Autopsy Round 1 vs Sydney @ Heritage Bank Stadium. 18/03/23 - 7pm

[TheSunGod]

Yes. Maybe worse.

Lacked a lot of cohesion and confidence. Nothing went right. Errant kicking. Dropped marks. Poor choices with lots of players getting caught in two minds before getting caught holding the ball. Players getting in each other’s way flying for the ball.

It’s a long list.

Still haven’t watched the game (will get around to it eventually- saved myself 3 hours of frustration again ), but preseason I said we looked like we were building up to be primed by Round 3 or 4, not Round 1. If we’re winless and still putting out performances like that come Round 4, it’s officially panic stations.
Unusual for us not to respond with improved effort after that poor showing against GWS. Hope these boys aren’t drinking their own bath water. They’re nowhere near good enough or consistent enough for that.

 

[TheSunGod]

Farrar when he ran the ball looked… we missed Ellis, Budarick, Powell, Weller big time

So same as the second half of last year. Those boys can’t come back quick enough.

 

[TheSunGod]

The academy boys don't butcher the ball as bad as we did tonight

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And they appear to play with better system too. Very impressed by what I saw from them last week.

 

[Southern Sun]

A disappointing first game but going to reserve my rage for atleast another week. Brisbane and bulldogs supporters probably dont feel great about their prospects right now either but they certainly will bounce back and theres no reason we cant. Agree that we look so much better with powell and weller in the line up. The selection of a super tall forward line is mind boggling. Will look more balanced with rosas and Humphrey in the side.

 

[TheSunGod]

A question for the historians - was that the worst first round performance we’ve put out with the exception of our very first game in 2011?

 

[Lubbers]

A question for the historians - was that the worst first round performance we’ve put out with the exception of our very first game in 2011?

Worst - 2011 (119 pt loss to Carlton)
2nd worst - 2012 (69 pt loss to Adelaide)
3rd worst - 2023 (49 pt loss to Sydney)
4th worst - 2020 (47 pt loss to Port)

 

[Disambiguous]

Some quick thoughts.

1: Game Plan - what Game Plan??
2: In one pre season under a good coach NM show in round one what can come out of a true professional developing young players
3: If we have 20,000 members and at least 50% last night were Swans supporters - where the f--- were the other 14,000!! It was the first round of the season FFS.
4: Davies is just not worth keeping in the side. Horrendous decision making. If they are going to play Flanders - it must be as a mid not floating around the periphery.
5: Throw Hollands into the middle. I can hear brother Ollie in his ear as I write this!
6: Where has the real Sam Collins gone?
7: How many silly toe pokes were performed instead of actually (you know) putting your body on the line.
8: Holman is a great guy but like McCarthy for Brisbane just doesn't get enough of the ball.
9: Thank God for Rowell and the ancient David Swallow

24

David Swallow

Age

31

Ht

186cm

Wt

87kg

Pos.

M/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

21.1

5star

K

11.7

4star

HB

9.4

5star

M

3.2

3star

T

4.4

5star

CL

4.2

5star

D

18.4

4star

K

11.1

4star

HB

7.3

4star

M

4.3

4star

T

4.6

5star

CL

4.0

5star

D

19.4

5star

K

10.0

4star

HB

9.4

5star

M

2.8

3star

T

5.0

5star

CL

4.4

5star

for showing some actual grit.
10: Possibly the worst game I've ever had to sit through - embarrassing on so many levels
11: Chol actually got out of gear once during the game - should do it more often. Made some poor decisions as well.
12: Said it three years ago but will say it again - we need a massive KPD to control the defence.
13: Has Rowell re-signed yet? Can't remember but we better get it quick if not.

Probably a lot more but that'll do for now.

I agree with every point.


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[SandyToes]

We hear a lot of dirge like utterances from players and coaches regarding “ playing a role”
At the very basic level of playing the role of a professional AFL footballer I think 10 of our players failed miserably last night and the coach and selection staff are added for completeness


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[The Gotham Penguin]

The players are fit.
Most of them can play to a decent standard.

I can only conclude that there was:
1) No game plan
2) They didn't understand the game plan.
3) They didn't want to follow the game plan.

All roads - as soon as Round 1, lead straight to S.Dew.

Make no mistake - this was as rank as it gets for a side that is expected to be finals bound by most pundits. The decision to renew Dews contract was, and still is, baffling.

 

[lommy]

The players are fit.
Most of them can play to a decent standard.

I can only conclude that there was:
1) No game plan
2) They didn't understand the game plan.
3) They didn't want to follow the game plan.

All roads - as soon as Round 1, lead straight to S.Dew.

Make no mistake - this was as rank as it gets for a side that is expected to be finals bound by most pundits. The decision to renew Dews contract was, and still is, baffling.

Which pundits expect us to make finals? I haven’t seen us in one top 8 prediction…


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[robo_1]

Still feeling flat today.

Willing to give benefit of the doubt but we have to stop making excuses every year for these regular performances year after year and the poor team selection we see so often by this coaching group.

 

[The Gotham Penguin]

Which pundits expect us to make finals? I haven’t seen us in one top 8 prediction…


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“I think we’re ready”: Is this the year Gold Coast breaks finals drought?

The Gold Coast Suns are ready to be a top eight team, says coach Stuart Dew.

www.sen.com.au

 

[Jirik13]

The players are fit.
Most of them can play to a decent standard.

I can only conclude that there was:
1) No game plan
2) They didn't understand the game plan.
3) They didn't want to follow the game plan.

All roads - as soon as Round 1, lead straight to S.Dew.

Make no mistake - this was as rank as it gets for a side that is expected to be finals bound by most pundits. The decision to renew Dews contract was, and still is, baffling.

IMO, the effort, tackling, contest, work rate has nothing to do with plan in this game. For whatever reason we were not ready. IMO, line-up was a mistake. You could see after 1st quarter shocker we did lift, and it was a good contest for 10-15 mins. Then we again dropped the effort. Swans were humming, superior, harder in contest and their pressure was unbelievable, and we did not cope. 11 goals from turnovers. Some kicks from defence were unbelievably bad as highlights on Footy Show showed.

Terrible start to a season. I want to see response. I will give a team and coaches 5 games to assess properly but that's just me. It would be a huge disappointment to go through a setback season, a new coach, etc.

We do miss 7 players who could be best 22 - Lemmens, Ellis, Weller, Powell, Humphrey, Andrew, Budarick. But not many players are coming back against Essendon if any. Possibly only Lemmens. It would be crazy to play Weller without practice after just 9 months. Unfortunately, it takes usually many games to get up to standard after ACL (Budarick and now King is a good example) or Powell type of injury.


To be honest, disappointment on this thread does not come even close to Lions one. Funny to say, Port fans went through 2 phases yesterday. There were some crazy melts at HT only to be replaced by elation from 2nd half. I did not have a time to check on WB but I can imagine. They were steamrolled with their fancied tall line-up. Cats looked physically cooked in red time every quarter and fell off terribly in the last quarter.

 

[Jirik13]

We hear a lot of dirge like utterances from players and coaches regarding “ playing a role”
At the very basic level of playing the role of a professional AFL footballer I think 10 of our players failed miserably last night and the coach and selection staff are added for completeness


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I think you are generous with 10 players. If I am really generous, after Witts I would probably have only Ballard, Rowell, Swallow, Holman, Uwland in not miserable category.

 

[Brad Jordan]

Worst - 2011 (119 pt loss to Carlton)
2nd worst - 2012 (69 pt loss to Adelaide)
3rd worst - 2023 (49 pt loss to Sydney)
4th worst - 2020 (47 pt loss to Port)

The fact that it's the third worst with arguably the most talented suns team ever, looking to make finals, is so deflating.

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[Choppers]

Still haven’t watched the game (will get around to it eventually- saved myself 3 hours of frustration again ), but preseason I said we looked like we were building up to be primed by Round 3 or 4, not Round 1. If we’re winless and still putting out performances like that come Round 4, it’s officially panic stations.
Unusual for us not to respond with improved effort after that poor showing against GWS. Hope these boys aren’t drinking their own bath water. They’re nowhere near good enough or consistent enough for that.

Same here, didn't watch the game, it's no good for the blood pressure, but I did start to watch the highlights this morning, only to hear bl**dy Derwayne and Kelli on the mike and that was enough for me.....so didn't watch those either.
But going by the majority of comments, it doesn't look like I missed much.....

 

[Young_Guns]

The most concerning part about last night was we’ve probably had 2 months to prepare for this game being on a Summer night, and yet it looked like we were completely stunned by the fact it was slippery.

From the team selection, to players simply being unable to catch the ball from a 2m handball, to constantly letting it slip over the back, we did nothing right. Do we not train at night? Or we just don’t train skills and just spend the summer running?

Sydney on the other hand looked like they were the local team who trained in these conditions year round. They knew where to run, when to get out the back, how to not overcommit, run in waves and use handballs to keep the pill off the ground, and keep the forward line open for players to run into space.

 

[Brad Jordan]

Same here, didn't watch the game, it's no good for the blood pressure, but I did start to watch the highlights this morning, only to hear bl**dy Derwayne and Kelli on the mike and that was enough for me.....so didn't watch those either.
But going by the majority of comments, it doesn't look like I missed much.....

Just watch the Witts highlights on the AFL app. I wish he was 10 years younger and playing at this level. Could use an extra decade of him in the ruck.

 

[The Kings Ransom]

Just watch the Witts highlights on the AFL app. I wish he was 10 years younger and playing at this level. Could use an extra decade of him in the ruck.

The player highlights section on the AFL app is great hey.

 

[The Kings Ransom]

Rowell had the most uncontested possessions since round 1 last year.
Definitely looked to be moving so much freer

 

[Southern Sun]

Rowell is one of very few positives so far.

 

[sunsofanarchy]

We heard during the preseason we want to be still running at finals and don't want an end of season fade out, almost as if it was going to happen, our 1s did a quarter and a half together and last night looked like a bunch of strangers playing football together. Combined with 5 key forwards, who were all talented enough to play so we thought they'll work it out, they just need to compete. Never going to work. Absolute s**t show

 

[GC2015]

Geez some people on here are getting really carried away after one game. I get that we played poorly but there's still another 22 games to go.

A loss to Sydney is nothing to be ashamed of. It's our result against Essendon next week that will answer more questions.

 

[Supersuns]

Geez some people on here are getting really carried away after one game. I get that we played poorly but there's still another 22 games to go.

A loss to Sydney is nothing to be ashamed of. It's our result against Essendon next week that will answer more questions.

A loss to Sydney is nothing to be ashamed of.
The way we played is something to ashamed of.

 

[GC2015]

A loss to Sydney is nothing to be ashamed of.
The way we played is something to ashamed of.

I understand that but I think people might be underselling how elite Sydney are and how that influences the way their opposition plays. I'd be far more concerned if we played like that against Essendon next week.