Round 5 Vs West Coast Eagles

[waswan]

I thought Cunningham was pretty good. Locked down Ryan well and generally used the ball well.

He is late 20s playing a lockdown role in a team no chance to play finals..... who cares put a kid in to do that

[Blood Fever]

He is late 20s playing a lockdown role in a team no chance to play finals..... who cares put a kid in to do that

On Liam Ryan? And shatter his confidence? Bit of realism needed I reckon. Ruck, forward line and midfield more of a problem than backline

[waswan]

On Liam Ryan? And shatter his confidence? Bit of realism needed I reckon. Ruck, forward line and midfield more of a problem than backline

Other teams have kids playing midfield against the best in the comp, their footballers let them play, take off the kid gloves

[MattW]

I'm glad I turned him off - I couldn't put up with any more of his outwards masturbation over Wet Toast. Just embarrasing to listen to.

The game was horrid, but less awful when muted.

- - - Updated - - -

That's because he was knackered. I thought he worked hard all game like Rowbottom. Those 2 boys were competing right to the end.

Right on.

[MattW]

I would persist trying to play Hayward into form. We can't just drop our more talented players, or we just won't a future. Maybe Hayward can play more midfield, and force him to get involved in the game.

I had the same position on Hayward until today. It's not just finding the ball; he's making errors whenever it is in his vicinity. His confidence is eroding. He looks lost. Demotion would be merciful and a chance for him to recuperate.

[Captain]

He is late 20s playing a lockdown role in a team no chance to play finals..... who cares put a kid in to do that

He is 26. Is that late 20’s?

I would be happy with another 5-6 years of a strong lock down small defender.

[waswan]

I had the same position on Hayward until today. It's not just finding the ball; he's making errors whenever it is in his vicinity. His confidence is eroding. He looks lost. Demotion would be merciful and a chance for him to recuperate.

He isnt hard enough, he is as athletic as Heeney who throws his body at every contest, Hayward side steps the hard stuff instead of jumping at everything

- - - Updated - - -

He is 26. Is that late 20’s?

I would be happy with another 5-6 years of a strong lock down small defender.

Prefer to see Gould or Warner have a crack.....

[The Big Cat]

I had the same position on Hayward until today. It's not just finding the ball; he's making errors whenever it is in his vicinity. His confidence is eroding. He looks lost. Demotion would be merciful and a chance for him to recuperate.

Hayward had 5 tackles and plenty of big spoils. Not as bad a game as it looked.

[Captain]

He isnt hard enough, he is as athletic as Heeney who throws his body at every contest, Hayward side steps the hard stuff instead of jumping at everything

- - - Updated - - -



Prefer to see Gould or Warner have a crack.....

I also want Gould and Warner to have a crack. Just not at the expense of Cunningham.

Plenty ahead of him to be dropped - Gray, Ronke, Clarke, Hayward, COR to start.

[Ludwig]

I had the same position on Hayward until today. It's not just finding the ball; he's making errors whenever it is in his vicinity. His confidence is eroding. He looks lost. Demotion would be merciful and a chance for him to recuperate.

I know he's in poor form, but it's hard to know what to do about it. He was a skillful young player, who kicked well and took a strong mark. I don't think that just disappears. Our coaches have to find a solution.

We can't criticize all our players and drop them all, or we just won't have a team. Something has to be done to improve their weaknesses.

I thought we moved the ball well at times, even under heavy pressure. We need to keep at it until we can do it consistently well. It doesn't make it easy when we don't have any forward targets and the opposition is getting first use at most stoppages. Our contested work wasn't too flash either.

[waswan]

I also want Gould and Warner to have a crack. Just not at the expense of Cunningham.

Plenty ahead of him to be dropped - Gray, Ronke, Clarke, Hayward, COR to start.

Clarke at least tagged out AA gaff, Cunningham tagging Ryan isnt above a debutant.

Neither role is really, both guys may have tagged well but were lost with ball in hand

Eitherway, we have too many doing too little or what they are doing isnt beyond a debutant

[TheBloods]

Could essentially copy the same names every week.. Blakey, Ronke, Gray, O'Riordan, McInerney, Hayward, Cunningham all passengers who are found wanting as soon as the game's not on their terms. Our better players were far from dominant - Mills, Florent, Lloyd, Papley couldn't hit the side of a barn with some of their kicks. Somebody forgot to tell Dawson the season started. Aliir looks worse than he did his first year. Gone backwards. Wouldn't even be in most team's 22. Heeney just teases his talent but can't be arsed applying it.

Rowbottom a rare positive. McLean is a keeper. Kennedy and Parker's shoulders must be sore from carrying this hapless outfit.

[waswan]

I was hoping it would turn but Ronke is nearly at the point of trying another sport.... cant remember a decent game since the Hawks game

[MattW]

They were bigger and stronger us in the ruck and at both ends of the ground (although the Eagles' Kennedy has hit the cliff) - dominated us in the air and out-muscled us at ground level.

The club has botched the ruck position. We have known for a few years that Naismith is injury-prone, but all of his back-ups are undersized or green or both. There is only one true ruckman in the club, and he has freshly done an ACL. I know there's explanations for it and bad luck, but it's been a problem since we lost Tippett and it has not been addressed.

Some quick notes on the players:
- Interesting that Dawson played best when he went back to defence.
- Heeney's much improved last quarter came when he played in the middle.
- Mills showed in the first half why Longmire likes him back. We are certainly very thin back there.
- I don't think the chopping and changing of roles suits Aliir. He looks a bit lost at the moment.
- Some pretty poor efforts at times from Florent today. Disappointing.
- Improved showing from Blakey - let's let him work into that wing spot.
- We need a lot more from Cunningham and Hewett - they are under par this year.
- As noted above, Rowbottom and McInerney both tried hard and will develop into solid AFL players (Rowbottom possible better than that). The latter's decision-making will improve. He keeps wanting the ball. Rowbottom reliably attacks the ball and sticks his tackles.

I don't want to be harsh, but the following are not AFL-standard players: Ronke; Clarke; O'Riordan; Gray. I don't think there's any point in playing any of them. Probably not McLean either.

[neilfws]

Liked the first quarter. Rest of it made me wish I'd gone with Plan A, which was spend a sunny arvo in the backyard.

Eagles sure picked their day to come back into form. Swans lack of experience really shows on days like this. Just not enough players at the required level yet, basically. Forward line consisting of more or less just Papley isn't helping either.

I think it's just a matter of keep playing them, improvement will come with time. But it's going to be long, slow and at times painful to watch. That's just the reality of where the team is right now, after many years mixing it with the best.