Match thread: Swans v Dockers.

[waswan]

Some observations from the game.

1. Errol looked flat and didn't have his 2 way running. It looked to me that Heeney carried that shoulder injury into the game. It appeared that he was reluctant to tackle until the last quarter.
2. The mids struggled to get back and help the defenders.
3. As mentioned by others we looked listless. eg. Lloyd really battled to keep up.
4. McLean: as good as he played he was the wrong focal point in the last quarter. His lack of agility found him out. He played from behind and his opponent twice outmarked him by playing in front. Again he was behind when the ball went to the pocket and spoiled out of bounds. When Logan chipped into mark to level the scores Hayden was again behind his man. With the 6/6/6 our tall forwards must play in front.
5. Adams has to be the worst disposal in the comp. In the 3rd quarter he was running into an open goal and inexplicably went sideways and tried to hook it arpund, and it goes out on the full. Then in the last quarter he kicked a grubber to a leading forward. Will JL have the guts to drop him, because both Mills and Parker have to come back in, and the sooner the better.
6. Our forward pressure looked way off and the Freo backs cleared it too easily.
7. My son said to me this morning. "Why does Blakey do dinky kicks when he should kick the ball to the top of the square". That kick to Grundy was awful. Why would you kick to someone who is not going to move the ball on quickly. Wrong spot, wrong player.

Agree with most of that but would not be having a crack at Blakey, played his guts out and the main reason we got close

[Hotpotato]

Should Logan have tried the Torp from that awkward distance?
What would you do if that was the last kick in a Grand Final to win the Premiership?

[waswan]

Should Logan have tried the Torp from that awkward distance?
What would you do if that was the last kick in a Grand Final to win the Premiership?

6ft 6, 100kg,
Drop punt all day long

Shanked it, plain and simple

[Nico]

Agree with most of that but would not be having a crack at Blakey, played his guts out and the main reason we got close

Not a crack, an observation.

[neilfws]

Someone was going to get the Swans eventually. I don't see a lot of Freo games so I always forget that they're a pretty good side. Their midfield was very good, they did the best job so far of quelling the Swans "big 3". They also have tall defenders and Jackson is damaging forward.

So good on the Swans for not giving up and mounting a comeback but Freo looked the better side for most of the day. I'm not overly concerned about a 1-point loss at this stage, we'll see how the next few weeks pan out.

Positives: I though Blakey was very good, also Rowbottom, McInerney and Hayward. Warner, Gulden and Heeney weren't terrible, just down on their usual output. McLean was the tall forward to stand up this week. I wonder if Papley has a niggle, he had no chase in him by the end.

I can see changes coming soon, only because I suspect a few players need management and/or are starting to carry minor issues that we don't want to become major.

[Blood Fever]

6ft 6, 100kg,
Drop punt all day long

Shanked it, plain and simple

Should have made distance but you've given him 5 extra centimetres and around 10kg.

[waswan]

Should have made distance but you've given him 5 extra centimetres and around 10kg.

Sorry I actually shouldn't have given a weight, my bad

[Blood Fever]

Have no problem with you giving a weight
Don't reckon he's that big

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[rojo]

A timely reminder! We are heading for finals and we have to be better prepared than we were for our recent GF debacle. The good thing yesterday was that even though we were outplayed for a couple of quarters we did fight back and with a little bit more composure/grit/team belief could have won.

Now we know what it is like when our much vaunted midfield (rightly so), is effectively put under the pump, and we lose one of our backline cogs mid match. If we don't already have a strategy for such a situation we should make sure we do have going forward. McInerney seemed to stand tall, Hayward and Paps as well as McLean and Blakey and a few others chipped in but in the back-half particularly, confusion reigned at times.

The Freo coach is said to have played what must have been a boxing film where the unbeatable boxer I think it might have been Mike Tyson, was actually beaten, all the way from WA to Sydney! Moving with the times psychological warfare is part of the footy game these days although I remember the Hawks dressing rooms, back in the days when they were winning GF's, was lined with 'We are the hunters!' messaging. If we seriously want something we need to consider all avenues to achieving it?

[stevoswan]

Parker and Mills straight back in ?
Parker couldn't have done more in the 2s and still got overlooked.

Good point but I reckon some rotating player management may be needed from now up to the finals which should see Parker come in....and Millsy of course.

[waswan]

Parker Mills Fox and Roberts are the only players who can come in and have an impact.

Obviously I have Ladhams in that mix too.

No one else can be expected to come in,maybe a Francis to cover injury

[stevoswan]

Agree with most of that but would not be having a crack at Blakey, played his guts out and the main reason we got close

+1