Swans v Port.

[Ludwig]

The team has dropped off considerably from the first few games and several players have been in poor form. It;s an opportunity to try a few different things, but not a reason to write off players completely. Players usually, but not always, find a way back to their best form during their early development years.

A few comments in response to the last 3 pages above:

Heeney has had 2 poor games, one when the whole team was off and another in the rain. Before that, he had some impressive games. I don't think he should move to defence, even though I'm sure he would do well. I would like to see him given more midfield time, but it would have been hard to do yesterday with Hewett moving into the midfield for the game. Also, we have plenty of options for small defenders, and don't need Heeney to add to that list.

McCartin has been down for quite a few games, and Rampe has also dropped off from his usual high standards. It's hard to know what to do about, except spin the wheel and consider other options.

Bell does some good things on occasion, but has yet to reach a level warranted to hold down a senior spot. I would still have him over the delist cutoff line. There are others I would cut before him. It's probably less than a 50-50 chance that he'll make it, but he's not a write off yet. If we elitist someone like Bell, he's only going to replace by a rookie who has even less chance of succeeding at AFL level.

I don't know what's happened to Florent lately, because he started the season in career best form.

I think the criticism of Rowbottom is excessive. It's fallen into the category of brainwashing now. Here's how it works:

1. When it starts there's a general consensus that Rowbottom is one of our best young players.
2. Someone vehemently and relentlessly challenges this viewpoint, discounting everything positive about him.
3. We all begin to reassess our original positive viewpoint on Rowbottom.
4. We look more closely at the weak points highlighted by his detractors.
5. A few more come on board the anti RB train, reinforcing this view and bringing more to question their original positions.
6. There's a critical focus on every move RB makes, and mistakes are found because of this scrutiny. It's similar to the position fans have that the umpiring is always biased against their team. The fans are looking for bias, so they find it.
7. The pendulum swings toward the position of the detractors.
8. The visual 'confirmation' of the negatives by scrutinizing every error made reinforces the linguistic or logic-based rationale of the detractors. This reinforcement is very hard to break. This is how brainwashing work. We see the extreme of the visual reinforcement in the film Clockwork Orange, but examples of how this works are everywhere to be seen these days.

I thought Rowbottom was in the top half of our player performances. He finished 6th in ranking points and 1st in tackles. He made a precision touch pass between 2 opposition players in the 4th qtr which was part of some of out best ball movement in the 2nd half. Bell was also involved in the play. It wasn't a BOG performance, nor was it one that fell on the wrong side of the ledger. But once the negative opinions become entrenched, they need constant reinforcement, like a booster shot, else we might fall off the bandwagon.

Chaddddd's halo grows larger with every mention of his name. Absence makes the heart grow ever fonder. His statue should be erected at the SCG by the time the covid lockdown is lifted and games are resumed in Sydney.

[stevoswan]

Re: Bell. Agree for most of the game he looked ordinary but he delivered an excellent kick amongst a crowded 50 into Hayward who somehow dropped it, but it all worked out when he regathered and handballed to Buddy for the go ahead goal

Well that was one good thing he did. He's not up to it and I can't understand why he keeps getting picked. I like him a lot but he's not an AFL standard footballer.

[stevoswan]

.

Parker is a runaway leader in the Bob Skilton.

Mills?

[Ludwig]

But these players never have great games . I reckon Florent's had maybe 2 or 3 across his career , hes played 70+ games

McCartin the same

Rowbottom and Blakey have had none

I know kids take time to develop but they will still tease you with a few games here and there that are great and signs of what they will do in the future. Not seeing that from any of these kids , hate to be the bearer of bad news but the writing is on the wall , sooner we accept that the sooner we can cut our losses and change our trade and draft strategy

I dont wanna be pinning all my hopes on 3 kids Chad Jmac and Gulden but the kids around them arent leaving me with much choice are they

If we start delisting players like RB and Blakey we would have around 25 players on the chopping block this year, replacing them with players chosen after the 4th round, the equivalent of doing a triple rebuild in a single year., restocking the playing list with players that have around a 10% chance of success.

Current players like Lloyd, Cunningham and Hewett were excoriated at times in their early years, only to continue their improvement and become part of our core group of players.

The game is so demanding now with players required to execute with precision under extreme pressure and when their endurance level is at exhaustion, it's not surprising that it takes players a long time to reach their peak. We need to adjust our monitors to account for how the game has changed in recent years. Calling for delisting of players has to be put into a realistic framework of what kind of players will succeed them on our list, their development time frame and what it means for our better players left behind in the wake of a list cleanout.

[stevoswan]

What is really sad is that we have not improved from our 15th place last year. We caught the opposition of guard with our first 4 wins and using the centre corridor, but since then we have been a 15th placed side with a bit of Buddy's brilliance in between. We have the worse backline in the comp and I cannot see how we are going to win another game this year?

Dear me.....get out of the wrong side of bed? We just pushed a contender to 10 pts and a lot of the team was down. We will win more games....but not if the team has your attitude.

[stevoswan]

But these players never have great games . I reckon Florent's had maybe 2 or 3 across his career , hes played 70+ games

McCartin the same

Rowbottom and Blakey have had none

I know kids take time to develop but they will still tease you with a few games here and there that are great and signs of what they will do in the future. Not seeing that from any of these kids , hate to be the bearer of bad news but the writing is on the wall , sooner we accept that the sooner we can cut our losses and change our trade and draft strategy

I dont wanna be pinning all my hopes on 3 kids Chad Jmac and Gulden but the kids around them arent leaving me with much choice are they

TB, you're not the bearer of bad news......you're the bearer of negative predictions and selective 'idol' worship. It's tiring.

[rickmat]

We need to give McCartin some scope. He is still young and learning the key back position and needs confidence in the fellow backs around him. Are they talking to him, giving him confidence to go for marks or punch, voice for handballs. Even Ramped, Lloyd and Brand had ordinary games and that puts pressure on McCartin. Give him some time, like Dawson. It took nearly 4 years before Dawson gained a position in the 22. But McCartin needs some support around him if he is to become our CHB. And at the moment, we don't have the confidence in our back 6 every week.

[stevoswan]

I think the criticism of Rowbottom is excessive. It's fallen into the category of brainwashing now. Here's how it works:

1. When it starts there's a general consensus that Rowbottom is one of our best young players.
2. Someone vehemently and relentlessly challenges this viewpoint, discounting everything positive about him.
3. We all begin to reassess our original positive viewpoint on Rowbottom.
4. We look more closely at the weak points highlighted by his detractors.
5. A few more come on board the anti RB train, reinforcing this view and bringing more to question their original positions.
6. There's a critical focus on every move RB makes, and mistakes are found because of this scrutiny. It's similar to the position fans have that the umpiring is always biased against their team. The fans are looking for bias, so they find it.
7. The pendulum swings toward the position of the detractors.
8. The visual 'confirmation' of the negatives by scrutinizing every error made reinforces the linguistic or logic-based rationale of the detractors. This reinforcement is very hard to break. This is how brainwashing work. We see the extreme of the visual reinforcement in the film Clockwork Orange, but examples of how this works are everywhere to be seen these days.

I thought Rowbottom was in the top half of our player performances. He finished 6th in ranking points and 1st in tackles. He made a precision touch pass between 2 opposition players in the 4th qtr which was part of some of out best ball movement in the 2nd half. Bell was also involved in the play. It wasn't a BOG performance, nor was it one that fell on the wrong side of the ledger. But once the negative opinions become entrenched, they need constant reinforcement, like a booster shot, else we might fall off the bandwagon.

Chaddddd's halo grows larger with every mention of his name. Absence makes the heart grow ever fonder. His statue should be erected at the SCG by the time the covid lockdown is lifted and games are resumed in Sydney.

This is beautifully summed up.....but I doubt the detractors will will twig. They'll continue to detract in spite of this intelligence.

[707]

We defended okay, tbh, Tommy not great. Lloyd cost us a few. But take away soft free kicks to Dixon and we win.

If the umps paid those in Lockett's era he would have kicked 2000 goals!

Twice as many whistles as needed that game IMO, just pay blatant ones not netball frees, very frustrating.

[TheBloods]

If we start delisting players like RB and Blakey we would have around 25 players on the chopping block this year, replacing them with players chosen after the 4th round, the equivalent of doing a triple rebuild in a single year., restocking the playing list with players that have around a 10% chance of success.

Current players like Lloyd, Cunningham and Hewett were excoriated at times in their early years, only to continue their improvement and become part of our core group of players.

The game is so demanding now with players required to execute with precision under extreme pressure and when their endurance level is at exhaustion, it's not surprising that it takes players a long time to reach their peak. We need to adjust our monitors to account for how the game has changed in recent years. Calling for delisting of players has to be put into a realistic framework of what kind of players will succeed them on our list, their development time frame and what it means for our better players left behind in the wake of a list cleanout.

We'd be mad to delist RB hes a very good tackler and pressure player ive never denied that . Hes just not very good at much else and has been shocking of late. Why is he aloud to play average game after average game and have his place in the team guaranteed every week ? All i want to see is some fairness and standards . McLean , Bell Stephens etc play a few below par games and they are dropped straight away but RB has done it all year and has a spot safe and sound . Its BS and disheartening to see as a paying member and fan of 56 years , we deserve transparency and not to see our coach playing favourites and being gifted games on unearned potential !

Mccartin too has been sub par they should both be in the 2s

Blakeys another story , dont see anything

[Aprilbr]

Certainly a lot of negativity on here after yesterday's narrow loss. My take is that despite a great start to this season we need to recognise that this team is still very much a work in progress. We have two glaring weaknesses in the current squad in my view. The first is a strong, power defender to take the monsters with confidence. I thought this even before the season commenced. I was at the 'G last night and watched the Dees hold on against the Bombers. May for the Dees is the type of defender we desparately need. Obviously, he is not available but that is the type we need to recruit. Brand and the Pelican are our best bets in the current squad but are not in the same league as May. Draft or trade at the end of the year. The other need is for a class onballer with pace and break away ability. Mills, Parker etc have been great but they need help. Ollie has the potential to do this but has been disappointing of late.

Returning to last night's game, I thought the two crucial free kicks to big Charlie were there and were critical in the result. In the second one, Brand panicked and had his hand on Charlie's left shoulder retarding him from competing or jumping for the ball. It was very clear if you watch the replay. Brand is probably not up to it but we have little choice but to play him at present. I guess we could replace him with Gould but Brand is 198 cm and Gould is 191 cm. So would anyone have the confidence that Gould could restrict the monsters? He is a less athletic version of Rampe (only 2 cm taller). Hopefully, the Pelican will be available soon.

[Bangalore Swans]

The team has dropped off considerably from the first few games and several players have been in poor form. It;s an opportunity to try a few different things, but not a reason to write off players completely. Players usually, but not always, find a way back to their best form during their early development years.

A few comments in response to the last 3 pages above:

Heeney has had 2 poor games, one when the whole team was off and another in the rain. Before that, he had some impressive games. I don't think he should move to defence, even though I'm sure he would do well. I would like to see him given more midfield time, but it would have been hard to do yesterday with Hewett moving into the midfield for the game. Also, we have plenty of options for small defenders, and don't need Heeney to add to that list.

McCartin has been down for quite a few games, and Rampe has also dropped off from his usual high standards. It's hard to know what to do about, except spin the wheel and consider other options.

Bell does some good things on occasion, but has yet to reach a level warranted to hold down a senior spot. I would still have him over the delist cutoff line. There are others I would cut before him. It's probably less than a 50-50 chance that he'll make it, but he's not a write off yet. If we elitist someone like Bell, he's only going to replace by a rookie who has even less chance of succeeding at AFL level.

I don't know what's happened to Florent lately, because he started the season in career best form.

I think the criticism of Rowbottom is excessive. It's fallen into the category of brainwashing now. Here's how it works:

1. When it starts there's a general consensus that Rowbottom is one of our best young players.
2. Someone vehemently and relentlessly challenges this viewpoint, discounting everything positive about him.
3. We all begin to reassess our original positive viewpoint on Rowbottom.
4. We look more closely at the weak points highlighted by his detractors.
5. A few more come on board the anti RB train, reinforcing this view and bringing more to question their original positions.
6. There's a critical focus on every move RB makes, and mistakes are found because of this scrutiny. It's similar to the position fans have that the umpiring is always biased against their team. The fans are looking for bias, so they find it.
7. The pendulum swings toward the position of the detractors.
8. The visual 'confirmation' of the negatives by scrutinizing every error made reinforces the linguistic or logic-based rationale of the detractors. This reinforcement is very hard to break. This is how brainwashing work. We see the extreme of the visual reinforcement in the film Clockwork Orange, but examples of how this works are everywhere to be seen these days.

I thought Rowbottom was in the top half of our player performances. He finished 6th in ranking points and 1st in tackles. He made a precision touch pass between 2 opposition players in the 4th qtr which was part of some of out best ball movement in the 2nd half. Bell was also involved in the play. It wasn't a BOG performance, nor was it one that fell on the wrong side of the ledger. But once the negative opinions become entrenched, they need constant reinforcement, like a booster shot, else we might fall off the bandwagon.

Chaddddd's halo grows larger with every mention of his name. Absence makes the heart grow ever fonder. His statue should be erected at the SCG by the time the covid lockdown is lifted and games are resumed in Sydney.

Rowbottom did some nice things, however some of the fumbles show a player lacking in confidence. I still want him in the team. I think if he nailed a 25 possession (80% efficiency), 10 tackle and 2 goal game then in the words of Barassi “I’ll shut up”.

Swans are now 0-2 in Chad’s absence. He gives our midfield that special line breaking super confident capability that no other midfielder is doing at the moment. His line breaking reminds me of a young Chris Judd, an Adam Goodes 2003-2012 or a fit Dangerfield. I personally love the way he attacks the contest. He brings “Chad intensity” to the contest. Chad intensity just happens to be better than almost all other players.

[crackedactor 01]

Dear me.....get out of the wrong side of bed? We just pushed a contender to 10 pts and a lot of the team was down. We will win more games....but not if the team has your attitude.

Contenders??? Are you kidding me? They are no where near a top 4 side (top 8 at best) and only because of Buddy's brilliance we even came close. As Jack Nicholson said "You can't handle the truth"

[Bangalore Swans]

I'm an old boy from the school. They were a pretty good school team - 3 flags in a row

It happens some times. Phil Kearns and Nick Farr-Jones are two Rugby Union greats who didn’t make the 1st 15 of their school teams.

J-Mac is certainly proving a very strong AFL player. Seems like a mild manned bloke as well.

I’m sure some of the jocks at the school who thought they were a step above J-Mac now feel humbled watching him play so well.

[Ralph Dawg]

Certainly a lot of negativity on here after yesterday's narrow loss. My take is that despite a great start to this season we need to recognise that this team is still very much a work in progress. We have two glaring weaknesses in the current squad in my view. The first is a strong, power defender to take the monsters with confidence. I thought this even before the season commenced. I was at the 'G last night and watched the Dees hold on against the Bombers. May for the Dees is the type of defender we desparately need. Obviously, he is not available but that is the type we need to recruit. Brand and the Pelican are our best bets in the current squad but are not in the same league as May. Draft or trade at the end of the year. The other need is for a class onballer with pace and break away ability. Mills, Parker etc have been great but they need help. Ollie has the potential to do this but has been disappointing of late.

Returning to last night's game, I thought the two crucial free kicks to big Charlie were there and were critical in the result. In the second one, Brand panicked and had his hand on Charlie's left shoulder retarding him from competing or jumping for the ball. It was very clear if you watch the replay. Brand is probably not up to it but we have little choice but to play him at present. I guess we could replace him with Gould but Brand is 198 cm and Gould is 191 cm. So would anyone have the confidence that Gould could restrict the monsters? He is a less athletic version of Rampe (only 2 cm taller). Hopefully, the Pelican will be available soon.

I think height is important but not the be all. More importantly, our defensive unit has not been cohesive. They lack trust in each other, hence the shakey disposals (esp. hack kicks to no one) and soft free kicks. Reg and Teddy, C Bolton and Leo were not tall key defenders but they invariably won the day by working as part of a unit and working to a plan. These guys played in the era of power forwards such as Brown and Gehrig yet got the job done.

However, one thing I'd like to see is Amartey or McLean given the opportunity to play back as they both would inject some height and size.