Flaw with the Swans Culture

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  • dawson
    Senior Player
    • Mar 2003
    • 1007

    Flaw with the Swans Culture

    We are humble, we rise to defy the odds, we are the Bloods.

    There have been some famous victories when no-one gave us a chance.

    We take issue when no-one rates us and overlooks us and then the times we're labelled as favourites we seem to struggle and play below our best.

    There were 2 Swans teams in the finals - Week 1 and Week 4; Week 2 and Week 3.

    The Week 1/Week 4 team was in the 2014 Grand Final while the Week 2/Week 3 team was in the 2012 Grand Final.

    Similarly there were different Swans teams during the year - the one that smashed Geelong down there, the one that killed Collingwood's season in the first week and the one that struggled against Hawthorn at home.

    We aren't cocky, smug or arrogant like Hawthorn or how the Cats can be at times, but if you want to win the flag you need a bit of that.

    Our grand final record is 5-12 (Compare that to Hawthorn that is 13-6). Everyone else that has lost at least 10 GF has also won at least that many. Hard to plan for the week as you never know if you get there and when you do there is no time to do anything.

    But moving forward, we have to save our best football for the last game of the year. This was a season that deserved a flag.

    It's wonderful and amazing that we keep getting to Grand Finals, but even better when we win one....
  • liz
    Veteran
    Site Admin
    • Jan 2003
    • 16758

    #2
    I half agree. The team definitely plays well when you sense it feels it is the hunter, not the hunted.

    However, even putting aside the umpiring last weekend, I do wonder how differently things would have turned out had Buddy not hurt his ankle in the first five minutes of the game.

    Comment

    • annew
      Senior Player
      • Mar 2006
      • 2164

      #3
      Originally posted by liz
      I half agree. The team definitely plays well when you sense it feels it is the hunter, not the hunted.

      However, even putting aside the umpiring last weekend, I do wonder how differently things would have turned out had Buddy not hurt his ankle in the first five minutes of the game.
      I agree Liz, little mention of Buddy's injury yet he is the main player in our team.

      Comment

      • ernie koala
        Senior Player
        • May 2007
        • 3251

        #4
        Totally agree Liz,the umpiring was terrible and unwittingly bias against us, but Buddy's ankle was a mortal blow.
        Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect... MT

        Comment

        • Hotpotato
          Senior Player
          • Jun 2014
          • 2269

          #5
          5-12 .
          It's not a good enough return really .
          By 2.30 pm (or any of the other starts to the Granny ) you have to be ready for the mayhem , especially from interstate .
          As Andrew Pridham said, they make it hard to win , you are in a strange room, a strange bed for at least two nights.
          For all the MELB clubs it's like a home game. So it's against the odds .
          Maybe they should fly down on the morning of the game, tell me to stick the parade.
          The Swans are the only interstate team to take the flag in the last decade.
          It's so hard to do .

          Comment

          • robamiee
            Regular in the Side
            • Sep 2005
            • 688

            #6
            i would say its hardly a flaw in our culture.. its our culture that has brought to us 18 finals series in the last 21 years, the most of any club, considering we dont bottom out...
            We arguably overachieved this year considering when you normally introduce 7 debutants most teams are in rebuild mode...
            i would say its our culture that allows our team to continually defy the odds....
            our team surprised all.. however the melb centric media didnt really give our teams as much credit it deserved this year because of the bulldogs fairy tale run....
            since 05 we have have won 2 of 5 and really 06 could have gone either way considering we had no where near the talent of the weagles...14 was just a bad timing to run into the might of the wees and poos...however i think this year was a lost opportunity. we made the big dance and thats all you can ask...
            I am proud of the culture the club has built....hopefully we will see the rewards in the coming years....

            Comment

            • goswannies
              Senior Player
              • Sep 2007
              • 3049

              #7
              Originally posted by Hotpotato
              The Swans are the only interstate team to take the flag in the last decade.
              It's so hard to do .
              Numbers are a funny thing. Sure, we are the only non-Victorian team to win a premiership in the last decade - a mere 10%!
              But look back a little further - say the last TWO decades? Non-Victorian clubs have won 9 of the last 20 premierships (Brisbane 3, Sydney 2, Adelaide 2, West Coast 1, Port 1). So over 2 decades, 45% of the premierships have been won by non-Victorian clubs. Go back a further 5 years - quarter of a century - there are another two Eagles premierships, so in the last 25 years, 44% of premierships have gone to non-Vic clubs).
              If you wanted to choose a particular decade to support your argument, lucky you didn't choose from 1997-2006 as 80% of the premierships were won by non-Victorian clubs!
              All of a sudden it doesn't look quite as hard.
              Last edited by goswannies; 10 October 2016, 10:57 PM.

              Comment

              • bloodsbigot
                Regular in the Side
                • Mar 2010
                • 813

                #8
                I've always thought for a while that we've been too 'honourable' with a club full of 'honourable' supporters. Not really one of kill and win premierships at any cost.

                We got bullied in 2014. And got done by the umpires in 2016 without a whimper.

                Comment

                • AnnieH
                  RWOs Black Sheep
                  • Aug 2006
                  • 11332

                  #9
                  There's nothing wrong with the culture at our club.
                  Anything that needs to be sorted out, is quickly done so. Fortunately, everyone is on board, so we don't often need to "sort" things out. (Talia, I'm looking at you.)
                  We have honesty within the group - except for Mitchell... but he's going anyway, and if he's not, he'll learn the hard way not to lie. If someone is having a @@@@ game, believe me, they are the first to let each other know.
                  We play for each other.
                  They invited "ruthless" into the game this year. That was the big inclusion. They just need to remember to bring it every week.
                  Love this place. Wouldn't change a thing.
                  Wild speculation, unsubstantiated rumours, silly jokes and opposition delight in another's failures is what makes an internet forum fun.
                  Blessed are the cracked for they are the ones who let in the light.

                  Comment

                  • grarmy
                    Warming the Bench
                    • Aug 2010
                    • 406

                    #10
                    Love your passion, AnnieH. You can be sulky at times but please don't change.
                    "Play like you can’t lose."

                    Comment

                    • mattybloods
                      Warming the Bench
                      • Jul 2016
                      • 482

                      #11
                      I love the club's culture. Our modesty and our ability to keep fighting with all odds against us makes me proud to be a fan

                      Comment

                      • Ludwig
                        Veterans List
                        • Apr 2007
                        • 9359

                        #12
                        We should hire Dane Swan as Director of Culture. There's even something about his name that says......................................SWAN.

                        Comment

                        • barracuda
                          Regular in the Side
                          • Jun 2016
                          • 551

                          #13
                          I think the number of debutantes as a factor is greatly overlooked. Having said that I do think we need to introduce more programs to counter the Melbourne centric nature of AFL. Whether that is getting media to pre-empt umpire bias such as allowing Footscray to go low, or throw the ball, to having staff in Melbourne to maintain an influence. Perhaps these types of things happen already, I don't know.

                          Comment

                          • bloodspirit
                            Clubman
                            • Apr 2015
                            • 4448

                            #14
                            Originally posted by robamiee
                            i would say its hardly a flaw in our culture.. its our culture that has brought to us 18 finals series in the last 21 years, the most of any club, considering we dont bottom out...
                            We arguably overachieved this year considering when you normally introduce 7 debutants most teams are in rebuild mode...
                            i would say its our culture that allows our team to continually defy the odds....
                            our team surprised all.. however the melb centric media didnt really give our teams as much credit it deserved this year because of the bulldogs fairy tale run....
                            since 05 we have have won 2 of 5 and really 06 could have gone either way considering we had no where near the talent of the weagles...14 was just a bad timing to run into the might of the wees and poos...however i think this year was a lost opportunity. we made the big dance and thats all you can ask...
                            I am proud of the culture the club has built....hopefully we will see the rewards in the coming years....
                            Broadly agree with this.

                            There were 2 Swans teams in the finals - Week 1 and Week 4; Week 2 and Week 3.

                            The Week 1/Week 4 team was in the 2014 Grand Final while the Week 2/Week 3 team was in the 2012 Grand Final.
                            I don't altogether agree with this - you are not giving enough credit to the opposition.
                            All opinions are not equal. Some are a very great deal more robust, sophisticated, and well supported in logic and argument than others. -Douglas Adams, author (11 Mar 1952-2001)

                            Comment

                            • snajik
                              Senior Player
                              • Jan 2003
                              • 1115

                              #15
                              Originally posted by annew
                              I agree Liz, little mention of Buddy's injury yet he is the main player in our team.
                              Though considerable mention of Hamling's 'brilliant' performance even though he had an opponent who was mostly hobbled.

                              On one level though, hats off to Footscray. They somehow managed to handle the occasion exceptionally well. I assumed that their GF inexperience would bring them undone, that they would freeze and fumble, but it never happened.
                              It's very hard to live in a studio apartment in San Jose with a man who's learning to play violin. That's what she told the police when she handed them the empty revolver.
                              The Scarlatti Tilt - Richard Brautigan

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