Rd 6 vs Hawthorn @ Launceston - Match Thread

[i'm-uninformed2]

Horse just said in post game presser McCartin feels fine and the docs just took a conservative approach with him.

For a laugh, watch Horses face and reaction to some moron journo asking if the prospect of it being Buddy’s last game in Tassie was something they were aware of and discussed.

[liz]

Parker was terrific. That play on the wing when he tackled and stripped a bloke of the ball, got down and dirty to reclaim it, fed it out and Chad went on to kick his bomb summed it up.

That was a great illustration of how you can go to ground to attack the ball without crashing into the legs of an opponent.

Parker was great but I had Ladhams as my second best on ground. How wonderful to find out that last week wasn't just a one off. Hickey might struggle to get back into the team...

[stevoswan]

Thought we had a very good run with the umpires today too.

Nice to see for a change. Against a Victorian side too.....very refreshing!

No doubt Sam Mitchell will channel his predecessor and attempt a coffee with Gil.

[stevoswan]

Horse just said in post game presser McCartin feels fine and the docs just took a conservative approach with him.

For a laugh, watch Horses face and reaction to some moron journo asking if the prospect of it being Buddy’s last game in Tassie was something they were aware of and discussed.

I believe that was Bangalore's brother.

[SwanSand]

Terrific win after some poor showing in the first half.
Buddy did some good job at the end where he just worked hard to provide contest for Sicily.
What is going on with Florent? He is the one I am really unsure about. He is supposed to be the one sharing responsibility in the middle and the younger brigade are going past him. If he is injured we should just rest him? I reckon Stephens will probably have the same if not more influence. He has to be injured - he was on the ground for only 72% of the time.
What about James Bell? I am sure he does something that I can't see but surely if Papley is right next week, he is in trouble.

[barry]

If you can't tackle, you can't really play as a pressure forward. James Bell's place has to be in jeopardy

Just waiting for papley is my guess.

[rojo]

I was at the game. Smiling now at the early posts on here. At the ground there were a lot of unhappy Swans supporters at half time in the stand I was in, including me. 'Pathetic' was the most common word bandied around. When you are there in person the miskicks, dropped marks, missed goals, lack of pressure etc seem to stand out more. I was actually wishing I had stayed at home I was so disappointed at the standard of football by the Swans players. It was awful, especially for a team supposedly aiming for the top 4! Fortunately there was a bit of a turn around in the 3rd but at the change I still thought that if we were to get up and win, we didn't deserve to!

However, ...... as we all know, in the 4th quarter we, the spectators, got to see some play more in keeping with our expectations! Not sure as to who or what brought the turn around but it was nice to have something to cheer about and enjoy at the end. Even a bit of % boosting too - who would have thought!

[giant]

That was a great illustration of how you can go to ground to attack the ball without crashing into the legs of an opponent.

Parker was great but I had Ladhams as my second best on ground. How wonderful to find out that last week wasn't just a one off. Hickey might struggle to get back into the team...

Ladhams has been great, but kinda benefitted from playing a couple of third string ruckmen in the last two weeks - next week likely to be a sterner test.

That last quarter...my goodness, where the heck did that come from? Sets up for a brilliant contest next week.

So pleased that there doesn't seem to be any official concern for Paddy, but hoping we (and he) don't have to suffer repeated replays of his desolation/frustration when told he couldn't come back on (while absolutely supporting the medical team's decisions to do so).

[Ludwig]

It's great the way we are capable of overrunning sides in the 4th quarter, but conversely, it's very disappointing the way we've been starting games. We are not going to be overrunning Melbourne in the 4th.

Also, we kept turning the ball over repeatedly. It was shocking how many times we gave the ball back to the Hawks. And we seemed to have no other plan than kicking long to a contest in our forward line. We desperately need to get back to the kind of game where we move the ball in smaller chunks of space, with hard running and precise kicking.

Despite the 5-1 record, I'm not happy with the way we're going. I hoped we would be more consistent and more able to execute our game plan. I'm always hopeful of a win, but not expecting one next week. I hope we bring in Gould over Melican to replace Paddy. Bell has to go, probably replaced by Papley. I would bring a midfielder in to replace McDonald. With Lance in the side, we don't make good use of the other tall forwards. It will just be a waste against a good defence like Brisbane.

[Bloods05]

I believe that was Bangalore's brother.

????????????

[Maltopia]

Despite the 5-1 record, I'm not happy with the way we're going. I hoped we would be more consistent and more able to execute our game plan. I'm always hopeful of a win, but not expecting one next week.

I mentioned in another thread, that our then 4-1 record was against middling opposition. We beat Geelong by 30, but our only other match against a potential top 8 team was the umpire assisted loss to the Bulldogs. Hawks are currently 8th as I post, but will drop to 9th if Collingwood win.

We are now 4th, but we haven't played Melbourne, Brisbane (next week), Fremantle, St Kilda or Carlton yet this year.

After six rounds, we are where we should be roughly given who we have played, but we still need to prove ourselves against fellow contenders this year.

[i'm-uninformed2]

Also, we kept turning the ball over repeatedly. It was shocking how many times we gave the ball back to the Hawks. And we seemed to have no other plan than kicking long to a contest in our forward line. We desperately need to get back to the kind of game where we move the ball in smaller chunks of space, with hard running and precise kicking.

This was the bit that bothered me most of what happened today, more than the goal kicking, or even as you said, the slow start - which won’t work against better sides.

Even in the first 10 minutes of the last quarter, we butchered a few balls going forward. It wasn’t just going inside 50 either. We’d do the hard work to get it out of defensive 50 but the kick from behind the centre to half forward ended in a bad decision. Very few were bad kicks, it was just a lot of bad decision making and choices.

Hawthorn are ok behind the ball, and picked off a few accordingly, but Melbourne are the best, and slaughter teams on turnover. We’ve got the foot skills but today, you’d only say Blakey, Gulden and JMac had the brain skills to match.

[Ralph Dawg]

Just watched the game on delay.

I'm sure everything that has been said about the first quarter, especially the first 10-15 minutes - just appalling.

2nd and 3rd we stemmed the bleeding, lifting at the contest aided by inaccurate kicking by the Hawks.

4th quarter we just over ran them. Complete belting and the final scoreline didn't reflect how precariously placed we were for most the match.

Mills and Parker just outstanding in wrestling the game back to us. Ladhams, after getting whipped in the 1st quarter, came back strongly and eventually dominated the ruck. Other good players for us were Blakey, Campbell, Buddy and Ronke. Impressed by how TMcCartain and Rampe fought back after a dismal 1st quarter.

Saddened by Paddy's concussion. Just hoping he's ok and comes back in 12 days time. Same with Logan who was going ok today until his knock.

How good was it to see Joey come on in the 4th quarter? I instantly felt calmer seeing him and Parker at the first centre bounce and he was prominent on ball during our comeback. I really think he is best 22 when playing on ball and we need to find room for him in the side. His poise under pressure and years of experience are priceless, especially when we're under the pump.

Costly win in the end with the two concussions but great to get it after such an awful start. We can't afford a start like today against the better sides, especially Lions and Dees.

[bloodspirit]

It wasn't Campbell's best game by a long shot, but I really liked him in classy glimpses. I'm feeling increasingly confident about him in the long run whereas the jury is still out on Dyl Stephens.

[TheBloods]

Great win