Match thread. Swans v North.

[MattW]

North were playing for their lives, IMO. I thought it was a very highly contested game and we had to be good to win in. North brought their best. I think saying we were poor is incorrect.

Agreed!

Subject to the length of Buddy's injury absence, I saw positives.

- Mills kept us in it all day;
- Campbell was clean and showed poise;
- McInerney and Heeney showed champion qualities in the final term. They will be guaranteed performers in big finals;
- that's probably the most substantive contribution Florent has made to winning a closely fought game;
- Warner had good moments and his set shot bomb was a highlight. He'll learn from that game.

[i'm-uninformed2]

There’s some behind the goal footage on the AFL website on the Round So Far of the ground covered by Heeney prior to his first goal, and how hard and long his burst run was. Ridiculous really.

[TheBloods]

I must watch a different game to you lot . I suppose thats what makes this place . Disappointing crowd , no atmosphere, buddy of mine in Melb said it 's the same at games there too . Maybe fans are sick and tired of watching games where the play is stopped every 5 @@@@@@@ seconds for free kicks .

Thought my main 4 were mixed . Blakey quieter , knew he 'd cop a tag at some point but he 'll learn . Gulden poor but thats ok . Chad is awesome and Jmac sensational . They are on another level .

Florent not bad , Mills is our midfield leader now , Parker has groin soreness so wont hang him for his game . Spewing about Buddy , forwards need work . I told you all Bell wasn 't that bad , didn't see Ronke coming , that was nice to see

[dejavoodoo44]

There’s some behind the goal footage on the AFL website on the Round So Far of the ground covered by Heeney prior to his first goal, and how hard and long his burst run was. Ridiculous really.

I haven't seen that yet, but a few times when watching replays this season, I've rewound it to watch the distance that Heeney covers. Mainly because, after seeing him take a lead up mark on the forward flank, there was a vague recall in my head, that at the start of the move, he was in position for a handball receive in the opposite back pocket.

[Aprilbr]

We did well to hang tough against a committed opponent (opponents if you count the umpires [emoji6]). That fourth quarter was a glimpse of what is required if we are to go far this year. Heeney, Mills, Ollie and McInerney leading the way.

Areas of concern for me are:

1) Defensive work on small / medium forwards. Ziebell and Mahoney finished well on top of Cunningham, Lloyd and Rampe. I don't think our small defenders have collectively won a battle this year with Lloyd / Hill (GWS), Close (Cats), Weightman (Dogs) prevailing as well.

2) Pressure in our F50 was average with North easily rebounding for the first 3 quarters. Hayward has been kicking a few goals but his pressure and workrate poor for a medium forward. I think it's tine for him to play VFL. If fit Papley for Hayward (Wicks if Paps still not fit) next week and Ronke for Bell who did ok, just not as well as Ronke, who was influential in our forth quarter comeback.

3) Has JPK's time come? I really hope not but just looks off the pace in speed and decision making. Roberts has been a ball magnet in VFL and Sheldrick has impressed everyone so far. Might be a changing of the guard coming ........

Excellent analysis, RD. I cannot argue with any of those observations. In terms of Joey Kennedy, I was talking to a friend of mine last night who is not a Swans supporter but very knowledgeable on the game. He specifically mentioned Joey to me, and said he thinks he is gone. Just too slow and not a backline player. I think his only place is in the middle but they no longer want to play him there. The future does not look good for him.

[Roadrunner]

I must watch a different game to you lot . I suppose thats what makes this place . Disappointing crowd , no atmosphere, buddy of mine in Melb said it 's the same at games there too . Maybe fans are sick and tired of watching games where the play is stopped every 5 @@@@@@@ seconds for free kicks .

Thought my main 4 were mixed . Blakey quieter , knew he 'd cop a tag at some point but he 'll learn . Gulden poor but thats ok . Chad is awesome and Jmac sensational . They are on another level .

Florent not bad , Mills is our midfield leader now , Parker has groin soreness so wont hang him for his game . Spewing about Buddy , forwards need work . I told you all Bell wasn 't that bad , didn't see Ronke coming , that was nice to see

Pretty close, TB- thought the crowd gave very little to the boys, who were far from their best. I thought Campbell played a terrific game and hope he continues this form. JMac was sensational in the last quarter. Disappointed in Hayward- he goes missing for large chunks but then does a few nice things. Ladhams was ordinary though he improved as the game wore on so it is too early to make a call. Wasn’t impressed with McLean despite his 2 goals. Amartey back together with Logan and hopefully Paps. Can a hammy, which was initially diagnosed as not too bad, take this long? Of course we don’t want to rush him but I thought 4-6 weeks should suffice. Must have been a bit worse.

Bell and Ronke made contributions but don’t know if enough to keep their spots. Sadly, Joey is nearly done, though he did a few good things and it must be hard to drop him. But he would be a great med sub!

[TheBloods]

Thought CHad might be our best mid but Jmac might give him a run for his money . What a jet on the inside

[AB Swannie]

I’ve been a critic of Bell and Ronke in the past but their effort and intensity was a shining light. Bell was especially good in the first half when most of our guys looked off the pace.

Overall it was a frustrating game to watch live. The constant whistle with malaise, fumbles, and other skill errors had me on edge. However, I always thought that we could nab the win if we could put together half a quarter and that is exactly what happened.

Team selection could be very interesting again this week.

- - - Updated - - -

Thought CHad might be our best mid but Jmac might give him a run for his money . What a jet on the inside

They’ll compliment each other with Gulden and RB for years. Both had some brilliant and forgettable moments in the game. Look out when they become consistent beasts.

[Kafka's Ghost]

I must watch a different game to you lot . I suppose thats what makes this place . Disappointing crowd , no atmosphere, buddy of mine in Melb said it 's the same at games there too . Maybe fans are sick and tired of watching games where the play is stopped every 5 @@@@@@@ seconds for free kicks .

Thought my main 4 were mixed . Blakey quieter , knew he 'd cop a tag at some point but he 'll learn . Gulden poor but thats ok . Chad is awesome and Jmac sensational . They are on another level .

Florent not bad , Mills is our midfield leader now , Parker has groin soreness so wont hang him for his game . Spewing about Buddy , forwards need work . I told you all Bell wasn 't that bad , didn't see Ronke coming , that was nice to see

The lower crowds and less atmosphere at all games is probably multi factorial. There’s still the matter of a poorly-controlled pandemic, which likely influences many. Over 100,000 cases and 100 deaths in NSW last week is sobering when you look at those numbers.
Then there’s the AFL’s insistence on blasting spectators with endless, god-awful noise. It’s truly unpleasant, and kills organic crowd involvement after each goal. Ironic that the AFL had been desperate to get crowds back, but then do their best to diminish our experience.


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[caj23]

Can’t understand the love for Bell

The 2 goals doesn’t cover up 8 possessions and 1 tackle from a pressure forward.

He has no game sense, was missing for the bulk of the day, and the Roos strolled it out of their backline all day

Hewett is a much bigger loss than most on here believe, Dawson as well obviously, but we pushed George out the door which is galling

[TheBloods]

Can’t understand the love for Bell

The 2 goals doesn’t cover up 8 possessions and 1 tackle from a pressure forward.

He has no game sense, was missing for the bulk of the day, and the Roos strolled it out of their backline all day

Hewett is a much bigger loss than most on here believe, Dawson as well obviously, but we pushed George out the door which is galling

This is why i get frustrated . I cop it for knocking a certain player but we have made list decisions like getting rid of Hewett and now selection decisions like dropping Stephens / playing Joey at hbf all to show faith in someone who hasn 't earned it to date . If it 's a misjudgment that only effected one player then i wouldn 't judge it so hard , but it 's a misjudgment that has a knock on effect and starts to impact what happens with other players , the team , the list going forward etc . Makes it concerning and hard to let go of

[mcs]

The lower crowds and less atmosphere at all games is probably multi factorial. There’s still the matter of a poorly-controlled pandemic, which likely influences many. Over 100,000 cases and 100 deaths in NSW last week is sobering when you look at those numbers.
Then there’s the AFL’s insistence on blasting spectators with endless, god-awful noise. It’s truly unpleasant, and kills organic crowd involvement after each goal. Ironic that the AFL had been desperate to get crowds back, but then do their best to diminish our experience.


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Huge positive - no resemblence of any form of gambling advertising at the footy.

Huge negative - that god awful goal music. Horrendous. And like they've needed to for years, they could turn the speakers down.

[liz]

Huge positive - no resemblence of any form of gambling advertising at the footy.

Huge negative - that god awful goal music. Horrendous. And like they've needed to for years, they could turn the speakers down.

I've decided to be grateful that the noise in the O'Reilly is only ear throbbing, rather than the ear splitting noise I was showered with at the Round 1 game at Stadium Australia.

I do believe the noise levels are slightly lower in the O'Reilly (though still uncomfortably loud) than in the Churchill/Brewongle, where I've had the misfortune of sitting for a couple of finals games.

[AB Swannie]

Can’t understand the love for Bell

The 2 goals doesn’t cover up 8 possessions and 1 tackle from a pressure forward.

He has no game sense, was missing for the bulk of the day, and the Roos strolled it out of their backline all day

Hewett is a much bigger loss than most on here believe, Dawson as well obviously, but we pushed George out the door which is galling

No undying love. Just respect for his efforts yesterday. I didn't see the numbers overall and maybe it was just a few contests where I thought he went hard in the eye test which made me applaud. It's probably because I had so little expectation from him that I was happy with his performance. Same with Ronke but he was really good yesterday.


In terms of the statistics, these were our best pressure guys yesterday. Overall, we are still down on our best pressure footy. (PA=Pressure Acts, CP=Contested Possessions, T=Tackles)

Screenshot.jpg

PS: TB, you cop it on here because there is no balance with your "knocking". It is relentless even when you don't mention his name. Your analysis of other players is often good because it is balanced.

[Ruck'n'Roll]

UMPIRES

Maybe fans are sick and tired of watching games where the play is stopped every 5 @@@@@@@ seconds for free kicks .

There were 60 frees paid in the North game, which was a touch higher than average for this year - but Don Jolly paid 91 free kicks in the 1970 grand final alone, and its often cited as one of the best grannies of all time.
So all do respect to your prerceptions, I don't think it's the number of frees paid, maybe it's the number of duff decisions?

NOISE POLUTION

Then there’s the AFL’s insistence on blasting spectators with endless, god-awful noise. It’s truly unpleasant, and kills organic crowd involvement after each goal. Ironic that the AFL had been desperate to get crowds back, but then do their best to diminish our experience.

I've decided to be grateful that the noise in the O'Reilly is only ear throbbing, rather than the ear splitting noise I was showered with at the Round 1 game at Stadium Australia.

For whatever reason the "game day experience" at the Giants actual home ground, is far less intrusive, it's possible to hold a conversation at the intervals even. So maybe it's the stadium rather than the AFL or clubs?