Swans v Port.

[Markwebbos]

Second quarter we kicked 1.3 from 17 inside 50s. They kicked 3.1 from half as many.

[Ralph Dawg]

There has to be something behind the scenes happening with Gould. All our other recent draftees, including some who have been delisted have had a run at some point or another. I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't get picked at all and is delisted without playing a game. We will be forever wondering what the problem with the man child was.

[Bexl]

There has to be something behind the scenes happening with Gould. All our other recent draftees, including some who have been delisted have had a run at some point or another. I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't get picked at all and is delisted without playing a game. We will be forever wondering what the problem with the man child was.

I only saw him live once for 3/4s against Casey. Brand looked better. Gould did a couple of things but didn't look like pushing for senior selection. that said I didn't think Bell did much either in that game but has got games.

[i'm-uninformed2]

I thought it was an entertaining game. They're a team looking to compete this year and we took it right up to them- I'd love it if we compete this year, but realistically we're building for a year or two.

Sucks to lose, but I'm just taking positives from that game.

This is it. A good illustration of what we do right and what we’ve still got to do.

We’ve already knew we needed another KPD, another mid that can use the ball going inside 50 (gee Mills was good for that today), and a partner for McDonald in the post Buddy period.

But the desperation of blokes like Parker, Dawson, Mills, Bud and so on in the last quarter was superb.

[Captain]

Lots of complaints on here about our defense when I think it should be the forwards we are annoyed with.

Heeney was hopeless. Absolutely hopeless.

Amartey and Bell added absolutely nothing and both need to be dropped.

Gulden started well but then went missing. Love him though and will be better for the run.

Rowbottom needs to be dropped too. Fumbles consistently and just doesn’t do enough. Florent not far behind him.

On the positives, Mills was fantastic, Parker tried his guts out, Dawson is so reliable and JMac is a future star.

[Ludwig]

I thought playing Hewett as a tagger on Boak in the first half worked really well for us, so I’m mystified why he was moved back into defence in the 3rd quarter and Port / Boak got on top.

I thought our defenders, Brand aside, defended OK, but they were put under serious pressure and all, Rampe included found wanting.

Fantastic to have Gulden back. He’s such a smart player. Rarely wares a disposal and his kicking inside 50 is exquisite.

Agree about JMac. He’s the player I want with the ball in his hands. Always looks to attack and uses the ball well.

I know everyone says Kinnear Beatson is a genius etc, and I know we are building, but there are huge holes in our list. When you compare Ports talls to ours they are streets ahead.

I know some on here say we have too many mids, the issue is the quality and how many are going to make the grade?

Maybe JPK needs to make way for George?

The McCartin situation is a weird one. He was moved down back as an experiment last year. Now he’s expected to take the best fwd every week and if he struggles the fallback is Rampe, Fox or Brand.

I think the new rules mean we have to invest more our key backs,

Time to bring in Gould, surely?

I’d also love to see Blakey running and carrying off the HBF.

This is a great post with so many good insights.

The problem with our KPPs is not the fault of Beatson. We had holes in a lot of positions. Last draft we might have gone for another tall if not for having Gulden and Campbell in the draft. McDonald should be good, but if he's a bust, we could be in trouble.

Maybe we should consider moving McCartin to the forward line and try to rebuild the defense from the remaining defenders. I know Hickey has been great, but we just had to find a way to keep Aliir. If McCartin goes back to the forward, I'd be more confident building around McCartin and McDonald.

Maybe Paddy McCartin will be part of our post-season plans to add another defender. We will still need another KPD, but maybe PM and Melican is a start. In any case, we should accelerate the development of both Gould and O'Connor. If Blakey can fill out and add strength, he should be a good defender as well. If we throw enough ingredients into the pot, maybe the soup will be okay.

It's sad, but I think we need to move on from JPK. This was the kind of game where he usually takes control, but even the much maligned (not by me) Rowbottom was better. Hewett could be the one to replace him, at least in the short term, because Hewett should be playing as a defender.


I would also like to add my agreement with those who praised our effort today. Even while other parts of our game were failing, the intensity was there and we gave ourselves a good chance of winning. Effort is still the most important thing to bring to the game.

[longmile]

Not sure who raised it in this thread, but its absolutely spot on. Our defence is super shakey and our biggest weakness at the moment and it's because we don't have an intercepting type player. Mills has moved to the midfield, Aliir has gone and its seemed to have faded from Rampes game. This is something we seriously need to fix in the offseason.

I've been a big advocate of dropping Blakey but perhaps he can fill this void? He seems like the only player who could potentially play this role, unless we wanna shift Heeney into defence

[rojo]

I would like to see Heeney moved to the midfield and Dawson to half-forward. Heeney came to us didn't he as a gun midfielder. If we are building our team for the future its time to play him there, alongside Mills. For me Dawson's skills are wasted in the back line. I think as it was with Mills, they have had to play back because of team needs.

Why can't we bring in a true defender - maybe one like Gould, with a bit of body size and strength!!!! I agree that we must play him now and let us see whether he has what it takes. We cannot keep playing Lloyd, Harry and Fox together in the backline as though they are the ones likely to take us to the next flag. Maybe one of them, at the most two. It seemed crazy to me that we should bring in Carruthers, as good as he might prove to be. Yet another light bodied defender who is never going to be able to stick a tackle. We did miss Warner, but we need other player like him with strong, good core strength, in the Power-Pepper mold. McCartin is struggling perhaps like Rampe because against the best teams our backline is being out played when the chips are down. Is Campbell the answer or is he going to be another midfielder being stuck in defence because of team needs.

We are missing Reid too, neither Amartey or McLean are up to providing a target around the ground as he did early in the season.

Despite all that I think there were some great moments in the game and they gave it their best - just lacked composure when it counted.

[Markwebbos]

This is a great post with so many good insights.

The problem with our KPPs is not the fault of Beatson. We had holes in a lot of positions. Last draft we might have gone for another tall if not for having Gulden and Campbell in the draft. McDonald should be good, but if he's a bust, we could be in trouble.

Maybe we should consider moving McCartin to the forward line and try to rebuild the defense from the remaining defenders. I know Hickey has been great, but we just had to find a way to keep Aliir. If McCartin goes back to the forward, I'd be more confident building around McCartin and McDonald.

Maybe Paddy McCartin will be part of our post-season plans to add another defender. We will still need another KPD, but maybe PM and Melican is a start. In any case, we should accelerate the development of both Gould and O'Connor. If Blakey can fill out and add strength, he should be a good defender as well. If we throw enough ingredients into the pot, maybe the soup will be okay.

It's sad, but I think we need to move on from JPK. This was the kind of game where he usually takex control, but even the much maligned (not by me) Rowbottom was better. Hewett could be the one to replace him, at least in the short term, because Hewett should be playing as a defender.

Not. Hewett should not be playing as a defender.

I think we only have one way to move the ball out of our D50, which makes it easy for sides to hem us in. The best Swans sides have always had a kamikaze Kennelly, Shaw etc prepared to run the ball. I can see Blakey in that role.

Paddy McCartin could be a great addition as a KP player.

[Legs Akimbo]

I've watched a few games of footy this weekend. Amongst other things, I've just seen a replay of the Collingwood Maynard free and 50m. Jaw dropping.

In half a season they've gone from paying nothing to paying anything and everything. I think they are paying frees 'situationally' skewed by the latest AFL dictum. I think umpires show implicit bias against some teams and players. They are currently going through a spate of being whistle happy. 35 frees in first half Geelong vs Brisbane is 1 less than average for a while game.

Last week there were pictures of Ray Chamberlain laughing with Hawthorn players in their rooms before the game.

For what it's worth we are mid table for frees for / against season to date (any guesses for team with most positive free kick differential?) Woof woof.

I think there are cultural issues amongt the umpiring fraternity. I think that the constant rule changing and emphasis on interpreting the rules in certain ways to shape the style of play has broken officiating of our great game. I never used to pay much attention to umpiring. Now it seems to intrude on games.

This needs to be fixed. It is real and it's serious for the comp.

[neilfws]

I didn't think that was a terrible loss, 10 points in Adelaide. They tried hard all night although not at their best, and were coming hard at the end. Close for much of the game. A few moments of better execution and we'd be looking at an unexpected win. Port did more of what mattered when it mattered - that is, kick sealers.

Good to see Gulden back.

I do agree that defence is looking like something of a weak link and has done all year.

Aliir seemed to deal with the "former club" psychology admirably. That out-marking of Buddy late in the game was quite a moment.

Really ruing that Hawks loss. No "easy" games coming up.

[Bexl]

Lots of complaints on here about our defense when I think it should be the forwards we are annoyed with.

Heeney was hopeless. Absolutely hopeless.

Amartey and Bell added absolutely nothing and both need to be dropped.

Gulden started well but then went missing. Love him though and will be better for the run.

Rowbottom needs to be dropped too. Fumbles consistently and just doesn’t do enough. Florent not far behind him.

On the positives, Mills was fantastic, Parker tried his guts out, Dawson is so reliable and JMac is a future star.

if you are dropping Armatey Bell Rowbottom and Florent who are you bringing in that's not currently injured and deserves a game including who is going to be the second ruck?

[stevoswan]

Someone should tap Hinkley for drinking Coca Cola in the box , it’s such a bad look .

Good one!

[Agent 86]

Well there's a suprise. TB out for his usual targets. if only the umpires had the same @@@@ing consistency as you.

Hate to say it, but starting to agree with TB on these 2. I think RB has more upside, but still too soft. Ollie I don’t rate on recent performances. Goes okay when we’re on top (which doesn’t happen much these days) but how long do you wait for someone to develop a bit of hardness?

[Captain]

I’m not dropping Florent. He needs to lift though.

McLean for Amartey is a no brainer.

Bell for anyone. He is one of the most useless footballers I have ever seen.

Rowbottom for Warner (when fit).