rohan ( for a half) your excused. The rest of you, detention! Shaw, expelled!

MB. "We haven't played great footy for most of the year". Could that be because of old legs and slow legs. We have the talent to beat most teams but boy we are slow.

[Nico]

and 2005.

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Nico wasn't cunningham playing on Houli? Thought he did his bit.

Our first half was great and if not for their 11 1st qtr frees the game would have been even more buried at half time.

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Nico wasn't cunningham playing on Houli? Thought he did his bit.

Our first half was great and if not for their 11 1st qtr frees the game would have been even more buried at half time.

Houli and his mates were alone behind the footy in the 2nd half. Don't know where Cunnungham was. My beef with him is he always stands off the pack instead of getting down and dirty. He will not go to support team mates. The only time I notice him is when he is in the right the spot to take a handball receive. He is a very soft 60's footballer. He is a "gimme" footballer who doesn't fit the Swans mould of the last 20 years.

[rojo]

I don't know if I am just looking for excuses but after the GF it seems like some teams are deliberately targetting the Swans with rough stuff - controlled aggression - believing it is possible to intimidate them physically. Let's face it there are not many Swans players who have that 'natural' mongrel in them. Look at our backline. Neither Teddy nor Reg attack the man, neither do Rampe or Smithy. Reid, Jetta, Cunningham and Lloyd have to steel themselves to lay a tackle (mostly), let alone be aggressive. Hanners in particular seems to be targetted. McVeigh cannot impose himself physically. I am not saying that there is anything wrong with this, in fact it is how it should be, but playing against a team which likes to play 'unsociable footy' must be draining, mentally perhaps more than physically. Players who enjoy a bit of biff and niggle thrive on it while others don't.

Obviously the Swans have been working on 'standing toe to toe' a bit more effectively eg v the Hawks and holding on v North, but last night? Who knows why they fell as someone has said, 'like a pack of cards' in the second half! Maybe it was simply that our current 'game saver' Buddy had taken off his game saving mantle this time. If we had kicked 3 goals instead of points in that last quarter - different story, maybe.

[frankee]

How does Reiwoldt get all that space infront of him? He was outstanding. It seemed we had two on him at the center bounces but then dropped off.

Great game, but disappointing we lost.

[mcs]

How does Reiwoldt get all that space infront of him? He was outstanding. It seemed we had two on him at the center bounces but then dropped off.

Great game, but disappointing we lost.

Teddy likes to play from behind, but you just can't do it against a player like Riewoldt. It really hurt us in the end - although with the lack of impact our midfield had in the second half, it wouldn't have mattered how you tried to counter Riewoldt.

[ugg]

How does Reiwoldt get all that space infront of him? He was outstanding. It seemed we had two on him at the center bounces but then dropped off.

Great game, but disappointing we lost.

He keeps moving when they have the ball. Also our defenders didn't play him particularly well. There was one mark when Ted turned his back to give long winded advice to Reg and Riewoldt gleefully accepted the half second needed to lead and mark unopposed

[Meg]

I don't know if I am just looking for excuses but after the GF it seems like some teams are deliberately targetting the Swans with rough stuff - controlled aggression - believing it is possible to intimidate them physically. Let's face it there are not many Swans players who have that 'natural' mongrel in them. Look at our backline. Neither Teddy nor Reg attack the man, neither do Rampe or Smithy. Reid, Jetta, Cunningham and Lloyd have to steel themselves to lay a tackle (mostly), let alone be aggressive. Hanners in particular seems to be targetted. McVeigh cannot impose himself physically. I am not saying that there is anything wrong with this, in fact it is how it should be, but playing against a team which likes to play 'unsociable footy' must be draining, mentally perhaps more than physically. Players who enjoy a bit of biff and niggle thrive on it while others don't.

I've been thinking much the same thing. Look at the way Rance went for Buddy from the moment the players walked to their positions before the first bounce. We never see Ted or Reg do that to their opposing player and I for one don't want to see them do it. I don't understand why the umpires don't give more protection to players like Buddy who are clearly being targeted.

[0918330512]

How about drafting BBBH as a mature rookie & play him against unsociable teams to "sort out" unsavoury opposition nigglers. Would only be needed a couple of times a season when we play the Dorks & Tuggers. Would be well rested by the tribunal after these games. We always have less players than the roster allows. And at only a few games a year we wouldn't have to pay him much.

Kidding BTW

[rojo]

Yes, you wonder how well Jack Reiwolt would have played if Alex Rance had been playing on him using the same tactics!

[Bloody Hell]

That is entirely the wrong basis for that conclusion. Our game plan was clearly based on Reid having more hit outs. From very early on it was Derrickx to wrestle maric with Reid jumping over.

That is the gameplan every week. I don't recall Pyke having 7 hitouts.

Fair enough if Naismith's injured.

[Gary]

Sadly Ted is looking more and more like the "deer or kangaroo in the headlight" he did in his first years with us ... no longer thinking ahead of the game & acting confidently... sliding quickly to the Grundy level (did we just give him a 3 year contract?) ... the Shaw decline has been obvious to everyone but the selectors for a long time ... but now Rampe & Smith also seem unsure of themselves ... nuff said about the demoralising impact of his shot for goal ... was annoyed not to see a single replay of the spoil attempt by Jones that then sucked him into trouble ... looked like a good spoil on a quick look particularly after the Reg mark in the goal square that was then punched out of his hands and scored as a point! I sense a greater degree of realism on this site after this performance ... there is a big difference being being passionate and stay in positive g positive and being realistic & critical about some of the performances that have led up to this debacle ... I think a few more may have twigged to that after last night. We all love this club and its players ... but a fan site is useless without fair dinkum analysis being exchanged. I hope our coaches can come up with a formula that keeps us in the hunt this year but am not confident they can.

[Ludwig]

Sadly Ted is looking more and more like the "deer or kangaroo in the headlight" he did in his first years with us ... no longer thinking ahead of the game & acting confidently... sliding quickly to the Grundy level (did we just give him a 3 year contract?) ... the Shaw decline has been obvious to everyone but the selectors for a long time ... but now Rampe & Smith also seem unsure of themselves ... nuff said about the demoralising impact of his shot for goal ... was annoyed not to see a single replay of the spoil attempt by Jones that then sucked him into trouble ... looked like a good spoil on a quick look particularly after the Reg mark in the goal square that was then punched out of his hands and scored as a point! I sense a greater degree of realism on this site after this performance ... there is a big difference being being passionate and stay in positive g positive and being realistic & critical about some of the performances that have led up to this debacle ... I think a few more may have twigged to that after last night. We all love this club and its players ... but a fan site is useless without fair dinkum analysis being exchanged. I hope our coaches can come up with a formula that keeps us in the hunt this year but am not confident they can.

Agree, Gary. We all need to wake up and see that many of these problems have been brewing for a while. Of course, we don't like to lose, but the shock of that second half should at least wake up the fans, if not the coaching staff. We are not exactly in the rebuilding stage, but we are transitioning. Like many teams, we have to reccognise that we have to bite the bullet and play a number of young players before they are up and ready for senior level footy. They will have to learn on the job, make their mistakes, but hopefully it will speed their development.

Ted and Reg are good defenders, without being great defenders, and get exposed against good forwards in good form. Reiwoldt is having a great run of form at the moment and really took advantage of a defence that relies on more of a team effort than individual performances. Unfortunately, none of our few reserves level KPDs have shown enough consistency to warrant a run in the seniors. So we are a bit stuck for moment. We are very lucky that Laidler is playing well.

[goswannies]

If, after round 5 ... confronted by a 3:2 W/L record ... someone posted "don't worry, I guarantee we'll be 9:3 by round 13, sitting 3rd on the ladder & only off 2nd by %" I think most on RWO would have either mocked them into submission or taken that guarantee in a heartbeat. It's not doom & gloom quite yet!

[mcs]

Sadly Ted is looking more and more like the "deer or kangaroo in the headlight" he did in his first years with us ... no longer thinking ahead of the game & acting confidently... sliding quickly to the Grundy level (did we just give him a 3 year contract?) ... the Shaw decline has been obvious to everyone but the selectors for a long time ... but now Rampe & Smith also seem unsure of themselves ... nuff said about the demoralising impact of his shot for goal ... was annoyed not to see a single replay of the spoil attempt by Jones that then sucked him into trouble ... looked like a good spoil on a quick look particularly after the Reg mark in the goal square that was then punched out of his hands and scored as a point! I sense a greater degree of realism on this site after this performance ... there is a big difference being being passionate and stay in positive g positive and being realistic & critical about some of the performances that have led up to this debacle ... I think a few more may have twigged to that after last night. We all love this club and its players ... but a fan site is useless without fair dinkum analysis being exchanged. I hope our coaches can come up with a formula that keeps us in the hunt this year but am not confident they can.

I think the original free kick decision against Jones was very harsh - looked a good spoil at the ground, and not late but in the contest.