#AFL Rd19 Bombers v Swans, Docklands, 27 July 2018

[Markwebbos]

Very very disappointing game. ????
We just don't tackle anymore. I don't know if that's on purpose or if it's because we no longer have the players that can tackle properly.

Thanks for mentioning it. We used to be the #1 tackling team. Now we don't tackle / miss tackles. Horse mentioned in his presser something along the lines of 72 inside 50s and 47 tackles - as in that's the wrong way round.

[crackedactor]

Yep, I must say I feel the same. The laughable inconsistency of both the umpiring and the commentating just sucks so much pleasure out of the experience.

3 weeks ago I told my neighbour that North, Essendon Collingwood will get twice the free kicks that we get. What really sucks is that no boomaker will allow bet on the umpires.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[mcs]

I believe this is due to the injury he picked up in round 1 in Perth. Horse said there was no point resting him as he'll need months of rest to really get better.

If that is the case, which it would not suprise me one bit. Then get him out of the team, get him fixed and ready and fit and ready to fire for season 2019. Like Hanners, not point perservering on what now appears to be a very quickly sinking ship.

[Matty10]

Round 4 1996, Waverley

Was that the Dunkley free? Great win that day.

[mcs]

Very very disappointing game. ????
Where do I start?

Our players are not fit. Apart from the North game, since the bye every team has overrun us in the second half and have constantly had shots at goal. Watching them live tonight they were always behind their opponents even in the forward line.

Buddy could not run or chase and it made Hurley look like a champion. It was sad to see. Every time Hurley beat him the bomber supporters acted like they had won the premiership.

We just don't tackle anymore. I don't know if that's on purpose or if it's because we no longer have the players that can tackle properly.

Constantly when we had the ball there were no players leading so of course it was bomb bomb bomb.

Jones won't be playing next week...probably even longer.

Grundy won't be playing either...he was injured, that's why he was in the forward line. At one stage when he came off he shook his head to the bench.

The umpires weren't the reason why we lost but they sure didn't help us. No consistency yet again. And omg didn't the bombers sook after every non free. Even one of their players (might have been Devon Smith) sooked to the umpire that he had cost them 2 goals.

I have come to the realisation that we won't win another game this year. That's hard for me to say because I'm normally an optimist person but since the bye we have been terrible. They don't seem to have confidence and there is no cohesion. Too many senior players injured and the youngsters can't keep up.

It sucks losing on a Friday night...won't be able to sleep.

Hard to disagree with so much of that Mel_c. I am naturally a little pessimistic at the best of times, but very pessimistic about the rest of 2018 to be perfectly honest. I'm confident we will put in a good performance on the way in somewhere and maybe jag a win - we are too proud a club not to, but that's about it. I think our future is potentially very bright, but I really do wonder if a change at the top is needed - a new direction could breathe new life into what is feeling a stale approach to footy, especially with the constant bleating of the drums from AFL house about the direction the game is going to be taken, whether fans want it to go that way or not.

[Matty10]

Essendon supporters really are quite revolting

They were the worst I have seen in a while. There were a bunch of racist, homophobic, obnoxious trolls sitting near me.

[mcs]

They were the worst I have seen in a while. There were a bunch of racist, homophobic, obnoxious trolls sitting near me.

Part for the course then Matty in my experiences in Melbourne..... the arrogance is beginning to return sadly after it being cut down by their latest attempt at blatant systematic cheating backfired.....

[MattW]

It's hard to estimate the impact that 2 consecutive 6 day breaks had on top of a long injury list, but it did expose that some of our younger players are not well drilled at playing at this level and hang on to the ball too long, can't stick or break out of tackles and often kick or tap the ball on blindly.

It also exposed the poor physical presence of a range of players.

I'm hoping for the best, but we do look finished for the season.

We are we need to get cracking and find a really good strong quick midfielder or 2 because Hayward and Florent may not develop in that role.

Sent from my SM-T805Y using Tapatalk

Yep. The double six-day break on top of too many weeks with an over-representation of young players in the team. Key experienced players - Jack, Hannebery and Grundy - have hit the wall. McVeigh has missed games. Reid and Melican have missed the season. Mills has missed most of it.

With those important players out or dropping off, we've left too much to guys who are still young or not quite good enough. Yep, Tommy McCartin needs a break. Florent and Hayward are showing strain and their form has dipped quite a bit. O'Riordan hasn't quite looked up to it the last fortnight. Fox and Newman are not best 22 (although weren't the worst tonight).

The load is also affecting our remaining older players. Buddy is playing injured and needs a break. Joey and Parker look beaten up. Rampe and Smith are being beaten more often than not.

So our confidence is down and we are not playing well as a team. We're also not going hard at it. Minus 52 possessions and minus 18 tackles tonight. Only 3 forward 50 tackles (they had 20). No pressure, outrun. Conceding free men everywhere, carved up on the break, stodgy moving forward.

I can't see where the relief comes either. It looks a long final month.

[mcs]

So our confidence is down and we are not playing well as a team. We're also not going hard at it. Minus 52 possessions and minus 18 tackles tonight. Only 3 forward 50 tackles (they had 20). No pressure, outrun. Conceding free men everywhere, carved up on the break, stodgy moving forward.

Those tackle statistics are damning, especially given our approach and gameplan - says an awful lot about it all. Going to be a tough final month I feel.

[bodgie]

The team we have now seems to be pretty much the one that will have to run out the season. A win or two doesn't seem entirely out of the question. I'm disappointed by Franklins possible injury, he hasn't looked confident at all the last few weeks. Looks like another token finals appearance coming up to add to Longmire's and the Swans resumé but really a long break would probably serve better before another campaign

I guess I should be reading the trades thread but I reckon a few experienced 'discards' in the mould of Matter, Shaw, Richards will be needed to steady the ship. And some sort of effective effin forward line plan to kick to.

[mcs]

The team we have now seems to be pretty much the one that will have to run out the season. A win or two doesn't seem entirely out of the question. I'm disappointed by Franklins possible injury, he hasn't looked confident at all the last few weeks. Looks like another token finals appearance coming up to add to Longmire's and the Swans resumé but really a long break would probably serve better before another campaign

I guess I should be reading the trades thread but I reckon a few experienced 'discards' in the mould of Matter, Shaw, Richards will be needed to steady the ship. And some sort of effective effin forward line plan to kick to.

Absolutely - though I'm not sure we necessarily need a KPD at the moment. But how we could use someone that can break the lines in the mould of a Shaw (without the stupidity that increasingly frustrates me about Zak Jones), and a reliable, give it all player in the Mattner mould (on a side note I wonder how his coaching career is getting on!). A big bodied midfielder to support Kennedy wouldn't go astray - though we may be better served in that regard wearing some short term pain and using the draft to try and locate that sort of player, as our group of cygnets coming through are in desperate need of a couple of big bull midfielders to join the wedge as they grow up together and form the nucleus of our next team.

[crackedactor]

Those tackle statistics are damning, especially given our approach and gameplan - says an awful lot about it all. Going to be a tough final month I feel.

If you listen to Longmire's press conference just about every player is sore or injured. Just wondering if the hard defensive tactics we play with is too much for the body at the end of the season.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[stevoswan]

Yes. The best way forward would be to give up on 2018 and look to 2019. Give Hanners, Buddy and other injured players a chance to recover fully. And play kids. But Horse won't give up on making the finals even though we have zero chance of winning the premiership.

Wants to keep his consistently making finals record going.....it's a nice boast, "we make the finals every year" but without flags, it's getting hollow. I too look to next year but we have to be different.

[Wardy]

Has anyone here been watching training during the season? The dix on channel 7 keep quoting Longmire’s throw away line that Buddy has trained “20 minutes for the year”.

Has anyone who has watched them train seen Buddy on the track for longer than that in one session to quash what sound like the most improbable stat?

It’s funny that this was said but it was also intimated 2 weeks ago when Luke Hodge was commenting whilst interviewing Horse prior to the north game. Horse spoke about Buddy’s limited training time and Hodge said something like “as Buddy does it’s how he trains it’s how it’s always been” or something like that. So perhaps he’s been like this for years & did the same at Hawthorn. He’s clearly in the gym a lot (you can’t have those shoulders and strength otherwise) but to let that cat out of the bag is like fodder to the Neanderthal Buddy haters who will make up,in some cases, down right defamatory stories about him.

[Faunac8]

I have always been a supporter who seeks to highlight the positives out of our teams performance no matter if they win or lose, however this is becoming a much harder task recently. Even accounting for injuries , free kicks and umpiring decisions in general our team is falling behind the pack. The game has moved on we haven’t evolved to catch up. There have been glimmers of what could be but not enough to hold any realistic hopes for success this year.
It hurts to suggest but after seven years maybe it’s time to look at changing our coach. John Longmire has been a terrific coach and deserves a place in the Sydney Swans hall of fame , but I just can’t help but feel that he has either lost the players or is insisting on a game plan that is not in keeping with the way the game is played now.
We have been found wanting as a team too often now for it to be simply excused as being a result of injuries or umpires.
Not many CEOs last seven years and I seriously believe that both Sydney and John would benefit from a change.