#AFL Round 2 Swans vs Crows Fri 29-Mar at SCG #AFLSwansCrows @sydneyswans

[Matty10]

The poor tackling and the 'watching on' mentality from many of our players were the two really frustrating aspects for me (apart from the reprehensible umpiring performance).

We are still not that far off. And we have room for improvement

The Crows were really slick with their ball movement at times (as were the Bulldogs the week before). We were close, but not good enough on the night. I look forward to seeing us play again, with the hope that we can turn it around.

[S.S. Bleeder]

Try some decent recruiting. Every other contender seems to have picked up someone good. Richmond: Lynch. Collingwood: beams. Hawthorn: Scully, Geelong: Rohan

Every one of those players changed clubs to go home. How many good players come from Sydney?

[Markwebbos]

Every one of those players changed clubs to go home. How many good players come from Sydney?

These are from NSW

Tex Walker
Jarrod Witts
Isaac Smith
Tom Hawkins

[Meg]

These are from NSW

Tex Walker
Jarrod Witts
Isaac Smith
Tom Hawkins

Tex Walker is from Broken Hill, no Sydney ‘go-home’ factor for him.

[waswan]

Whilst id hate to have a go at our defenders, a quick.look at the heat map shows our poor game style to a tee.

"running" defenders Lloyd, ramps, mcveigh you will see 90% possessions in the back 50.

Its one thing to bag our mids for poor kicks into the fwd line but there are no defenders running past in the midfield to break lines and penetrate.

compare that with any team in the comp and we are pathetic

[wolftone57]

Tex Walker is from Broken Hill, no Sydney ‘go-home’ factor for him.

Luke Bruest, Isaac Smith, Dougal Howard

Sent from my ANE-LX2J using Tapatalk

[Hotpotato]

Have the AFL admitted the first 50m penalty was incorrect.

[AnnieH]

Have the AFL admitted the first 50m penalty was incorrect.

Don't be silly. That would be admitting they were wrong.

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What a crap game that was.
Again, too much, too little, too late.

If we don't beat Carlton, I'll get VERY worried.

[caj23]

Don't be silly. That would be admitting they were wrong.

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What a crap game that was.
Again, too much, too little, too late.

If we don't beat Carlton, I'll get VERY worried.

On current form it's only a 50/50 proposition!

[Sandrevan]

Maybe teams that play the ball, and get to the ball first more often than not, are more likely to be on the positive side of the ledger in the free kick count. A team that is more defensively focused and coached, that is often more worried about their opponent than getting first use of the ball, and is playing a more reactive game style, is probably going to lose out in the free kick count. No conspiracies here I'm afraid.

I think you've hit the nail on the head. If you can't win the ball in the centre then you're going to be doing a lot of heavy defending. It doesn't matter how good your D50 defence is eventually the dam will break.

Chris Scott is on record as saying one of their aims this year is to lock the ball in the forward 50. Makes sense to me.

On Ch 7 they put up a graphic about how much running was done by the Swans back 6 compared to the Crows forwards. A serious difference. Yes, a change of game plan is needed. It starts with 'get the ball and keep it'

[Markwebbos]

Swans won many of the key stats v Adelaide including disposals, inside 50s

[AnnieH]

On current form it's only a 50/50 proposition!

70/30... their way.

[caj23]

70/30... their way.

Lol, I love your optimism Annie!

I'm planning on making the trek to Marvel this week so hopefully we put in a better effort than the first 2 rounds

[Steve]

It is frustrating hearing Longmire continue with his "there's no tricks", "you just need to work through it" mantra, when you look at what teams like Richmond, Collingwood and now even Geelong have done in recent years when they acknowledge their weaknesses and make some substantial changes.

We'll have a forward line with Franklin, Reid, McCartin, Blakey and Heeney, and still persevere with a game plan which gets us stuck in a back pocket for half the game with no forwards in our front half.

It's also a bit tough to complain about the "lack of polish" when half of our team are late draft picks or off the Rookie List (and we have a game plan which they have been given opportunities in because of their competitiveness, but not skill level) - it's just a logical result of the type of players we've recruited.

[liz]

It's also a bit tough to complain about the "lack of polish" when half of our team are late draft picks or off the Rookie List (and we have a game plan which they have been given opportunities in because of their competitiveness, but not skill level) - it's just a logical result of the type of players we've recruited.

The players we have recruited has also, to an extent, been determined by our access to early draft picks. The other teams who have been up towards the top of the ladder for a sustained period in Geelong and Hawthorn - have been better able to attract mature talent to their lists to make up for lack of early draft pick access. Having said that, we have been fortunate to have access to three players who, under normal drafting circumstances, we wouldn't have had access to. One is still too new/young to make a big difference but the other two should be capable of injecting some class into the middle of the ground.

I don't buy into the "game plan" issue as much as others. I think that's more about tweaking than the fundamentals of the game. Where the team has really dropped off in the last couple of seasons is in applying pressure. All teams try to do this but for some it's more critical than others, and some are better at it than others. From 2012-2016 - the period when we made three grand finals - the team was consistently able to apply immense pressure all over the ground. Those teams weren't any more skilled than our current one, but turnovers matter less because they were able to win the ball back, frequently in the front half of the ground. And pressure can be a positive feedback system - if a team applies sufficient physical pressure, the inferred pressure on the opposition develops to the point when they create turnovers for the other team without much physical pressure.

That physical pressure has dropped right off. The team does it for short periods, but can't sustain it over a game. That might be personnel (ie younger players) but I doubt that's the only explanation. I think they've "forgotten" what it means and feels like to apply sustained pressure over the course of a whole game. Get that back and the team will start winning again.