Are we now a genuine Premiership threat?

[stevoswan]

Loved Leo. The best bit about Leo taking off on one of those kamikaze runs is you had no idea how it was going to end, the opposition had no idea where he was going, because above all - Leo had no idea what the end game was either!

[NeonBible]

So many players have risen to a new level this season plus we have Buddy on the park.

The wild ride started three weeks ago, hang on to see where it goes!

Hi 707,

Excellent post! Only thing i would disagree with is when this wild ride started .. might be tempting to say round 1 when we belted the Brions at the Gabba to launch what has turned into a successful campaign thus far!! But I would go even further and say that this wild ride started on one of two days....

Round 12, 2020 - vs GWS at Optus Stadium in Perth. We were bottom four last year and had had some comprehensive losses to the Western bulldogs, West Coast Eagles, Gold Coast and St Kilda. Up to that point in the season we had only won 3 games and they were by unconvincing margins of 3 points, 11 points and 7 points! We had shown promising signs but needed to take a stand! & show some indication that this young list was capable!! We came out against our arch rivals and dominated them from start to finish! It was a statement win and it turned the season around in a way! After that we had another statement win over the Dees up in Cairns, and pushed premiership fancies Geelong, Brisbane and Port Adelaide! It was the first time we showed the free flowing attacking football we've played all of this year, so was the trailer for what was to come!!

You could go even further back and say that the wild ride started in Round 23, 2019 - vs St Kilda at the SCG. It was our first bottom four finish and first year missing the finals after nine consecutive years of making finals!! The rebuild was ON and it was a scary but exciting prospect - making the change from the old guard to the next generation!! This game was the end of one era as we said goodbye to some beloved premiership heroes, Jack, McVeigh, Grundy and Smith, and Lance playing his 300th, but also the beginning of a new one as featured in this game were Dawson, Mills, Papley, Florent, Blakey, McCartin, and Rowbottom, who have all been key components in our rise up the ladder this year (well maybe not the latter!)

When the history of our dynasty is written, these dates will be remembered as turning points!! How lucky we are to support this club!! They never cease to deliver us reasons to be excited!

CHEER CHEER

[707]

We're in lockdown so spending some time watching winning games of the past two seasons plus I watched that round 23 flogging of St.Kilda, it was a magical day on so many fronts, just makes you feel so good to be a Swans supporter, well worth re-watching :-)

[goswannies]

The game is too different of course - but always fascinating to think how teams of different eras would 'line up' and go against each other if there was a way to equalise the differences that makes that simply too hard to do.

I’ve always wanted a very clever mathematician and programmer to develop an algorithm that would take players career stats to enable a “virtual game“ to be played.

I seem to recall the Sun Newspaper doing something like this in the early 90s or maybe late 80s for cricket players to compare sides of different eras.

For footy, such a program could allow different teams from different eras to be compared in a simulated match. Imagine the South Foreign Legion side containing Pratt, Nash and Matthews playing against the Brisbane sides of the early 2000s or the Hardwick’s Richmond side.

Much easier to work out, I’d imagine, for current players with Champion Data but I’d be intrigued to see something like this developed.

[Nico]

Loved Leo. The best bit about Leo taking off on one of those kamikaze runs is you had no idea how it was going to end, the opposition had no idea where he was going, because above all - Leo had no idea what the end game was either!

I always thought he didn't have good vision/perception of where players were upfield. Thought he must see a sea of players and run as far as he could because he had no idea where to kick it. He was a left footer but always went to his right foot first, then dodged back onto his left. Got caught plenty of times. But he is forever our hero.

[i'm-uninformed2]

I always thought he didn't have good vision/perception of where players were upfield. Thought he must see a sea of players and run as far as he could because he had no idea where to kick it. He was a left footer but always went to his right foot first, then dodged back onto his left. Got caught plenty of times. But he is forever our hero.

Absolutely! That was one of the funniest parts of Leo - he couldn't kick for proverbials on his right foot, but often tried to evade trouble by running that way. Truly madcap stuff, and we love him even more for it.

I won't post it here because the link will ruin the thread, but if you want a fun read on Leo, google: 'Leo Barry Kamikaze', and an SMH article will come up headed "Just call him Kamikaze". There is a priceless story in there retold by his mum and involving three-year-old Leo and a tricycle. Golden stuff.

[wolftone57]

I think we are very much a Premiership threat. We play well against all the top 8 sides. We are now learning how to beat the lower sides. We now need to beat them comfortably. We need to start bringing total killer instinct. Once we have that we will be a definite Premiership contender.

All we have to fix is contested ball and clearances and I think the last falf last week went a long way to doing that. Our outside, kicking and rebound game is superb. Now to finish off and polish the game. This is exciting. In2012 at about the same time I decided the same. We were probably a year early. Some players were considered too young to play in a premiership. But we did it anyway.

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[stevoswan]

Absolutely! That was one of the funniest parts of Leo - he couldn't kick for proverbials on his right foot, but often tried to evade trouble by running that way. Truly madcap stuff, and we love him even more for it.

I won't post it here because the link will ruin the thread, but if you want a fun read on Leo, google: 'Leo Barry Kamikaze', and an SMH article will come up headed "Just call him Kamikaze". There is a priceless story in there retold by his mum and involving three-year-old Leo and a tricycle. Golden stuff.

Great article....and he had no idea at the time of the Swans legend he was going to become and of his golden moment in our history just two years later. Leo Barry, you star!

[Maltopia]

Collingwood leading Crows by 5 at quarter time!

[wolftone57]

Collingwood leading Crows by 5 at quarter time!

Thay are playing Port

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[HeeneyIsAGun]

Funny, I asked this question in early May, partly tongue-in-cheek.

I think (as I hoped at the time) that we now definitely are a genuine threat. As Wayne Carey wrote today, there are few teams that others would prefer to play LESS than us right now.

Even if we only get there in 5th or 6th, every final from there will put fear in the hearts of our opponents.

From here, win or lose, I am proud of what this team has done this year. I reckon we will be the most popular team amongst supporters of the non-finals eight teams this year.

PS - Can we please get some vengeance for 2016 finally???

[Matty10]

PS - Can we please get some vengeance for 2016 finally???

It really is the dream, isn’t it. It would be nice to win every grand final we play, but that hasn’t been our history. The last two losses still sting a fair bit too. We really could bury the pain from the past with an out of nowhere victory in 2021.

[top40]

It really is the dream, isn’t it. It would be nice to win every grand final we play, but that hasn’t been our history. The last two losses still sting a fair bit too. We really could bury the pain from the past with an out of nowhere victory in 2021.

One worry I have that is very personal:I pray that if the Swans advance in September, Sydney, where the majority of their fans are, is still not in lockdown and the NSW border is open

[MattW]

One worry I have that is very personal:I pray that if the Swans advance in September, Sydney, where the majority of their fans are, is still not in lockdown and the NSW border is open

I'm thinking about this too - best we can hope for is open border, no quarantine in receiving state. This is the issue with a Perth GF, where quarantine rules are pretty strict. Unfortunately, Victoria seems to lump ACT in with NSW.

[wolftone57]

The battle for top spot is very interesting. A statement was made today by Kane Cornes that the eight is now set. Not so sure about that. Richmond or Freo win and Essendon lose and that will change quickly. Of course we are going to try to end Freo's season today. Hopefully that will come to pass as it will give us another win closer to the top four. So far the round has been most interesting. i actually picked Suns but they just could not sustain their pressure for more than a half of footy. I was always sus about Melbourne and Carlton are as shonky and as shaky as Christopher Skase. Melbourne mids do not defend well and they leave gaps that is why Dogs had so many walk in goals. We should have beaten them earlier in the season but lack of experience got in the way.

the finals are going to be an interesting exercise in style v style. For instance the Dogs lock down, Cats slow movement/tempo footy (about the most boring side to watch), Swans fast concise movement, Essendon's run at all costs, Eagles tempo, Dees lack of accountability attack, Lions similar to Dees, Port's manic long bomb high scoring attacking. Frankly I think the teams most at risk of losing are Eagles, Dees and Lions. The latter two lack accountability on the defensive side from their mids. They do not run both ways. Dees & Lions don't always bring the intense pressure either. The Eagles are fine if they can keep the ball off. If they can intercept mark and then just kick the ball around and keep control. Once you take control away they have no plan B. they simply can't play when the ball is loose or the other team have control and don't give it up easily. Bombers all out attack comes unstuck too under intense pressure and if you cut off their run they then lose structure. They have a great midfield and a great half back who gives them plenty of run. But if you take Hind out by having a really good defensive forward on him they get lost coming out of defence. I think the Cats are the next most vulnerable. They are slow. with one or two exceptions they are slow and need to play Tempo footy or die.