Match Day Rnd 13 V Richmond. MCG. 13.45 pm.

[ugg]

I think Marsh had Martin at times when he forward but so did Rampe. I don't think there was a hard tag after Hewett

[stellation]

This article says that Franklin was legally entitled to run into the center square before the ball was bounced

Talking Points - Round 13 - sydneyswans.com.au

I thought umpires were supposed to do a quick head count of players in the square for each centre bounce- I can get someone making a mistake and blowing a whistle when a player seems to be running in at the last minute, but one of the others should have been able to interject and overrule it confirming the Swans were down one (assuming they actually did the head count).

[Blood Fever]

BF
I disagree
I'm not having a go at u
I am frustrated by what I see and if that is different to u that's how it is

I have a simple philosophy in sport and that is don't be a sucker. Evolve evolve evolve your understanding , your strategy, your set up, your flexibility to execute

I'm am stating:

1. We are not flexible enough with our styles of football week to week and we have been found out too many times this season when we needed to adjust to who we had in our 22 ie all out high pressure footy contested footy needs to be relative to who u have and who the opposition has and what is flowing and what is not

2. We allow too many teams this year to get an unnecessary and significant lead in the first qtr and 2qtr. I say unnecessary because it is preventable. This is bavks to the walk stuff and to risky.....way to risky to finish enough games like we did miraculously today

Does anyone really believe that we couldn't have gone sideways and backwards more for uncontested options ie especially in the first qtr when we sensed the Occassion that the tigers brought and the structures they had in place to counter our norm set up

We did this brilliantly last week !!!

Why can't we create the ultimate pressure for the opposition ie don't let them have the bloody ball in the first and 2nd qtr via uncontested possession if it is required ....then once we have our rhythm rain bloody hell with our fierce contested direct football which does work well in the right match up

I feel a few poeple on this forum don't get how much I love high pressure contested football

I love it
I friggen love watching and loved playing this style in every sport I have played high pressure contested as priority 1 but even as a non professional I recognised to be flexible to the flow of the game and adjust

But I'm not an idiot......I don't think think one style always wins

I don't think that opposition coaches are morons and haven't looked at our predictable style year after year

We adjusted our game plan beautifully last week .......after 11 rounds we mixed it up massively in the contested vs un contested and that was irrefutable as the stats showed first two qtrs and final qtrs

We were flexible and changed gears between high pressure low pressure football in attack and defence

What I hate though is not being able to adapt to the situation at hand and that was the Tigers were ready for our predicatable way we set up around the contest and extract to transition

they were set up for transition from the contest very very well and an antidote to us and they were super smart in maintaining possession with small entries into their attacking arc so we didn't counter quickly by winning a contested mark or spoils

Yes we won

But we seriously seriously seriously don't need to sabotage the first two qtrs to do it

We can give ourselves such a platform to storm home

We can minimise scoreboard pressure first two qtrs by adjusting and being flexible in our attack and defence like we did against the Dogs last week

Fair enough Auntie. All I'm getting at is that the game can be over analysed. What I admire about the swans is that we back our style and it has been incredibly effective. Teams crumble because of the pressure we bring. Without this approach, there is no chance of ultimate success. Uncontested marks etc stems from this all team defensive pressure. It is easy to dictate tempo when you are in control of the game. Not sure if we have the all round kicking skills to be proactive short kickers. We are the form team of the comp playing the way we do. Momentum is huge with the evenness of the competition. The other team will have their turn at dominating parts of the game.
Agree it is frustrating when we sometimes play into the opposition's hands but that is the lot of the supporter. Respect your passion Auntie, just saying you might be overthinking it.

[dimelb]

A rollercoaster journey today, from the depths of despair and resignation after Q1, to the possibility of getting closer, to the delirium of delight when we got our nose in front and stayed there. Apart from the outstanding players (Josh, Hanners, Newman, Heeney etc) I really enjoyed the contribution of the brotherhood of the undervalued, especially Towers (tried until he got there!) and Rohan, who is so obviously a forward that I wonder why he is ever told to play anywhere else. And it is a terrific experience for the youngsters to contribute to a return from the dead such as today; I think here especially of Hayward - what a find he has turned out to be.

And I agree with Auntie G; why on earth did we play so loosely in Q1 and tighten up in the quarters we won?

My only real gripe is the presence of four umpires; the extra is getting in the way of the other three, and I suspect there are interruptions to the play because some twit decides he (in this case) needs to justify his presence. Too many cooks ...

[Flying South]

What a great day. Today I got to experience one of those father son experiences I will remember for the rest of my life. Got to sing the club song with my 7yo son for the 1st time together at a game. Don't mind admitting there were some tears rolling down my cheek. Not just because we won and seeing the elation on his face. But in the manner of the win and the important little life lesson he got to experience. All through out the game I kept telling him to believe in the team and to never give up. They can do it, if you have belief. For the last 5min he was physically trembling with anxiety and fear. I kept reassuring him and we celebrated every little win along the way. The Kennedy clearances, the Papley mark, Newmans effort on the wing and gazz goal. When the siren sounded and we embraced it was a special moment. Thanks to all fellow supporters at the swans end for sharing it with us.

[aardvark]

Should have held your horses- - - Updated - - -

Rohan was next to useless until the last 30 seconds

[Meg]

Lovely post FS.

[Goal Sneak]

We certainly got some very favourable decisions in the second half. Worst was when Zac Jones was run down - apparently a fumble is now a handball!

I don't really care about the umpiring much. Sure you can point to decisions that could have been paid differently, but it isn't nearly as one-sided as everyone thinks*. Every fan thinks the umps are against them, and I don't like the arrogance that says "yes, but we're right". In actual fact, it evens out (with a slight home team advantage) and rarely affects the outcome of the game.

*Except the 2016 grand final. That was so biased.

Ok, but what about your irrefutable point made with the *? how can you say that it evens out? This underlines the huge problem with this line of thinking, that it can happen in the most important game of the season and therefore any individual game throughout the season. I'm not sure of how to solve the issue, but you can't argue that it evens out when all it takes is one game to be biased/favourable when ultimately, the whole season can and does come down to one game. The 2016 GF is a landmark case in regard to the deficiencies in umpiring bias.

[MattW]

3aw (Leigh Matthews) gave
1 - Dusty Martin
2 - Astbury
3 - Newman
4 - Lloyd
5 - Rance

Haha.

Martin? His possessions were not decisive. Heeney, Papley, Hanners and maybe Reid had better games. Newman best on.

[aardvark]

And I agree with Auntie G; why on earth did we play so loosely in Q1 and tighten up in the quarters we won?.

Only guessing but I reckon the coaches were worried about matching up with Richmond's small forwards hence the selection of Rohan over Melican. They then decided to play a zone in the first quarter which didn't work. You may have noticed when Riewoldt kicked the first goal Hanners had rotated onto him. After quarter time we matched up and Smith got Bolton and things slowly improved.

[MattW]

What a great day. Today I got to experience one of those father son experiences I will remember for the rest of my life. Got to sing the club song with my 7yo son for the 1st time together at a game. Don't mind admitting there were some tears rolling down my cheek. Not just because we won and seeing the elation on his face. But in the manner of the win and the important little life lesson he got to experience. All through out the game I kept telling him to believe in the team and to never give up. They can do it, if you have belief. For the last 5min he was physically trembling with anxiety and fear. I kept reassuring him and we celebrated every little win along the way. The Kennedy clearances, the Papley mark, Newmans effort on the wing and gazz goal. When the siren sounded and we embraced it was a special moment. Thanks to all fellow supporters at the swans end for sharing it with us.

Awesome mate, that's great.

[Markwebbos]

Maybe there needs to be a separate thread where people can complain about biased umpiring / discuss how we were robbed and the players will never get over it.

[barry]

Rohan was next to useless until the last 30 seconds

I can't understand why he was even selected. He played the sort of useless game we knew he would.

I won't understand why he trains his spot next week either.

[Blue Sun]

What a great day. Today I got to experience one of those father son experiences I will remember for the rest of my life. Got to sing the club song with my 7yo son for the 1st time together at a game. Don't mind admitting there were some tears rolling down my cheek. Not just because we won and seeing the elation on his face. But in the manner of the win and the important little life lesson he got to experience. All through out the game I kept telling him to believe in the team and to never give up. They can do it, if you have belief. For the last 5min he was physically trembling with anxiety and fear. I kept reassuring him and we celebrated every little win along the way. The Kennedy clearances, the Papley mark, Newmans effort on the wing and gazz goal. When the siren sounded and we embraced it was a special moment. Thanks to all fellow supporters at the swans end for sharing it with us.

Awesome post, South. Reminds me of the fan made video of the 2005 premiership. Thanks for sharing that with us.

[Odysseus]

Went to the game today and am still calming down from an amazing win.

From my perspective:

I agree with Auntie.Gerald that we should have been more pro-active from the coaches' box earlier on, and I worry that the fact that we won may allow the coaches to be more self-congratulatory than is warranted.

Maybe sometimes "breakout" games can be a curse in disguise. Zak consistently tries to do too much and be too clever with the ball. Love him for his hardness and his will to win, but want to see him get rid of the ball quicker - at least sometimes!

Gary Rohan is unbelievable. How can a bloke do so little all day, be so close to another game in the 2s, and then contribute a couple of priceless moments. It wasn't just the last thirty seconds. His attack on the ball coming out of Richmond defence, risking his life as usual going full speed and with his head low, knocking the ball to Sam Reid - maybe 80% of that goal was Gazza's. And then the sealer. But can we please not play him in defence again?

Dean Towers was quiet, but last week he played a critical role in several goals. Cut him some slack. Only six disposals? Yeah, but no-one's saying Nick Smith should be dropped after today's game.

I don't think any RWOers undervalue Isaac Heeney, but it is worth acknowledging him again. Real skill, smart footballer, and gives his all in the contest.

Lots of others have been rightly acknowledged.

Not Dane's best game.

Hadn't realised we still had Toby Nankervis on our pay-roll, but we must have. Hitting the post from that distance was priceless.

The fellas directly behind me were Richmond supporters. I couldn't believe their hostility towards the umpires! But their ferocity made the afternoon all the sweeter. We should do this again, but not too often or I'll be in trouble if I don't have my angina tablets!

Go Bloods!