Round 1 v Giants

[aardvark]

Crowd numbers were well below estimates everywhere not just Sydney.

Significant concerns over crowd numbers after poor Round 1 showings

[mcs]

Crowd numbers were well below estimates everywhere not just Sydney.

Significant concerns over crowd numbers after poor Round 1 showings

Yeh there is certainly a broader issue at play here. It will take time for crowds to rebuild I suspect (quite possibly 2-3 years), if they ever do at all get back to where they broadly were pre-pandemic.

On a completely different matter - but interesting as just saw something that reminded me of it. Impressive we run out the game like we did only using 48 interchanges out of the allowed 75. A deliberate strategy to get more game time into some legs, or build up stamina/try new things, or just a freak outcome? Be interesting to see what happens against the Cats on Friday interchange numbers wise. It wasn't like it was a training session like Geelong had against the Bombers, where a low count makes sense. It was a pretty high quality game of footy played at a pretty decent tempo and intensity for rd 1.

[Ocker]

I continue to be amazed by the game play of Eric Gulden.

As has already been mentioned here he is an elite tackler. He can win his own ball in almost any role. He has outstanding disposal skills. He is steady under pressure especially when shooting for goal. He is a strong overhead mark despite his size.

However, these strengths pale beside his game awareness. His vision, his sense of timing and his tenacity are remarkable for one so young. If any one example demonstrates his acumen and poise, the run out of defense with the two bounces and then to by-pass the temptation of passing to Franklin and to choose the correct option in the Heeney/Parker contest and then to deliver so well was exceptional.

Great summary of what this young man gives us; already my favourite player.

[Bangalore Swans]

Crowd numbers were well below estimates everywhere not just Sydney.

Significant concerns over crowd numbers after poor Round 1 showings

It’s school camps. Over the last three weeks there have been all these school camps for primary school kids in Years 3-6. There has been outbreaks in many of these camps. All these other kids and many parents are then classified as close contacts and can’t leave the house.

You can’t go to the game.

[ugg]

Impressive we run out the game like we did only using 48 interchanges out of the allowed 75.

I think this is an error. In the Footy Live app, it has a breakdown of the quarter-by-quarter interchanges: 6, 30, 12, 0. Now it would be really impressive if we didn't make any interchanges in the last quarter, but that seems very, very unlikely.

[mcs]

I think this is an error. In the Footy Live app, it has a breakdown of the quarter-by-quarter interchanges: 6, 30, 18, 0. Now it would be really impressive if we didn't make any interchanges in the last quarter, but that seems very, very unlikely.

Makes sense Ugg. I thought even if a deliberate strategy it seemed exceptionally low.

Sent from my CPH2009 using Tapatalk

[stevoswan]

Did anyone watch the Adelaide v Fremantle game?

I would be interested to know what impact Dawson had for Adelaide and how we replaced Dawson’s impact in round 1?

17 disposals (12 kick, 5 handballs), 6 marks, 1 tackle (he was never a big tackler) and 1 goal 1 behind. His goal was a beautiful long kick which is no surprise, but he wasn't listed in the Crows best in the match report. Serviceable start by the sounds of it.

Glad Freo won though and by a solitary point, which makes it even sweeter.

As for how we covered for him.....we won. Seriously though, I don't think we lose as much as the Crows gain....and we have the talent depth to not miss him as much as we first feared.

[barry]

There was no way there was 8,750 giants fans there. 875 would be a lot closer to the truth.

lol.

And you know full well the comparison to 2019 is completely irrelevant, because Swans members don't get free entry to games at the Showground. As you know well, getting things for free is a strong encouragement for some to attend games.

Sure is. There would have been only 10,000 at most of the 50,000 members who are prepared to pay to see the team play. Pretty low conversion rate.

The AFL were talking up expectations of 50K + for this game. I don't think 25,000 for a regular season game is necessarily a bad outcome at all. But for one where the AFL ensured members of both clubs could get in for free, and they did seem to spend a reasonable amount of effort trying to hype it up (as much as you can in Sydney anyway, where people are indifferent a lot of the time) given the Buddy factor, I don't think it was a particularly good outcome. 35K would of been about par for mine.

The AFL have their head in the sand when it comes to Sydney. 50k+ was dreaming. I remember hearing an interview with Josh Kennedy a week before the game, and him saying that Sydney was "buzzing" about the game. Must be a parrallel universe, because I'm a pretty hard core fan, and I have to look up the date to find when it was on.

Of a side interest, I'd be intrigued to know what % of the crowd were there on actually purchased and paid for tickets. I think it would be <10%.

less than 1% I'd guess. The concept of walk-ups is dying.
Back in my youth (a long time ago) rocking up to a ground was very common. Get a GA ticket, sit anywhere you like. Now there are very few booth selling tickets, often you cant buy the GA ticket and get pushing into a higher price bracket, and its all ticketted with seat allocations. Bureaucracy gone mad.

[stevoswan]

Great summary of what this young man gives us; already my favourite player.

Yep....and Eric's brother Errol looks pretty good too.

[stevoswan]

Mini Match highlights.

Mini-Match: GWS v Sydney

[snajik]

Yep....and Eric's brother Errol looks pretty good too.

Though the upside is we wouldn't have to hear Australian Crawl anymore.

[KTigers]

25,000 crowd. 65/35 ratio Swans to Giants = 16,250 swans supporters ( 32% of 2021 membership number) and 8,750 Giants supporters ( 28% )

Pretty much both sets of fans stayed away at a similar ratio. Weather, Covid, ground, lack of promotion ?

Or maybe its actually a good crowd figure. Only 16,000 went to last pre-covid Derby at Giants stadium in 2019. You could read into that that swans fans prefer Accor over Giants stadium. heaven forbid!

-----------

Its an interesting dynamic. While at the game, it was apparent that when the giants were ahead in the first half, the swans fans weren't too flustered, and when the swans kicked on later in the game, the giants fans werent to flustered either. Only a few walked out early. (Contrast to a Collingwood Carton game, half the stadium would be empty by final siren) The vast majority of fans (except a few rabid on here) have a soft spot for both sides. This presents a problem for the AFL who want to drive a rivalry. As seen by crowds at both home grounds over the years, the swans v giants game is just seen as another H&A game, nothing special. So, if you were in charge, how do you maximize the derby (monetize it). ?
I think the best way is to make a festival of footy type thing. Embrace the common bond, rather than force a division. First round lock. Play AFLW round as a curtain raiser. etc, promotion. Make it an event.

In summary, if the AFL are disappointed at 25,000 crowd, then the AFL dont know Sydney. Which is embarrassing as AFL has been in Sydney for 30 years now. You'd think someone from Melbourne would bother to at least try and understand the place.

I would have thought the crowd was in the low 30,000s. It looked more than 25,000 to me. But it wasn't. I'd say the split was
2/3 Swans fans, 1/3 GWS fans based on the amount of Red and Orange about. I think people forget that one team has been
in Sydney for 40 years and the other for ten, and one did have the entire "market" for almost three decades and those things may
have something to do with the two Sydney teams respective levels of support at this point.
Re the "lowish" crowd number ; I think there is a lot of front page news stuff going on at the moment, Covid, war, floods etc
and there haven't been any mens Swans or Giants games played in Sydney for a long time so it's possible a lot of people's
heads are not really into thinking about footy just yet. It's a long season.

[Ralph Dawg]

17 disposals (12 kick, 5 handballs), 6 marks, 1 tackle (he was never a big tackler) and 1 goal 1 behind. His goal was a beautiful long kick which is no surprise, but he wasn't listed in the Crows best in the match report. Serviceable start by the sounds of it.

Glad Freo won though and by a solitary point, which makes it even sweeter.

As for how we covered for him.....we won. Seriously though, I don't think we lose as much as the Crows gain....and we have the talent depth to not miss him as much as we first feared.

After watching Campbell's goal again, I'd say he will miss us more than we miss him...

[Hotpotato]

I would have thought the crowd was in the low 30,000s. It looked more than 25,000 to me. But it wasn't. I'd say the split was
2/3 Swans fans, 1/3 GWS fans based on the amount of Red and Orange about. I think people forget that one team has been
in Sydney for 40 years and the other for ten, and one did have the entire "market" for almost three decades and those things may
have something to do with the two Sydney teams respective levels of support at this point.
Re the "lowish" crowd number ; I think there is a lot of front page news stuff going on at the moment, Covid, war, floods etc
and there haven't been any mens Swans or Giants games played in Sydney for a long time so it's possible a lot of people's
heads are not really into thinking about footy just yet. It's a long season.

It’s just a longish drag getting out there , I was on the fence , however opted to save the time, the fuel etc and watched at the Buena Pub (Mosman).

I can cycle to the SCG and it’s far less effort & time.
They hardly ever have kick-to-kick at Olympic Stadium.

[NeonBible]

Hi all,

it took 48 hours watching one quarter at a time.. but i got through it!! Spoilers were impossible to avoid!! Enjoyed the viewing nonetheless

So very impressive the way we fought back. It was tough and brave and full of heart. Such a typical Bloods victory win. I wish i could be there. It was lovely seeing a stadium full of red and white. And so many great performers!

-Parker.. WHAT ELSE IS THERE TO SAY? I believe he could be the best captain this club has had since Kelly.. his CV is growing, and he is not even 30 yet.. still plenty of footy ahead of him, and to think what he could achieve in that time leading this great club..
-Florent.. what an impressive game from this young man. Has he arrived?? We can only hope - the talent has always been there!! His goal on the run out of the centre was fantastic, and his 2nd goal weaving in and out of GWS players was even better! Two goal of the year contenders in one game - how often does a player have that!
-Heeney.. tale of two halves! Barely sighted in 1st half, then he was everywhere!! Much debate about where to play him - midfield vs. forward - this game won't do anything to dull that debate.. he was brilliant in both areas of the ground!
-The McCartin bros.. another tale of two halves.. they looked nervous in the 1st half.. unsure.. the chemistry wasn't there.. by the 2nd half they were DOMINATING! Every time it went into the back line i felt supremely confident one of them would mark it.. and they usually did!
-Blakey.. the LIZARD was fantastic! There is just no catching him when he decides to put those jets on! So important to our drive out of the back half.. and those kicks that he is capable of doing.. hitting players lace out on their chests.. it's magnificent to watch. He is a supreme talent!
-Rowbottom.. a typical 'Rowbottom' game. So tough, so hard, so dogged. My one criticism of him remains.. he is too passive! He has been thoroughly debated on here as to what he can and can't do but when i watch him i sometimes wonder if no one places more limitations on what he can do than himself? Hmmm..
-Mills.. not much mention of Millsy! He was not his usual dominant self, but it was his first full game since August last year! He was crucial to our inside game and will only get better.
-Gulden.. he wasn't quite as prolific as i would hope, but that is only because im greedy - i want the ball in his hands as much as possible! He is such an incredibly clever player. He sees the play happening in front of him before everyone around him does! What a delight to watch he is!

And Buddy watch?? Well, it wasn't to be! 4 goals in 1 week will be tough.. but i won't be complaining if he can't do it.. i will be attending the Bulldogs game at Marvel in rd 3.. i would not complain about witnessing history myself

Great start to what im sure is going to be a very strong campaign!!

CHEER CHEER