Reality Check

[Leg End]

Seriously - a few weeks ago we were 5-0, proving that the Swans are top 4 material with close to best team on teh ground.

Fast forward a few weeks - we lose Goodes, Mummy and Rohan. The first 2 are devastating. Goodes is our X factor that can turn games single-handedly. Mummy is one of the premier big man/midfielders in the game. AND Gary Rohan was begiining to show the dash and toughness to be a key part of the team including goal kicking.

For the peaheart fans who seem to relish putting the boot in - these are massive losses to our team. We don't have the personnel to cover these losses really - no club does. We just need to stem the bleeding for several weeks until Mummy and Goodes are back. Then - we are genuine top 4.

This is an open competition - and we are still right in the mix. We have had 2 bad 5 goal losses recently. Look at what Richmond did to the Hawks. Carlton lost by 10 goals recently - should they give up as well?

The comp is 9 games old. Judge the team after Goodes and Mummy are back. St Kilda turned it on well on Saturday - we were off our game. Deal with it. It happens.

 

[S120]

I think many of us hoped our depth had come to the point that we'd be able to still be a really good team without Goodes and Mumford (Rohan too, but the first 2 are the really big ones) and compete really stiffly. Unfortunately, I think the last month has shown we still really need those 2 to be a really good side.

We're not out of top 4 calculations just yet. It's too early for that as Leg End says. But we need to keep touch with the top 4 as it is now while Mumford and Goodes are out and then recapturing match fitness, so we are able to make a run at it towards the end of the year when we hopefully can have our best 22 (Rohan aside) together and playing week after week.

 

[Leg End]

I think many of us hoped our depth had come to the point that we'd be able to still be a really good team without Goodes and Mumford (Rohan too, but the first 2 are the really big ones) and compete really stiffly. Unfortunately, I think the last month has shown we still really need those 2 to be a really good side.

We're not out of top 4 calculations just yet. It's too early for that as Leg End says. But we need to keep touch with the top 4 as it is now while Mumford and Goodes are out and then recapturing match fitness, so we are able to make a run at it towards the end of the year when we hopefully can have our best 22 (Rohan aside) together and playing week after week.

Agreed.
I don't think we ever realy recovered from losing Bradshaw so early. We desperately need another focal point upfront. If I had my way, i would have Jesse or Walsh up forward for a guaranteed 5-6 games - not pinch-hitting in the ruck - supprting Reid and crumber by TDL, McGlynn with Goodes chiming in.

 

[Tedeski]

Agreed.
I don't think we ever realy recovered from losing Bradshaw so early. We desperately need another focal point upfront. If I had my way, i would have Jesse or Walsh up forward for a guaranteed 5-6 games - not pinch-hitting in the ruck - supprting Reid and crumber by TDL, McGlynn with Goodes chiming in.

I was agreeing with you until you mentioned White again. I knew someone would...................because he's big, solid, a brute of a man that instills confidence in supporters during the warm up with his athletic movements.

Then the game starts.............................that's where it stops for Jesse.

Jesse is done. Next please!

 

[MF]

No mention of the victorian umpires robbing us blind in the 2nd quarter Leg End?

I think we need to start learning to live without Goodes dragging us over the line every week. Mumford however, is a massive loss for us and one that we'll struggle to cover with Pyke/Seaby.

And obviously Rohan would be very handy in our forward line at the moment too.

 

[S120]

I agree that Jesse isn't the answer. I hope he and Everitt aren't just funneled back into the side as some sort of answer to our losing 3 games in 4.

White only has potential value as a 2nd ruck now, not as a permanent forward.

 

[BarneyBent]

I agree that Jesse isn't the answer. I hope he and Everitt aren't just funneled back into the side as some sort of answer to our losing 3 games in 4.

I actually think our forwardline would function a LOT better with Everitt delivering the ball inside 50. He needs to play reserves as a high-HFF (not FF, not CHF, not in the guts as he has been for the ressies), and be told that that is his position, full-stop. If/when he puts up a few decent performances, bring him in.

 

[Leg End]

No mention of the victorian umpires robbing us blind in the 2nd quarter Leg End?

I think we need to start learning to live without Goodes dragging us over the line every week. Mumford however, is a massive loss for us and one that we'll struggle to cover with Pyke/Seaby.

And obviously Rohan would be very handy in our forward line at the moment too.

I don't normally on match day - but jumped on after 2nd quarter.

The free against Grundy was a joke -almost as soft as that pathetic Riewoldt staging and hitting the deck like a flowergirl. The non-frees to Malceski for high contact twice then penalising him for HTB was another disgrace - but no surprise at all. The VIC umpires also evened it up ridiculously in Q4 when we were already gone.

My main beef is as follows: in top level AFL, it takes continued gut-busting effort to build and then maintain momentum. What annoys me is how so many teams are handed soft momentum by umpires at critical stages when the oppsotion has done nothing to deserve this. We are the top tackling team in the AFL yet never receive the rewards due for this effort.

Umpires are pro-MFL frauds - the Melbourne Football League. They have to be self-obsessed grand standers to become AFL umpires - and they treat the players as if they, the umpires, are the players' equals. They should be put back in their boxes.

 

[Tedeski]

So I guess you guys were happy with the efforts given by the players in the 2nd & 3rd Qs as it was the Victorian umpires fault that we were smashed by a harder team in the middle?

Geez.............I hope we don't get rostered any games in Melbourne in the near future whilst we have these players on our list.

We need to turn our list over & recruit only Victorian based players so that we don't get persecuted every time we play in Melbourne.

 

[magic.merkin]

No mention of the victorian umpires robbing us blind in the 2nd quarter Leg End?

Umpires are pro-MFL frauds - the Melbourne Football League. They have to be self-obsessed grand standers to become AFL umpires - and they treat the players as if they, the umpires, are the players' equals. They should be put back in their boxes.

You guys do realise that the only Victorian association the Umpires on the night had, was that they were umpiring in Victoria?

It was a SA, WA and Tas field umpires.

 

[MF]

I was taking the piss with the vic umpire comment.

Having said that, I don't disagree with much of what Leg End wrote in his reply.

 

[Swansujelly]

I don't normally on match day - but jumped on after 2nd quarter.

The free against Grundy was a joke -almost as soft as that pathetic Riewoldt staging and hitting the deck like a flowergirl. The non-frees to Malceski for high contact twice then penalising him for HTB was another disgrace - but no surprise at all. The VIC umpires also evened it up ridiculously in Q4 when we were already gone.

My main beef is as follows: in top level AFL, it takes continued gut-busting effort to build and then maintain momentum. What annoys me is how so many teams are handed soft momentum by umpires at critical stages when the oppsotion has done nothing to deserve this. We are the top tackling team in the AFL yet never receive the rewards due for this effort.

Umpires are pro-MFL frauds - the Melbourne Football League. They have to be self-obsessed grand standers to become AFL umpires - and they treat the players as if they, the umpires, are the players' equals. They should be put back in their boxes.

i counted three. was one of the worst decisions i have seen. and right in front of goal/

 

[S120]

i counted three. was one of the worst decisions i have seen. and right in front of goal/

Yeh, I couldn't believe that. Given how soft the high contact rule has become, one of those had to be called as a free. I don't necessarily agree that it SHOULD be a free because as I say, I think the rule has gone overboard so that any contact no matter how light above the shoulder gets a free against. But there had to be a free there.

 

[Leg End]

You guys do realise that the only Victorian association the Umpires on the night had, was that they were umpiring in Victoria?

It was a SA, WA and Tas field umpires.

yes - but they are paid by the AFL umpiring department.

That's most concerning. Looks like the corruption has spread nationwide.

 

[Gongswan]

I actually think our forwardline would function a LOT better with Everitt delivering the ball inside 50. He needs to play reserves as a high-HFF (not FF, not CHF, not in the guts as he has been for the ressies), and be told that that is his position, full-stop. If/when he puts up a few decent performances, bring him in.

I'm no great fan of Everitt, but on longer grounds, you need link men and this is a role that Everitt cld play, just keep him away from the congestion and out on the wing where he can get the ball in space, he's not Jetta, but he covers the ground ok, he's just not good in close or as a marking forward at the top level. I don't think form in the ressies tells us much, mostly they play against wooden posts, I've seen teh streaming a few times, White's body language is dreadful and I think he's cooked and we made a big mistake, dump him and throw the money at someone who is hard at it

 

[S120]

I don't disagree with your and BB's assessment of Everitt in that I think he is best suited to being a high HF/wing option. But I cannot think of many games in which the coaches have utilised him in that role. He's had bursts of it at times, but not all that often. That doesn't mean I'm against him being in the side to play that role, just that I don't think the coaches see him fitting into our side to play that role. Perhaps it's due to how our midfield is set up, our personnel or something more vague, but it just doesn't seem to be something our coaching staff want to try.

 

[Gongswan]

I think Everitt, and others, get overlooked because they are not hard at teh ball,/contest/man type players, like Morton who is kicking thousands of goals in the ressies, but is a one way player, just can't afford a player like that today, at least in our side

 

[disgruntled goat]

I think Everitt, and others, get overlooked because they are not hard at teh ball,/contest/man type players, like Morton who is kicking thousands of goals in the ressies, but is a one way player, just can't afford a player like that today, at least in our side

Yeah, we've already got enough of them ... one of them's the captain.

 

[db swannie]

Give Morton a go and get Spangher in ASAP. Our forward line is poop ATM. It's still a fun year, plenty of positives. We'll win a few we're expected to lose, and vice-versa.

 

[Gongswan]

Give Morton a go and get Spangher in ASAP. Our forward line is poop ATM. It's still a fun year, plenty of positives. We'll win a few we're expected to lose, and vice-versa.

The second half of the draw doesn't look quite as intimidating as it did at year start. With the Hawks and Geelong not going quite so well, these look like more winnable games than they did. The next 2 games b4 the bye are still very important though

 

[dread and might]

Any thoughts on Jesse White to the backline?
Consider the following.
Big.tick
Athletic. Tick
Knows where to go and what to do. Cross.
So, in the backline he could be reactive and wouldn't have to mark, (the amount of times he leads hard and the ball bounces off his chest...Arrgh.)

Just brainstorming.

 

[Gongswan]

I floated the idea of White into the backline long ago, looking at it now, who would u take from our defensive unit? Move Reg forward and play him at CHB? I don't think so. I think White is trade bait and we won't get much for him either, maybe GC cld use a big lump in their fwd line

 

[db swannie]

I wish the "move White to the backline" faction, would move to the backline, then jump over the fence.

 

[Leg End]

The original point of this thread stands.

We have potentially a very strong team now running at 7-3 - with the highest percentage - 1 win from the top. Our losses have been to teams in form who got a jump on us.

We will have ups and downs - but we should not expect our team to be tough then, as fans, carry on like peahearts when times get tough.

 

[dread and might]

I wish the "move White to the backline" faction, would move to the backline, then jump over the fence.

Hilarious!

care for some productive input?

I think White is trade bait and we won't get much for him either,

And here's my point exactly. We're not going to get much for him tradewise, he's not good enough to be a forward at AFL level, (but can dominate in the 2s), so what are we supposed to do? Be happy to pay him to run around in the 2s with the occasional frustrating stint in the seniors?