Rnd 17 MDT. Sydney V Hawthorn. SCG. 19.20 pm.

[barry]

Towers don't lose its the game. We stuffed up 100 short passes like that during the game. Mitchell waited for the ball instead of attacking it. The hawks got 9.6 from turnovers

Dropping towers will not make any difference.

[Cosmic Wizard]

Towers don't lose its the game. We stuffed up 100 short passes like that during the game. Mitchell waited for the ball instead of attacking it. The hawks got 9.6 from turnovers

Dropping towers will not make any difference.

How about dropping Towers and Benny? That should eliminate quite a few of those 100.

Oh, and didn't Tower do a appalling kick out of defense in the second quarter which cost us a goal???

[vleung1208]

He wasn't the reason we lost, but Towers has to go. I"m sorry - he's had way too many chances and just very inconsistent.....

[MattW]

Basing my top four chances on my ladder predictor - donth think we will win in Hobart

I just did the ladder predictor. If every favourite wins for the rest of the year (which means we win the rest of our games) we finish with four other sides 2nd-6th (split by marginal percentage). There aren't too many match-ups between top 8 sides to go - mostly one per weekend. There will be a lot of cheering for the likes of Collingwood, Port and Melbourne throughout the final 6 rounds.

It's a year of unexpected positives (great performances by very inexperienced players) and frustrating negatives (I can't remember a season with so many close losses).

Hannebery was a bit down last night - he seemed slow and injured. His performance has fallen away a bit in the second half of the year.

[barry]

We win well when our bottom 4 play well. The strategy must be to get the output of the bottom 4 up... whoever they are.

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[AnnieH]

Is this the same team that played last week?
What a load of crap that was.

Finals fodder.

[Bill Posters]

Thought Towers was ok for most of the game - but why oh why don't they just sub him off for the last 5 minutes??

[mcs]

We win well when our bottom 4 play well. The strategy must be to get the output of the bottom 4 up... whoever they are.

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Its the old Bottom 6 that matters Barry - like it did in 2012, and like it will in 2016. Same story last night - Hawks bottom 6 did far better than our bottom 6 players.

If we are any chance to win the flag, then our bottom 6 has to break even - in the 3 games we've lost by less than a kick this year, they haven't.

[Jimitron5000]

The kick by Towers to Mitchell was the right decision. The kick wasn't perfect and Mitchell didn't do enough to make it perfect. If we recall the dying moments of the Richmond game to see Towers poor decision making and what can happen when the ball is bombed into the 50.

Now to my piece about Hawthorn. Clarkson came out the other day and said he didn't give a toss about contested ball. What I saw last night was a team who would almost hang back and wait for the opposition player to collect it before tacking them, forcing either a ball-up, a loose ball or a free kick for holding the ball as the player who won the ball would get penalised for not moving it on. In the event of a loose ball they forced it forward as much as possible.
This has been happening more and more in football generally and it is becoming a game where getting the ball first is a disadvantage.

[mcs]

How about dropping Towers and Benny? That should eliminate quite a few of those 100.

Oh, and didn't Tower do a appalling kick out of defense in the second quarter which cost us a goal???

I was against bringing Benny in on what I saw in ressies last week, and sadly my fears were confirmed, with another disappointing performance at seniors level. I love the guy and the way he goes about his footy, but I just don't think he is in our best 22 (unless there are injuries). Papley, despite his at times woeful disposal, is having a far greater impact as a small forward, and McGlynn just isn't good enough in the middle anymore. I'd pick Cunningham before I'd pick McGlynn to be honest.

[mcs]

The kick by Towers to Mitchell was the right decision. The kick wasn't perfect and Mitchell didn't do enough to make it perfect. If we recall the dying moments of the Richmond game to see Towers poor decision making and what can happen when the ball is bombed into the 50.

Now to my piece about Hawthorn. Clarkson came out the other day and said he didn't give a toss about contested ball. What I saw last night was a team who would almost hang back and wait for the opposition player to collect it before tacking them, forcing either a ball-up, a loose ball or a free kick for holding the ball as the player who won the ball would get penalised for not moving it on. In the event of a loose ball they forced it forward as much as possible.
This has been happening more and more in football generally and it is becoming a game where getting the ball first is a disadvantage.

Its an interesting trend Jim, I've noticed it as well. It will get killed off in time though, as teams will do it so much that a super skilled team (thinking GWS here) will turn the game into 'hands off football' because they'll be given so much time, but at the moment it is very noticeable and very effective.

Hawthorn are an awful contested ball team this year and that is where someone could possibly beat them. If the umpires actually started pinging them for holding he ball occasionally in those contests (especially when they play 'dropsies') then suddenly they might find themselves back with the field.

[Plugger1300]

Is this the same team that played last week?
What a load of crap that was.

Finals fodder.

This is a bit far fetched. Probably would've won all things being equal and be sitting on top of the ladder.
Pretty comfortable where the side is. We are always going to be up and down with such a young side.
Come finals time i'll be confident that we can match it with the best

[mcs]

This is a bit far fetched. Probably would've won all things being equal and be sitting on top of the ladder.
Pretty comfortable where the side is. We are always going to be up and down with such a young side.
Come finals time i'll be confident that we can match it with the best

It feels like 2012 in some ways with the same loss in almost the same round to the hawks. But this year I just have no confidence we can win the close ones come finals time, whereas in 2012 I thought we could beat anyone, anytime if that bit of luck you need went our way (as it did in the GF).

What is clear now is we are probably going to need to win interstate in the 1st weekend of the finals to have any shot at the flag - unless there are several unexpected losses or we win all 6 coming home (possible but unlikely in my book - we will drop 1 more I feel). Best case scenario would be GWS away in week 1, but a real chance it could be a trip to Adelaide or Melbourne - that is of course assuming we finish top 4. No room to move now, and those close losses could really come to bit come the end of round 23.

[Swanny40519]

After last night - Benny, Towers and Ted should not play next week. Benny has been great over the years but time has finally caught up with hi. How many chances does Towers need - no more I believe. Ted is not contributing anything up forward and it looks like Horse is not willing to play him in defence.

[Mr Magoo]

One stat stood out for me and probably reflects what I felt on the night - efficiency inside 50 - Swans 30 shots from 54 inside 50's for 10 goals 10 behinds, hawks 24 shots from 49 inside 50s for 11 goals 9 behinds. They simply made the most of their opportunities and only not converting shots to points 4 times against our 10 times. That's the result right there in a tight game.

I thought the umpiring was terribly inconsistent. Unfortunately the easy part will be proving that every free was deserved , what they wont admit to is the frees that should have been paid in the same context.

In terms of personnel - I don't think Ted will stay forward (or in the team if Allir keeps doing his thing) when Reid is ready and McGlynn should go.

The positives for me is that the likes of Allir, Mills and Papley are playing so well for their games experience. To see Allir so composed against now two of the better teams in the competition is amazing.