#AFL Round 4 Swans vs Bulldogs Thur 25-Jun at SCG #AFLSwansDogs

[KTigers]

We just don't have enough good players who are fit at the moment. To me that's the long and the short of it. We have Kennedy,
Parker, Rampe, Papley, Heeney, Mills, Sinclair, Lloyd, Hewett, Florent & Allir. I think Rowbottom will turn into one, Blakey will too
and probably the Irish bloke. I'm sure everyone will have a slightly different list, but we need 25 good players not 15. Last night
the Bulldogs were just more efficient than us. I went to the game. It was OK. I @@@@ing hate the Dogs because of the scam that
was 2016 and Beveridge is a complete tool. And when the free kick count was 8-2 and we had started badly again I had gotten
into a foul mood pretty quickly. Anyway Mrs Tigers reminded me I was one of the privileged few and I should try to enjoy
myself. So I bought another $12.50 (yes $12.50 for a Stella or Four Pines) beer and reminded myself that the Swans losing is
more of a problem for them than for me. It's a weird way to watch a game. It's a bit like watching training except they are trying
harder. On the TV I don't care that's there's no crowds. You focus on the game. At live games in a regular season sitting amongst
thousands of people makes the whole experience completely different. I'm glad we went, but it was soured by our loss.
Anyway, onwards to next weeks game. Unfortunately all we are going to be hearing about this week and maybe for the next
three years is the Womens Soccer World Cup and what a triumph for Australia it is. It's hard to imagine anything more tedious.

[Jimitron5000]

Tough night. Feel dreadfully sorry for Sam and I wish him a speedy recovery.
The Bulldogs were better inside and then better on the outside. They have some good players and can be a match for anyone when they play like that.
A couple of things stood out for me - poor work-rate in the first half, poor disposal and dreadful set-shot kicking.
Pleased Mills had a crack in the middle. I thought he broke even with the second coming of Christ, oops, Bontompelli.

[gloveski]

We looked flat maybe coming off the 5 day break didn’t help .Hayward to stay back , Mills in the middle . Gould to come in as another defender . Free up Hewitt and from left field bring in young Warner to trial as a tagger as a part of his education


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[aguy]

Stephens has to get a game. Top 5 pick. Must play

[Merdo5555]

Commiserations to Naismith. But we have made some real bluners in the ruck stocks over the years and they are coming home to roost.

Also some players desperately out of form, Aliir needs some time out to refocus.

Our mature recruiting has also been particularly poor the last few years.

A combination of the trade ban, poor recruiting and salary cap constraints has left us with a team with few middle rung players (both age and talent wise).

I wish we had started a complete rebuild a few years ago, i don't think we ever had the skills level to just undertake a rebuild on the run. Reality is we are years away from a flag, we simply don't have the skill level required.

Finally, the selection last night was appalling, 3 ruckmen on a Thursday night when the ground is always slippery and every match this year has shown the importance of forward pressure, definitely overthought it.

Is it correct we signed Papley to a longer deal earlier this year? Hope so, one of the few highlights in a really poor night that revealed where we are at.

Some food for thought: who is getting the most of their squad John Longmire or Rhys Shaw?

[goswannies]

Some food for thought: who is getting the most of their squad John Longmire or Rhys Shaw?

Horse has a young list on the park. His older talent in key positions (eg Bud, Reid, Naismith etc) broken. He’s doing ok

[giant]

Wow.....no future.....I'm lost for words to be honest.

Game day threads are a cathartic way to vent your frustrations - everything said here is the equivalent of what you shouted at the TV while you were watching.

[waswan]

I blame the coaching for the midfield setup around stoppages where opposition just waltz out of congestion and i blame them for positional movements.
The defence is shot too, we have runners playing lockdown roles, every good side in the comp basically has a midfield in defence.

As everyone has said, Mills is a midfielder at Sydney, would be a HBF at GWS.
Hewitt has progressed past a tagging Role and Wilbur, Blakey need to play up the ground to earn a kick.

I blame the players for easily getting pushed off the ball, not sticking tackles and poor disposal.

With reserves not playing and a young unsettled side, it is no problem rotating 4 to 5 guys a week, god knows we have at least that many passengers each week.

[giant]

Maybe it’s time for Allir to ruck full time

This is essentially what the Dogs have done with English. He was smashed in the hit-outs and but was almost best on ground because he hit the ground, chased the ball and then kept on running. You could certainly try this with Allir, but it does depend on your midfield outcompeting the opposition's and looks problematic when you play a Grundy who can win the hit-out AND win the ground ball.

[Blood Fever]

Horse has a young list on the park. His older talent in key positions (eg Bud, Reid, Naismith etc) broken. He’s doing ok

+1

- - - Updated - - -

Game day threads are a cathartic way to vent your frustrations - everything said here is the equivalent of what you shouted at the TV while you were watching.

Reckon there should be a 48 hour cooling off period!

[giant]

The Swans do have a ruck conundrum.

Naismith smashed English in hit outs but we lost the clearances, I think because our on ballers are slow. And English beat Sam around the ground.

I hate to mention him, but Nankervis couldn’t get a game with the Swans because, again I think, our game plan requires a ruckman to win hit outs whereas other clubs (Tigers, Doggies) don’t.

We are part way through transitioning to a quicker onball brigade, but right now, we need someone like Naismith rather than someone like English. And there are only a couple of players like Grundy that give you both.

Or is it possible we could become a dominant centre clearance team with the Parker, Kennedy, Hewett combo with different coaching?

Nice summary of what I was just saying re Allir. I would however say our onballers didn't look slow against North or Crows so unless it was a 5 days break thing (which it could have been), we were just outplayed by their quality mids (plus an extra in English).

[waswan]

Nice summary of what I was just saying re Allir. I would however say our onballers didn't look slow against North or Crows so unless it was a 5 days break thing (which it could have been), we were just outplayed by their quality mids (plus an extra in English).

I said against North if our defence isnt getting enough ball and run eventually it catches up with our midfield to the point where we look slow.... and its happened.
The exact reason we should critique every game and not just the games we lose

[crackedactor 01]

I am amazed that no one on this thread has mentioned contested marks. Our inability to do this is concerning. At half time it was 9 to zero and at the end it was 7 to 16. You cannot always deliver the ball perfectly up forward when you are under pressure, so that is why Contested marks are so important. I think this is a real problem for Horse.

[Kumarangk]

Agree with all the above about Mills - he may as well stay on the ball now - he was OK - certainly not our worst.

Lloyd played a very average game imho. Papley easily our best - we'd be buggered without him at the moment.

Never have been a fan of Mills but will concede he has been playing a position that really doesn't suit him. Lets see him go in the midfield. The thing that struct me last night was seemingly smaller Bulldog players pushing some of ours off the ball ( the excuse immature bodies doesn't apply to Lloyd ) . Who handles strength at our club ? Dawson had one of his worst games & appears to have lost his mojo for the time being.

[Sandrevan]

Well, that was pretty hard to watch. I don't normally want to turn the TV off but last night I almost did. From the cheap frees paid to the Bulldogs in Q1 allowing them to get away to a good start to our very poor kicking throughout the game.

Some on RWO talk about a team with young players will be inconsistent. yeah / no. Bailey Smith (aka the mullet) is a second year player and look at the influence he had last night. The Bulldogs had 3 debutantes and a group of 2nd and 3rd year players. Yet they all seemed composed and confident. Why aren't our 2nd and 3rd year players so composed?

I think our players (all of them) get rattled by the poor umpiring and it's a long way to come back. It's almost like they are hesitant because they expect a free will be paid against them. When the umpires start to even things up we are 4 goals down. This must be so disheartening for the players and the poor kicking in Q3 (when we had a chance to get back into the game) reflects this.

Sam Naismith - when I heard the news on the radio this morning my heart sank. Like others have said this might spell the end for him.

Again, last night not enough players stood up for long enough. I heard Ronke's name mentioned once - was he even on the field? I thought McInerney and Rowbottom were pretty good - at least they had a crack. I don't buy into the criticism around the 16 minute quarters - every team is playing 16 minute quarters. The shorter game is a chance to turn up the pressure on the opposition - sadly, we didn't and the Bulldogs did.

Hayward moved to defence - good move I thought. At least it made him do something since the ball was coming in regularly.

Mills to the midfield - AT LAST. He was moved to the centre to try to quell Bont and it worked both ways. IMHO Mills' move to the centre was the catalyst for our 3rd quarter turnaround. I hope this is not lost on the coaches and he stays there now.

Since gf 2016 I just cannot like the Bulldogs so last night was painful. The 5 day turnaround was an opportunity to get some new blood into the team. I think 2020 is a chance to get games into young players. Without the NEAFL, players that currently sit outside the best 22 will stagnate.