Match Thread. Swans v Hawthorn

[giant]

Urrggh that was awful, if not completely unforeseen given last week's dreadful effort. We looked like we were limping to the bye, when in fact we were tumbling. Can't think of a single player that could have said they beat their opponent on the night.

Nail in a truly dreadful Friday night coffin was an umpiring performance that could only be generously described as incompetent. Most one-sided display I've witnessed since the 2016 GF. You wonder how someone could review a performance like that and not ask: "Why is that one a free kick but not that one? Explain how the same incident gets treated differently within seconds?" The question will never be asked however and Ray will keep on getting a gig, celebrated for his ineptitude and obvious bias.

[KTigers]

I think Hawthorn were just really efficient once they got inside 50. They only had 9 more inside 50s than us and only three more scoring
shot. 14.5 is really good kicking. We seemed to get beat out of the centre a lot, and in so many contests they were first in. The umpiring
really favoured them but not enough to make any difference to the result. Just a crap night at the footy basically.

[giant]

I think Hawthorn were just really efficient once they got inside 50. They only had 9 more inside 50s than us and only three more scoring
shot. 14.5 is really good kicking. We seemed to get beat out of the centre a lot, and in so many contests they were first in. The umpiring
really favoured them but not enough to make any difference to the result. Just a crap night at the footy basically.

All you say is certainly true - but there is another angle here. I can't recall us getting a single free kick I50 all night, although there were several obvious ones missed. OTOH Hawks took several marks I50 and on each and every occasion they blatantly blocked defenders to the contest. Remarkably, the only blocking free kick paid all night was against us when Wicks marked 20m out directly in front. That sort of treatment will help your efficiency every time.

[SwanSand]

I know we are 8-5, which seems pretty good, but nonetheless, we are still very much in development mode, and should face the post bye period with more of a focus on improving the team long term than pushing for finals. If we get there, fine. If not, that's okay too, if we use the time to have a better 2022 and beyond.

Agree but disagree. There is nothing more important than to fight hard and enter finals and then put the best show possible in the first final. That would do wonders to the confidence, development and the comraderie amongst the group and help the fans stay engaged - the only problem is loss of draft position which we should not be playing for.

[KTigers]

All you say is certainly true - but there is another angle here. I can't recall us getting a single free kick I50 all night, although there were several obvious ones missed. OTOH Hawks took several marks I50 and on each and every occasion they blatantly blocked defenders to the contest. Remarkably, the only blocking free kick paid all night was against us when Wicks marked 20m out directly in front. That sort of treatment will help your efficiency every time.

Yep, that's a point. There were a number of blocks on our defenders that weren't pulled up by the umpires. On blocking....
surely teams practice blocking, right? It makes sense that they would. And the umpires would / should be aware of this.
But there are very few frees paid for blocking generally. Whereas they've wild paying deliberate out of bounds frees lately.
And a lot of them just look like poor / under pressure disposals (ie not deliberate) to me.

[Markwebbos]

The Mongrel Punts verdict.

Hawthorn v Sydney - The Big Questions - The Mongrel Punt

[TheBloods]

The Mongrel Punts verdict.

Hawthorn v Sydney - The Big Questions - The Mongrel Punt

Rowbottom a defensive mid , theres an idea

[Auntie.Gerald]

Im not sure if the hardest part was watching the super deliberate 1st 2qtrs where the Hawks continually used one corner boundary to deliver the ball to their key forwards and not one Swan dropped in front and or played extra man.

The Hawks were clean and structured across the park starving us of contested or uncontested possession.

Oh well we are 5wins ahead of the Hawks if that counts

[Ruck'n'Roll]

If only the umpires were consistent for both sides? What has to happen to make this possible?

It might help if it wasn't totally dominated by male Victorians. I think there's still only a single NSW umpire.

[stevoswan]

I played in games where the umpiring was terrible. I didn’t get too many decisions against me. When I did get a decision against me, I just put my hands up and shut the ........ up. No amount of me arguing was going to change the outcome.

I think with Karma the umpires thus rewarded me because as I footballer I tried to do my job while I didn’t comment on how the umpires did their job.

I was always the 1st player to shake an umpires hand and say well done.

I think on the ledger that the umpires looked after me. Maybe I never thought about the ledger because as a very limited footballer all I had was the next contest. I was always on the edge of being dropped and had no option but to keep halving contests and doing my job. Giving away a 50m like Papley for umpire abuse would have guaranteed me being dropped. I didn’t have that luxury.

Maybe the umpires could sense that I was a limited footballer, who was polite, and kept endeavouring to do his job. Maybe I got the 50/50 in my favour because they could see I was a reasonable person who tried hard.

Yet again, you excuse a supposedly neutral official favouring some players in 50/50's because they're nice....and in turn, excuse supposedly neutral officials from unfairly punishing a player they don't like. This is BS and it makes them a bad umpire and makes you an umpire excuser. Any umpire who officiates this way should NOT be an umpire......in any league.

[stevoswan]

The players were very flat. In that respect, it was very similar to the GC game. After that debacle, I felt we might be on our way down the ladder but somehow, we bounced back reasonably well. This time, we have the added bonus of a bye as well as Gulden and Campbell to come back and add some spark. I'm happy to write this game off and trust that we will attack the second half of the season with a bit more vigour.

From what was said in the last injury report, Campbell will not likely return straight after the bye. He is some weeks off.

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How would you know if what I said was contrived?

Because it's just too perfect....?

[Bangalore Swans]

Yet again, you excuse a supposedly neutral official favouring some players in 50/50's because they're nice....and in turn, excuse supposedly neutral officials from unfairly punishing a player they don't like. This is BS and it makes them a bad umpire and makes you an umpire excuser. Any umpire who officiates this way should NOT be an umpire......in any league.

Stevo. You have been around life. People in life subconsciously favour people with charm, manners and a friendly demeanour.

Umpires are human. They don’t want to be yelled at or treated like dirt.

You are charming in life and you win 50/50s every where.

[Blood Fever]

From what was said in the last injury report, Campbell will not likely return straight after the bye. He is some weeks off.

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Because it's just too perfect....?

Like a fairytale

[NeonBible]

Rowbottom a defensive mid , theres an idea

Who knows TB, it could happen! I dont hate the idea of Rowbottom as a tagger from now on. He seems the most suitable option for it - he is our best tackler by a long way, and i think i trust him with the ball less than Joey, Parks, Mills, Chad or Ollie at this point, so it could be a nice little niche for him to work into!! I wonder if his job on Titch will have made JL sit up and take notice about his tagging potential too ?

[Hotpotato]

C. Warner was certainly an important missing link last night .