Longmire.

[Plugger46]

Commonsense approach. Followed us when we were South for years - made the finals twice in 31 years, brief appearances in mid 80s, then been in finals 17 years out of last 20,6 grand finals, 7 Prelims and 2 flags. This is paradise even if we miss out this year. Younger generation spoilt and need to cop a bit of pain to appreciate how good the club has been. Young list looks ok for the future. Patience needed- we've had no luck this year. Longer lay off after this season might do us world of good. Port Power seems to have benefitted and a lot of our senior players have been exceptional for a long time.

Agree that we've had a great run. In my experience though, it's the older Swans supporters struggling to cope with the season we're having.

[Merdo5555]

Ports win against the Hawks confirms just how badly we played against them. Horse has till the end of the season to show he can change or must go. This Sydney team should not lose to the current Hawks, our game plan is dated and needs to be replaced.

For all those who point to our recent results as proof Horse has done a good job I say we have under-performed, we should have at least 1 more maybe 2 premierships.

[barry]

It really is a shocking year. Weve beaten 10th and 14th only. I dont count Brisbane, because they are far below AFL level.

To visualise how poor Brisbane are, take a look at the squiggle. Squiggle 2017
The odd thing about Squiggle is that it looks like Swans are still a contender, but its only cause we are still falling from a high starting position in 2016.

Edit: maybe I'm pesermistic, because Squiggle predicts us making the finals at 8th with 11-11 and a 110%. !!

[Ludwig]

We've been the 3rd best club in recent times in an eighteen club competition. Under Longmire we've been winning 2 out of every 3 games. As Swans' supporters we would naturally prefer that we would be #1, but #3 is not bad, and we should be very pleased with our performance over a long period of time. McVeigh is the last player that was on our list in the 2005 premiership year, so we've completely turned over our list, won another premiership and have rebuilt our list once again.

I don't know what others' expectations are, but I've really enjoyed what the Swans have delivered under both Roos and Longmire.

So it looks as though we will be out of the finals for the first time since 2009. I can live with that.


Ludwig's Swans Squiggle

[Ratna]

There are some assumptions about the quality of our list being compared to others clubs. It is easy to get inward focussed and overestimate the quality of a player group (at a particular point in time), or alternatively, underestimate other clubs lists. I agree we have a good list but to some degree it is a list in transition with lots of young players playing important roles which will produce inconsistent results.

Stating we have a better list than a particular club and should beat them on that basis doesn't always hold true. This is one of the great things about following football, even if it feels crap when the team that you support has had an underwhelming start to the season. Additionally, when a team beats us who we think has an inferior list, it may not solely be the fault of the head coach.

Despite these points, I agree with the points being made about a need to address the Swans tactics against teams who adopt the style of play that Hawthorn did last week.
Like everyone else here, it frustrates the hell out of me to see the opposition move the ball with no pressure and also our players being so concentrated in defence playing an ultra conservative zone that when we win the ball there is almost no option to successfully move it forward.

Like all who post here, I hope for Swans success, but I personally don't think that sacking a successful coach will help and it would be detrimental to maintaining the stability that has been the foundation of this club's long term success.

Cheer, Cheer.

[caj23]

Paint it however you like, we are significantly underachieving this year

You've got to make hay while the sun shines by grabbing those opportunities when they come along. I think most people would be comfortable with this year's performance had we taken home the silverware last year, but we didn't and we've got some highly paid players severely underperforming and chewing up valuable salary cap space.

Buddy is a once in a generation player and I think its understandable that people are frustrated that we are being outplayed and outcoached most weeks

I'm not suggesting that we sack Longmire, but to suggest that he shouldn't be held accountable for performance is wrong

[Mug Punter]

Paint it however you like, we are significantly underachieving this year

You've got to make hay while the sun shines by grabbing those opportunities when they come along. I think most people would be comfortable with this year's performance had we taken home the silverware last year, but we didn't and we've got some highly paid players severely underperforming and chewing up valuable salary cap space.

Buddy is a once in a generation player and I think its understandable that people are frustrated that we are being outplayed and outcoached most weeks

I'm not suggesting that we sack Longmire, but to suggest that he shouldn't be held accountable for performance is wrong

That's a fair post, caj23.

The side is under-performing to all our expectations but then again last year was way and beyond all our expectations and even then some of the imbeciles on here come on and bag Longmire for the GF loss.

It's the kneejerk, OTT and personal responses to a club that has enjoyed an amazing run under its current coach which rile me. By all means judge him at the end of the season but surely right now we should be sticking tight, trying to draw some positives and supporting the club rather than some of the vitriol on here.

At the moment we are worse than a bunch of Tigers fans on here the way we are turning on our team. The fact we are even discussing the sacking of Longmire is beyond comprehension and shows how little about sport those posters know

[Mr Magoo]

That's a fair post, caj23.

The side is under-performing to all our expectations but then again last year was way and beyond all our expectations and even then some of the imbeciles on here come on and bag Longmire for the GF loss.

It's the kneejerk, OTT and personal responses to a club that has enjoyed an amazing run under its current coach which rile me. By all means judge him at the end of the season but surely right now we should be sticking tight, trying to draw some positives and supporting the club rather than some of the vitriol on here.

At the moment we are worse than a bunch of Tigers fans on here the way we are turning on our team. The fact we are even discussing the sacking of Longmire is beyond comprehension and shows how little about sport those posters know

Firstly - ball not the man - everyone is entitled to an opinion and saying that anyone who says longmire should be sacked has no idea about sport is a little off the mark.

In saying that , I do agree that calls for the sacking of Longmire are a little bit of a knee jerk reaction. He would have one of the better records of any coach , currently in the AFL and you cant on one hand blame him for the current status and on the other not give him credit for where the club is at over his time in the top seat.

If you look back over time and consider the obstacles put in their way I think we have overachieved as a club. Everyone is happy to blame our lack of depth on the recruitment of buddy and tippet but quite frankly that is garbage . The facts are :
1. We had trading bans placed on us without reasonable notice for two years for no reason other than we snared high profile players.
2. We had the academy / father son rules changed on us to ensure we couldn't recruit more than one good academy / father son without sufferring considerable downside in the draft. (case in point Mills and Dunkley last year)
3. We have not received the draft concessions of GWS
4. We havent fallen down the ladder to snare players high up in the draft.

The whole idea of all these changes is to ensure that the competition is set up so that any one club cannot remain at the top forever ( and lets call it "equalisation") and particularly so if your not Hawthorn or Geelong .

[chuckie]

That's a fair post, caj23.

The side is under-performing to all our expectations but then again last year was way and beyond all our expectations and even then some of the imbeciles on here come on and bag Longmire for the GF loss.

It's the kneejerk, OTT and personal responses to a club that has enjoyed an amazing run under its current coach which rile me. By all means judge him at the end of the season but surely right now we should be sticking tight, trying to draw some positives and supporting the club rather than some of the vitriol on here.

At the moment we are worse than a bunch of Tigers fans on here the way we are turning on our team. The fact we are even discussing the sacking of Longmire is beyond comprehension and shows how little about sport those posters know

Well said, if you look at our list from this year and last year the 13 players that have debut in that time Foote, Haywood, Florent, Mills, Hiscox, Newman, Hewitt, Marsh, Dawson, Allir, Papley, Fox & Melican I wouldn't call any of them blue chip recruits 6 including Marsh were rookies a couple from the academy and the others were late first round picks and much lower, throw in the likes of Rose, Leonardis, Talia, Cameron, Maibaum & Johnson who have either been injured or still haven't debut, this has put a lot of pressure on less that half our list to bash and crash every week which I think is starting to take it's toll. Of all those debutants how many would have played for the other power sides. With this in mind last year was a fantastic year and this year is really where we are at as far as ability and fitness is concerned.

[Blood Fever]

Agree that we've had a great run. In my experience though, it's the older Swans supporters struggling to cope with the season we're having.

Depends on your definition of 'older' Plugger! Get your point however.

[The Big Cat]

Depends on your definition of 'older' Plugger! Get your point however.

If by "older" the implication is the old South supporters than there wouldn't be one among us that would complain about the recent run or even the events of this year.

I think maybe the rampant negativity is coming from those who saw the bandwagon pass in 2005 and jumped on, and think (like Carlton supporters) we have a God given right to be always at the top.

- - - Updated - - -

I agree 100%

Horse does not have the brains to coach a team against the Hawks. You have to deny them the ball. They are hopeless and yet last week we were 10 mtrs behind them all night.

Time to give it up Horse.

Steady on!

[bloodspirit]

Pretty sure we had consecutive matches at Etihad rounds 8 and 9. Last time I checked Etihad was in another State.

That didn't involve any looking at all. I suspect we are not the only other team to have undergone the horror (!) of playing interstate consecutive weeks.

[liz]

Pretty sure we had consecutive matches at Etihad rounds 8 and 9. Last time I checked Etihad was in another State.

That didn't involve any looking at all. I suspect we are not the only other team to have undergone the horror (!) of playing interstate consecutive weeks.

Any non-Victorian side (and how I hate that term "interstate" - in just one word it sums up how rooted in the past and parochial the core AFL media, half the clubs and the administration really is. To me, 16 of the sides are "interstate") will face consecutive weeks at least once during the season when they have to travel. That's just the way the fixture tends to work its way out.

[crackedactor]

Any non-Victorian side (and how I hate that term "interstate" - in just one word it sums up how rooted in the past and parochial the core AFL media, half the clubs and the administration really is. To me, 16 of the sides are "interstate") will face consecutive weeks at least once during the season when they have to travel. That's just the way the fixture tends to work its way out.

Talking about Victorian based umpiring. Just watch Geelong's Hawkins, punch an Adelaide player on the Jaw right in front of the umpire!! Maybe reportable or a little too high. But no free kick?? Then I remember last week when they stopped play to give a free kick against Grundy some 100 meters away, so Hawthorn can get a easy goal! OMG there are a corrupt lot!!

[dejavoodoo44]

Talking about Victorian based umpiring. Just watch Geelong's Hawkins, punch an Adelaide player on the Jaw right in front of the umpire!! Maybe reportable or a little too high. But no free kick?? Then I remember last week when they stopped play to give a free kick against Grundy some 100 meters away, so Hawthorn can get a easy goal! OMG there are a corrupt lot!!

That was bizarre, wasn't it? One metre away, if that, and he seems to have missed a punch, that even most of the Geelong crowd saw? Interesting to see what happens if Hawkins gets punished. If he does, then surely the umpire needs to be demoted?
And as an aside, Bruce seemed to have been developing another one of his crushes: this time, Nakia Cockatoo. Before he goes any further, somebody should point out to him, the jokes that people will make.