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

[Meg]

….

Too much emphasis is placed on winning a premiership.

For the AFL, it means you end up with one success story and 17 failures, with the oddity that the 2nd best team is burdened with the most scarring from being better than 16 other teams, but not getting it together on the big stage for the final game of the year.

…..

It would be must unfair to compare out group of players to Geelong. It was a one off mauling from a magnificent team. We just need to put the GF behind us and continue along the path we've been taking. I hope we do that and put up an even better show in 2023. …..

Thank you Ludwig. Excellent comments. I totally agree.

I feel really positive for the next couple of years for our Swans group.

[Blood Fever]

Too much emphasis is placed on winning a premiership. It's a condition that's created by just about everyone in the AFL industry, and rolls over to other pro sports as well.

For the AFL, it means you end up with one success story and 17 failures, with the oddity that the 2nd best team is burdened with the most scarring from being better than 16 other teams, but not getting it together on the big stage for the final game of the year.

Geelong put a unique group of players together in a way that other clubs have rejected. It all worked out and came together this year. They were magnificent. They were far and away the best team in 2022. Their list build is so unusual, that I doubt any other club should bother trying to replicate it.

There is a lot to learn for the Swans, the players and even more so the coaches, who have the responsibility to the get group going on a positive note in 2023 and figure out how to better prepare the players from game to game separated by different training schedules. There were lots of other lessons I hope the experience Longmire can take away from this game and improve the weak aspects of his coaching.

I don't see any reason for the Swans to abandon the system that has taken us to the 2nd best team in the league in such a short time. I don't see a need for major changes in personnel, although we do need to replenish our KPP stocks. Our current group is quite capable of playing some exhilarating football together that just needs more time to practice and execute more precisely.

It would be must unfair to compare out group of players to Geelong. It was a one off mauling from a magnificent team. We just need to put the GF behind us and continue along the path we've been taking. I hope we do that and put up an even better show in 2023.

There are a lot of ways to skin a cat. Our was wasn't one of them.

So true. At the start of the year, I thought winning a final would mean a successful year with our young group. To make the GF was a great effort. Cats played a blinder and monstered us physically, especially our young players. We had a great year and we'll continue to improve. Great club to follow.

[mcs]

I was at the game and Geelong's performance was almost flawless. Physically imposing and almost error free. They monstered our younger players who then appeared to lose their nerve and never really settled. One saving grace(if that is the right word) is that it should fuel our young group and hopefully drive them to redemption. Also, a few more pre-seasons and more time in the weight room will help.

Summed it up well Blood Fever.

All credit to Geelong for being physically imposing without that leading to downright dirty and nasty play like the Wees and Poos of the mid 'teens - playing the game in the right spirit.

We are still not quite there in terms of our overall balance in the engine room, but there is a very solid foundation to work with.

The exciting part is to have made the Grand Final this year, despite there being a lot of development in the younger end of the team to come. Buddy of course will be a big loss when he does go, and Hickey + Rampe won't be easy to replace either, but all in all we are still well in the building phase.

As long as the mess of Saturday doesn't translate into long term impacts for the players, I have every confidence that next step can be taken fairly soon. Maybe not in 2023, but we will be there or there abouts again with even luck on the injury front and continued good progress with development of our younger guys (in particular that which the weights room will assist!).

[Blood Fever]

Summed it up well Blood Fever.

All credit to Geelong for being physically imposing without that leading to downright dirty and nasty play like the Wees and Poos of the mid 'teens - playing the game in the right spirit.

We are still not quite there in terms of our overall balance in the engine room, but there is a very solid foundation to work with.

The exciting part is to have made the Grand Final this year, despite there being a lot of development in the younger end of the team to come. Buddy of course will be a big loss when he does go, and Hickey + Rampe won't be easy to replace either, but all in all we are still well in the building phase.

As long as the mess of Saturday doesn't translate into long term impacts for the players, I have every confidence that next step can be taken fairly soon. Maybe not in 2023, but we will be there or there abouts again with even luck on the injury front and continued good progress with development of our younger guys (in particular that which the weights room will aide!).

+1

[Agent 86]

Too much emphasis is placed on winning a premiership.

There is a lot to learn for the Swans…I don't see any reason for the Swans to abandon the system that has taken us to the 2nd best team in the league in such a short time.

It would be must unfair to compare out group of players to Geelong. It was a one off mauling from a magnificent team.

We just need to put the GF behind us and continue along the path we've been taking. I hope we do that and put up an even better show in 2023.

There are a lot of ways to skin a cat. Our was wasn't one of them.

There’s also not enough emphasis on the Minor Premiership. Cats won this by a long way too.

We’ve achieved more this year than I thought we could, so something’s working. Main area for me for improvement is getting to work in the gym. We need bigger, stronger bodies in the middle & if we don’t address this, we will slide.

Our pressure has been a key in turning around the season, but not sure where it went. When we’ve fallen behind this year, there’s usually been a response - but our tackling got worse as the game went on. That was hard to watch. 3rd quarter was demoralising after at least showing something in q2.

As for the Cats, they lost by more in last year’s prelim, so all the media talk about us not being able to bounce back is hopefully just wishful thinking from the Melbourne Media Mafia.

We’ve taken a huge step this year & we can build on it, but gotta start at the bottom of the mountain again like everyone else.

[The Big Cat]

I had to force myself to watch OTC but I’m glad I did. First thing was Garry Lyon praised Geelong’s fantastic performance against a WORTHY OPPONENT. They broke down Geelong’s tactics that took away our pressure skills and fast starts, such as hardly hand balling so we couldn’t apply any heat, running their half forwards up the ground to take Paddy from intercept marking position, etc etc. Critical of leaving Heeney to get cold in the forward line and not moving Paddy into attack when Reid went off. Commentators believe given players young age they shouldn’t fall off the perch like other badly beaten GF teams. General consensus among rival coaches apparently is that Cats were 6 goals better than any other team even before the ball is bounced.

[AppleCore]

Too much emphasis is placed on winning a premiership. It's a condition that's created by just about everyone in the AFL industry, and rolls over to other pro sports as well.

For the AFL, it means you end up with one success story and 17 failures, with the oddity that the 2nd best team is burdened with the most scarring from being better than 16 other teams, but not getting it together on the big stage for the final game of the year.

Geelong put a unique group of players together in a way that other clubs have rejected. It all worked out and came together this year. They were magnificent. They were far and away the best team in 2022. Their list build is so unusual, that I doubt any other club should bother trying to replicate it.

There is a lot to learn for the Swans, the players and even more so the coaches, who have the responsibility to the get group going on a positive note in 2023 and figure out how to better prepare the players from game to game separated by different training schedules. There were lots of other lessons I hope the experience Longmire can take away from this game and improve the weak aspects of his coaching.

I don't see any reason for the Swans to abandon the system that has taken us to the 2nd best team in the league in such a short time. I don't see a need for major changes in personnel, although we do need to replenish our KPP stocks. Our current group is quite capable of playing some exhilarating football together that just needs more time to practice and execute more precisely.

It would be must unfair to compare out group of players to Geelong. It was a one off mauling from a magnificent team. We just need to put the GF behind us and continue along the path we've been taking. I hope we do that and put up an even better show in 2023.

There are a lot of ways to skin a cat. Our was wasn't one of them.

I don't agree with this comment on several levels. As noted by many commenters, the Swans were out-muscled by Geelong. From my perspective, the team needs more physical players in the ruck (maybe Ladhams will fill this role), in the mid-field, and in defence. I have felt that for some years, the club's recruiters have been too focussed on selecting more lightly framed, speedy types. To think that Saturday was a "one off mauling" may well turn out to be wishful thinking. The reality is that each year other teams pay careful attention to the methods employed by the premiers.

[Maltopia]

I can't help but wonder if Ladhams lost us the Grand Final in a way. He might have been in the team in any of the finals (and in the GF too) which meant not so much load on Hickey leading up to, and during the GF. Hickey was out of gas and we got monstered in the midfield. If had less of a load coming into the GF and also during it, we might have not lost the midfield battle by so much.

[Agent 86]

I can't help but wonder if Ladhams lost us the Grand Final in a way. He might have been in the team in any of the finals (and in the GF too) which meant not so much load on Hickey leading up to, and during the GF. Hickey was out of gas and we got monstered in the midfield. If had less of a load coming into the GF and also during it, we might have not lost the midfield battle by so much.

Ladhams is a liability. I was supportive at first but now have serious doubts. The murmurs around why Power were keen to move him on turned out to be spot on. Unless he can get his head together quickly, we’ve got to move on as well.

[KTigers]

It is interesting how there is so little emphasis on winning the minor premiership. It's certainly good enough for the EPL. They don't
even have a finals series, though obviously they can afford and have a willingness to have a balanced draw. In MLB winning your division
and league is given kudos even if you don't win the WS. Though I happen to think after a 162 game regular season, the team with
the most wins is the best team.

[mcs]

I'm all for a 162 game regular season KT. That'd fix those old age pensioner Cats good and proper :P

On a serious note, completely agree in relation to how little emphasis is given on the Minor Premiership. Not helped I suppose by the uneven nature of the draw as it currently stands, but still think more should be done to highlight the achievement of finishing first in the regular season.

[Markwebbos]

It’s rare for the minor premier to win the premiership is perhaps one reason it’s undervalued.

Maybe we should make more fuss of Geelong for winning the “Double”?

[barracuda]

I have it on very good authority that Sinkers was filthy that he was not considered.

[Aprilbr]

It is interesting how there is so little emphasis on winning the minor premiership. It's certainly good enough for the EPL. They don't
even have a finals series, though obviously they can afford and have a willingness to have a balanced draw. In MLB winning your division
and league is given kudos even if you don't win the WS. Though I happen to think after a 162 game regular season, the team with
the most wins is the best team.

This is not quite correct, KTigers. English football teams concurrently compete in several competitions every season. The first, run by the EPL, is the League Title which rests on who finishes first at the end of the 38 home and away games (20 teams). The second is known as the FA Cup. This is a knock out competition where all EFL teams compete from the top four league levels. It culminates in a final at Wembley at season's end. The third competition is the League Cup (currently named after its main sponsor, Carabao) and is also knockout.

The very top EPL teams (ManCity, Liverpool, ManU etc) also tend to qualify for the main European competition run by EUFA known as the Champions League which has a round of preliminary games followed by a knock out round. There are also two lesser competitions run by UEFA, the Europa League and the Europa Conference League.

This all means that top teams play a lot of games so depth in squads is critical. In terms of prestige, this is how they rank:

1. Champions League (winner best team in Europe, current holder Real Madrid)
2. League Title (current holder, Manchester City)
3. FA Cup (current holder, Liverpool)
4. League Cup ( current holder, Liverpool)
5. Europa League (current holder, Frankfurt)
6. Europa Conference League (current holder, Roma)

Personally, I wish we had more opportunities to win a trophy each season in the AFL than just one!

[KTigers]

I'm all for a 162 game regular season KT. That'd fix those old age pensioner Cats good and proper :P

On a serious note, completely agree in relation to how little emphasis is given on the Minor Premiership. Not helped I suppose by the uneven nature of the draw as it currently stands, but still think more should be done to highlight the achievement of finishing first in the regular season.

Yes, 81 home games at the SCG each year, that could be interesting. Not really sure how I'd fit my job and family life in.
But I'm sure they'll understand.