Round 7 vs Western Bulldogs

[MF]

I think some of us may be slightly overreacting to yesterdays result. We didn't play that badly at all, in fact we dominated general play throughout most of the match and would have beaten at least 12 other teams in the comp even with our poor kicking for goal.

I wasn't sure about the Bulldogs as I didn't feel they had really been tested this year but the 2nd quater yesterday sold me on them. Let's also not forget that the dogs were probably somewhat fortunate (they still deserved the win) to kick so accurately. The main reason they got up though was that they have brought their contested footy to a new level this year and unlike most sides were able to match it with us in the middle.

As far as I'm concerned the only real worry for us is our kicking for goal from set shots and our forwards structure but that's something that can be turned around.

Some positives I took from yesterdays game:

Playfair- He moved well and provided that big target we have been missing. Kicking for goal was poor but he'll improve

Moore - Took his game to another level yesterday and has well and truely cemented his spot in the team.

Goodes - He may yet have another gear to go up but he's playing some fantastic footy.

Jack - Showed an attacking side yesterday on top of his great tackling and defensive work. Did some special things with the footy.

Barlow - Looked great yesterday and is another one who has cemented his place in the team. Just needs to apply himself a little better to get into the game for the full 4 quaters.

Leo Barry - Looking a lot more impressive with LRT in the backline as he is freed up to help out team mates and generate run out of defense.

 

[4TH GEN SWAN]

From bits & pieces that I saw on TV yesterday, the forward set up seemed ok, apart from some missed shots again, but we butchered the ball coming through the middle. This is where we need to improve if we are going to beat the current top sides......

 

[natlovestheswans]

What an awful game.

Can't believe we let them kick 7 straight in the 2nd quarter.

 

[liz]

I think some of us may be slightly overreacting to yesterdays result. We didn't play that badly at all, in fact we dominated general play throughout most of the match and would have beaten at least 12 other teams in the comp even with our poor kicking for goal.

etc

I reckon that's a pretty good summation. Despite the win, I am not sure Eade would be completely over the moon with his team. They used the ball superbly and smashed us in the middle for 20 minutes in the second quarter, but otherwise we won more than our share of contested ball. I reckon Eade might have hoped his team would be better for longer in that department. Still, he couldn't have faulted their ball use.

Eade must take some tactical credit too. We know that he's one of the better tacticians in the game. And while the tactics can't be blamed totally for the poor skills through the middle, the Dogs did put up a very effective zone defence in the middle of the ground against our rebounders. They left us the wings but completely took control of space in the centre square, such that even Kennelly seemed to figure he couldn't find a way through.

Agree with your positives too. Not convinced Henry's kicking is going to improve much even when he gets fitter but he can take a grab and that made a huge difference to our forward structure. We created far more genuine scoring opportunities than last week (where about 5 of our behinds were deliberately rushed and not really genuine shots) against a team I think is substantially more potent than the Roos.

And I agree Jack and Moore were highly impressive. Jack didn't do a whole heap offensively but what he did do was superb. It would be nice to get more out of Barlow, but again, what he does is pretty good.

 

[Sanecow]

I wasn't gutted with the performance but it did feel a lot like the early '90s when we went from average to awful. A beautiful sunny day at the SCG, the crowd wanders in late... We should have won it, we could have won it, there were mistakes, there was an almost comeback, dancing Homer had a yell and ultimately things were thrown across the room in frustration. Luckily these days there are soft toys in the vicinity so it's easier on everyone.

 

[Skystyler]

I think the swans have become a bit predictable. Flood, wait for the turnover and hit them on the fast break. Thats what kept North in the game last week and what beat us yesterday. It doesn't matter how many times you go forward if by the time you get there the other team has their defense set. Its not like we have anyone who can kick reliably from beyond 50 (he's in the 2s). The goal that really irked me was the one to Cooney from the kick-in late in the game. All by himself 30m out directly in front?

 

[natlovestheswans]

Henry's kicking is strange. His first shot on goal I thought that he must have kicked it off the boot wrong or something, but then he did it again for the next 2 shots aswell. Very weird.

 

[RUNVS]

Another thing which really pissed me off was again when the Swans decided to move the ball quickly and attack they looked dangerous but again they only decided to do that with 10 minutes to go and we were 4 goals down. Why dont they start moving the ball quickly and attacking eariler in the game? The Swans can do it but for some reason choose not too.

 

[ssfc0203]

Yeah, maybe the game wasn't that bad.


But some of the turnovers made me want to kill people. Kick it to the opponent 20m from goal .. genius.

 

[natlovestheswans]

The most frustrating part was all the turnovers seemed to happen exactly in the same place aswell. In the last quarter we kicked it straight to a Bulldogs player just outside our 50 on the Ladies stand side about 10 times.