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How come whenever we play in Queensland the weather is atrocious? Apart from last year it is always like a cyclone has hit. Although I just saw on the news that Sydney weather is going to be worse so it wouldn't have mattered where we played.
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We already know fully well that optimism is not your thing TB, but gee come on - just a tinge of positivity perhaps
May as well just not turn up.... I look forward to a day where we actually see a post from you that reflects taking some sort of joy from watching football....
Sounds like there has already been a fair bit of rain, and bit more to come. Gabba drains well but may well be a bit boggy nonetheless, and ball may be slippery, which will negate some of their obvious challenges with a relatively tall forward line should that happen.
We gave 'em a decent scare late last season (got with a kick I think early in the 4th), so hoping we can be competitive for a fair chunk of the contest - though expect them to get a relatively comfortable win in the end. But I hope this year we might get 2 or 3 scalps through the year of good teams where we are expected to get comfortably beaten - almost managed it last year on a few occasions, and despite the hundred and eight reasons you've given to justify extreme negativity on many fronts, there are good signs that we will progress again this year.
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Yeh we've had some awful weather in recent years up that way. What gives haha!
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Surely Lions will drown faster than Swans if there really is 200mm of rain
"You get the feeling that like Monty Python's Black Knight, the Swans would regard amputation as merely a flesh wound."Comment
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Only thing Big O is catching on Saturday night is a cold. Won't be a great night to be 210cm tall and trying to mark overhead.Comment
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Apologies mcs. i have reservations about our list. Have been around long enough to see dozens of "rebuilding" teams amount to nothing. Then those rebuilds dont work out and so they have to try a different tack. Then that doesnt work and so on and so on. Before they know it they've spent 20, 30 years down the tubes. Not saying that is where we will be but im not sold on a lot of our young players. I was at tonights game and saw how young players like Walsh , Bolton, Fogarty and Fisher had the ball on a string. They popped up everywhere and were constantly impacting contests. Dont reckon theres a single youngster on our list that fits that description. We are rapt whenever Blakey or Rowbottom or Florent get 15 possessions. They just dont seem to impact games like young players in other teams. i dont see that one talent that is going to explode and take us into our future. Lucky Papley Mills etc have become great leaders or there would be nothing under them. & i keep being reminded to be patient and be understanding of their age but how long do i have to wait ?? Dont think it should be that hard for any of these kids on our list to have at least one knockout game if they are ever going to be knockout players. Not expecting it to happen every week but once in a while might be nice to assure us that its in their capacity and they're not just good for little cameos !We already know fully well that optimism is not your thing TB, but gee come on - just a tinge of positivity perhaps May as well just not turn up.... I look forward to a day where we actually see a post from you that reflects taking some sort of joy from watching football....
At least Ollie has done that on occasion. Think i saw him get 30 once or twice. In between a whole lot of nothing as well. maybe things might change this weekend for some of these boys. Lets hope.Comment
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Im looking forward to seeing the side we pick.
The wet wont help Logan and Warner has to play in these conditions. Glad he is being played in position, was lost as a fwd.
My 2 cents, if Hewitt is fit he is a walk up start and Hayward is too as a defending Fwd on a running HBF, more important this year than others.
That is Haywards role, i hope we leave him as that.Comment
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Maybe Sam Reid is injured and wont play hence Logan is named.
Callum Sinclair and Hickey in the Ruck.
Hewett is mighty important in the wet - Experience in conditions, defensive effort, and the game is not going to be too fast for him.
Maybe 2 midfielders to be held back as defensive mids. Wouldnt be surprised if it is Callum Mills. Allowed to attend centre bounces and most possessions in midfield but some in the defensive 50 as the intercept player along with the Ruck.
Given how the game played out between Richmond and Carlton, it seems going for the 30 - 40 m from goal kick is useful. So lower the eyes and get the ball in at ~ 40 m. The mark at that level would mean you could create an arc and get the ball through the sticks. The statue wont move. Players like Blakey, Dawson, Heeney, Rowbottom, Hayward should get those shallow entries i guess. At our end we need to defend these kicks.
If we are good with our conversions, we are in with a chance.
I think they will try and tag Hugh McCluggage, he is an elite runner and will absolutely burn us if we dont hold him accountable.
The overlap running by mids is going to be massive. Seeing how the game was played last night we need runners, I am hoping that Stephens and McInerney would be back soon.Comment
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That'd be the same Fogarty that prior to last night had reached 20 possession in just 2 games he has played? Or the same Shai Bolton that averaged 15 touches in 2020 and 14 touches in 2019 despite playing a large majority of matches in a team a the peak of their powers? Or the same Zac Fisher that has never averaged more than 19 possessions in any given season? Walsh is obviously a very very fine player in the making - but he was a no 1 draft pick too, so represents the absolute cream of the crop and has shown it from day 1. No doubting he is a class above - as he should be.
On one hand you accuse others of being obsessed with possession counts or statistical measures to try and consider the progress players are or are not making, yet you yourself consistently refer to purely qualitative measures such as 'exploding' players that get to the contest, and marking players as not having the 'class' to play AFL football. Different side of the coin, but illustrating exactly the same point you make about others.
I've said it before - go back and look at the statistical profiles for many of the very, very best footballers in the modern era to play the game. For every player that 'explodes' out of the blocks to become a superstar, there are just as many players who took plenty of time to get going. I've never said the list we have at the moment is guaranteed for success - and nobody else has. But at least most of us are actually willing to give the players a chance to prove (or disprove) themselves at AFL level, rather then just writing them off completely upfront as you have. Rowbottom - not AFL standard, Wicks - doesn't have the class to make it in the AFL, Blakey - not good enough, the list goes on of the players you've written off over the past 6 months or so.
On the point of Zac Fisher - he exactly highlights the point many have tried to make. He is now at 60+ games at the age of 22 - starting to hit that sweet spot of experience. Of comparable aged players on our list, only Hayward and Florent are anywhere near that point (both 22 and 69,70 games for them). McCartin is younger has only played 48, Blakey is younger and only played 37, Rowbottom 28. A bit older, Dawson is only at 41 games, Mills at 92, Papley at 99, Heeney 108, Hewett 99.... I repeat - not everyone is a finished superstar from day one, and for most its not until they reach that 60-70 odd games point does a sharp trajectory upwards really start to show.
@@@@ man, just give the young players a chance - t at least try to at least pretend to enjoy it along the way even if it ends in tears. Man it must be depressing to be going into round 1 assuming we will be flogged, and saying the list is no good, when half the players in the team are barely out of their AFL nappies and still very much finding their way in a team very much in the initial stages of trying to swing from the bottom. You genuinely seem to expect players to just waltz in, be at the very top of the game from day 1, and as a result transform a team near the bottom into contenders over night. If you've been watching footy for as long as you claim, you know that for as many champions that hit the ground running from day 1, there are just as many that take 4,5,6 seasons to truly show their full potential.Last edited by mcs; 19 March 2021, 10:03 AM."You get the feeling that like Monty Python's Black Knight, the Swans would regard amputation as merely a flesh wound."Comment
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Reid injured his elbow earlier in the week/last week so I reckon he is no chance of playing. Likewise, I reckon Hewett is no chance either - biggest giveaway is there has been plenty of coverage of Pap's 100th but zero about Hewett reaching the same point (should he play)."You get the feeling that like Monty Python's Black Knight, the Swans would regard amputation as merely a flesh wound."Comment
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I couldnt have said it better myself mate. I cant imagine walking away from games dwelling on what you didn’t see instead of celebrating what you did see. I came out of that AAMI match filled with joy and hope, couldnt wipe the smile off my face. Yes we lost, and no we did not see a “knockout” game from any young Swans players. I saw a young group all of who looked fit, focused on the game plan and showed brilliant signs, every one of them. Thats all i needed to see.That'd be the same Fogarty that prior to last night had reached 20 possession in just 2 games he has played? Or the same Shai Bolton that averaged 15 touches in 2020 and 14 touches in 2019 despite playing a large majority of matches in a team a the peak of their powers? Or the same Zac Fisher that has never averaged more than 19 possessions in any given season? Walsh is obviously a very very fine player in the making - but he was a no 1 draft pick too, so represents the absolute cream of the crop and has shown it from day 1. No doubting he is a class above - as he should be.
On one hand you accuse others of being obsessed with possession counts or statistical measures to try and consider the progress players are or are not making, yet you yourself consistently refer to purely qualitative measures such as 'exploding' players that get to the contest, and marking players as not having the 'class' to play AFL football. Different side of the coin, but illustrating exactly the same point you make about others.
I've said it before - go back and look at the statistical profiles for many of the very, very best footballers in the modern era to play the game. For every player that 'explodes' out of the blocks to become a superstar, there are just as many players who took plenty of time to get going. I've never said the list we have at the moment is guaranteed for success - and nobody else has. But at least most of us are actually willing to give the players a chance to prove (or disprove) themselves at AFL level, rather then just writing them off completely upfront as you have. Rowbottom - not AFL standard, Wicks - doesn't have the class to make it in the AFL, Blakey - not good enough, the list goes on of the players you've written off over the past 6 months or so.
On the point of Zac Fisher - he exactly highlights the point many have tried to make. He is now at 60+ games at the age of 22 - starting to hit that sweet spot of experience. Of comparable aged players on our list, only Hayward and Florent are anywhere near that point (both 22 and 69,70 games for them). McCartin is younger has only played 48, Blakey is younger and only played 37, Rowbottom 28. A bit older, Dawson is only at 41 games, Mills at 92, Papley at 99, Heeney 108, Hewett 99.... I repeat - not everyone is a finished superstar from day one, and for most its not until they reach that 60-70 odd games point does a sharp trajectory upwards really start to show.
@@@@ man, just give the young players a chance - t at least try to at least pretend to enjoy it along the way even if it ends in tears. Man it must be depressing to be going into round 1 assuming we will be flogged, and saying the list is no good, when half the players in the team are barely out of their AFL nappies and still very much finding their way in a team very much in the initial stages of trying to swing from the bottom. You genuinely seem to expect players to just waltz in, be at the very top of the game from day 1, and as a result transform a team near the bottom into contenders over night. If you've been watching footy for as long as you claim, you know that for as many champions that hit the ground running from day 1, there are just as many that take 4,5,6 seasons to truly show their full potential.
Preseason is a perilous time. The break can sometimes do players no good. They come back from the summer looking different, needing a month or two longer to find their form. Looking rusty or out of shape. But Rowbottom, Blakey, Florent .. these boys just picked up where they left off. Wicks & Warner went to new levels from their performances last year. Logan, Braeden and Errol seemed undaunted by the challenge and rightfully earned their debuts. Thats a great big box ticked from a day at the footy in the preseason if you ask me!!Comment
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Warner was great because he had 19 possessions, Rowbottom was poor because he had 17 possessions. How can two possessions make such a difference for you ?? I am so lost. Maybe Rowbottom didnt use it as well, that cant be it. He went at 82% disposal efficiency and you said that you like him every time he has the ball. Why was Ollie so much better when he only had 2 possessions more himself ? If he is capable of 30+ shouldnt you be holding him to the same unfairly high standard as you hold RB? And why is Wicks so far on your pecking order when he had nearly the same amount of touches as those 3 MIDS playing as a small defensive FORWARD ??
Make it make sense !!Comment
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