Rnd 3 Match Day Thread Swans V GWS at the SCG 4.35pm.

[mcs]

Battle of the bridge was very astute move by the giants to make ANZAC bridge the boundary. Some would argue the swans have played along..

Barry, just go and support gws already - your constant crusade against the swans administration is very tiring.

Good tough win tonight - a real grind to say the least but our bit of class ended up making the difference.

Oh and papley's composure in the last quarter was just superb - he is a rookie draft gem!

[Mug Punter]

Yep it was very emotional to say goodbye, a fine man and a truly great footballer, something that has been forgotten with the shameful treatment he has copped over the last few years.

Back to GWS, tonight shows very starkly how much work they have to do in this town.

On the back of one of their best wins last week and with a local derby I reckon there would have been fewer than 1,000 genuine GWS fans there tonight.

And it correlates to the story in the paper today that said that of their 13,840 members last year 36% actually support another club. So, they have about 8,850 members that are actually fans and I reckon you could strip 3,000 out of that number for their Canberra members which is where I actually think they'll end up anyway. That's 5,850 in Sydney and I suspect that includes a few 3 game memberships and the like. Overall they are lucky to have a rusted on supporter base of 3,000.

And before any peanut comes on here and says "it's not so long ago we were getting 3,000 people to watch the Swans", even when we were the worst team in any code in Australia we still had average crowds overs 9,000.

Sure the GWS have attracted extra fans but I'd say the easy wins are now in the board with new members. Sure success will help crowds and members but their supporters are really a bunch of happy clappers with no idea about the game. They kind of have this self-deprecating view of themselves as some sort of pseudo-club as they don their new strip freshly bought from Lowes that morning. In fact in many ways I feel GWS fans treat the club as a bit if a joke and that by following them they are showing the world how crazy and kooky they are like it holds some form of novelty value.

I enjoyed tonight and I'll vaguely support them if they are in the finals and we are not. But I reckon it will take decades to get any genuine support and atmosphere around that operation and it will get truly embarrassing when they start to really get some success o the field.

I just wonder if the AFL has the guts to stay with them for the journey. Personally I think they'll get so much flak for the Riverina zone that they'll get relocated to Canberra and bookend a massive development of Manuka

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Barry, just go and support gws already - your constant crusade against the swans administration is very tiring.

+1

[Faunac8]

We will lose this game. Terrible footy.

not the best prediction you have ever made Wauchope ????

[barry]

How good is grundy this year ?. He'd be the firm Backman of the comp. Even ted rolled back the clock although i reackon patten is way overated.

[barry]

Mug Punter, i think of you expect giants to take less than 30 years to get to where the swans are you are judging them unfairly. Swans were ok when first arrived , then good under edelston then crap then good with locket. Then basically a run of nearly 20 years of finals contenders.

So far giants have been just crap. They will be good in time and after that we may judge them.

[Industrial Fan]

Nico I reckon you had pre stamped cunninghams papers tonight.

Thought he was good around the contest and worked hard.

[Levii3]

How good is grundy this year ?. He'd be the firm Backman of the comp. Even ted rolled back the clock although i reackon patten is way overated.

++1 i hope he gets recognised with AA jumper if he continues his form and not just give it to Rance

[barry]

Tippet was also excellent. Mummy has always been the player we dearly missed after he left. Only now with sinclair and tippet do we have a decent ruck combo again and can start challenging for flags

[Meg]

Tippet was also excellent. Mummy has always been the player we dearly missed after he left. Only now with sinclair and tippet do we have a decent ruck combo again and can start challenging for flags

Can someone tell me what the hit- out stats were, by player? I know they are listed somewhere but I've forgotten where and can't find them. It looked to me as if Tippett more than held his own against Mumford. Gee he was jumping high at centre bounces, and well-timed jumps at that. And Sinclair also did well.

[111431]

Great last quarter by Papley. He was in everything like pepper and salt. Won some vital possessions.
Tippett is going great guns.
Mitchell's last half was very good. Lifted when needed. As did McGlynn, but boy he is woeful at set shots.
Kennedy is running into form nicely.
Doesn't Ted straighten up the backline. They all played well in defence, and I include Jones because he does put on a lot of pressure. Just needs to be a bit smarter with and without the footy.
Robinson was much better and harder today.
Once again Cunningham went missing in the tough game. Looked timid in what contests he got to. I have Robinson in front of him now.
Hewett was quiet, but will be better for the experience.
The usual midfield was outstanding once again. Hanners must be racking up Brownlow votes.
We won the centre clearances 8 to 1 in the second half, mainly due to the good work by Tippett.

Another top team effort.

Scully is a very good player but Patton is awfully slow.
I reckon the umpiring has been pretty good this season.

Kiss may beg to differ revumpires

[crackedactor]

Best again for rose

Kiss may beg to differ revumpires

That 50m penalty against Jack was almost laughable. Just Notice Rose was just about BOG in the NEAFL Again. Its about 3 times in a row now. He must be included next week. Hewett, Cunningham and jones were all ordinary tonight. I believe GWS will be a very good side next year. It was a gutsy win tonight, just hope it does not take too much out of our legs for next week.

[Bloods05]

We will lose this game. Terrible footy.

No we won't. Terrible prediction.

[dejavoodoo44]

Can someone tell me what the hit- out stats were, by player? I know they are listed somewhere but I've forgotten where and can't find them. It looked to me as if Tippett more than held his own against Mumford. Gee he was jumping high at centre bounces, and well-timed jumps at that. And Sinclair also did well.

Yes, we won the hit outs 49 to 38, with Tippett 32, Mumford 30, Sinclair 16 and a few sundry third man ups.

[CureTheSane]

Firstly, if I hear about a "delightful" kick or action one more time I'm going to throw up.
Not sure which commentator it was.

Thought McGlynn played a pretty good game in a come back.

Our delivery into the forward line was generally crap today. Could have been a blow out.

Buddy strolling around the half back to midfield areas has to stop.

[Mug Punter]

Mug Punter, i think of you expect giants to take less than 30 years to get to where the swans are you are judging them unfairly. Swans were ok when first arrived , then good under edelston then crap then good with locket. Then basically a run of nearly 20 years of finals contenders.

So far giants have been just crap. They will be good in time and after that we may judge them.

It's unfair to judge the Giants against us because we weren't a start up, we are a continuation of South Melbourne. Sure we lost a few bloods supporters with the move but we respect our heritage and the number of Melbourne members and support at Melbourne games is testament to that.

They will come good on the field I have no doubt at all about that, I just think them being viable off the field is going to be a monumentally difficult effort and it will get very very uncomfortable for the AFL when they are winning flags (quite possibly as soon as 2018 in my book, and then there will be no stopping them) whilst still getting cut a life support cheque for $10 - 15M a year from the AFL.

I am indifferent about their future about their future to be honest. I thought they were a threat at first and now I think we can co-exist very well but them becoming relevant and a proper football club is a real challenge.

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How good is grundy this year ?. He'd be the firm Backman of the comp. Even ted rolled back the clock although i reackon patten is way overated.

Couldn't agree more