#AFL Round 7, Swans vs North, 7:25pm at the SCG #AFLSwansNorth @sydneyswans

[Blood Fever]

Here is a suggestion to the coach, why not have some coaching sessions at night?

Fair point

[Wardy]

How can you blame the coach for that rubbish. Why did Jack miss 3 sitters, why did Papley stuff that late one, why did Heeney miss that set shot and why did Rampe miss that one on the run, by a long way, why did Sinclair kick straight to a North player in front, why did McVeigh kick inboard to a North player and why did Mills do most of his kicks as grubbers. That woeful kick to someone in between about 10 North players in our forward line for a turnover goal. Dumb footy is not the coach's fault. Our kicking has been poor all season. We don't keep the pressure up for 4 quarters hence we always keep the opposition in the game. It's not the coach's fault. We have an underbelly of players that are not good enough and it is always left to the defence to save the game. Apart from Kennedy and Heeney our midfield is mediocre at best. We need Buddy back pronto.

THIS!!!! The players made the mistakes not Horse - the players have no one to blame but themselves. They are not good when it?s a team mates milestone game - ask the players where they went wrong and they will blame themselves, rightly 100% They are grown men and are capable of making decisions. Honestly, it?s only round 7 we are in a damned better position this year than the same time last year. So here?s the challenge to those of you on here who blame Longmire for everything that goes wrong - put your own hands up for the job. If you are all as bloody good as you seem to think you are from the comfort of a keyboard then knock yourselves out. Go to the club and offer your services.

[Hotpotato]

We?d better wait for Liz?s measured tones to calm down a tad .

[stevoswan]

THIS!!!! The players made the mistakes not Horse - the players have no one to blame but themselves. They are not good when it?s a team mates milestone game - ask the players where they went wrong and they will blame themselves, rightly 100% They are grown men and are capable of making decisions. Honestly, it?s only round 7 we are in a damned better position this year than the same time last year. So here?s the challenge to those of you on here who blame Longmire for everything that goes wrong - put your own hands up for the job. If you are all as bloody good as you seem to think you are from the comfort of a keyboard then knock yourselves out. Go to the club and offer your services.

The last bit is a little silly but I agree with the gist of your post and all other posts decrying the blaming of Horse. Sure, he's not the best match day coach going around but last night's woeful 'skills' display and crap decision making from our players wasn't his fault, the injuries that are weakening our team aren't his fault and Paps and Ramps missing gettable shots to win in the dying seconds weren't his fault. The umpiring discrepancy wasn't his fault, the non goal review wasn't his fault. A lot went against us last night and a lot is going against us as a club at the moment (in this league, we should be used to that I suppose) but we are the Swans......we will find a way.

The players got their crap together from a far worse position last year and the team was very well coached in that period. Of course, the coaches box looks a lot different this year, maybe they are taking time to gel (or just agree). We have better players to return and the young guys can only improve. In a few weeks we may all be feeling a lot better......like last year. Mind you, I'll admit I'm drawing on all my 'optimism' reserves at the moment to compose this positive spin on things!

[Matty10]

Perhaps clumsiness but I thought on the replays I saw at the ground more than once or twice he looked to exaggerate any contact quite significantly when it became clear he was in no position to mark it.... maybe it was just me perhaps.

At times, he looked like a "wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man".

I was watching the game on TV and on two of his free kicks I kept rewinding and playing over and again multiple times to work out what Rampe had done wrong. I went through each criteria for an infringement and could not detect one. Perhaps if you run around like a flailing tube man people will just assume you have been retarded in some way.

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When the North player hurt his knee and there was a hold up, we were all over them. Reckon delay helped North regain their composure. We had no luck all night, but we were pretty lucky when we beat Bulldogs.

Yeah, I made this comment to my son at the time.

[Bexl]

When the North player hurt his knee and there was a hold up, we were all over them. Reckon delay helped North regain their composure. We had no luck all night, but we were pretty lucky when we beat Bulldogs.

Fair call.

[Meg]

I note that the AFL has given a tick of approval to the goal that MvVeigh touched. From the AFL website:

"There was not enough definitive evidence to overrule and change the decision in time before the restart of play, so the original decision stood."

?In recent weeks the AFL's score review system has come under fire for taking too long and delaying games.?

?AFL football manager Steve Hocking has asked score review officials to make decisions within 20-30 seconds or else defer back to the goal umpire's original decision.?

The Swans goal attributed to Hayward last week against the Cats was one of those that took a long time to be decided, taking multiple replays.

So I think in an indirect way, a goal we got from a video review last week (in a match which we won by 17 points) cost us a goal this week (in a match which we lost by 2 points).

[emoji35][emoji35][emoji35]

Ps: the poor decision not to wait for a full video review didn?t cost us the match: we managed that ourselves. It adds to my overall grumpiness about last night though.

[S.S. Bleeder]

We're just struggling, 4-2 badly overstated how we have been going. After Rd 1 we've battled through games and the wins have been off the back of short bursts of scoring, interestingly in second halves when we've belatedly gone man-on-man.

It is a real bind the coaches are in - our ball movement is so poor and unimaginative, but our skill level doesn't allow for anything more creative. You see with Sinclair and McVeigh what happens when they try and do something other than kicking long down the line. The direction things have headed in re: pressure and congestion don't suit us at all - generally poor skills and no creativity from defence to break things open.

Our success bringing through rookies and later draft picks is a double-edged sword - most of them can't kick and that's becoming more relevant than their bravery and discipline.

That score review issue has been a long time coming - you get a smarmy, dismissive response from the umpire saying every goal gets reviewed, so don't argue or ask for a review, because asking for one would be redundant given it is being reviewed anyway etc etc. But we saw tonight what really happens - only if they stumble across the right footage before the ball is bounced, do they actually intervene. That is fine if the goal isn't being disputed, but they just can't justify not asking for a review on the basis that the right decision will occur regardless.

That goal review scenario just goes to show what the umpires think of us. I've never previously seen an umpire ignore a review request from a team.

[MattW]

I note that the AFL has given a tick of approval to the goal that MvVeigh touched. From the AFL website:

"There was not enough definitive evidence to overrule and change the decision in time before the restart of play, so the original decision stood."

?In recent weeks the AFL's score review system has come under fire for taking too long and delaying games.?

?AFL football manager Steve Hocking has asked score review officials to make decisions within 20-30 seconds or else defer back to the goal umpire's original decision.?

The Swans goal attributed to Hayward last week against the Cats was one of those that took a long time to be decided, taking multiple replays.

So I think in an indirect way, a goal we got from a video review last week (in a match which we won by 17 points) cost us a goal this week (in a match which we lost by 2 points).

[emoji35][emoji35][emoji35]

Ps: the poor decision not to wait for a full video review didn?t cost us the match: we managed that ourselves. It adds to my overall grumpiness about last night though.

I don't buy that explanation. It was evident live and as obvious as any standard 'bent finger back' behind after the first replay, which didn't seem to be shown until the ball was being bounced.

[Scottee]

What that showed me tonight is that we really lack quality in the bottom half of the team. Some stats from the game;

Towers 4 kicks 6 Hand balls, Fox 4/6, Papley 7/4, Florent 5/4, Cunningham 4/5, Hewett 11/3 (clanger riddled) Rohan 9/1. How do these blokes stay out of the game for so much time. Smith 6/2 (thrashed by Wood). Mills courageous but poor disposal.

I agree with those who say Newman should be in the team. He certainly gets a lot of the footy even though he was butchering it.

Interesting stats Nico. Reinforces my feeling that we actually lack body mass. Hard to get possessions if you are constantly getting knocked out of the way, especially in greasy conditions when it is hard to keep your balance.The dry conditions at Geelong probably helped us there.

The other thing is that the smaller players tend to feed off the opportunities created by bigger players in marking contests.This was absent last night with our forward structure.Also, when the ball is coming out of defence in a rushed manner as it did last night it makes it difficult for the mids.

The good thing is that Cameron is fit and in form in the ressies and it is as good a time as any to bring him in.Aliir is now also looking fit but not yet in form as he is not quite hanging onto his marks. It might be worth the gamble though to bring him in.Difficult to know who to drop but not Fox because he is the only sraight kick atm. Newman should be given a go because at least he can attack.

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[Scottee]

I don't have a problem kicking down the line but we kick it out on the full so many times.

Must have broken a record I reckon.Worst I can remember.

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[MattW]

That goal review scenario just goes to show what the umpires think of us. I've never previously seen an umpire ignore a review request from a team.

It was very strange.

[Scottee]

Well said whoever you are![emoji2]

You?re right Melb_Blood! It?s a soft target and boringly repetitive. He?s one of 4 coaches who has coached us to a grand final since 1937. He?s one of 2 coaches who has delivered us premierships since 1934. He has one of the best winning %s of current coaches. Of all of the touted assistant coaches we had since Roosey started with us, he is the best performed (we bemoaned the loss of the likes of Lyon and Dew and numerous others who went to other clubs as assistant coaches, Longmire has delivered the best of all of them). Hindered by unjustified recruiting and trading restrictions & - if you are to believe some supporters - an AFL orchestrated umpiring anti-sentiment, it?s a wonder the man can stand up straight with whinging supporters on his back every second week. He wins he?s great, he loses and he should be sacked.

No Buddy, no Hanners, no Reid, no Naismith, no Tippett (and he would have been expected to be available when Horse was planning for his 2018 campaign last December). No matter, just blame Horse. We?re hampered by a paucity of available ruckmen (despite what Ludwig thinks, all the other clubs have a stronger compliment of fit talls to choose from), a dysfunctional forwardline (take the caliber and height of Bud, Reid ... and yes Tippett out of any side and see how their coach handles it).

So your pot shots at a soft target is worthy of a Crows fan, but most unbecoming of a Swans supporter. We should be supporters of our team, not fickle fair weather fans.

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[ugg]

Especially when there two similar incidents in today?s Tigers Freo game which they correctly called touched.

[Steve]

That response from the AFL is typical - find a way to say it was actually OK, whether it addressed the issue or not. The real problem is that umpires have, and will now do so even more given the edict to try and save time on reviews, justified not using the goal review process on the basis that a decent review occurs anyway after each goal. But that just isn't the case.

The Ben Brown frees were a disgrace really - just poor umpires getting absolutely sucked in. Only certain players get away with those, and Brown has elevated himself to that level where he has a reputation for being a good mark on the lead and/or overhead, so when he stages in those instances, the umpires take a view that 'he must have been infringed to have gone under the footy like that' - totally ignoring what actual contact was made, if any.