Match thread: Swans v Suns.

[i'm-uninformed2]

Nice work Max. I share your love for JMac and our despair at his game yesterday. IU2 blamed Guilden for letting Ellis off the leash but at least early it was JMac who gave him way too much space - Ellis had 7 touches in a blink of an eye. Mind you, Fiorina was doing much the same on the other wing.

The problem seems to be that even the worst sides seem to think they're a chance against us (and they are) and are clearly setting themselves as they see a possible scalp. So we have these teams like North and GC, incapable of matching it with much of the competition, knowing that if they make it a scrap, they may well catch us on the hop. The only way to counter it is to go just as hard and make sure you make them pay when they do make the inevitable skill errors.

Apologies if I got the Gulden/Ellis thing wrong. One of the downsides of living outside Sydney and not being at the game all the time is you miss a few things on television. I still think he was down like a few of our young players (mind you, they weren’t alone).

Re Lloyd, he does a lot right. He’d be our best two way runner, has improved his contested defence a lot in recent years and is usually an efficient kick (albeit with the odd clanger of late).

My critique of him would be the kick ins. He’s predictable for opposition sides. It’s either a chip kick to a bloke in the pocket to a man who can’t move it on as he’s covered, or jog out of the square a few steps and kick to a pack 65-70m out. Campbell and Rampe have a bit more penetration and precision in their kicking and Blakey is more willing to run and either hit a target, or using the run, clear the ball 80m plus from goal.

There’s another element to this of course, which is where we miss The Rat. He was a good mark on that clearing kick in the pack situation. Neither of our rucks in Ladhams or Hickey are great pack marks. That’s not where you want Bud, McLean is a better mark in the goal square than around the ground, and Logan is not yet that player. And among our mids, only Heeney and Parker are good pack marks, with McInerney good one on one.

[Ludwig]

What we need is to bring Gould and Amartey into the senior side and have Gould do the kick ins targeting Amartey. With 2 kicks we can go from goal square to goal square. Better than turning it over on our defensive 50.

[Markwebbos]

What we need is to bring Gould and Amartey into the senior side and have Gould do the kick ins targeting Amartey. With 2 kicks we can go from goal square to goal square. Better than turning it over on our defensive 50.

Seconded

[The Big Cat]

What we need is to bring Gould and Amartey into the senior side and have Gould do the kick ins targeting Amartey. With 2 kicks we can go from goal square to goal square. Better than turning it over on our defensive 50.

Bold suggestion but two problems. You can’t pick a player simply to kick the ball in after a point when there are so many other deficiencies in his game. Secondly, Amartey is not a contested marking player. If the plan worked once it would be a miracle. But full marks for another tongue in cheek offering.

My solution is Blakey kicks out after every point.

[RogueSwan]

I feel we will be a much better team once Hickey is back. Ladhams has been good but is being found out against the top ruckmen, kinda like Sinclair when he was serviceable.
Reid should be playing as he probably our best back-up option at the moment. He can at least be a decent footballer once the ball hits the ground.

[Maltopia]

Did anyone see RB to Lance , again

Has to be a bet on surely

It was a nice play, and I remember correctly he pulled in a great one armed contested mark just before it.

[H2F]

I feel we will be a much better team once Hickey is back. Ladhams has been good but is being found out against the top ruckmen, kinda like Sinclair when he was serviceable.
Reid should be playing as he probably our best back-up option at the moment. He can at least be a decent footballer once the ball hits the ground.

Well Hickey is 31 and has a bung knee not to sure his longevity in the game especially playing the position he is.

[RogueSwan]

Well Hickey is 31 and has a bung knee not to sure his longevity in the game especially playing the position he is.

I still think we are better when he is the team

[Bangalore Swans]

Didn't I see you say that you hadn't seen the game?
You dont hold back with 'knowlegable' comments for someone who doesnt watch every game.
If that's right, it might be better to hold back and let those who do have their say?

I’m sorry Roy. The team is 5-3 and only need 7 wins to play finals. A lot on here are talking doomsday scenarios. They were playing a team containing the great Touk Miller (the modern day Robbie Flower) and a couch whom is an SCG specialist.

The boys will get back on track and work through this.

[Bangalore Swans]

It was interesting to see the 2012 teams reaction to the game, they just don't seem all that into it. I remember observing the same unresponsiveness during the 2005 teams 10 year reunion game - And yes both were horrid losses but the preiership team players seem to behave more like the stiffs that inhabit the corporate boxes than fans.
Some of these guys literally blead for their team during their playing days, but 10 years later they don't even cheer. Have they forgotten the opening line of the team song, d they feel inhibited or does plaing the game at that level somehow disable the fan within?

I'd love to hear others thouhts

Maybe the AFL could allocate some budget and create an over 40s Masters League. Pay the players a small amount and create a competition. Swans fans would love the Masters. You pay the players a wage equivalent to a NSW premier division soccer player and require them to train a maximum of two nights a week.

This would engage the former players back to their clubs.

The AFL has created men’s and women’s competitions. Not having Masters at AFL level is ageism at work.

[KTigers]

I would expect ex-AFL players would view the game (in pretty much every respect) differently to the way we fans do. They did when
they played and certainly would now. It's very odd to expect them to start screaming 'ball' and carrying on the way many of us
fervent fans do sometimes.

[neilfws]

I've been to more than one games vs the Suns at the SCG where I thought "Suns, this should be easy enough" and was proved wrong by a Swans outfit that failed to show up.

3 from 4 now. I'm not claiming any great insights here, the Mongrel Punt review starts with much the same observation. A shock loss and yet not.

I chose to do something else with my afternoon, then felt somewhat guilty all week as I never miss a home game through choice, but it sounds like it was the game to miss by all accounts.

So thoughts turn to next Saturday and the lowly Bombers - fresh from a win that will give them a lift. They have a poor SCG record though, and 3 home losses in a row is quite unlikely. Yet I find myself bracing for the possibility.

[Ruck'n'Roll]

I would expect ex-AFL players would view the game (in pretty much every respect) differently to the way we fans do. They did when
they played and certainly would now. It's very odd to expect them to start screaming 'ball' and carrying on the way many of us
fervent fans do sometimes.

I wonder how many players don't begin life as fervant fans?
Many years ago I recall Tony Lockett was doing the expert comments on a telecast of a Swans game, I can still recall him bellowing "Go Frosty, go" into the microphone at one point in the call - I suspect his uncontrolled outburst may have put paid to his commentary career, which ended there and then. I also remember sitting a few metres away from Gareth John and another young Swan, Simmon Minton-Connell took a mark between a pair of opponents - the only response was to look at the team mate sitting beside him and raise two fingers to indicate that Minties had beaten two men.
Different personalities may be a factor.

[KTigers]

I wonder how many players don't begin life as fervant fans?
Many years ago I recall Tony Lockett was doing the expert comments on a telecast of a Swans game, I can still recall him bellowing "Go Frosty, go" into the microphone at one point in the call - I suspect his uncontrolled outburst may have put paid to his commentary career, which ended there and then. I also remember sitting a few metres away from Gareth John and another young Swan, Simmon Minton-Connell took a mark between a pair of opponents - the only response was to look at the team mate sitting beside him and raise two fingers to indicate that Minties had beaten two men.
Different personalities may be a factor.

Of course they love the game. But mostly they love playing it, not watching it. For the football players that go onto have a professional
career, or even make a serious attempt to have one, they are way too focused on themselves to be sitting in the stands week in,
week out like we do getting all worked up about the exploits of someone else. Read Brandon Jack's book. For him there was only ever
one person in the room or on the field that was truly important. His name is Brandon Jack.
This is not a knock on him at all. Lots of players will think the same way as him. He just wrote about it in a painfully honest way.
This sort of mindset is what is required to be even moderately successful in football or any sport for that matter. Mostly when an ex-player
watches a game it is from within the context of their own experience of playing it professionally years ago.
We fans see it in a totally different way.

[Bangalore Swans]

Of course they love the game. But mostly they love playing it, not watching it. For the football players that go onto have a professional
career, or even make a serious attempt to have one, they are way too focused on themselves to be sitting in the stands week in,
week out like we do getting all worked up about the exploits of someone else. Read Brandon Jack's book. For him there was only ever
one person in the room or on the field that was truly important. His name is Brandon Jack.
This is not a knock on him at all. Lots of players will think the same way as him. He just wrote about it in a painfully honest way.
This sort of mindset is what is required to be even moderately successful in football or any sport for that matter. Mostly when an ex-player
watches a game it is from within the context of their own experience of playing it professionally years ago.
We fans see it in a totally different way.

What’s the Brandon Jack book like? From the smh articles I read, he seemed like Dawson from Dawson’s Creek in trying to find deep meaning in everything.

Football is supposed to be simple. Attack the ball and body, win the game, celebrate with team mates, drink plenty of alcohol, go dancing and then have a good laugh at the warm ups the following week.