#AFL Round 23 Swans vs Hawthorn, SCG, Sat 25 Aug 7:25pm @sydneyswans #AFLSwansHawks

[Bill Posters]

If a Swans player had infringed it would have been a 50m penalty. It was a technically correct call

If that's the case the rule should be changed. Ridiculous that if the attacking team's player infringes they get another go. Should be turned over instead. I noticed heaps of hawks players interfering with the man on the mark last night, looks like another dirty little tactic Clarkson has come up with.

[liz]

He had 19 and 2 goals and finished 2nd in the fantasy points but I reckon he's talented enough to be getting 30+

I've wondered at times this year whether Heeney has been struggling with fitness - whether it's the knee that he had operated on in the off-season or something else. His good moments are wonderful, but he has tended to drift in and out of games for most of this year and I do think he can provide a lot more intensity across a whole game. It could also be that the team hasn't quite worked out his best position. He's been thrown into a few different positions and, as still a youngish player, might find it easier with a bit more of a set position in which to develop his craft.

[liz]

If that's the case the rule should be changed. Ridiculous that if the attacking team's player infringes they get another go. Should be turned over instead. I noticed heaps of hawks players interfering with the man on the mark last night, looks like another dirty little tactic Clarkson has come up with.

Interfering with the man on the mark is something the Hawks have been doing for years. There was one last night where Mitchell blatantly stood in front of McCartin who was manning the mark, well before the umpire called "play on". I think it is against the rules but isn't something the umpires seem alert to, or at least inclined to police.

[barry]

Where to for Alir this season?. He looks shattered. I think it started in the GWS game. He was dominating in the first half but by the second he was fumbling a lot. It's like he has been mentally got to.

[111431]

Where to for Alir this season?. He looks shattered. I think it started in the GWS game. He was dominating in the first half but by the second he was fumbling a lot. It's like he has been mentally got to.

Just get him to focus on the basics - the missed mark that resulted in a goal was a good example of him executing the next move before he had completed the task at hand - we need to get his confidence back ASAP

[Meg]

It looked like the players had lost confidence in Aliir.

Unfortunately there was good reason for that last night.

[Kafka's Ghost]

This. There were a few things, individually, that could have turned the result but it would be rough to point at any one of them. I do think that if Aliir had played as he has for the last couple of months, we probably would have won. He's been close to our best player over that period. He seemed to lose all confidence early in the game. I guess the next step in his development is the mental strength to move on quickly from a mistake - especially important for defenders. I can't agree with the person above who asked if he is a fair weather player. He was good even during the period when the whole team was awful. He just had a poor game tonight.

What else could have turned things around? We should have been an extra couple of goals ahead at half-time, after dominating in the second quarter. The misses from Hayward and Dawson (first quarter?) stick out as they were very gettable but there were other chances went begging. Even in the final quarter, Kennedy's set shot was well within his repertoire, and Jack had the time and space to steady and get a better kick away.

Very thoughtful and on point observations, Liz. We had every chance to win this game, with some poor moments and lack of poise/experience costing us. Certainly Kennedy’s shot, which would have given us back the lead, was one he would normally ice. It’s hard at this stage of their development to criticize Hayward and Florent too much, but between them they missed several very gettable goals.
Many posters on this forum love to bag Dan Hannebery, however after he was injured in the third quarter we lost a fair bit of grunt around the midfield, and he was unable to play in the last quarter. That is a lot of run and experience missing for 33% of the game, a fair complication on top of having already lost Parker.

[Matty10]

That team we put out tonight has a lot of good players but no stars. Won't win many games against quality opposition

With the talent pool that is spread out over 18 teams, there are not many teams that have multiple 'stars', which admittedly can be a difficult term to define - and many seem to fit the bill one week and not the next. I don't think the Tigers are a particularly star-studded team either, to that point. I think we have talented players out that would make our team stronger, but I don't think we are that far off. We made critical errors last night (and not necessarily when we had the ball), but that can change. We just need one good four-week block of football - which perhaps is a big ask from a team with young and injured players - but you never know your luck.

I am just hoping for the narrative at the end of the year that reads, "They looked good for part of the year, and then diabolical at times, but following a desperately needed week off they just seemed to click come September."

[S.S. Bleeder]

Very disappointing to lose considering that we were in a winning position. I was very impressed with the gameplan in the first half. They took the game on and got the ball into our forward 50 quickly giving our forwards a chance. It's a shame they don't play this way all the time. The run and carry was great as well. Hopefully we'll see more of that next year after our youngsters have a bit more experience under their belts.

If not for a terrible run with injuries, we would have had Franklin, Johnson, Melican, Mills, Reid, Smith, Naismith and let's not forget Tippett in the team last night we would been in a very different position.

[Markwebbos]

We actually had more inside 50s

[royboy42]

I know Heeney is the second coming but does anyone else think he doesn't do enough?

He'll be ok once the 'mark of the year' stuff gets out of his head. Trying to do too much at the minute, but he'll be fine...and a champ.

- - - Updated - - -

I know Heeney is the second coming but does anyone else think he doesn't do enough?

He'll be ok once the 'mark of the year' stuff gets out of his head. Trying to do too much at the minute, but he'll be fine...and a champ.

[Hotpotato]

Annoyingly, the Hawks still have a group of very good and smart players, and this game showed that experience is gold.

To make one final will be excellent for the youngsters and hopefully Buddy and Parker will be there to help.

[S.S. Bleeder]

This happened a couple of times (not just Hanners). It looked like the players had lost confidence in Aliir.

Can't blame the team for not kicking it to him. When you drop the ball or fail to take a simple mark a dozen times in a match the assumption is that he will do it again. Aliirs prone to do that and is hopeless below the knees but he took it to a new level last night. It looked like his confidence was completely shot.

[S.S. Bleeder]

If that's the case the rule should be changed. Ridiculous that if the attacking team's player infringes they get another go. Should be turned over instead. I noticed heaps of hawks players interfering with the man on the mark last night, looks like another dirty little tactic Clarkson has come up with.

Hawks have done that for years. The player with the ball plays on and the infringing team mate shepherds him. What's more, there is no penalty for doing so. If they get caught, which is rare, the ball simply comes back, no penalty. They need to take the ball of them when they do this.

[Markwebbos]

Hawks have done that for years. The player with the ball plays on and the infringing team mate shepherds him. What's more, there is no penalty for doing so. If they get caught, which is rare, the ball simply comes back, no penalty. They need to take the ball of them when they do this.

Horse needs to go for coffee with Gil