Are the Swans headed for the spoon in 2019?

[Bexl]

West Coast's squad wasn't awful when they collected the spoon in 2010 four years after winning a premiership.

But as everyone knows that flag was "won" on the back of player's using meth amphetamines so it should not count in any way!

[Markwebbos]

The number 1 draft pick?

Mere contemplation of that seems absurd. Our squad is much better than that.

Last weekend our side was the youngest of any team. On that basis, all other things being equal, we should win the wooden spoon!

We have, allegedly, a very talented side, but we don't have enough experienced players at the core. And this has been exacerbated by the decision to offload Hanners and Rohan at the end of last year. The players who are out, are for the most part, the wrong side of 30.

This situation can only be fixed through getting experience into the young players we have and trading in more quality players. We did (allegedly in the case of Darcy Moore) have a crack at quite a few players last year - VandenBerg, Langdon etc. I am crossing my fingers that the money freed up last year is for particular mature players in this year's trade / free agency period.

[Thunder Shaker]

I'm not sure what your point is, but mine is that the wooden spoon would be significant underachievement given the squad.

West Coast's 2010 spoon was just that: a significant underachievement given their squad at the time. The following year they went 17-5 and finished fourth.

[Melbourne_Blood]

Yeah, but we're playing all the teams above us!

Ahhh they are pretty much all above us at this point ....


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[stevoswan]

The number 1 draft pick?

Mere contemplation of that seems absurd. Our squad is much better than that.

Wooden spoon.....I keep forgetting about the other prize that goes with that. I still don't want it....

[Agent 86]

Wooden spoon.....I keep forgetting about the other prize that goes with that. I still don't want it....

Not something to be proud of, but as long as we get the kids out there having a proper crack & learning how to compete, then it's not gonna be the end of the world.

Interesting to hear Gazza say he was disappointed with how the Swans positioned his move by saying he wanted to go back home for family reasons.

[Matty10]

One atrocious year is worth it if we pick up the best gun midfielder in the draft. Finishing near the top of the ladder for a long period of time has been our downfall.

It depends how it comes about. It is not meant to be a reward to be sought after by consistently failing to field a competitive team - any side that intentionally does that is not worth following.

If we finish last because that is the state of where we are at, so be it. But I still won't like it. The shame of a wooden spoon should be enough to keep any strong-minded club from tanking. I'd certainly rather have pick 2 than pick 1 (unless we traded for it), knowing it meant we didn't finish last. We have more spoons in our club cupboard than flags flying over the stands, we don't need any more.

[Swanny40519]

I really struggle to understand how we have fallen so fast this year. Yes we have had some injuries, but so do all clubs.

Most of the whole team are down on form, our skills are deplorable and we seem to be playing without any passion or heart (or am I way of the mark).

Are there other reasons - unrest in the team, new coaches, game plan ??????

[Agent 86]

It depends how it comes about. It is not meant to be a reward to be sought after by consistently failing to field a competitive team - any side that intentionally does that is not worth following.

If we finish last because that is the state of where we are at, so be it. But I still won't like it. The shame of a wooden spoon should be enough to keep any strong-minded club from tanking. I'd certainly rather have pick 2 than pick 1 (unless we traded for it), knowing it meant we didn't finish last. We have more spoons in our club cupboard than flags flying over the stands, we don't need any more.

Yeah, i guess you're right. It's probably also unrealistic to think you can turn around a poor season in one year. Losing, like winning, becomes a habit & it's hard to turn things around when confidence is shot.

The problem we have is that we have a difficult draw & have completely lost any home ground advantage we once held (what's going on there?). I can't see us finishing above the bottom 4 or 5, which IMHO is as good as a spoon anyway.

[Markwebbos]

I really struggle to understand how we have fallen so fast this year. Yes we have had some injuries, but so do all clubs.

Most of the whole team are down on form, our skills are deplorable and we seem to be playing without any passion or heart (or am I way of the mark).

Are there other reasons - unrest in the team, new coaches, game plan ??????

That is THE question.

Although we were never that convincing in the second half of 2018, we still beat both Grand Finalists and most top 8 sides.

The fact that in the past, the Swans have generally been able to find a way to win, often through sheer will power, may have papered over a few cracks in personnel, gameplan etc. But then you look at both of the last 2 games and for one quarter (the second in both games), the Swans were dominant.

I think AFL games are won and lost according to small differences in performance between the two sides. A 5-10% change can make world-beaters look like also rans, as we do now.

We are missing a lot of experienced players that were running around last year - Macca, Smith, Reg, Gaz, Hanners, Newman, Towers, Marsh etc. I think that's at the root of our problem. Our side is now too young. The problem is that those who could come back in, are a year older and very close to the end. There aren't a lot of players missing who'll be in our best side in 2020/2021.

[Auntie.Gerald]

Clever design for the no 1 draft pick

Just keep throwing in different inexperienced players every week

No combo will build with this strategy and minimal wins will result

[Agent 86]

Suggesting McVeigh is not in best 22 is laughable. Know it is likely his last year, but is still in our top 6 players.

Well, Ralph D is entitled to an opinion & the summary above is not that far off the mark. Jarrad is a champion & I'd definitely like to see him play a role in transitioning to the next generation, but… if we're being honest, none of us were surprised when he fell down grabbing his leg.

[crackedactor]

I really struggle to understand how we have fallen so fast this year. Yes we have had some injuries, but so do all clubs.

Most of the whole team are down on form, our skills are deplorable and we seem to be playing without any passion or heart (or am I way of the mark).

Are there other reasons - unrest in the team, new coaches, game plan ??????

Well said. That thought has also crossed my mind. How many handballs missed the target? How many fumbles were there? 77 inside fifty to 40 is awfully embarrassing. I cannot see us winning another game this year. It's like there is something happening as they don' t seem to be able to focus on their game plan for long periods.


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[Merdo5555]

The table doesn't lie we are the worst team in the competition, are we the only team not to score 100 points this year, in fact have we even reached 90.

Yes there are a lot of factors but coaching and development are clearly not working, its alarming for the club to blithely say no worries we will give horse another contract.


Given our results have continued on a downwards tend whats the rush to do anything. Horse has the rest of the year to show something, i don't think he can but we shall see.

How much or our recent success is really down to the hard yards Roosy put in. As far as I can see the more influence Longmire has had the worse the results are.

Yes, people will point out we made 2 grand finals. We sold the farm to get there and didn't win and are now paying the price. If we had won 1 one of them he would have a free pass but we didnt. I truly question whether a more attacking game plan (I mean why did we recruit Buddy for if we don't attack) might have grabbed one of them.

[Blood Fever]

The table doesn't lie we are the worst team in the competition, are we the only team not to score 100 points this year, in fact have we even reached 90.

Yes there are a lot of factors but coaching and development are clearly not working, its alarming for the club to blithely say no worries we will give horse another contract.


Given our results have continued on a downwards tend whats the rush to do anything. Horse has the rest of the year to show something, i don't think he can but we shall see.

How much or our recent success is really down to the hard yards Roosy put in. As far as I can see the more influence Longmire has had the worse the results are.

Yes, people will point out we made 2 grand finals. We sold the farm to get there and didn't win and are now paying the price. If we had won 1 one of them he would have a free pass but we didnt. I truly question whether a more attacking game plan (I mean why did we recruit Buddy for if we don't attack) might have grabbed one of them.

So 2012 didn't happen and if it did, it was all Roosy's doing?