Richmond game thread

[liz]

Nico

Your observations are valid but I don't think they are what lost the game. You could pick out dozens of errors every team makes every game. But amongst the bad stuff you have to hope there's some good stuff too. The proportion of good to bad stuff is partly what decides games.

But as much as that, if you don't actually get your hands on the ball you can't do a whole lot of creative, positive stuff. And for three quarters they were killed at the clearances and the Tigers had the ball on a string. More often than not they had players in space and spare players at the contests - ie they were running hard while their Swans opponents were static and reactive.

We were lucky that they didn't make much more of it - a 12 goal return for that degree of dominance was poor return for Richmond.

 

[nico]

Gee, looks like a good Charmed episode tonight.

Oh yeah, the game. Dreadful.

Kennelly should be played on the wing. It's been said for a long time now, but it has to happen now.

Kennelly went to the wing in the 3rdQ but Bowden ran him around. They said on 3AW how much at sea he was on the wing and I tend to agree. Went back in the lastQ and it may have seemed he was playing up the ground, but he was running off HB. I thought his game was OK. At least he tried to create something.

 

[liz]

If you live in Melbourne you're having a bad, and non-representative, time this year. The two Melbourne games (Saints and today) have been the absolute low points of our season.

There was another - the Carlton game, by no means a great performance but at least a win!

 

[nico]

Has anyone seen the "cliche" coaches press conference or part there of.

The last 2 weeks we have been part empty and part full according to Mr. Roos. Excuse me, but how about for once giving them a decent payout for such a shocker.

From what I have seen of it he had absolutely no idea what to say. The old rabbit in the headlights look.

For 3 Quarters he persisted with a set centre bounce set up that was flogged. 2 players who should never be in there are Mathews and Ablett. They offer nothing in the way of clearances and just hold and block. Why did it take 3 Quarters for the centre bounce smaller players to really have a dip. Most of the first 3 stanzas they just stood off or tried for the secondary bounce. From my observation Richmond got 6 goals from direct centre clearances. Deplorable and indefensable.

Any chance you might just once tell your long suffering supporters that you stuffed up for 3 quarters with a style that played right into their hands.

 

[HighReeve]

Liz, they never learn.

Goodes - makes space on the wing with a clear run up the ground. Marks on the run, but stops and props and shows the footy to his opponent (lair) then does a hospital pass to McVeigh, turnover.

If we're talking about the same incident: We'd flooded so much that when Goodes made the fast break he had no one to kick too.

 

[TheBloods]

LOL - that was the first time in my years following the Swans that I almost walked away from the TV in disgust towards the end because I feared they would get up for an undeserved win. I almost couldn't bear to watch!

I really wanted us to win while watching, but afterwards I was kind of glad we didn't, for similar reasons I guess. A flukey comeback win, like we did against Brisbane, just papers over bigger problems.

 

[Bloods Rule!]

Have you ever heard a coach say he was outcoached? I haven't. That's probably because everyone knows it but it won't do wonders for the player instructions the following game if they go in with doubts about the overall direction of the team.

 

[TheBloods]

Has anyone seen the "cliche" coaches press conference or part there of.

Roos' press conference reflected our game - shocking. Just trotted out a load of tripe.

Before the game I said one of the biggest problems with Roos is that you don't really see him trying things and pulling off game-chasing moves, but you do find that with other coaches.

Also, I'm not convinced with the continual rotation of players. They seem very confused (and they don't seem very bright football-wise so why make it harder). At one stage a group were huddled together and pointing in different directions trying to work out where they should be.

 

[TheBloods]

If we're talking about the same incident: We'd flooded so much that when Goodes made the fast break he had no one to kick too.

Really one thing I noticed today. Just how much we were flooding. Richmond were doing it too, but when they recovered the ball they were able to break away, set up loose players, actually hit them with a disposal (not put it over their head or to their side or to the opposition) and run forward.

I still think there is something fundamentally wrong with our game. I don't know if it's the game plan and system (or lack thereof) or the players or the coach or some combination.

We spend our entire time working around the wings and flanks. On a few occasions there were options in the centre square but we elected to go wide. According to the radio we had ~65% of our shots from the corridor last year and only ~45% this year and that pretty much summed up our game today - virtually no shots straight in front.

 

[dread and might]

Really one thing I noticed today. Just how much we were flooding. I still think there is something fundamentally wrong with our game.

I don't know if it's the game plan and system (or lack thereof) or the players or the coach or some combination.

.

Yep the flooding was painfully obvious. We were getting smashed at stoppages for most of the game and it seemed like we knew we weren't going to effest a clearance and started putting numbers back even at bounces.

There was more than one occasion when we had a break and there was nobody to kick to forward of the play. Terrible effort. it was a measure of the Tigers crapness that they only won by one point.

 

[Bojangles17]

But today was probably the most winnable of the next month. .

funny that, we were thinking the same thing...

 

[Bojangles17]

Yep the flooding was painfully obvious. We were getting smashed at stoppages for most of the game and it seemed like we knew we weren't going to effest a clearance and started putting numbers back even at bounces.

There was more than one occasion when we had a break and there was nobody to kick to forward of the play. Terrible effort. it was a measure of the Tigers crapness that they only won by one point.

Not easy to score goals with 16 oppoonents in our F50, we were never headed and would have been desperately unlucky to lose, you guys have an ugly game plan that will not get you very far and would be well advised to follow demetrious advice..

 

[Bloods Rule!]

Not easy to score goals with 16 oppoonents in our F50.

So we found. It would have been more interesting if Barry Hall had to drag all his taggers around in a hand cart for the game.

 

[BonBon]

We can't let teams like Richmond beat us. Ryan played well <3

 

[monopoly19]

How many of them was he outmarked on and how many of them did the kick go over his head because of poor delivery? He looked to be working his tail off today... he ended with 15 disposals + 5 marks, he offered a hell of a lot of leads on top of that which were ignored or honoured with poor delivery. Not many of those he didn't take seemed to actually be in his favour to start with.

Agree that the delivery was bad, but he failed to even bring it to ground on most occasions, and simply let his opponent take the mark, often on the edge of our forward 50. His miss for goal was inexcusable (was not alone there) and his possessions were very rarely damaging ones. He was by no means our very worst, and I'm probably just disappointed because I've got high expectations of what he can do, but overall, he failed to make any sort of impact when (and where) it was needed (IMHO).

 

[Bloods Rule!]

Agree that the delivery was bad, but he failed to even bring it to ground on most occasions, and simply let his opponent take the mark, often on the edge of our forward 50. His miss for goal was inexcusable (was not alone there) and his possessions were very rarely damaging ones. He was by no means our very worst, and I'm probably just disappointed because I've got high expectations of what he can do, but overall, he failed to make any sort of impact when (and where) it was needed (IMHO).

You could very well be writing that about Baz' performance today.

 

[Tuesday]

Oh. What a game. We headed to the Aussie Rules Club (where the beer is no longer at genuine 1972 prices! EEEEK!), watched an almost entertaining episode of Inside Footy, got a compliment on my t-shirt, then: the feature match. Talk about Heart Attack Central!

I do like to be quite fair, though that was their second worst performance of the season (behind the Saints game)! The first three quarters -- just depressing, but the last -- GOLD! Why does it take until the last quarter to produce that?

There was a lot wrong with today, but their persistence, their sense of urgency in the final stanza said it all -- they wanted it. And to repeat every other post in this thread, they have to do that for more than one quarter in a game. This team thrives on a challenge, but there's only so many times you can mount such a massive comeback and walk away with the points. Today, it almost worked. But it didn't.

I am sure Crouchy will be tougher on himself than any criticism we can dish up here re that kick, but a golf clap to him for putting his head down and continuing to run hard, for not packing it in. I really admired his persistence. I just didn't like the Channel 10 commentator saying "Sydney are getting a taste of their own medicine after last week" --- PFFF! Dude, it's all part of the game.

The spate of backline injuries in the first half had me worried -- Leo and his knee, B2 and his shoulder, Kennelly and his finger, all in the space of about ten minutes... It was as if my favourite backline was falling to pieces. Thankfully, none terribly so, and they sucked it in and pushed on.

Craig Bolton -- Once again, B2 was right on the money. Not as good as last week, but Mr Consistent nonetheless. Is the TAB taking bets on the TLM??? The backline did struggle when Leo limped off, but I thought it was because they were trying to cover the extra man.

Leo -- seemed to get a bit more run off the ball, rabbit-the-headlights style, which was great to see.

Kirky -- cuts the hair and loses the grip on his fingers.

Willo -- thought he read the ball quite well, always seemed to be there, like Crouch, toward the end.

And Roosy -- How bout organising a training day this week with the red-hot, on-fire, dominating Sydney Swifts who can teach the boys how to stay on their opposite number?

Having a brother with the same first and last name as dear Richo, I discovered they both have a tendency to ham it up on-field in a bid for penalties.... Consequently, laughed my head off when Richo ducked into a Leo Barry tackle and spent the next minute rolling around on the ground in faux-agony

It's bizarre -- it doesn't feel like a loss. I was unhappy, sure, but am still able to smile. The loss to St Kilda was far more traumatic. Perhaps watching it on TV divorces me from the effects of a loss...

And PS: Anyone know where Dempster disappeared to? I saw him once in the third quarter, I think...

Judging by our thread, we are one million times more intelligent and fair than any other team, never failing to have something constructive to say**!

** I do admit bias.

 

[stellation]

Agree that the delivery was bad, but he failed to even bring it to ground on most occasions, and simply let his opponent take the mark, often on the edge of our forward 50. His miss for goal was inexcusable (was not alone there) and his possessions were very rarely damaging ones. He was by no means our very worst, and I'm probably just disappointed because I've got high expectations of what he can do, but overall, he failed to make any sort of impact when (and where) it was needed (IMHO).

Ahhhhhhhhh that makes sense then, I too have high expectations of him and have to admit I judge his disposal much more harshly than I do that of anyone else in the team. Fair enough with them not being as damaging as possible, I think he still did give off a few pearlers today but in general I have to agree a lot of his disposals were almost non-risk/playing it safe which was dissapointing considering his usual take a risk/don't just play it safe play.
All in all though, I think his season so far has been extremely encouraging in the context of his career, for this season I have to admit I am happy to see him leading for the ball and racking up a few touches. He is averaging 12.5 disposals, which I am confident he will continue to improve on and I think, generally, those disposals are worth a bit more than disposals from the other Swans because of his skill (they usually hit a target) and decision making (they usually hit the best possible target). Another important thing is that yesterday is the 6th time from 11 games he has had >=15 disposals so the consistency is getting there too.

 

[sportsfan7]

And PS: Anyone know where Dempster disappeared to? I saw him once in the third quarter, I think...

He was on the plane back to Sydney at 8:30

 

[swandave]

Not easy to score goals with 16 oppoonents in our F50, we were never headed and would have been desperately unlucky to lose, you guys have an ugly game plan that will not get you very far and would be well advised to follow demetrious advice..

Why don't you make yourself useful and go and try to reattach Nathan Browns leg.

 

[monopoly19]

You could very well be writing that about Baz' performance today.

I was going to say ditto for Barry Hall, but I feel like he deserves a break after being so good for so long

One thing that did annoy me was that we didn't try to isolate Mickey O more - he was on a first gamer FFS, and the last quarter showed how we could have (should have) exploited that all day.

What really got me was that I couldn't see where our free players were. The Tiges consistently had a 3rd man up in defense and were able to crumb the ball if they weren't able to mark with the overlap, but we never seemed to have the same numbers in our backline. I don't know if our guys were positioned somewhere in the midfield, but whoever the loose men were they seemed to be mightily ineffective.

 

[Donners]

Good to see O'Keefe play his best game in a long time. Crouch has also been excellent in the last few weeks. However, I'm really starting to wonder whether there is room for both Ball and Jolly in the side. They seem to be having little individual impact both around the ground and in the ruck, even against inexperienced opponents like the previous two games.

 

[mrs_richo]

You could say that about a lot of games we've played over the last 3 years. We can turn it on for 1 quarter, but not a match.

In the context of the season, makes it hard for top 4, but on team performance, not bad to get within 1 point with little from Hall, Davis and Oloughlan.

Before you Swans fans think I have come into your board to gloat - I havent. There are two areas where Paul Roos really needs to address. I was at the MCG yesterday and I was bored by the defensive flooding tactics - flooding is bad football. When he played for Fitzroy and Sydney, I remember him as a very attacking defender and for the life of me cannot figure out why he wants this team to play this way. I give the Swans credit for their last quarter performance but if they want to stay in the eight and not get smashed by other sides in the finals, they need to play ATTACKING FOOTBALL THE WHOLE GAME. You guys have some very talented players on that list and if they were allowed to play attacking footy the whole game, im sure you guys would be higher than 6th on percentage. Best of luck next week with your next opponent.

 

[TheBloods]

One thing that did annoy me was that we didn't try to isolate Mickey O more - he was on a first gamer FFS, and the last quarter showed how we could have (should have) exploited that all day.

Yep, this was immensely frustrating and I would think really bad coaching.

What really got me was that I couldn't see where our free players were. The Tiges consistently had a 3rd man up in defense and were able to crumb the ball if they weren't able to mark with the overlap, but we never seemed to have the same numbers in our backline. I don't know if our guys were positioned somewhere in the midfield, but whoever the loose men were they seemed to be mightily ineffective.

I kept looking around and wondering if they had more players on the ground than us. Then I would find a little group of 4 or 5 Swans players standing quite close to each other, often on the wing or HBF and doing nothing. Our defensive flooding approach means that the guys run back in a pack, lose their men and allow the opposition to move the ball forward easily.

It fails against half decent teams. An attacking game doesn't. Something's wrong with either the game plan or the players' mindset.

This year we are:
8-0 against teams out of the '8' and
0-6 against teams in the '8'!!

 

[mrs_richo]

i was at the game and you're all right, you played woefully for 3 quarters however you were crucified by the umpires, i was there... richmond supporters are the most one eyed feral supporters going around and even they were commenting on the dreadful umpiring... Richmond didn't deserve to win either as they made so many mistakes today, they didn't show much skill... you weren't good in the midfield however you were umpired out of the game....

AGREE; why don't you play like you did in the last quarter throughout the whole game??? you'd be the best in the comp if you did...

Typical of an essendon fan to say that our supporters are feral. From my many many games attended when we have played against essendon, your fans are far worse. Congrats to Sydney for nearly pulling it off but one quarter doesnt win you a game.