Preview Sydney Swans vs Melbourne Demons, Saturday May 8 @ MCG

[the hypnotoad]

No real estate talk on here please, ever. Last time I was in Sydney I stopped going to barbies because there was always some ignorant twat rattling on about real estate. The planet is burning but people talk about real estate. WTF ? Not saying you're one of those twats but it just pissed me off. Houses are homes, for people to live in, not commodities.

i'm on your side

 

[Swan4Life]

I'm so excited for this game. I think we're in for a real crack at this. Draw opens up a bit after that with Collingwood, freo, Carlton, St kilda and hawthorn before the bye. Realistically if we can go into the bye being 9-3 or 8-4 that will set us up nicely. Tricky month (port,west coast,dogs,gws) after the bye so need to bank the wins.

Whoooooaaaahhhh boy.....lets pump the brakes a little.

Injuries, suspensions and a young list that is very prone to fluctuations in form are all very relevant factors.

I really prefer the one week at a time approach and im sure Horse does too.

Patience needs to be mixed in with excitement in equal measure.

 

[wilsonmatic]

Whoooooaaaahhhh boy.....lets pump the brakes a little.

Injuries, suspensions and a young list that is very prone to fluctuations in form are all very relevant factors.

I really prefer the one week at a time approach and im sure Horse does too.

Patience needs to be mixed in with excitement in equal measure.

Tell me about it, don't even want to know our draw!

 

[bungee]

Whoooooaaaahhhh boy.....lets pump the brakes a little.

Injuries, suspensions and a young list that is very prone to fluctuations in form are all very relevant factors.

I really prefer the one week at a time approach and im sure Horse does too.

Patience needs to be mixed in with excitement in equal measure.

You're sounding a bit like Ted Hastings from Line of Duty (BBC's just finished showing Season 7 over here)

He likes to call everyone son, or young fella.

"Let's pump the brakes a little" reminds me of his "Now we're sucking diesel" or “Frankly son, right now, I couldn’t give a shite”

"Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the wee donkey"

“Go back to the coal face, the pair of you, unless you’ve got more egg-sucking tips for your granny.”

 

[Dubai Quacker]

So you are comparing Buddy to Ben Brown....I have now heard everything. This notion of Buddy being a demanding forward is interesting, it’s not up to Buddy who kicks him the ball. The player with the ball in hand needs to make better decisions, every forward worth their salt should demand the ball inside forward fifty.

I just cannot understand your thinking here in any way.

My sense is that the younger players feel obliged to look for Buddy when going i50. It felt particularly evident in the Essendon game.

Buddy’s body language when he feels he’s been burned would be pretty intimidating for a young player. He is more overtly demanding that most.

Not saying isn’t a great player (and a huge asset if he can string games together), but when he’s in & out of the side, I reckon it’d be hard to adjust, particularly for the young mids looking to hit up targets in a constantly changing forward line structure.

 

[Superstar swan]

My sense is that the younger players feel obliged to look for Buddy when going i50. It felt particularly evident in the Essendon game.

Buddy’s body language when he feels he’s been burned would be pretty intimidating for a young player. He is more overtly demanding that most.

Not saying isn’t a great player (and a huge asset if he can string games together), but when he’s in & out of the side, I reckon it’d be hard to adjust, particularly for the young mids looking to hit up targets in a constantly changing forward line structure.

Agree but we also need to take into account the chaos he causes for opposition defender who panic when he is around. Not to mention the leadership he provides up there. Which is something we lack even when Reid is there.

While it’s true we can become too buddy centric, the young guys just need to learn to look at all options. And while buddy is up there, he will drag opposition players with him and that’s where other players need to learn to find the space and get to dangerous positions

 

[mattpolo8]

I just think Buddy will always attract their number 1 defender. Which is only ever going to be a good thing as players like McDonald get better every week.

May will go to Buddy
Lever? to McLean. Thats a win to us. Unless Tom McDonald goes back. If he does...
Lever to Hayward as intercept. This will be such a crucial role for Hayward or whoever does get Lever as they really just need to drag him well out to the wings just like Stewart was for Geelong.
Salem to Papley
Hibberd to Heeney
Hunt to Gulden

 

[bungee]

Agree but we also need to take into account the chaos he causes for opposition defender who panic when he is around. Not to mention the leadership he provides up there. Which is something we lack even when Reid is there.

While it’s true we can become too buddy centric, the young guys just need to learn to look at all options. And while buddy is up there, he will drag opposition players with him and that’s where other players need to learn to find the space and get to dangerous positions

Spot on. There are only so many defenders and if Buddy has 3 of them guarding him there's plenty of opportunities for others.

I think we have to give some credit to Buddy, but also to the young players. It's not their first rodeo either and in any case they answer to Horse, not to Buddy. If we removes Buddy because he attracts the ball we'd have to get rid of Papley as he also attracts the ball but has much less chance of marking or kicking a goal

 

[Joycerama]

Having said that the ball walked out on numerous occasions last Saturday night. Papley, Wicks and Gulden all need to pull their finger out as small forwards and start applying some real tackling pressure inside 50. Crumbing and snagging a goal here and there is there job but so is keeping the ball locked in with physical and perceived pressure. Not aimed at you here Punts but the the disguised Buddy bashing here is ****ing pathetic tbh. Top 10 player of all time and being made out to be a hack liability. Give us a spell !

Don’t get me wrong, I want him on the park, but not in exchange for a small forward. Then your much needed tacking pressure goes to s**t.

 

[hairy biker]

Don’t get me wrong, I want him on the park, but not in exchange for a small forward. Then your much needed tacking pressure goes to sh*t.

It ain't much with or without Buddy.

We currently rank 16th for tackles inside 50.
Our best I50 tackler (Wicks) ranks =24th in the league. He's the only guy on our list averaging more than one tackle per game.
Not good enough.

 

[Ralphyboy]

Exactly!
Buddy changes the way we play. We need the small to run hard both ways all day. We need the overhead contested marking big forward, McLean for example.

Buddy is neither of those. Buddy is the magician who perhaps once a game gets a goal from nowhere, but who also attracts 7 out of every 10 forward entries, which can be defended easier & in turn, rebounded quicker. So unless a 34 YO Buddy comes up with at least 5 or 6 goals, it's difficult for us to win if other forwards/midfielders can't contribute on the scoreboard due to Buddy being a dominant presence up forward.

If he is fit enough to play up the ground & at times be the one passing to other forwards, he will go a long way to helping us dominate the scoring as a team & in turn could also get two or three of his own goals along the way because he is impossible to stop running towards goal from outside 50.

Buddy Franklin sitting deep forward is not what we want. We will just lose without him performing miracles, which he can no doubt do but it won't take us far.

Team scoring with a spread of goal kickers makes me happy with Buddy in the team.

Good analysis. Buddy must play high. Otherwise he and McLean will make it easy for the defenders if they both camp in front of the goal square


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[Ralphyboy]

Having said that the ball walked out on numerous occasions last Saturday night. Papley, Wicks and Gulden all need to pull their finger out as small forwards and start applying some real tackling pressure inside 50. Crumbing and snagging a goal here and there is there job but so is keeping the ball locked in with physical and perceived pressure. Not aimed at you here Punts but the the disguised Buddy bashing here is ****ing pathetic tbh. Top 10 player of all time and being made out to be a hack liability. Give us a spell !

Bit harsh. Swans inside 50 efficiency was awesome. The smalls did their job and contributed to a great win. Papley was the striker, wicks and gulden spread the defenders. If you watch you will see all three busting their butts to shut down one of the best defences. Geelong loves the fast break down the middle. Look at how many times the small forwards closed this exit.


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[Tedeski]

Not aimed at you here Punts but the the disguised Buddy bashing here is ****ing pathetic tbh. Top 10 player of all time and being made out to be a hack liability. Give us a spell !

I'll answer this Wolfy because it is mainly me that mentions Buddy in such a way.
It's not a knock on Buddy's ability but how he is used &/or what he is capable of.
Now he used to be able to play up the ground no problem but he can't do that any longer, meaning as a team we need to change the way we play from when he is there & when he is not there. He individually kicked 5 brilliant goals against GWS. The team lost it's first game.

Yes he is perhaps a top 5 player of all time. He is also 34 years old & played only 2 of 7 games thus far this season, backing up my opinion that we can't have a game plan where he is the key piece of our scoring puzzle.

 

[Grand Uncle Horace]

I'll answer this Wolfy because it is mainly me that mentions Buddy in such a way.
It's not a knock on Buddy's ability but how he is used &/or what he is capable of.
Now he used to be able to play up the ground no problem but he can't do that any longer, meaning as a team we need to change the way we play from when he is there & when he is not there. He individually kicked 5 brilliant goals against GWS. The team lost it's first game.

Yes he is perhaps a top 5 player of all time. He is also 34 years old & played only 2 of 7 games thus far this season, backing up my opinion that we can't have a game plan where he is the key piece of our scoring puzzle.

No-one is the key piece to our scoring. I can remember when Skilts was and that did not work out so well.

In the current game style, multiple scoring sources are crucial.

Mids as well as fwds must produce. Ours do a bit but not enough. Here are the current goal tallies for our 8 fellas who run through the mids.

Warner 6
Parker 5
McInerney 5
Ollie 4
Mills 3 (but also played back)
Rowy 2 (missed games)
Blakey 1 (missed 1)
Kennedy 0

 

[RampeRobe]

No-one is the key piece to our scoring. I can remember when Skilts was and that did not work out so well.

In the current game style, multiple scoring sources are crucial.

Mids as well as fwds must produce. Ours do a bit but not enough. Here are the current goal tallies for our 8 fellas who run through the mids.

Warner 6
Parker 5
McInerney 5
Ollie 4
Mills 3 (but also played back)
Rowy 2 (missed games)
Blakey 1 (missed 1)
Kennedy 0

whilst I’d like it to be more, I think those mid goal kicking stats are certainly an improvement (bar Kennedy) on the last few years, so far anyway.

 

[Grand Uncle Horace]

whilst I’d like it to be more, I think those mid goal kicking stats are certainly an improvement (bar Kennedy) on the last few years, so far anyway.

Delighted by The Chad and JMac. Still the other top line teams have mids that seem to hit the scoreboard more than ours. I reckon it is an area for improvement.

 

[Wolfgang West]

I'll answer this Wolfy because it is mainly me that mentions Buddy in such a way.
It's not a knock on Buddy's ability but how he is used &/or what he is capable of.
Now he used to be able to play up the ground no problem but he can't do that any longer, meaning as a team we need to change the way we play from when he is there & when he is not there. He individually kicked 5 brilliant goals against GWS. The team lost it's first game.

Yes he is perhaps a top 5 player of all time. He is also 34 years old & played only 2 of 7 games thus far this season, backing up my opinion that we can't have a game plan where he is the key piece of our scoring puzzle.

Game plan does not revolve around him Ted it’s the players that think it does. Maybe they should be the focus of some people’s outlook on how we score. They kick it to him. They are the ones that need to play smarter. Yes his presence is huge but they are not playing suburban footy here. They need to be making the right decisions ball in hand.

 

[Wolfgang West]

Bit harsh. Swans inside 50 efficiency was awesome. The smalls did their job and contributed to a great win. Papley was the striker, wicks and gulden spread the defenders. If you watch you will see all three busting their butts to shut down one of the best defences. Geelong loves the fast break down the middle. Look at how many times the small forwards closed this exit.


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I watched close enough have no fear of that. Spin it how you like the ball walked out of there at times with ease. Fast break down the middle ? There backline move the ball like floats in a Moomba procession.

 

[Parky79]

It ain't much with or without Buddy.

We currently rank 16th for tackles inside 50.
Our best I50 tackler (Wicks) ranks =24th in the league. He's the only guy on our list averaging more than one tackle per game.
Not good enough.
View attachment 1118859

We don’t go in that much probably the reason!!

 

[Donza]

MCG suits a buddy inclusion.
Way more room to get seperation.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

MCG suits a buddy inclusion.
Way more room to get seperation.

Problem...

Our brain dead midfielders will kick it to him every time!

 

[BruceFromBalnarring]

My sense is that the younger players feel obliged to look for Buddy when going i50. It felt particularly evident in the Essendon game.

Buddy’s body language when he feels he’s been burned would be pretty intimidating for a young player. He is more overtly demanding that most.

Not saying isn’t a great player (and a huge asset if he can string games together), but when he’s in & out of the side, I reckon it’d be hard to adjust, particularly for the young mids looking to hit up targets in a constantly changing forward line structure.

I do remember Logan having a relatively easy set shot and Buddy screaming for it and thinking, Logan will miss this due to uncertainty. And he did.

It really is on Buddy to empower the younger players and not demand the ball when it is within their scope to kick the goal. But it's also on the younger players and coaching staff to ensure those younger players own the responsibility of taking the shot themselves. Like Rowbottom on Saturday night.

 

[hairy biker]

We don’t go in that much probably the reason!!

We are 7th overall for Inside 50 entries, 16th for I50 tackles.

Best team for I50 tackles is Melbourne, averaging 13 a game, we average 8.

 

[SGBeach]

We are 7th overall for Inside 50 entries, 16th for I50 tackles.

Best team for I50 tackles is Melbourne, averaging 13 a game, we average 8.

reckon the coaches would be happy with 7th for inside 50s - always looking to improve of course
but 16th for i50 tackles! what's the go there?
Paps seems to attack more than defend and the talls dont contribute much (Reid and a fit Buddy prob the best), is too much being left to Wicks? Heeney, Hayward, Gulden might need to put in an extra effort. Or some of the higher mids need to help out??
Would like to see Hayward tackle more, very capable and would add a lot to his game especially if only getting 8-10 touches.

 

[ashep]

Can I just say that I'm quite happy for our players to continue kicking to the greatest forward of his generation who kicked 5.0 in his last start?

Sure, burning an unmarked man in front to try to hit Buddy covered 2 on 1 in the pocket isn't a wise decision but despite the narrative, I haven't seen a whole lot of that at all. If anything I've been seeing Buddy burned more often than not this year.