Analysis Swans General Performance 2024

[SGBeach]

The likes of Warner, Errol and Heeney are making huge plays and getting plenty of attention but it our control, commitment and composure, from one end of the park to the other, that has me feeling very confident about our chances.

Yep..
Theres always been a bit of talk around any given teams bottom 6. I was trying to think who is in our bottom 6, and its bloody hard!
Melican? Heard a stat 2 weeks ago that he still hadn't lost a 1 on 1 contest
Adams? 200 gamer, All Australian
Jordon? held Whitfield and Clarke the last two games and playing his role exceptionally well
Lloyd? 200 gamer, multiple B&F winner, moved to the wing and playing good footy
Roberts? keeping a 200 gamer and multiple B&F winner out of his preferred position
Wicks? Playing some decent footy, but maybe in the bottom 6
JMac? Horse would shoot anyone at the mere suggestion
Hayward? A whipping boy for some on here, but leading the goal kicking
Amartey? Improving each game (and running the games out

Who ever is in the bottom 6, they're keeping players like Parker, Ladhams (who's playing good footy imo) and Campbell out.

 

[Arwib]

How the hell did we lose against Richmond?

They got us with a really tight forward press, intense pressure around the halfback base we set up from and disrupting our handballs and short kicks there. West Coast did similar. I think extra numbers around midfield and defensive-side stoppages had the same effect too.

I think it was a great learning experience, it's still probably our biggest vulnerability but I think teams that have tried it since haven't found as much success, even though clubs are aware they need to do it (cf Longmuir's comments last week that if you sit back and react to Sydney they'll use the space it to slice you up).

I think I've noticed a shift since then - more aggressive running and handball chains to get through the traffic, and also getting some good long kicks to guys upfield beyond the congestion holding their shape well. Those are two of the counters to high direct pressure games limiting options on halfback.

 

[Swans007]

They got us with a really tight forward press, intense pressure around the halfback base we set up from and disrupting our handballs and short kicks there. West Coast did similar. I think extra numbers around midfield and defensive-side stoppages had the same effect too.

I think it was a great learning experience, it's still probably our biggest vulnerability but I think teams that have tried it since haven't found as much success, even though clubs are aware they need to do it (cf Longmuir's comments last week that if you sit back and react to Sydney they'll use the space it to slice you up).

I think I've noticed a shift since then - more aggressive running and handball chains to get through the traffic, and also getting some good long kicks to guys upfield beyond the congestion holding their shape well. Those are two of the counters to high direct pressure games limiting options on halfback.

I reckon the Wicks turmoil played a part.

 

[Nool Carpenna]

Yep..
Theres always been a bit of talk around any given teams bottom 6. I was trying to think who is in our bottom 6, and its bloody hard!
Melican? Heard a stat 2 weeks ago that he still hadn't lost a 1 on 1 contest
Adams? 200 gamer, All Australian
Jordon? held Whitfield and Clarke the last two games and playing his role exceptionally well
Lloyd? 200 gamer, multiple B&F winner, moved to the wing and playing good footy
Roberts? keeping a 200 gamer and multiple B&F winner out of his preferred position
Wicks? Playing some decent footy, but maybe in the bottom 6
JMac? Horse would shoot anyone at the mere suggestion
Hayward? A whipping boy for some on here, but leading the goal kicking
Amartey? Improving each game (and running the games out

Who ever is in the bottom 6, they're keeping players like Parker, Ladhams (who's playing good footy imo) and Campbell out.

Was gonna include discussion about a bottom 6 or lack there of... too hard lol. Just on a couple of those.
JMac is another that seems to be tempering his own instincts and consistently making the timely interventions not so much a part of his past seasons.
Looove Meli! Really pro-active about pushing the defensive wall higher up the ground and counter-punching.
Haven't been unhappy at all with Hayward but him elevating to new levels, if maintained, adds another dimension to our attack.
What about young Harry? Small forwards are gonna have to start tagging him the way he is going. 7 to 200 H

 

[Kiama Chris]

Yep..
Theres always been a bit of talk around any given teams bottom 6. I was trying to think who is in our bottom 6, and its bloody hard!
Melican? Heard a stat 2 weeks ago that he still hadn't lost a 1 on 1 contest
Adams? 200 gamer, All Australian
Jordon? held Whitfield and Clarke the last two games and playing his role exceptionally well
Lloyd? 200 gamer, multiple B&F winner, moved to the wing and playing good footy
Roberts? keeping a 200 gamer and multiple B&F winner out of his preferred position
Wicks? Playing some decent footy, but maybe in the bottom 6
JMac? Horse would shoot anyone at the mere suggestion
Hayward? A whipping boy for some on here, but leading the goal kicking
Amartey? Improving each game (and running the games out

Who ever is in the bottom 6, they're keeping players like Parker, Ladhams (who's playing good footy imo) and Campbell out.

Said it before and I'll say it again - we don't have a bottom 6 players. In any given match we have lesser performances but it's rarely the same players. We also have another half dozen or so who can play seniors to the standard. Great problem to have.

 

[The King!]

Yep..
Theres always been a bit of talk around any given teams bottom 6. I was trying to think who is in our bottom 6, and its bloody hard!
Melican? Heard a stat 2 weeks ago that he still hadn't lost a 1 on 1 contest
Adams? 200 gamer, All Australian
Jordon? held Whitfield and Clarke the last two games and playing his role exceptionally well
Lloyd? 200 gamer, multiple B&F winner, moved to the wing and playing good footy
Roberts? keeping a 200 gamer and multiple B&F winner out of his preferred position
Wicks? Playing some decent footy, but maybe in the bottom 6
JMac? Horse would shoot anyone at the mere suggestion
Hayward? A whipping boy for some on here, but leading the goal kicking
Amartey? Improving each game (and running the games out

Who ever is in the bottom 6, they're keeping players like Parker, Ladhams (who's playing good footy imo) and Campbell out.

From the weekend.


Fox - by default as sub
Francis - by default replacing Mccartin

Amartey
Roberts
Cunningham
wicks



lets say that's right, pretty good bottom 6 imo

 

[Nool Carpenna]

From the weekend.


Fox - by default as sub
Francis - by default replacing Mccartin

Amartey
Roberts
Cunningham
wicks



lets say that's right, pretty good bottom 6 imo

Wicks was super last week, particularly early, in establishing dominance.

 

[SGBeach]

Wicks was super last week, particularly early, in establishing dominance.

I think that was Kings point.. that the bottom 6 were pretty good.
Amartey is another King mentioned.. 2 goals, 5 Score Involvements, 5 tackles (3 inside 50) isn't a bad game at all..

 

[Grand Uncle Horace]

What sticks out to me is that our younger boys are reaching a stage where they are able to implement the subtle little changes that are being asked of them by the coaches.

Many times Horse and co are criticised for lacking tactical nous and making changes in-game when it may well have mainly been the result of the rawness of our youth.

Seems that, through experience, they are growing the confidence to apply their own talents and skills to overall team strategies better... understanding that impacting well in multiple contests is great, but not if your engagement at those contests has left the team short-handed in areas of opposition strength.

All just perceptions I know but I feel like Lloydy encapsulates this. He doesn't have anywhere near the flair of Gulden or the power of JMac but having him out there on the wing, reading the play and communicating needs, leaves me feeling confident his area of the field is secure.

Rowbottom, I feel, is one that has particularly learnt "when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em". I'm sure he'd make 20 tackles a game if he hadn't learned to be selective about his contributions and producing quality over quantity. Ollie is another, although I think his grasp on calmly playing his role has been evident for quite a while.

Loving that Maclean is showing initiative further up the ground. Again signs that he is learning to apply his skillset to the broader game plan rather than expending all his energies into contested marks in F50 and kicking goals. And even Amartey throwing his weight around more and getting involved in the mind games with key defenders shows an understanding that not every contribution gets a stat.

Really believe the confidence gained in those first two wins against the Dees and Pies has been crucial to what has happened since. Even go so far as to say the loss to Richmond, and average performances against the Bombers and Weagles, were necessary and important lessons also.

The likes of Warner, Errol and Heeney are making huge plays and getting plenty of attention but it our control, commitment and composure, from one end of the park to the other, that has me feeling very confident about our chances.

Really interesting read.

I have McLeans role on watch.

Will be fascinated to see how he is used v the Blues. Expect he is part of the team’s tactics v McKay and Curnow.

 

[GoTheSwannies]

I didn't expect much from JJ but he's delivered in spades. Grundy has delivered to expectations, which is huge in itself given the narrative of him possibly being a spent force (not that i subscribed to that at all). Adams has been the most underwhelming imo, but in saying that. He's been good without being spectacular, and has played an important role for us so still more than happy we picked him up.

If Adams Performed as I'd hoped, we would have absolutely hit this trade out of the stratosphere, noting there's still time for that to be the case. It's up there with the JPK trade period in 09.

 

[The King!]

I feel like the 2024 side is adjusting to the opposition lately and changing things up mid game a lot more. Not sure I can show a stat or a heat map to support that at all.

 

[caesar88]

I feel like the 2024 side is adjusting to the opposition lately and changing things up mid game a lot more. Not sure I can show a stat or a heat map to support that at all.

I don't know if this speaks to your point as much as it does in my head, but I took a look at our wins*, and the margins at half time vs the margins at full time.

We average a lead of 8 points at half time, and a winning margin of 35 points at full time. Means we're adding on average 27 points from our half time margins in second halves. It suggests that the games we've won in haven't started out as easy as the final margins would suggest, but we've made them easier. Unless every opponent is just coincidentally having capitulations as games go on, I'm not sure there's any other explanation for this chasm we're putting between ourselves and our opponents except for absorbing their challenge and then adjusting accordingly.

*I didn't include the Hawthorn & Fremantle games in these figures, because both games were well and truly over by half time.

 

[The King!]

I don't know if this speaks to your point as much as it does in my head, but I took a look at our wins*, and the margins at half time vs the margins at full time.

We average a lead of 8 points at half time, and a winning margin of 35 points at full time. Means we're adding on average 27 points from our half time margins in second halves. It suggests that the games we've won in haven't started out as easy as the final margins would suggest, but we've made them easier. Unless every opponent is just coincidentally having capitulations as games go on, I'm not sure there's any other explanation for this chasm we're putting between ourselves and our opponents except for absorbing their challenge and then adjusting accordingly.

*I didn't include the Hawthorn & Fremantle games in these figures, because both games were well and truly over by half time.

No well put. good teamwork it's like I said let's design a building and bam you built the Eiffel Tower.

Teamwork

 

[MF]

I don't know if this speaks to your point as much as it does in my head, but I took a look at our wins*, and the margins at half time vs the margins at full time.

We average a lead of 8 points at half time, and a winning margin of 35 points at full time. Means we're adding on average 27 points from our half time margins in second halves. It suggests that the games we've won in haven't started out as easy as the final margins would suggest, but we've made them easier. Unless every opponent is just coincidentally having capitulations as games go on, I'm not sure there's any other explanation for this chasm we're putting between ourselves and our opponents except for absorbing their challenge and then adjusting accordingly.

*I didn't include the Hawthorn & Fremantle games in these figures, because both games were well and truly over by half time.

I've heard a few of our players now refer to that mantra of going "harder for longer", "how long can the opposition do it for", "doing it for 4 quarters" etc and also make mention of working on those fadeouts we had last year.

Seems like there's a massive self belief in the group that if they just keep going that the other side will eventually break and it's been true in every game this season bar 1, despite the opposition sometimes getting a jump on us.

 

[caesar88]

IMO the genius of our forward line isn't getting enough appreciation, both from the fans and media alike.

Ten weeks in with consistency of personnel has kinda allowed patterns to emerge and I think we have a really clear system in what we want to do in the front half.

Our forward entries are almost a kinda front-half version of slingshot footy. We tend to send the ball deep inside 50 to this pack at the top of the square, it draws opposition defences into pushing up close to goal, then we just send it back out to that 35-50m zone that's left undefended.

I think the talls are key to this because they're almost like decoys. They form this cluster at the top of the square, and on first watch it can seem like they just have terrible leading patterns, communication etc. to keep crowding each other's space. But then you notice the vacuum of space it leaves in that 35-50m zone. The amount of times our players know to look into that space - and the amount of times there's always a free man in that space - makes me think it's all by design. That we want that part of the forward 50 as vacant as possible so that our mids, flankers, wingmen, even the half backs, can push into it unmanned. In short, we're putting our forward "targets" 15-20m out, then putting the ball 35-50m out, catching teams off guard.

It feels particularly bulletproof because it really hamstrings the opposition. Even if the talls aren't starring, opposition defenders can't afford to not be occupied with them (no matter how average the tall may be, you aren't gonna leave someone 190cm+ by himself close to goal.) If teams figure out that we like to use that 35-50m zone they can use extra numbers to push up and close it, but that requires them flooding back to help out their defence. We then keep the spare numbers set up behind the play to cut off any of those long, clearing kicks they might try.

It's a system that demands of opposition teams an almost impossibly-flawless level of execution in exiting defence by hand or short kick, and that almost always offers a high chance of creating those ideal shots at goal for ourselves.

 

[The King!]

IMO the genius of our forward line isn't getting enough appreciation, both from the fans and media alike.

Ten weeks in with consistency of personnel has kinda allowed patterns to emerge and I think we have a really clear system in what we want to do in the front half.

Our forward entries are almost a kinda front-half version of slingshot footy. We tend to send the ball deep inside 50 to this pack at the top of the square, it draws opposition defences into pushing up close to goal, then we just send it back out to that 35-50m zone that's left undefended.

I think the talls are key to this because they're almost like decoys. They form this cluster at the top of the square, and on first watch it can seem like they just have terrible leading patterns, communication etc. to keep crowding each other's space. But then you notice the vacuum of space it leaves in that 35-50m zone. The amount of times our players know to look into that space - and the amount of times there's always a free man in that space - makes me think it's all by design. That we want that part of the forward 50 as vacant as possible so that our mids, flankers, wingmen, even the half backs, can push into it unmanned. In short, we're putting our forward "targets" 15-20m out, then putting the ball 35-50m out, catching teams off guard.

It feels particularly bulletproof because it really hamstrings the opposition. Even if the talls aren't starring, opposition defenders can't afford to not be occupied with them (no matter how average the tall may be, you aren't gonna leave someone 190cm+ by himself close to goal.) If teams figure out that we like to use that 35-50m zone they can use extra numbers to push up and close it, but that requires them flooding back to help out their defence. We then keep the spare numbers set up behind the play to cut off any of those long, clearing kicks they might try.

It's a system that demands of opposition teams an almost impossibly-flawless level of execution in exiting defence by hand or short kick, and that almost always offers a high chance of creating those ideal shots at goal for ourselves.

You taken your partner for a coffee at least or something during footy season

 

[caesar88]

You taken your partner for a coffee at least or something during footy season

I call it payback for the Kardashians and Real Housewives season. Which is all year round, because apparently those shows just never stop airing???

Although I won't lie, every now and then after an hour of saying what garbage it is, something juicy will happen that will leave me like

 

[The King!]

I call it payback for the Kardashians and Real Housewives season. Which is all year round, because apparently those shows just never stop airing???

Although I won't lie, every now and then after an hour of saying what garbage it is, something juicy will happen that will leave me like

this thread just revealed a lot

 

[JackHiscoxWasFast]

IMO the genius of our forward line isn't getting enough appreciation, both from the fans and media alike.

Ten weeks in with consistency of personnel has kinda allowed patterns to emerge and I think we have a really clear system in what we want to do in the front half.

Our forward entries are almost a kinda front-half version of slingshot footy. We tend to send the ball deep inside 50 to this pack at the top of the square, it draws opposition defences into pushing up close to goal, then we just send it back out to that 35-50m zone that's left undefended.

I think the talls are key to this because they're almost like decoys. They form this cluster at the top of the square, and on first watch it can seem like they just have terrible leading patterns, communication etc. to keep crowding each other's space. But then you notice the vacuum of space it leaves in that 35-50m zone. The amount of times our players know to look into that space - and the amount of times there's always a free man in that space - makes me think it's all by design. That we want that part of the forward 50 as vacant as possible so that our mids, flankers, wingmen, even the half backs, can push into it unmanned. In short, we're putting our forward "targets" 15-20m out, then putting the ball 35-50m out, catching teams off guard.

It feels particularly bulletproof because it really hamstrings the opposition. Even if the talls aren't starring, opposition defenders can't afford to not be occupied with them (no matter how average the tall may be, you aren't gonna leave someone 190cm+ by himself close to goal.) If teams figure out that we like to use that 35-50m zone they can use extra numbers to push up and close it, but that requires them flooding back to help out their defence. We then keep the spare numbers set up behind the play to cut off any of those long, clearing kicks they might try.

It's a system that demands of opposition teams an almost impossibly-flawless level of execution in exiting defence by hand or short kick, and that almost always offers a high chance of creating those ideal shots at goal for ourselves.

Shhhhh. You’re giving the game plan away lol

 

[Mister B]

Just quietly, I think we are performing alright.

 

[Heeney2Franklin]

Just quietly, I think we are performing alright.

Its surreal how far ahead of everybody else we are our average winning margin is 5 goals.

 

[DeathlyAccurate]

Its surreal how far ahead of everybody else we are our average winning margin is 5 goals.

Only one other team with a percentage over 120


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Heeney2Franklin]

Only one other team with a percentage over 120


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

There is no way even the most diehard Swans supporter could foresee such a start i thought we would be in a logjam with around 5-6 wins which would of been a good start for us.

But this? not in my wildest dreams.

 

[Kiama Chris]

Tried to find my own post where I predicted we would be at least 7-1 after beating GWS. I felt pretty confident but we have outperformed that to date though I never expected the 1 to be Richmond.
Lots of posters have pointed out many excellent reasons why we're going so well and most of them are right. As long as we don't get ahead of ourselves, get another key injury or cop a bout of stage fright we are a big chance.

 

[SwansProudly]

Tried to find my own post where I predicted we would be at least 7-1 after beating GWS. I felt pretty confident but we have outperformed that to date though I never expected the 1 to be Richmond.
Lots of posters have pointed out many excellent reasons why we're going so well and most of them are right. As long as we don't get ahead of ourselves, get another key injury or cop a bout of stage fright we are a big chance.

KC you did predict 7-0 before the Richmond game

Autopsy - Sydney defeat Thugden by 30pts

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