#AFL Rd 18 Swans v Suns, SCG, 21 July 2018 @SydneySwans #SwansSuns

[Ludwig]

I admire your optimism that players who haven’t really played in the midfield yet will fix our problems.

The 4 players that I mentioned are all midfielders:

1. Hannebery is an AA. Let's hope he can get over what ails him and is back to his old self next year.
2. Mills was always a midfielder so just returns to his normal position. I think he will become the centerpiece of our midfield, similar to what Pendlebury is for Collingwood.
3. Jones often plays midfield. He won't be needed next year in the back 6 now that O'Riordan is in the team. Ling or Stoddart and even Rohan (who did play halfback in the reserves yesterday) are all candidates for running defenders.
4. The way Dawson has played in the NEAFL makes me a very confident that he's going to be a very good player. Hopefully we will get to see him in the senior team this week.

Yes, I suppose I am optimistic about next year and beyond. Every team can look bad when the injury list mounts.

[neilfws]

Every season lately we have a game like this. I could smell it coming.

It's true, once in a while you just get an absolutely unfathomable loss. Happens to most teams.

Miserable day out yesterday but all credit to the Suns who got a sniff, started to believe they could win it and carried it through.

Saw the boys at recovery down at Coogee this morning. Seemed relaxed, but maybe a touch subdued. Probably not looking forward to the Monday meeting.

[Hotpotato]

Have been sitting in the O'Reilly stand for most SCG games over last 25 years and yesterday against the Suns included some of the worst quarters by the Swans that I have seen.

The stagnant and indecisive play by the Swans at too many times was frustrating in the extreme. Poor handballs and poor kicks added to the frustration. The kicking backwards or long crossfield kicking seems to get us into trouble rather than maintaining possession.

The teams currently playing well, especially Richmond, have good skills with long accurate handpasses and accurate kicks and fluid movement and running waves of players supporting each other from one end to the other. Wish the Swans would adopt this style rather than stagnant attempts to maintain possession.

I reckon they lost the game between the ears in the hours after the miraculous win over North (which could have gone either way) .

If we can do that , they mused, we will bury the Suns by panels of fencing , we just have to get out of bed .

Dewie had the Suns primed for the Swans weekend off attitude to the game and they played outstanding footy for him.

Good on em, they are enjoying it together with their supporter group of two at the ground who waved their two flags after every goal.

However, Some Swans supporters around me in the Brewongle were clapping their winning ways as well , assuming I suppose the Swans would flick a switch and put the Suns back in their box but the Suns didn’t follow the script at all.

Some people are still trying to get into the ground after some traffic officer decided to close Moore Park for our game. Unfathomable. So I missed the first quarter and saw the worst 3 quarters of footy the Swans have played since 1788.

It all seemed such a wasted arvo.

[AB Swannie]

Yes, I suppose I am optimistic about next year and beyond.

Absolutely nothing wrong with optimism. In fact, these boards could do with a bit more of it sometimes.

[Wardy]

And thank you Giants - coz you’ve beaten PORT today we are back in the top 4 on percentage!!!

[Velour&Ruffles]

And thank you Giants - coz you’ve beaten PORT today we are back in the top 4 on percentage!!!

Join me in my location.

[Wardy]

Zac Jones still does my head in. Their reliance and quick hand passes , that clearly don’t work, does my head in. Umpire no 32 has over taken Stevic in the @@@@@@ decision making dept, does my head in. My nerves will be shot over the next 5 weeks as to how our team will go and where we will finish, AND IT DOES MY HEAD IN!! ????????

[YvonneH]

Join me in my location.

I agree. Be careful what we wish for.
Top 4 at the moment but will have to play our best footy to stay there (or dare I say it, top 8).
Whatever the outcome let us enjoy the ride.

[S.S. Bleeder]

It has come all of a rush. Of that long list of veterans not playing today, I would imagine only Hanners would be a chance for our best 22 next year. Reid, Melican, Mills, Naismith would all be handy ins.

When you say "someone like Dawson" I reckon you mean Dawson. I don't understand why he has to spend weeks and weeks getting 25+ in the reserves, yet a player like Fox gets in ahead of him. Are there any NEAFL watchers who can shed light on this anomaly?

Grundy will be best 22 next year. Hanners is still a good player if he gets his OP treated.

[S.S. Bleeder]

Our form away is much better than at the SCG this year

- - - Updated - - -.

Very true but where would you prefer to be playing in a GF against Richmond; MCG or SCG?

[goswannies]

Very true but where would you prefer to be playing in a GF against Richmond; MCG or SCG?

MCG. Better chance of getting a ticket.

Can we close that can of worms please? No amount of discussion will change the fact that the GF will be played at the MCG for most of our lifetimes.

[RogueSwan]

The sun's were actually really good too.

Around the contest their skills were just better than ours and they kept it going for the last three quarters.

[O'Reilly Boy]

Our first quarter was pretty good. The slick handballs found their men, and the ball movement was great. The Franklin/Jones/Franklin/Jones goal was terrific.

After quarter time we started turning it over, initially from a series of too cute hand passes that didn't come off, and then through some very poor kicking. The Suns started playing in front of their men, and the handballs stopped finding their targets. Every time we got our hands on the ball, I felt like we'd turn it over within two or three disposals. The run and gun ran and left. I found myself wishing for a bit of tempo footy: just keeping the ball in hand and taking the pace off the game, but the shift to the new world of helter skelter play on (trying to do what GWS did yesterday) seemed to take over. That's where we missed the experience of McVeigh and, to a lesser extent, Grundy. As the confidence dropped, the run stopped, and our transitions from defence ended up being long bombs down the line, which were easily picked off.

In retrospect, the selection of Cameron was ill-advised, notwithstanding the excitement of seeing a new player get his first game. It effectively added a tall forward to the team balance, and we ended up top-heavy, with McCartin, Franklin, Sinclair and Cameron either all on the ground or chewing up a rotation better used spelling a midfielder. The single tall target with Franklin playing out towards the wings had been working for us, although it was also noticeable that the Suns' defensive fisting nullified McCartin's efforts to bring the ball to ground: our small forwards didn't really get a sniff. I just can't see that any team can afford to play two rucks, but also appreciate that Cameron needed a run, if only to start taking out some insurance against Sinclair being unavailable.

I thought Harry Cunningham had a good day. Ran himself ragged, made tackles, and disposed effectively.

It is interesting to think about how much Dew's insider experience was a factor, just as Hodge has seemed material to the Lions' wins over the Hawks this season.

[Ludwig]

In retrospect, the selection of Cameron was ill-advised, notwithstanding the excitement of seeing a new player get his first game.

I don't think the selection of Cameron was wrong, but we should have dropped either Sinclair or McCartin, who both had poor days. We didn't use Cameron well. He played less than 50% of the game and far too little in the ruck, where he looked okay. If anything, we should have played Cameron as the 1st ruckman and Sinclair up forward.

I would leave Cameron in for the Essendon game and give Sinclair or McCartin the week off, playing Cameron as the main ruckman. McCartin has been great for a 1st year player, but probably offers less than Sinclair at this stage.

It's games like this where we really missed Sam Reid. Stephen May took advantage of the McCartin match up taking 14 marks on the day and setting up a lot of their offence.

There is such a big difference in our current KPP situation and the projection for next year, given Reid and Melican recover well and Blakey is drafted. I'm also feeling positive on AJ atm.

[AnnieH]

Lucky we strangely finished fourth on the ladder this week.
Hope the smack in the face hurt them really hard and woke them up a bit.
You can't go into ANY match thinking easybeats... this is what they did. They were 30 points up and thought, yeah, that'll do; and it backfired.

I know I harp on about percentage, but to get it, you need to close teams down early, and then not be complacent after you've done that.
It's all very well to be the most miserly team in the competition, but what's the point if you're not kicking goals at the other end.

The drama just trying to get the ball past half back is not going to win us a premiership.

The playing the man and not the ball is not going to win us a premiership.

The kicking the ball into no-mans land (without having a quick look to see who is there first) is not going to win us a premiership.

Handballing into traffic is not going to win us a premiership.

Twenty players going for a specky, leaving no rovers to pick up the crumbs, is not going to win us a premiership.

Not manning up is not going to win us a premiership.

The lack of these basic Auskick skills is why we are not going to win a premiership