Autopsy Round 4, 2020 vs Western Bulldogs

[wills2g]

So you are saying he is like 50% of our squad?

nope, its different if youre a kid or if youve played 8 seasons

Theres a point where you go Cunningham is a dud. He basically never has standout games. You could probably count em on a single hand.

and hes playing in a spot where we can have others try play instead

So i dont see a point in persisting with harry when hes clearly peaked as a below avg footballer

 

[dosser]

nope, its different if youre a kid or if youve played 8 seasons

Theres a point where you go Cunningham is a dud. He basically never has standout games. You could probably count em on a single hand.

and hes playing in a spot where we can have others try play instead

So i dont see a point in persisting with harry when hes clearly peaked as a below avg footballer

In an ideal world, and with unlimited salary cap, we could have superstars in every position. Harry does his job and does it well enough that he gets picked every week. We all know that the coaches don't know as much as we do, which is why he keeps getting picked.

 

[ScottBo]

As someone lucky/unlucky enough to be at the game I thought I'd wait to watch the replay before I posted.

You spot stuff off the ball at the game you don't always see on the broadcast. The Swans actually looked better on the replay than they did on the night.

A few observations...

* The Bulldogs held their structure so much better than the Swans. Too many gave their direct opponent too much space. They ran with purpose.
* Tried to keep eye on Taylor to see his work rate off the ball. He put on a couple of tackles and has some skills. But goes missing and doesn't impact the game as much as he needs to. Has the hard bit covered, they should just get him to run laps during training.
* Hayward and Blakey look badly down on confidence. Hayward lost the ball at one stage and there didn't seem to be a lot of urgency in chasing to make up for it. To a lesser extent Dawson also looks like his head is elsewhere.
* Rare average night by Rampe unsettled the backline. We need a big body back in there. Don't care if it is Brand, Melican or Maibaum.
* JPK's quieter spells felt like they impacted the team.
* I counted about eight dropped marks inside 50. It felt like the Bulldogs clunked everything.
* If the Swans had slotted some of those chances in the third it would've been interesting as the men in green (sorry, blue) deserved to win (this time).

 

[Kapers]

As someone lucky/unlucky enough to be at the game I thought I'd wait to watch the replay before I posted.

You spot stuff off the ball at the game you don't always see on the broadcast. The Swans actually looked better on the replay than they did on the night.

A few observations...

* The Bulldogs held their structure so much better than the Swans. Too many gave their direct opponent too much space. They ran with purpose.
* Tried to keep eye on Taylor to see his work rate off the ball. He put on a couple of tackles and has some skills. But goes missing and doesn't impact the game as much as he needs to. Has the hard bit covered, they should just get him to run laps during training.
* Hayward and Blakey look badly down on confidence. Hayward lost the ball at one stage and there didn't seem to be a lot of urgency in chasing to make up for it. To a lesser extent Dawson also looks like his head is elsewhere.
* Rare average night by Rampe unsettled the backline. We need a big body back in there. Don't care if it is Brand, Melican or Maibaum.
* JPK's quieter spells felt like they impacted the team.
* I counted about eight dropped marks inside 50. It felt like the Bulldogs clunked everything.
* If the Swans had slotted some of those chances in the third it would've been interesting as the men in green (sorry, blue) deserved to win (this time).

What made the game look better on the replay. Did we just lose structure because of game plan, or were they lured to the ball?

 

[ScottBo]

What made the game look better on the replay. Did we just lose structure because of game plan, or were they lured to the ball?

Because you don't have to watch someone lose their match-up or miss a block, you just saw the ball fall straight into a Bulldogs player's hands. Also, I have a new appreciation for how much the crowd brings to the experience. They can artificially create that to a degree with broadcast. Whereas at the ground it seemed odd the big screen was running for so few spectators. Don't get me wrong, it was a unique COVID-19 experience but it felt like being a bored Roman Emperor who got the gladiators to do a few rounds just for family and friends. I didn't get to order any heads to roll after the game. As a Swans fan it would've been a bloodbath.

 

[Kapers]

Because you don't have to watch someone lose their match-up or miss a block, you just saw the ball fall straight into a Bulldogs player's hands. Also, I have a new appreciation for how much the crowd brings to the experience. They can artificially create that to a degree with broadcast. Whereas at the ground it seemed odd the big screen was running for so few spectators. Don't get me wrong, it was a unique COVID-19 experience but it felt like being a bored Roman Emperor who got the gladiators to do a few rounds just for family and friends. I didn't get to order any heads to roll after the game. As a Swans fan it would've been a bloodbath.

Must make Longmire's reactions more understandable, since we can't see what he's reacting to

 

[SwansProudly]

Sydney vs Western Bulldogs
10 Marcus Bontempelli (WB)
6 Tim English (WB)
6 Tom Papley (SYD)
4 Caleb Daniel (WB)
2 Bailey Smith (WB)
2 Hayden Crozier (WB)

Coaches' votes, R4: Rising Sun's perfect hat-trick, Lion takes lead

Matt Rowell has done it again, while Lachie Neale takes over at the top

www.afl.com.au

 

[Kapers]

Sydney vs Western Bulldogs
10 Marcus Bontempelli (WB)
6 Tim English (WB)
6 Tom Papley (SYD)
4 Caleb Daniel (WB)
2 Bailey Smith (WB)
2 Hayden Crozier (WB)

Coaches' votes, R4: Rising Sun's perfect hat-trick, Lion takes lead

Matt Rowell has done it again, while Lachie Neale takes over at the top

www.afl.com.au

Ehhhhhh, this is probably the team colours speaking, but papley was way more important in that game than the bont.
Bontempelli had a great game, but didn't really do much after half time, and only really dominated when we were at our standout worst.
Papley made a team that was awful look merely mediocre, if we had one or two more goal scorers and took the 4 points, papley would be credited with said 4 points

 

[BloodySwan]

Sydney vs Western Bulldogs
10 Marcus Bontempelli (WB)
6 Tim English (WB)
6 Tom Papley (SYD)
4 Caleb Daniel (WB)
2 Bailey Smith (WB)
2 Hayden Crozier (WB)

Coaches' votes, R4: Rising Sun's perfect hat-trick, Lion takes lead

Matt Rowell has done it again, while Lachie Neale takes over at the top

www.afl.com.au

Parker stiff to not even get a vote from his own coach

 

[The King!]

Parker stiff to not even get a vote from his own coach

he was pretty ordinary, missed a lot of targets

i mean one of our better players though

 

[Joycerama]

As good as Papley is he really pisses me off when he turns his back on the goals as he walks back for a set shot, especially when he's at the edge of his range and missing quite a few. There's always a chance that someone will lead to a better position but nah, not Papley. There was a time when that would have got you shot by a coach. FFS. Are we so far away from the basics ? The only Swan who could ever justify doing that was Plugger, as he was a better set shot from 50m than practically anyone else from anywhere inside 50..

Couldn't agree with you more. It's bloody arrogant.

 

[Joycerama]

nope, its different if youre a kid or if youve played 8 seasons

Theres a point where you go Cunningham is a dud. He basically never has standout games. You could probably count em on a single hand.

and hes playing in a spot where we can have others try play instead

So i dont see a point in persisting with harry when hes clearly peaked as a below avg footballer

Can we give him a rest. he was one of our consistent players last year. I thought he was solid in 2019. Three games and we're writing him off completely. People have very short memories. If he can tidy up his delivery a little, he'll be serviceable.

 

[wills2g]

Can we give him a rest. he was one of our consistent players last year. I thought he was solid in 2019. Three games and we're writing him off completely. People have very short memories. If he can tidy up his delivery a little, he'll be serviceable.

Thats the issue tho. Why give games to someone whos only going to become “serviceable”

 

[MC Bad Genius]

I know it's pretty late in the week to add to an autopsy thread, but here's my 2c.

We were never going to be a chance of winning when we had so many players having a nightmare of a match all at once. I reckon you'd be hard pressed to find many worse games than this one for any of Rampe, Sinclair, Heeney, Cunningham, Aliir, or Hayward. Plus Lloyd and Kennedy weren't far off their worst either. Add to that some of the young players going completely missing (McLean, Blakey, Ronke etc) and you're left with precious few positives.

BUT ... I don't think you'll see that kind of performance again when so many players have their colours lowered like that. Yes, all those players might have games where they play poorly or are inconsistent, but not all at the same time. There has been a lot of talk about how players are finding motivation for this season a lot harder, so it's no surprise that something like the Captain's grandfather (and AFL legend) dying was enough to take the wind out of our sails.

And I know it's already been said, but Papley can't be allowed to move back to Melbourne. The club needs to give him everything he needs to make it work up in Sydney.