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

[Swanny40519]

That was very disappointing effort on all fronts - our forwards who didn't even turn up (except for Papley who was outstanding), our defence who were miles behind at all times, mids who got hammered, and our so called coaching staff and selection committee.

Why do we try and play the Hawthorn style of short kicks and passing the ball when our skills are terrible. The first half was painful to watch as we stopped any quick ball movement, kicked to the opposition, gave away too many free kicks and couldn't take a contested mark to save ourselves.

Is Plugger still available as a goal kicking coach - well if he is please get him back.

Also I am getting sick of seeing Horse explode in the coaches box when he sees one of his player selections do something wrong or stupid. We have a lot of NEAFL standard players currently in our team - Ronke, Fox, Hayward (he did look better in defence), Cunningham, Taylor, McLean and its time that Horse gives our younger recruits some games to at least give some idea if they are worth keeping for next years. This year is another one we will not be playing finals.

Plus we have a lot of our players in poor form and out of position - Dawson into HF, Blakey to wing, Brand to FB, Melican to CHB, Rampe loose defence, Hayward HBF, Alir into ruck with Sinkers, Mills into centre, Heeney to CHF, McCartin to FF.

I know Horse will not do any of these changes as he is a very conservative coach who doesn't like change, so until he either changes this style completely (which I doubt very much) or we get a new coach then we will continue to be a middle of the road or even lower footy club. As a 30 year plus supporter of this club I don't want to see that happen so I hope there will be changes soon as we cannot keep producing effort like last night.

[barry]

According to AFL stats, Mills had 12 to 7 disposals after going onto the koala, sorry, the other protected species the Bont.

If you're a Twitter follower, Gladys (NSW premier) has a nickname of #koalakiller due to that burny business at the start of the year.

Suffice to say, no protection for koalas up here. Maybe Bont is a protected species like a coal mining executive.
Not as catchy though.

[Jimitron5000]

If you're a Twitter follower, Gladys (NSW premier) has a nickname of #koalakiller due to that burny business at the start of the year.

Suffice to say, no protection for koalas up here. Maybe Bont is a protected species like a coal mining executive.
Not as catchy though.

Maybe Bont's nickname should be Angus Taylor.

[Melbourne_Blood]

Mills third quarter in the middle was interesting. Certainly wasn’t dominant, but I wasn’t expecting much considering he was thrown in mid game having not played there hardly ever at the level. But he slotted right in, found himself in good positions a few times and got the ball out to others in better positions also. He looked natural, far more natural than in defence.

I don’t if I posted this on here or texted it to a friend but I mentioned last night, have we wasted years of midfield development by playing him back all this time?


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[stellation]

Heeney - looks like a millionaire footballers but plays like a lower middle manager. Just holds on to the footy way too long and always looks inboard instead of moving it on. A very poor finisher both by foot and hand and can't wait for him to kick a goal from a set shot.

To be fair to Isaac, it's hard to tell if he has a target to kick to if he's pushed up the ground himself.

Hooray, Mills finally goes into the guts and shows what he can do.

Mills finally getting some midfield run was the highlight of the game to me, his reflexes make him a more than handy defender under pressure but for that brief spurt they looked a significant asset in the midfield.

[neilfws]

Disappointing night. But then, not a disappointing afternoon last week. It's going to take a while to get consistency. Maybe the unusual nature of this season makes that harder for all teams.

Papley is great to watch, and Rowbottom has the "never give up" ethos of the Swans. Too many of the others not firing. I wonder if Hayward is carrying an injury. Couple of occasions looked like he didn't run with someone because he knew he couldn't.

Best to keep expectations low and enjoy the good moments this year, I think.

[gloveski]

Some glass half full in all this doom and gloom

Mcinerney this guy to me has some footy smarts and is very clean . Worth preserving with and getting as many games into him this year . He does need a decent summer in the gym though .

McLean bit to like here shows some glimpses and I like the physicality he brings to the table . Big forwards take a lot longer and he’s only been in the system a short while . Could see him taking a game by the scruff of the neck in the future .

Mills just give the guy a decent crack in the midfield and see what he brings . I liked the short glimpse we got going head to head with the Bont .

That’s it not much else to even get remotely excited about except on that well below par effort we really should have been beaten by 50 plus points


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[jono2707]

I don’t if I posted this on here or texted it to a friend but I mentioned last night, have we wasted years of midfield development by playing him back all this time?


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Short answer: Yes

[Ludwig]

A lot of the criticism of individual players is valid, but consideration has to be given to the limited preparation and the ongoing training restrictions. These will have a greater impact on a young team trying to gel. I will make one specific comment on a player, Harry Cunningham, who has been way off his game, especially his kicking. I think this is indicative of the effect this COVID season has had on some in the playing group. I'm not saying that Harry is a bad player, only that he's off his game at the moment. There are many in the same boat.

I liked Sam Naismith from a long way back, and thought he would be our main ruckman for a decade, but his body has never been up to the task. It's sad. It happens. We have to face the fact that his career is over.

This season is the season that never was. We can just forget about it. It's a long drawn out training session. We were never going to compete for the COVID Cup anyway, so let's not have a boilover about it and focus on the future. We have a lot of shuffling to do and we can use the next 13 games to try things out and get some development into the group.

We don't have a ruckman and shouldn't even bother about getting one. We will have to fashion our game around a group of forward-rucks. As of now, that looks to be Sinclair, Aliir and Amartey. We might be able to add Reid to the list, during those rare times when he's not injured. We will see if we can add to the list at the season's end. Perhaps Joe Daniher is back on the table to play as our main ruckman. In any case, we should plan on being a no ruckman team. That albatross around our neck has flown away. I don't think McLean will make it, but I haven't given up on him either. And it's not worth thinking too much about Knoll.

The other big problem facing the Swans is that we don't have a forward line. We have a lot of backmen, so it may be time to try Aliir up forward again. Maybe he's really our #1 ruckman and we just forget about Sinclair.

I've always wanted to play Mills in the midfield, so let's do it now. Hayward down back is an idea worth pursuing. He hasn't done much up forward. He has talent. It will take some time.

Maybe a lineup something like this could be a go. There will be a lot of experimentation this season.

B: Gould, Melican, Rampe
HB: Ling, Blakey, Hayward
C: Florent, Parker, Hewett
HF: Lloyd, Heeney, Dawson
FF: Papley, McCartin, Stoddart
Foll: Mills, Aliir, Kennedy

IC: COR, Stephens, Rowbottom, Mcinerney


We should finish low enough on the ladder to pick up a key forward with our first pick in the draft, then take Campbell and Gulden.

[aguy]

A lot of the criticism of individual players is valid, but consideration has to be given to the limited preparation and the ongoing training restrictions. These will have a greater impact on a young team trying to gel. I will make one specific comment on a player, Harry Cunningham, who has been way off his game, especially his kicking. I think this is indicative of the effect this COVID season has had on some in the playing group. I'm not saying that Harry is a bad player, only that he's off his game at the moment. There are many in the same boat.

I liked Sam Naismith from a long way back, and thought he would be our main ruckman for a decade, but his body has never been up to the task. It's sad. It happens. We have to face the fact that his career is over.

This season is the season that never was. We can just forget about it. It's a long drawn out training session. We were never going to compete for the COVID Cup anyway, so let's not have a boilover about it and focus on the future. We have a lot of shuffling to do and we can use the next 13 games to try things out and get some development into the group.

We don't have a ruckman and shouldn't even bother about getting one. We will have to fashion our game around a group of forward-rucks. As of now, that looks to be Sinclair, Aliir and Amartey. We might be able to add Reid to the list, during those rare times when he's not injured. We will see if we can add to the list at the season's end. Perhaps Joe Daniher is back on the table to play as our main ruckman. In any case, we should plan on being a no ruckman team. That albatross around our neck has flown away. I don't think McLean will make it, but I haven't given up on him either. And it's not worth thinking too much about Knoll.

The other big problem facing the Swans is that we don't have a forward line. We have a lot of backmen, so it may be time to try Aliir up forward again. Maybe he's really our #1 ruckman and we just forget about Sinclair.

I've always wanted to play Mills in the midfield, so let's do it now. Hayward down back is an idea worth pursuing. He hasn't done much up forward. He has talent. It will take some time.

Maybe a lineup something like this could be a go. There will be a lot of experimentation this season.

B: Gould, Melican, Rampe
HB: Ling, Blakey, Hayward
C: Florent, Parker, Hewett
HF: Lloyd, Heeney, Dawson
FF: Papley, McCartin, Stoddart
Foll: Mills, Aliir, Kennedy

IC: COR, Stephens, Rowbottom, Mcinerney


We should finish low enough on the ladder to pick up a key forward with our first pick in the draft, then take Campbell and Gulden.

Yes. That’s the idea. I’m glad you think the basis of my team would be worth experimenting with.

Maybe as we develop the new midfield we play Kennedy forward more too.


The more I think about it I’m convinced we should make Aliir our primary ruckman. He has been out of sorts with his defensive play and disposal decisions have been poor. But he is very mobile with a good leap and his second efforts and tackling have always been good when he has rucked. That way his disposal doesn’t really matter so much. I think he would have been a better match around the ground for English last night.

[barry]

We don't have a ruckman and shouldn't even bother about getting one..... In any case, we should plan on being a no ruckman team.

Your intense lobbying of Horse and the entire swans leadership team has finally born fruit. I dont know how many all-expenses trips to Thailand and visits to some less than scrupulous establishments in Bangkok it took, and to be honest, I dont want to know.

I think we saw the consequences of that in the coaches box last night when ruck-coach Dean Cox said to Horse in an animated way: "Why am I even here?"

Horse had no response. We are down the rabbit burrow, and there is no turning back now. Keep digging

[AnnieH]

Who is our behinds coach? Someone buy them a slab!!
Oh dear.
Especially after, and in spite of, the day that poor little joey just had, I'm very disappointed they didn't carry my joey off the field at the end of the game. That they didn't dig, really deep and pull one out for Joey is very disappointing as well. At the SCG too. Shame swannies, for shame.
Old man buddy needs to be back. He can just stand in the goal square and draw four defenders. Leaves Papps free to kick 15 goals a game.
Pinhead is probably better in the ruck.
Alliir? WTF?
The whole first quarter? WTF?
Catch up footy rarely works. Make a note of that Horse.
I'm too upset to talk about it. This has hurt me harder than a grand final loss.

[iigrover]

Did anyone else find it notable the discussion from Horse at the start of his presser regarding Beverage mentioning the precise nature of Sam's injury at his presser...

Seems like he was making a clear assertion that someone from within the Swans was discussing things they shouldnt with the opposition team. Curious.

[aguy]

There was rumour on twitter before his press conference too. It may have been a leak or it may have been an astute observer of the tv coverage

[Meg]

Did anyone else find it notable the discussion from Horse at the start of his presser regarding Beverage mentioning the precise nature of Sam's injury at his presser...

Seems like he was making a clear assertion that someone from within the Swans was discussing things they shouldnt with the opposition team. Curious.

I didn’t take it that way - more that Longmire was surprised and perhaps annoyed that an opposition coach took it upon himself to announce an injury to a Swans player.

I don’t think it was appropriate that Beveridge did that (even Sam’s family might not have known at that stage) but I accept that it was a spontaneous comment made sympathetically.