#AFL Round 22 Swans vs Giants, SS, Sat 18 Aug 4:35pm @sydneyswans #AFLGiantsSwans

[AnnieH]

I think one thing that stood out for me yesterday was how the more senior players stood up.
Made a big difference.
Buddy, Parker, Kennedy, Jack, Hanners was ok, Rampe held his own, as did Sinclair.

Sinker's head saved a goal - which is funny, cause the MMM team say he has the smallest head in the AFL.
I believe they call him Pinhead.

[goswannies]

Sinker's head saved a goal - which is funny, cause the MMM team say he has the smallest head in the AFL.
I believe they call him Pinhead.

smother of the year!

[Kafka's Ghost]

It's funny how we were 'lucky against the Pies and the Giants'. The commentators and today's press say that we ended up winning both games because they finished without a bench. I was sure in both games they finshed with only one player unable to go back on the field and each time only from the third quarter. The commentary during both games was doing my head in so I checked the match reports from AFL and found these:


Collingwood: Darcy Moore suffered a hamstring injury and played no part in the second half.


Greater Western Sydney: Ryan Griffen came from the field in the third term with a left hamstring issue and while he came back on briefly, he was iced up by the break. Daniel Lloyd suffered a cut to the face but played on, while Phil Davis played the second half in the forward line with a corked hip. Jeremy Finlayson limped off in the third term with a left leg problem but played out the match.


So in the end they played with one down on the bench for the second half of their games.

Based on this theory we should have lost to Melbourne.

We may not be playing our best football but it is better than the teams we have played.

These commentaries also ignore the fact that the Giants were actually smashed in the midfield from just after halftime. The Swans won the clearances, the contested possessions and Sinclair gave Lobb an absolute bath in the ruck. Watch some of his palm downs hitting Parker, Kennedy and Hewitt with Gawn-like precision. The Giants were only two goals up at three-quarter time because of our 1:6 scoreline in the third quarter. But the Swans getting no or very little credit is pretty much de rigeur from the Vic-centric press, and flying under the radar is what we do best.

[waswan]

While I acknowledge the reality that we have played injury riddled sides (injuries both pre- and during the game) and this helped us:

1) it’s not like we haven’t had our own injury concerns

2) we can only play against who the opposition put out on the field

3) form and confidence are a factor. Sure we beat under-manned opposition, but we beat them nonetheless, and that can give a psychological boost to a side, particularly a young side.

4) besting top 8 sides leading into the finals (no matter their personnel) are 8 point games - we get the 4 points, they don’t. That is important

Ultimately I couldn’t care what the media say about our wins. They’re wins. We need them.

It also highlights all this crap about not trying to make finals and waiting til next year and getting draft picks
The moment is now and luck plays a part.
No point worrying about who we do and dont have available every team is suffering injuries

[RogueSwan]

Imagine if we had Smooch, Mills, Reid, Reg and even AJ available. Nah, it's the other teams that are suffering from injuries.

[waswan]

Reality is Reid is the only one missing that would make us significantly better
Mills a gun but the replacements arent doing that bad
Outside of Robbo and Fox its hard to see who would come out

Then there is Rohan, i could see the cats chasing him after letting Menzel go

[mcs]

These commentaries also ignore the fact that the Giants were actually smashed in the midfield from just after halftime. The Swans won the clearances, the contested possessions and Sinclair gave Lobb an absolute bath in the ruck. Watch some of his palm downs hitting Parker, Kennedy and Hewitt with Gawn-like precision. The Giants were only two goals up at three-quarter time because of our 1:6 scoreline in the third quarter. But the Swans getting no or very little credit is pretty much de rigeur from the Vic-centric press, and flying under the radar is what we do best.

We were helped no doubt by the Giants injuries, but you are spot no Kafka about how we smashed them in the midfield after half time. With good kicking we would of beaten them by 40+ in the end, even more perhaps.

[Doctor J.]

Imagine if we had Smooch, Mills, Reid, Reg and even AJ available. Nah, it's the other teams that are suffering from injuries.

Reality is Reid is the only one missing that would make us significantly better
Mills a gun but the replacements arent doing that bad
Outside of Robbo and Fox its hard to see who would come out

Then there is Rohan, i could see the cats chasing him after letting Menzel go

Everyone forgets about Naismith. He is the biggest loss of the season.

[CureTheSane]

Everyone forgets about Naismith. He is the biggest loss of the season.

For me it would be Naismith and Mills
Kurt Tippett-Johnson and Sam Reid-Johnson would have added a heap had they, um, been fit.

[Markwebbos]

And although it was a very long time ago, we lost Tippett this year too!

On the Melbourne media's attitude to the Swans, Michael Gleeson over at the Age put the boot into us today

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/it-was-make-or-break-and-dees-didn-t-disappoint-20180819-p4zygb.html

DON'T BE FOOLED

...Yes, the Swans have defied expectation but the form line is misleading.

Dane Rampe says being written off [by the media] has motivated the Swans

Category: | Herald Sun

DANE Rampe says being written off a month ago by a large slice of experts has been a motivational force in the Swans surge back into premiership calculations...

[Plugger46]

Everyone forgets about Naismith. He is the biggest loss of the season.

Silver lining - we wouldn't have seen the improvement in Sinclair if Naismith was fit.

[Blood Fever]

It's funny how we were 'lucky against the Pies and the Giants'. The commentators and today's press say that we ended up winning both games because they finished without a bench. I was sure in both games they finshed with only one player unable to go back on the field and each time only from the third quarter. The commentary during both games was doing my head in so I checked the match reports from AFL and found these:


Collingwood: Darcy Moore suffered a hamstring injury and played no part in the second half.


Greater Western Sydney: Ryan Griffen came from the field in the third term with a left hamstring issue and while he came back on briefly, he was iced up by the break. Daniel Lloyd suffered a cut to the face but played on, while Phil Davis played the second half in the forward line with a corked hip. Jeremy Finlayson limped off in the third term with a left leg problem but played out the match.


So in the end they played with one down on the bench for the second half of their games.

Based on this theory we should have lost to Melbourne.

We may not be playing our best football but it is better than the teams we have played.

Fair point, especially about the Demons game. Hope the press keep on about being lucky and underestimating us because the resultant underdog status will suit us right down to the ground.

[goswannies]

Reality is Reid is the only one missing that would make us significantly better
Mills a gun but the replacements arent doing that bad
Outside of Robbo and Fox its hard to see who would come out

Then there is Rohan, i could see the cats chasing him after letting Menzel go

Respectfully disagree. Mills walks into every AFL side any day of the week when not broken. We need him.

Naismith would free Sinkers up to push forward & take the pressure off Bud and/or easy Cal’s ruck workload.

Tippett is so far gone that he should be ignored but he’s technically still on our list and his big (fit) body was a good decoy for Bud (forcing the use of an opposition big defender) & would have been a great back-up for Sink/Naismith.

A fit Smith or Reg gives steadying experience to the back 6.

But they are all moot points. Horse is doing the best with the hand he has been dealt.

[KTigers]

Michael Gleeson of The Age seems to be forgetting a few things. Like Buddy can only play on the guys sent to play on him by the
opposition coach. Also, hadn't Buddy already kicked a few on Darcy Moore before Moore went off. And Buddy can only kick goals
if the midfield can get him the ball, and they did that pretty well in the second half on Saturday against a quartet of pretty
decent midfielders in Shiel/Coniglio/Ward/Taranto. Gleeson also bypassed the fact that we were down two players for most of
the game against Melbourne. Maybe only the goals Buddy kicks on "worthy" opponents should count fully for the Swans, and the
goals kicked on the likes of Finlayson for GWS and the Collingwood basketball player could be worth only 2 or 3 points, and not 6.

[Nico]

Sinkers will get The Falcon of the year on Bounce.