Match thread. THE GRAND FINAL!!! Swans v Cats.

[KTigers]

That's okay. I must admit, I've been skimming past a few people's 'contributions'.

Yes, in italics that's for sure. Some of them are pretty funny. For instance, I was completely unaware the footy team I support
were that bad, and our coach was a totally useless loser until I read about it on here. Strangely I thought winning 18 games out
of 25 and making the GF was a pretty good effort. But you know, I suppose you can learn new things every day.

[i'm-uninformed2]

Champion Data ranked the Chad as BOG. A lot of surprises in this list including:

Heeney at 14 above Selwood
McLean above Miers, Hawkins and Cameron

Bottom three (not entirely surprising) Florent, Rohan, Franklin

AFL Grand Final every player ranked 1-46 | Player ratings from Champion Data, best on ground, worst on ground, Lance Franklin

This is not to knock Chad, who was great, but I’ve always thought AFL Rankings were weird. Heeney at 14, but the guy who blanketed him at 39, one below Reid? Please.

[mcs]

This is not to knock Chad, who was great, but I’ve always thought AFL Rankings were weird. Heeney at 14, but the guy who blanketed him at 39, one below Reid? Please.

It is very hard for any data driven analysis to pick up a key element of footy - influence on the contest.

Chad played well in a very badly beaten side. But he picked up plenty of his possessions in absolute junk time of the match - where their influence on the outcome of the contest was nil. Just the nature of statistics I guess.

I had him and Fox as our best 2 on a dark day for the team.

Sent from my CPH2009 using Tapatalk

[BRS328]

brs328

You, and the few others who've stuck the boots in, can nick off.

Absolutely understandable to be disappointed by today's performance but to turn on the club like you have is disgraceful.

Totally agree with you. Comments like this are the reason many do not regularly post. We should be very proud of what the players, coaches and staff have achieved in a very short time. Yes it was a poor performance given what we have come to expect, however I have confidence the club is in very good hands going forward

[i'm-uninformed2]

It is very hard for any data driven analysis to pick up a key element of footy - influence on the contest.

Chad played well in a very badly beaten side. But he picked up plenty of his possessions in absolute junk time of the match - where their influence on the outcome of the contest was nil. Just the nature of statistics I guess.

I had him and Fox as our best 2 on a dark day for the team.

Sent from my CPH2009 using Tapatalk

He and Fox definitely were, so my comment wasn’t about their rankings.

I just find their formula is weird and rewards lots of meaningless stats vs things that actually matter. As you said, it’s output vs impact, and impact matters more.

[111431]

If Geelong is a 13 goal better side than us then there is no chance we even get to the final stage something is very wrong during GF week our team becomes mentally cooked or something.

It all just falls away so badly no idea if the Bulldogs game was 5 mins longer would of been another 6-7 goal loss they were full of run and piling it on.

Out of interest, have you ever played the game before? Have you played in a GF and given it your best shot and things haven't run your way? Have you felt the helplessness and emptiness in that situation because you are passionate and care about the result and you can see everything you've trained for wasting away? Unlikely. Your comments embarrass your ignorance and understanding of the mindset of a professional and competitive sportsperson

[Kafka's Ghost]

Thought this article was a measured one about our chances of bouncing back next year

AFL Grand Final 2022: Sydney Swans loss to Geelong Cats, big grand final losses, fallout, analysis, response, feature, John Longmire, list

“Don’t underestimate what such a big loss on the grandest AFL stage could potentially do to the Swans … The brutal reality for Sydney is that, even if it’s not left as scarred as some of those teams – and their 2014 side that lost to Hawthorn by 63 points under Longmire is an exception in a promising sign – it simply may not get there again.”

This goes just as much for Geelong, despite their dominance this year. Melbourne didn’t make it back, the Bulldogs lucky to make the finals at all. The Cats have an ageing squad, who’ll start to drop off rapidly. But they definitely deserved the bikkies this year. Congratulations to them.


Gesendet von iPhone mit Tapatalk

[Ruck'n'Roll]

In the off season, there was a discussion on here, that sugested we were filling a very similar timeling to the early Roos years. The suggestion was that that 2022 would be this groups 2003 or 2004. For those that weren't around back them, an exhausted group of Swans were demolished in the second half of the Prelim by the all conquering Lions in 2003. And in 2004 the Saint's bundled us out of the finals by doubling our score. Yes neither of those losses were by as big a margin, but the granny is a different stage.
The majority of grannies are blow-outs, it's been suggested by ex players that coming to the realisation that you cannot win, that there's no next week, takes a huge toll on the losing teams players.

A colossal belting in a granny can also effect the losing team long after the game, and although this is a third GF loss for some, I'm hoping the team won't be a shadow of itself next year.

It is very hard for any data driven analysis to pick up a key element of footy - influence on the contest.
Chad played well in a very badly beaten side. But he picked up plenty of his possessions in absolute junk time of the match - where their influence on the outcome of the contest was nil. Just the nature of statistics I guess.
I had him and Fox as our best 2 on a dark day for the team.

Yep, our best players when the game was still live were Fox and Rowbottom. Chad came into his own, but only later I thought.

[Ludwig]

The Swans had shown on several occasions during the year that they were capable of insipid performances. It appeared that things might have changed during the 9 game winning streak, although we didn't play well against either North or St Kilda, but still managed to win. But thee were signs that we could come out and play important games well below our best.

We almost dropped the Collingwood game, not looking much like a champion team in the 4th quarter. Our defence wasn't at its best that game. Our ability to score in the first 3 quarters kept us headed toward victory. We easily could have lost that game, and then we wouldn't be talking about our poor record in Grand Finals. It's a fickle game.

We came out and played the kind of game against Geelong that we played against Gold Coast back in May, and on several other lackluster occasions . We were all shocked on here about those unexpected insipid performances as well.

It just so happened that we had one of those games in the biggest game of the year. We did everything wrong. Geelong were at the top of their game. Even the umpires were piling it on. We were all shocked, but sometimes nothing goes right.

We have to address why we had those shock poor performances during the season when the whole team looked off. There's something not quite right with our preparation. Whatever that problem is, it happened in the GF, so our disappointment is quadrupled..

There is no getting away from the fact that Geelong were the best team in 2022, during the season and on the day. We never had a chance. I'm not going overboard about the size of the loss. If we really were the 2nd best team in 2022, then there's much to celebrate. I hope our coaching staff are good enough to identify and address the problems for next season. There can't be that much that needs fixing if we ended up 2nd. But we certainly can get better.

[MattW]

Impressed by Chad's quotes here.

Warner left it all out there, but devastated by GF defeat - Warner left it all out there, but devastated by GF defeat

[Auntie.Gerald]

It was reported yest

"Although in very different positions considering they actually climbed the mountain, the youngest premiership teams of the AFL era – Collingwood (2010), Essendon (1993), the Western Bulldogs (2016) and West Coast (1992) – failed to add another flag with their respective crops.

It’s proof of how valuable being in a position to challenge is, no matter how ready a team may appear to be, and the importance of taking those chances.

....

This could be true.

Or

We could go along like Geelong in 2011 till 2022 always the bridesmaid....

Or we could re write history

I would argue our mix of trades vs draft is crucial for 2023 season if we want to increase our probability of success while obviously in our window.

[Kafka's Ghost]

To be honest Roadrunner TB has made his mind up about Rowbottom and there's no changing it. Even if Rowbottom won a Brownlow TB wouldn't want him in the side ahead of some others so there's no point in debating him (as frustrating as it may be) as we'll never see eye to eye on this one.

I haven't always been a Rowbottom fanboy and there were times in the last few years where I wasn't sure if he would be a first choice midfielder going forward but this year and especially in the 2nd half of the year he's been magnificent in leading our midfield with his desperation, pressure and work rate.

He may not be the cleanest, most skilful and talented midfielder but it's fanciful to think that you are going to have 22 elite high end talented players in your side, and anyway, look at GWS for example, they've had more top end talented midfielders that they knew what to do with and how many flags has that produced???

Players with the skill set of Rowy are integral in most successful sides. Every great team needs that blue collar workhorse, the player that is often underrated but not inside the club and to (most) of it's supporters!

He's entrenched in our 22 and I suspect will be for many more successful years in the future and I reckon almost all of is are happy about that! [emoji4]

Sent from my SM-G998B using Tapatalk

Great post.


Gesendet von iPhone mit Tapatalk

[BRS328]

BRS328

Mrs Tigers reminded me of what Michael O'Loughlin said after the 1996 GF. He wasn't that cut about it at the time,
because he thought the next GF he'd be in would be very soon and they'd win. He didn't realise how hard GFs are to
get into and it would take him nine years. Point is the younger players will move on from yesterday fairly quickly.
And the coaches will impress upon them that the experience is just part of their development of a player and they'll
learn a lot from it, and it will help them going forward. And they'll believe it.

Very good observation. The big difference between the 1996 and 2022 teams is the 96 team was loaded with a lot of experienced players getting toward the end of their careers ( Roos, Lockett, Obrien, Luff, Kickett, Dyson, Dunkley, Bayes etc ) with a sprinkling of rising talent such as O’Loughlin, Heuskus etc. There was also some very good players hitting their straps, Paul Kelly and Darren Cresswell for example, plus some others I may have forgotten

[i'm-uninformed2]

In the off season, there was a discussion on here, that sugested we were filling a very similar timeling to the early Roos years. The suggestion was that that 2022 would be this groups 2003 or 2004. For those that weren't around back them, an exhausted group of Swans were demolished in the second half of the Prelim by the all conquering Lions in 2003. And in 2004 the Saint's bundled us out of the finals by doubling our score. Yes neither of those losses were by as big a margin, but the granny is a different stage.
The majority of grannies are blow-outs, it's been suggested by ex players that coming to the realisation that you cannot win, that there's no next week, takes a huge toll on the losing teams players.

If you look at the natural trajectory of teams on the rise - and where most of us probably thought two years back where we’d now be - feels about right.

[Roadrunner]

The Swans had shown on several occasions during the year that they were capable of insipid performances. It appeared that things might have changed during the 9 game winning streak, although we didn't play well against either North or St Kilda, but still managed to win. But thee were signs that we could come out and play important games well below our best.

We almost dropped the Collingwood game, not looking much like a champion team in the 4th quarter. Our defence wasn't at its best that game. Our ability to score in the first 3 quarters kept us headed toward victory. We easily could have lost that game, and then we wouldn't be talking about our poor record in Grand Finals. It's a fickle game.

We came out and played the kind of game against Geelong that we played against Gold Coast back in May, and on several other lackluster occasions . We were all shocked on here about those unexpected insipid performances as well.

It just so happened that we had one of those games in the biggest game of the year. We did everything wrong. Geelong were at the top of their game. Even the umpires were piling it on. We were all shocked, but sometimes nothing goes right.

We have to address why we had those shock poor performances during the season when the whole team looked off. There's something not quite right with our preparation. Whatever that problem is, it happened in the GF, so our disappointment is quadrupled..

There is no getting away from the fact that Geelong were the best team in 2022, during the season and on the day. We never had a chance. I'm not going overboard about the size of the loss. If we really were the 2nd best team in 2022, then there's much to celebrate. I hope our coaching staff are good enough to identify and address the problems for next season. There can't be that much that needs fixing if we ended up 2nd. But we certainly can get better.

Spot on Ludwig- I put it down to fluctuating confidence coupled with inexperience. This can lead to prolonged lapses in concentration as in the Carlton game where we conceded 9 goals in succession. The players need to know how to react when the inevitable run on comes from the opposition, as you can’t keep a good team down for a whole game. This is where the senior players and leaders need to react quickly- slow the game down or steady the ship somehow.

I think this will come with experience. Let’s not forget that we’re talking about split seconds between good and poor decisions across a very physically demanding sport. Those of us who have played the game at any level will understand.