Match Day Thread Rnd 22 Adelaide V Sydney. Adelaide Oval 19.50 pm. Or 19.20 ACST.

[liz]

Assuming we will win vs Carlton, I actually think this would be not a bad outcome, as it would wipe his 2 strikes slate clean and give him an extra week off to prepare going into the finals.

Except that it won't wipe any slate clean (ie he'd still get a further week for any minor indiscretions) and I hardly think he needs two weeks rest to prepare him for finals.

I don't know that it was even a reportable offence, especially when looked at in real time. It wasn't late. He didn't run from a long way off to crash into the Crows player. He was entitled to try and contest the ball but the Crows player blocked his access to the ball. He didn't make high contact. He didn't use an elbow. He didn't cause any damage. But who knows with the MRP.

[Hotpotato]

It's the most hyped game back home he's ever played in , in front of 50K Crows fans .
He probably had a lousy sleep to boot.
Think of all the astonishing and gutsy marks he has taken this year together with his sharp footy nous and quick thinking.!
Eddie Betts doesn't need to bulk up.
That's the beauty of the game , any build can succeed.

[baskin]

Quote Originally Posted by wolftone57 View Post


Will Hayward; Will, if you are going to play for the Swans you have to commit completely to us or @@@@ off back to Adelaide. Tonight you showed your allegiance to the Crows not to us. You were pathetic and it was obvious with every ball you attacked your heart wasn't in it.


I watched the game on Friday night and have watched the first two quarters in replay. I'm not sure what you are on about. In the 1st & 2nd quarters Will was given two hospital handpasses (one from the captain) and took the brunt of those. He made some strong tackles and gave a good handpass out of a pack which he was on the bottom of. As for not going in for the ball, like many swans, he sometimes waits for the opposition to pick the ball up then tackle. He is still a bit light for this but at no time did he look to me like he wasn't giving his all. I believe it's only the first game he hasn't kicked a goal but he did get a shot away.

The whole team had moments they would likely rather forget but how you could single Will out for such a spray is pretty low. I will watch the final two quarters in replay and take particular note of these plays where he, supposedly, shirked his responsibility.

[S.S. Bleeder]

Beaten all in the top 4 now.
Who would have thought that at 0-6??

Should have put a ten'er on us for the premiership when we were 100:1.

[AnnieH]

Well, way to give up a 29 point lead!!
We were very, very lucky that the crows couldn't find the big sticks... could have been a wash out.
We are lucky we won that one.
Of course, Buddy's run on goal will win GOTY. Get voting!!

The swans disappeared in the middle of the game. Gotta stop doing that.
Bring on the blues.

[Hotpotato]

Should have put a ten'er on us for the premiership when we were 100:1.

You can get
$1.04 against The Blues !

[dimelb]

Well, way to give up a 29 point lead!!
We were very, very lucky that the crows couldn't find the big sticks... could have been a wash out.
We are lucky we won that one.
Of course, Buddy's run on goal will win GOTY. Get voting!!

The swans disappeared in the middle of the game. Gotta stop doing that.
Bring on the blues.

I can see where you're coming from Annie, but kicking goals is an important part of the game. We did it better than they did, which outweighed some of our lack of precision in other areas. Still plenty of improvement left to make us even better.

[penga]

We lost our courage to run from behind. Many times, when we had the ball on the halfback flank, there was almost no option but to bang it down the line; a surefire way to invite the opposition back into the game. Lloyd was quite stagnant behind the ball at times, surprisingly. We need to roll the dice and carry the ball more than what we did in the last three quarters. We also need our half forwards clunking their marks if we are reduced to the long ball. We were luck to win that one.

[mcs]

We lost our courage to run from behind. Many times, when we had the ball on the halfback flank, there was almost no option but to bang it down the line; a surefire way to invite the opposition back into the game. Lloyd was quite stagnant behind the ball at times, surprisingly. We need to roll the dice and carry the ball more than what we did in the last three quarters. We also need our half forwards clunking their marks if we are reduced to the long ball. We were luck to win that one.

I'm not one to buy too much into the 'mind games' and 'ducks and drakes' some coaches appear to play at this time of year, but maybe there was a little bit of that going on on Friday night as well. For instance, sending Heeney to Sloane. I agree though we do need to roll the dice better more often - especially when we have our forward line structure set up nicely and you've got Paps (who is a super reader of the ball in flight - so is a good judge of when to go for a mark, when to play for the scraps) down there to work off the big men.

[bloodspirit]

What a win! I love this club !

You said it best!

It was a terrific match. The thing that struck me was the level of effort and determination for what was in some ways an insignificant contest. Irrespective of the outcome of Friday night's game the likelihood was and remains that the Crows will finish top and we'll finish 6th. I was impressed by how hard both teams fought to win despite this. The game had everything and if it were a final would be talked about for a long time.

Even if Richmond do lose to the Saints, we have to overtake Port on percentage to make top 4 and our chances of doing that are not good. While we are playing Carlton and likely to win, they are a good defensive side and it's not easy to rack up big scores against them (not saying we can't do it). Conversely, Port, who already have a small headstart on us, play the second limpest team in the comp on current form (after Freo) and have an excellent record of smashing lesser teams. It would be sad, but entirely conceivable, that if the Tiges lose to Saints that Port will unworthily 'steal' our top 4 spot. The only consolation would be that we would hopefully get to play them the finals week 2 and avenge our loss earlier in the year.

I remain a massive fan of Hayward despite him not having his best game. I can see that he is light framed and callow and this may count against him in finals. But he offers a lot on the upside too - great pressure, marking, goal kicking, speed. Who knows the reason for his off night? It might have been the Crows or it may have been soreness or something else entirely. The coaches are best placed to assess the way forward. I'm convinced he belongs at the level but agree he will certainly benefit both from this experience and from another pre-season. I certainly wouldn't want to see him replaced by Rose. Robinson perhaps. Cunningham maybe. Newman certainly. Aliir potentially. Even Dawson. Not Rose.

I was impressed to see that Macca was among the players who covered the most ground. Despite his excellent recent form I have been really concerned with his physical limitations. It has felt like he has been papering over his physical deficiencies (which I thought included his ability to move but turns out is just his ability to run quickly) with his experience and craftiness and superior ball use and on-field coaching. For these reasons I have been feeling he should finish up this season. I may have to reconsider in light of this new info. Then again, how valuable is it to cover so much distance if you are nearly the slowest player on the ground and can't outrun (or catch) anybody when you have (or they have) the ball?

A curious stat: Smooch and Reid the only Swans that didn't register a tackle. It surprises me given they both had good games, primarily defensively (although Reid is a great marking option and has value in drawing players to himself and away from other forwards).

I can't decide whether I think Joey or Buddy was best for us on the night. I'm leaning towards Buddy because (a) his contributions were so pivotal; (b) Joey's input was not consistent over the game - he had done most of his work by quarter time; (c) Buddy was so brilliant! He did what no other players can. Anyway, they are both magnificent players - a joy to see them playing so well. All our senior players stood up when it counted.

[Ludwig]

I can see where you're coming from Annie, but kicking goals is an important part of the game. We did it better than they did, which outweighed some of our lack of precision in other areas. Still plenty of improvement left to make us even better.

I think Annie's point is well taken. We can't always rely on us kicking well for goal (we've had some miserable games in that regard) nor can we rely on the opposition being so inaccurate. The point Annie makes is that we gave up a 29 point lead, which has to be worry. After being well ahead in contested possession we ended up well down on the entire game, and the same with inside 50s.

I hope we find a way to get Mills into the midfield. He's such a good contested ball winner, both in the air and at ground level. I'm sure he could make a difference in our ball movement through the middle of the ground. I think his talent is underutilised.

[dejavoodoo44]

I'm not one to buy too much into the 'mind games' and 'ducks and drakes' some coaches appear to play at this time of year, but maybe there was a little bit of that going on on Friday night as well. For instance, sending Heeney to Sloane. I agree though we do need to roll the dice better more often - especially when we have our forward line structure set up nicely and you've got Paps (who is a super reader of the ball in flight - so is a good judge of when to go for a mark, when to play for the scraps) down there to work off the big men.

Yes, going on one angle, that I haven't seen again, it's possible that his goal was as good as Buddy's. That is, he was running with the ball in flight, past the contest. When it cleared the contest, and while he was traveling at high speed, he reached back and flicked it forward. He then controlled it, sprinted away and put it straight between the posts. All done when the game pressure level was at maximum. Both him and Hayward are going to compile impressive highlight reels in the coming years.

- - - Updated - - -

I think Annie's point is well taken. We can't always rely on us kicking well for goal (we've had some miserable games in that regard) nor can we rely on the opposition being so inaccurate. The point Annie makes is that we gave up a 29 point lead, which has to be worry. After being well ahead in contested possession we ended up well down on the entire game, and the same with inside 50s.

I hope we find a way to get Mills into the midfield. He's such a good contested ball winner, both in the air and at ground level. I'm sure he could make a difference in our ball movement through the middle of the ground. I think his talent is underutilised.

Though if you listen to some AFL commentators, his only real game contribution, was to milk an unjust fifty.

[liz]

Mills will certainly find his way into the midfield sooner rather than later, but not so soon as this finals series. Look out for him in there from next year.

[AnnieH]

I can see where you're coming from Annie, but kicking goals is an important part of the game. We did it better than they did, which outweighed some of our lack of precision in other areas. Still plenty of improvement left to make us even better.

We STILL gave away a 29 point lead by not turning up 16 minutes into the second quarter.
If kicking goals was such an important part of the game.... we'd have a percentage of 275.224 right now.
I'm still lamenting all those behinds in the middle of the season!!

[Ludwig]

Mills will certainly find his way into the midfield sooner rather than later, but not so soon as this finals series. Look out for him in there from next year.

Look what a big impact Clayton Oliver is making in a Melbourne midfield which is also very strong. He's averaging 30 disposals a game. I rate Mills higher than Oliver. They are both from the same draft year. We have McVeigh, Newman, Lloyd and Jones who can more than cover in defence. Sure, Mills is a great intercept mark, but I don't think he's structurally important to our defence. To me it makes more sense to have Newman playing defence instead of on the wing and could simply swap with Mills. I think that swap would happen seamlessly.