Match Thread: Fremantle v Swans

[Bangalore Swans]

Just terrible. What is going with our mental application that we cannot play well against these ordinary sides ? Freo on their home deck are no push overs but they should not have outclassed us.

Wicks might be on his last chance. Without his fwd pressure its obvious he doesnt have a lot to his game. Florent is skilful but dumb. That last play an example. Heeney good but needs to be less of a showpony and do more of the basics. So does Papley. McLean had a shocker.

Here i was worrying that Rowbottom and Blakey might not be good enough to be in the 22. Turns out they might not be good enough to even be on the list long term !! Re-signing them for another 3 years looks worse with every game they play.

If we dont re-sign Dawson we're @@@@@@

Dawson was superb. I lost some of my faith in Blakey tonight.

I think if Rowbottom is going to be evaluated on tonight’s performance then the following players need to be evaluated far my strongly:

Blakey
Wicks
McLean
Stephens
Haywood

[Faunac8]

Just terrible. What is going with our mental application that we cannot play well against these ordinary sides ? Freo on their home deck are no push overs but they should not have outclassed us.

Wicks might be on his last chance. Without his fwd pressure its obvious he doesnt have a lot to his game. Florent is skilful but dumb. That last play an example. Heeney good but needs to be less of a showpony and do more of the basics. So does Papley. McLean had a shocker.

Here i was worrying that Rowbottom and Blakey might not be good enough to be in the 22. Turns out they might not be good enough to even be on the list long term !! Re-signing them for another 3 years looks worse with every game they play.

If we dont re-sign Dawson we're @@@@@@

Same old tired vacuous ????

[TheBloods]

Dawson was superb. I lost some of my faith in Blakey tonight.

I think if Rowbottom is going to be evaluated on tonight’s performance then the following players need to be evaluated far my strongly:

Blakey
Wicks
McLean
Stephens
Haywood

I just did discuss all of them. Hayward Blakey Wicks ive made no secret of. Stephens is not a 3rd player nearing 40 games. Rowbottom just continues to dish up very very ordinary football every week then does one or two good things and hes a rising star again . That is what ticks me off is that he is fast becoming a "usual suspect" in not doing enough but he will never be dropped. He must have pictures of JL or one of the other coaches !

[Ludwig]

Playing Freo at Optus was projected to be a close contest and the game lived up to the billing. It was an even contest that could have gone either way. It was a fair reflection of where we are at, and that would go for Freo as well. Both are mid table teams hoping to build on some promising young players.

We still have a lot of work to do getting our structures right, both forward and back.

The forward line is almost dysfunctional. It's probably worse when Buddy plays well, because we just play as though he's the only forward in the team. McLean, Hayward, Blakey and Wicks all had poor games. Wicks could have helped the cause if he hadn't missed 2 set shots that he would usually make. He hasn't been kicking goals lately, which is a problem. Heeney also didn't have much influence forward, but whatever damage he did, he did it through the midfield.

McLean was particularly disappointing, since after all the hype this week, he seems to have moved back to square one. He literally did nothing, which was surprising given how much he had improved this year.

Our defence is even more of a problem. We need to play another key defender. If Melican is injured, then why not play Brand? If not Brand, then give Gould a chance.

Hewett's individual performance wasn't too bad, but he really doesn't participate in our defensive unit. He's more like a midfielder playing defence. I would rather see him play forward. I feel that COR is the better option if we need a defender. I would also like to give Ling some senior games if he can play some solid footy in the reserves.

We have to accept that we are not a premiership team this year and still need to place development ahead of need for victories at this point in time. So it is going to mean playing even more inexperienced players who are going to make their mistakes, but the only other option is to recruit experienced players from other clubs, and realistically, it's really not an option at all.

[stevoswan]

Rowbottom just continues to dish up very very ordinary football every week then does one or two good things and hes a rising star again . That is what ticks me off is that he is fast becoming a "usual suspect" in not doing enough but he will never be dropped. He must have pictures of JL or one of the other coaches !

He's certainly someone's 'usual suspect', yet your boy Chad (and he's our boy too, we all love him) escapes scrutiny.

Rowbottom 15 disposals, 1 mark, 8 tackles, 3 clearances and a goal.

Warner 12 disposals, 1 mark, 4 tackles, 4 clearances and a goal.

Does Chad have some pictures of you by any chance?

[TheBloods]

Your boy Chad (and he's our boy too, we all love him) escapes scrutiny.

Rowbottom 15 disposals, 1 mark, 8 tackles, 3 clearances and a goal.

Warner 12 disposals, 1 mark, 4 tackles, 4 clearances and a goal.

Does Chad have some pictures of you by any chance?

Look at what they do with their possessions. Chad gets the ball and his first instinct is to create. He shrugs tackles, he bursts away, he breaks lines, he lowers his eyes . What does Rowbottom do besides tackle ? What does he actually do with the ball ? I might look like a jerk for picking on him but at least i give reasons why. Im yet to hear any reasons why Rowbottom is a GOOD player other than stats or just "hes young and very good" !

He tries to burst away but isnt quick enough. So he gets caught a lot. Then has to rush his disposal thats why so many of them are just blind bombs kicked out of the pack in a hurry or hospital handpasses to a teammate with someone right on them. Everything with him looks clumsy and rushed. I also must question his footy iq? Watch him carefully and he leads to awful places and gets into the wrong spots constantly , its like hes actively TRYING to avoid getting the ball. It is one thing i will never pick on him for he is a very selfless lad as he never seems to call for the ball or want it unless its right at his feet. There isnt that burning hunger or urgency that Chad has , and theres DEFINITELY not the skill or class . Though his goal was superb.

Btw i do not think he deserves heat for getting worked over by Fyfe etc. Like losing him late in the game and letting him kick the sealer , hes not the first young player who Fyfe has done a number on and he wont be the last !

[Aprilbr]

A disappointing close loss but it will be a learning curve for our team. Our lack of another tall back was evident today as was the loss of drive because of Hickey's unfortunate injury. We had a lot of quiet players tonight which cost us in the end. Too much left to too few!

Some errors also cost us at the end e.g. no defender on the line when Fyfe snapped that goal and Ollie not seeing open players while going forward in the last play. But we must recognise we were totally outplayed in the third quarter and we would have been lucky to win given Freo had so many Inside 50s when compared to ours.

I think we know where our weaknesses are and what we need to improve on. Great games by Buddy, Dawson and Mills but a lot of our youngsters had little or no impact tonight.

[Auntie.Gerald]

For me we struggled to get the midfield mix right. Our exits and exit speed looked well off the pace vs Freeo.

This put serious pressure on our defence.

If u have a mobile 205cm key forward u have to defend, u absolutely must be 50/50 in the centre.

I saw Parker and Kennedy in particular try very hard in close but on the exit they were miles behind their opposite player. This gave Freeo too much freedom coming into the arc.

We were competitive but certainly not in control.

[0918330512]

What i hate about a 2 point loss is that if that final play by Oli had resulted in a goal to him or Heeney, we would have a very different feel to this whole thread (with the exception of one or two conspicuous and unrelenting posters.

As for Florent’s decision making during that play, IIRC, didn’t this same thing happen quite early in his career against the Bulldogs but he actually kicked the goal to win the match? Delusions of grandeur?

[Melbournehammer]

What i hate about a 2 point loss is that if that final play by Oli had resulted in a goal to him or Heeney, we would have a very different feel to this whole thread (with the exception of one or two conspicuous and unrelenting posters.

As for Florent’s decision making during that play, IIRC, didn’t this same thing happen quite early in his career against the Bulldogs but he actually kicked the goal to win the match? Delusions of grandeur?

I don’t think he was going for goal - he was going for parley who was goal side of both freo defenders.

[0918330512]

I don’t think he was going for goal - he was going for parley who was goal side of both freo defenders.

Ah ok, I’m a bit hazy on the final play. Will have to watch the replay

[Captain]

I found it strange that McLean wasn’t moved to the ruck. He wasn’t getting and kick and Hickey was injured. Surely would have been better than Blakey too.

[i'm-uninformed2]

Blakey is clearly devoid of confidence and a clear head right now.

But I’ll give him this. Playing him as a secondary ruck is madness. Maybe the coaches think the Reid model but can be replicated, but Reid has the body for it.

It’s also as if the coaches haven’t settled on a preferred position for him and keep throwing him around. Let him settle, and in reserves for a month if necessary.

Blakey has serious talent but I’m not sure we’re harvesting it properly right now.

[SwanSand]

I just did discuss all of them. Hayward Blakey Wicks ive made no secret of. Stephens is not a 3rd player nearing 40 games. Rowbottom just continues to dish up very very ordinary football every week then does one or two good things and hes a rising star again . That is what ticks me off is that he is fast becoming a "usual suspect" in not doing enough but he will never be dropped. He must have pictures of JL or one of the other coaches !

Here we go again ! Load of BS !

Warner was worse than Rowbottom. If warner wants to play in the midfield he needs to put a hand on someone and not just try and get a sneaky goal here and there. Warner had 4 tackles for the game out of which 3 came in the first quarter and then he just disappeared from the scene when Fremantle got going. For a midfielder that is just not good enough.

Rowbottom was given the task of running with Fyfe and Fyfe who is too big and too strong took full advantage.
Maybe game day coaching was not good. When Mundy and Fyfe started to hurt us we should have put Clarke or Hewett on them.

[Foreign Legion]

Blakey is clearly devoid of confidence and a clear head right now.

But I’ll give him this. Playing him as a secondary ruck is madness. Maybe the coaches think the Reid model but can be replicated, but Reid has the body for it.

It’s also as if the coaches haven’t settled on a preferred position for him and keep throwing him around. Let him settle, and in reserves for a month if necessary.

Blakey has serious talent but I’m not sure we’re harvesting it properly right now.

I agree with this. Blakey probably had the worst impact of any Swans player - bugger all.

McLean did nothing too but he has played good games recently. I think Blakey's last good game was against Richmond. Give him a minimum 3 weeks in the reserves to get confidence back.

He is definitely not a ruckman - not his fault. Sinclair to come in. Too early for Naismith.