#AFL Round 21 Power v Swans Sat 10-Aug at Adelaide Oval #AFLPowerSwans @sydneyswans

[707]

I went of course but chose not to sit in the damp Swans area but in the dry General Admission area, bit too high up but it was so cold I couldn't bear getting wet as well.

Nothing much to get excited about as you saw on telly but Blakey is so exciting, a player his height to have that much speed, clean ball handling and footy nous is very very rare.

Would have been nice to see Bell get a goal and whilst his numbers weren't big I'd like to see him play the last two games although KJ probably gets a farewell game at someones expense in a fortnight.

Most exciting thing for the day was the reaming of the Injectors and a record low score for North combined with the freeze out of GWS on Friday night. Can only hope for the Crows to get a flogging today!

[Go Swannies]

After watching the last two games I'm wondering how much we want to win? Yes, young team late season, no ruck, woeful umpiring (or are we just undisciplined?) but moments like Heeney missing two easy shots on goal for a narrow loss had me wondering. Everything has to be about draft picks and next/future seasons so I don't mind but it's unusual to watch the Swans play as they are right now.

On the bright side, I hope next year is the renaissance as there's so much emerging talent that will benefit from a summer in the gym but suspect it might be 2021.

[mcs]

After watching the last two games I'm wondering how much we want to win? Yes, young team late season, no ruck, woeful umpiring (or are we just undisciplined?) but moments like Heeney missing two easy shots on goal for a narrow loss had me wondering. Everything has to be about draft picks and next/future seasons so I don't mind but it's unusual to watch the Swans play as they are right now.

On the bright side, I hope next year is the renaissance as there's so much emerging talent that will benefit from a summer in the gym but suspect it might be 2021.

I think we will see incremental improvement next year, and have no doubt we will pick up a few more of the 'close' games compared to this year (we have lost a lot of close ones this year) - but also feel like it'll be 2021 before we see a strong upwards swing in fortunes.

Happy to be proven wrong however

[KTigers]

I think we will see incremental improvement next year, and have no doubt we will pick up a few more of the 'close' games compared to this year (we have lost a lot of close ones this year) - but also feel like it'll be 2021 before we see a strong upwards swing in fortunes.

I agree. Swans fans need to have a bit of faith in the coaching staff and club management. These folk are proven performers over a
long period of time. I mean how many finals series have we missed? Two in god knows how many years. Two premierships and five
GF appearances in the last 15 years. Most teams and their supporters would kill for a record like this.

[barry]

I agree. Swans fans need to have a bit of faith in the coaching staff and club management. These folk are proven performers over a
long period of time. I mean how many finals series have we missed? Two in god knows how many years. Two premierships and five
GF appearances in the last 15 years. Most teams and their supporters would kill for a record like this.

I'm not sure there are that many coaches and management staff left if you equate the "proven .. period of time" from 2005 to 2012.
Staff change, clubs culture evolves. Nothing is constant.

What about the "proven failure" over the 1934 to 2004 period. Does that have any relevancy ?

[AnnieH]

Oh dear.
Next year is looking great already. I have complete faith they'll be better next year once those kids get a bit more experience.

[KTigers]

I'm not sure there are that many coaches and management staff left if you equate the "proven .. period of time" from 2005 to 2012.
Staff change, clubs culture evolves. Nothing is constant.

What about the "proven failure" over the 1934 to 2004 period. Does that have any relevancy ?

Yeah, but you would think the current coaching and admin staff might inherit something from their
predecessors. Not sure they walk into a vacuum the first day they rock up to work.

Also I guess I would have thought making the finals since about 03 has pretty much been a constant.

Pre 2004? Pretty sure I went to quite a number of finals games in the mid to late 90s. I even remember
a grand final in there somewhere...

Anyways, I always figure different people have different definitions of what constitutes success. Otherwise
there'd be a whole less posting on this site.

[Markwebbos]

Until Sinkers got injured we were a chance to make the eight.

We’ve been playing with no ruckman no Buddy ever since.

Put those two back into the side and add in one experienced mid and I think we’ll go OK.

Our list is very thin ATM

[rojo]

+1

[longmile]

Until Sinkers got injured we were a chance to make the eight.

We’ve been playing with no ruckman no Buddy ever since.

Put those two back into the side and add in one experienced mid and I think we’ll go OK.

Our list is very thin ATM

Sinclair back would make a massive difference. However ideally I'd play him in Reid's role as 2nd/3rd tall and let him help out an actual ruck (be it Naismith, Cameron or someone we pick up in the off season). I'd then shift Reid into defence. Also I'd move Mills into the midfield.

I think for our off-season are most obvious needs are a solid ruckman (Preuss, Goldstein, Ryder etc) and a gun midfielder. After that a KPD and a quality small forward would be massive for our list.

Our list only needs tweaking, it needs depth as the injuries to key players have shown this season. It's shown without certain players we're quite an average side.

[stevoswan]

Sinclair back would make a massive difference. However ideally I'd play him in Reid's role as 2nd/3rd tall and let him help out an actual ruck (be it Naismith, Cameron or someone we pick up in the off season). I'd then shift Reid into defence. Also I'd move Mills into the midfield.

I think for our off-season are most obvious needs are a solid ruckman (Preuss, Goldstein, Ryder etc) and a gun midfielder. After that a KPD and a quality small forward would be massive for our list.

Our list only needs tweaking, it needs depth as the injuries to key players have shown this season. It's shown without certain players we're quite an average side.

+1

- - - Updated - - -

Until Sinkers got injured we were a chance to make the eight.

We’ve been playing with no ruckman no Buddy ever since.

Put those two back into the side and add in one experienced mid and I think we’ll go OK.

Our list is very thin ATM

Thank goodness some posters on here actually look at the 'big picture'.

[Markwebbos]

Everyone seems to have gone all Nostradamus after we got flogged by Port, making it 6 in a row.

I do think our list has some gaping holes in it, above all on the ball where we are being routinely slaughtered (17th for clearances behind only Richmond!!!, 16th for contested possessions etc), but its not as bad as people think.

I'm hoping that these problems aren't a complete surprise to those within the club and that there will be a significant improvement in the off-season.

[barry]

Some would say we were playing with no ruckman when sinkers was playing.

[Markwebbos]

Some would say we were playing with no ruckman when sinkers was playing.

That’s a bit harsh. He did an amazing job for nearly two years, but he should NOT be playing number 1 ruck.

[Markwebbos]

Coaches votes: 2 to Florent, 1 to Heeney, 0 to Lloyd.