Autopsy Swans vs GWS Elimination Final

[Olian]

We almost lost to Toby Greene

All we did was get a worse pick by making finals

Gave Hayward, Ronke, Florent and McCartin a chance to play in a final.

 

[Mick Oxlong]

Gave Hayward, Ronke, Florent and McCartin a chance to play in a final.

And every single one of those players would absolutely thrive under a far less defensive game plan!

 

[Wolfgang West]

As captain I would like him to lead by example which at the coal face he did to some degree (not questioning his effort). His consistency was once a huge strength of his. Plus he has (unfairly) carried the midfield for some time. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be and in this case it was too much for him to make the difference. You are right in that sometimes you are off, particularly in his position where he relies on his teammates to be in the right position.

I wouldn’t say my expectations exceed reality because the reality is he has carried the midfield for some time but wasn’t able to do so on this occasion with so many of his team mates also letting him down.

I am by no means pinning the loss on him. But we needed him to be effective to win and he wasn’t and that’s just the way history will record it.

Maybe Heeney could pull his finger out of his arse and step up to the lofty accolades bestowed upon him ?

 

[kickthething]

That was embarrassing. It was insipid. It lacked any of the character that I love this club for.

So my simple question is why?

Why did we look so bad? Why did we not change things up? Why were our skills so poor? Why did we keep making shocking decisions? Why?!?

I think it's fairly clear Hanners is off.

It'll be great to have Mills, Reidy & Naisy back.

Wrap Buddy up & stop playing blokes injured through the season. Maybe (shock horror) they might be able to impact a final rather than just drag themselves to it.

As soon as the finals footy pressure lifted we crumbled. 2013. 2015. 2017. 2018. We dragged ourselves into finals. Same thing. Year, after year, after year. IT'S NOT WORKING HORSE.

I support Horse. I'm not jumping into the sack Horse stuff. But he needs to think about WHY. If he doesn't, & the same s**t happens YET AGAIN then there is no defending him. He's wasted the games best forward. He's run our best midfielder into the fckn ground. He's focused on MAKING finals. I want him focused on WINNING finals FFS.

it is clear we play a brand of H and A footy that wins games....we do not in finals. We dont have another gear to lift which is where we got found out again. This game was lost because we could not provide the pressure we were once able to. Finals and pressure football go hand in hand, Richmond play it every week. Be in no doubt, pressure is not about ability, it is about attitude. Richmond are above the rest because they are relentless at it, and the more pressure they apply, turnovers then allow them to make their attack look way better than it really is.

Whoever blinks first loses. We were chronic blinkers yesterday.

 

[Bandicoot]

The trouble with copying the current premiers' game plan is you have to change your personnel, your structures and your overall game plan. That can result in years of cellar time until it all comes together. Meanwhile other teams are trying to unlock the latest game plan (the Dogs showed glimpses on how to beat the Tigers but the Hawks couldn't execute it in the wet) and when they do it's back to square one. Even now the Tiger method only works consistently because they have the players on the park to execute it. They've had an incredible lack of injuries. Imagine them without Reiwoldt, Cotchin, Rance and Martin. The Swans are evolving more than some think but haven't had the personnel to move it along as much as we'd like. For example, we have lots more run than we used to but even against GWS we had Jones unable to use his run as he had to try to fill Smith's role on Greene. A job he was ill-suited to. The ideal game plan may turn out to be a hybrid with many elements in use, depending on the opposition.

The game plan we used against GWS started as PLan A but quicly became plan B, the one we pull out when we're being hammered on the ropes. It's a defensive mode designed to take a battering. A siege plan. We start with players switching play, using the angles to come into the corridor to unseat the opposition defence then lowering the eyes to hit a target. Our defenders intercept and rebound, then they miss targets, we fumble, can't pick up the ball, miss more targets, panic, bomb it long, get hammered on the turnovers and eventually we crawl back into plan B. Horse gives the talk at quarter time, we fly out ready to use Plan A again then we make some horrific errors under pressure and the whole thing comes undone again. Hopefully more experience and better skills will allow us to consistently execute Plan A. We're still learning and playing kids.

One basic point that you are missing is the fact that our whole strategy is to score from defensive turnover. For years, Horse has deliberately played the game where we provide little, if any pressure whilst the opposition are in possession of the ball whilst in our forward line. I would suggest we would be one of the worst in the league at conceding inside 50's from kick ins. Idea was that we would then win the ball in our back half and deliver it to an open forward line as ALL the players have pushed up towards the play. That worked 5 years ago. Opposition teams now leave at least two players back in this scenario. So, we win the ball in the back half and then kick it into a hopelessly outnumbered forward line. No bloody wonder we can't score.
At the start of every game (no mater who we are playing against) we have 7 (that sometimes goes to 8) of our players in the defensive half. If we are to win a centre clearance - big deal - it comes straight back due to the lack of numbers. One of the very few times he actually went 6,6,6 was in the last 1/4 against Geelong when we then kicked 6-7 goals in that quarter. You'd think he would have learnt something from that quarter but NO. The next week against North we go straight back to a 7,6,5 set up. What happens? We kick 9 goals and lose again.
Even if the AFL introduce the 6,6,6 rule next year for centre bounces Horse will immediately send someone back as a spare defender and leave our forward line short again. At a time when we have had the best forward in the competition, it has been totally wasted due to this totally outdated game plan and a coach who is simply too pig headed to change or simply doesn't know how to. I'd like to think it is more the former rather than the latter.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

We almost lost to Toby Greene

All we did was get a worse pick by making finals

Yeah and it probably saves Horse his job unfortunately

 

[Wolfgang West]

That was embarrassing. It was insipid. It lacked any of the character that I love this club for.

So my simple question is why?

Why did we look so bad? Why did we not change things up? Why were our skills so poor? Why did we keep making shocking decisions? Why?!?

I think it's fairly clear Hanners is off.

It'll be great to have Mills, Reidy & Naisy back.

Wrap Buddy up & stop playing blokes injured through the season. Maybe (shock horror) they might be able to impact a final rather than just drag themselves to it.

As soon as the finals footy pressure lifted we crumbled. 2013. 2015. 2017. 2018. We dragged ourselves into finals. Same thing. Year, after year, after year. IT'S NOT WORKING HORSE.

I support Horse. I'm not jumping into the sack Horse stuff. But he needs to think about WHY. If he doesn't, & the same s**t happens YET AGAIN then there is no defending him. He's wasted the games best forward. He's run our best midfielder into the fckn ground. He's focused on MAKING finals. I want him focused on WINNING finals FFS.

Take A Bow Sir.

 

[Bandicoot]

I was really angry while i was watching it happening, but i had to temper that with the fact that we were all taught to do that in junior football. Greene just does it more overtly and seems to go looking for that action whenever he takes a mark.
I guess the difference is between going for a mark with your leg extended and studs out, and actually kicking that leg towards your opponent. Greene seems to do the later.

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Hopefully, next week Greene will be in a marking contest with Grundy who extends his boot into his mouth and knocks half his teeth out.

 

[Olian]

Yeah and it probably saves Horse his job unfortunately

So if he missed the finals this year he would have been sacked?

 

[LukeParkerno1]

So if he missed the finals this year he would have been sacked?

Would be a better chance

 

[TheMase]

Would be a better chance

Not really. Club isn’t going to pay out a couple of million dollars.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

Not really. Club isn’t going to pay out a couple of million dollars.

Then there will be a few less memberships next year. If Horse is there next year we are kidding ourselves. He’s had 5 years to do something.

 

[TheMase]

Then there will be a few less memberships next year. If Horse is there next year we are kidding ourselves. He’s had 5 years to do something.

He will be there mate. Might want to ensure your membership isn’t on renewal.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

He will be there mate. Might want to ensure your membership isn’t on renewal.

It won’t be on renewal on Monday that is for sure. I’ll just go to a few MCG games instead. Not forking our money when our gameplan sucks at home

 

[Jack2Jack]

- The heat maps for both clubs says, it all GWS ranges all over the field ours are condensed tight in pockets and HB flanks along the boundary. The game style belittles/hinders the talent that the list actually has. Talent alone this list would be right up there but the system and structure is restrictive garbage. The foot skills are often bad, but the game style magnifies that, while not great they weren't nearly as bad a few years ago when we played a better way. A lot of our players who were rated as good kicks early in their careers are regressing because of the way we move the ball.

- Very few players this season had better seasons than last, which doesn't help when the game plan often relies on individual heroics of a Kennedy or Franklin to be the difference in a scrap.

- The kids were obviously the positive of the season (more so in the first half, most looked cooked by the end of it). Some serious talent there, if we start playing a style that would suit them.

- A couple of my former whipping boys Sinclair and Cunningham really did have good seasons too and took massive steps forward. Cunningham was one of our few good players yesterday and one of the few players who can actually kick. Both should be top 10 in the B & F, and hopefully can keep going on with it next year and not regress.

- Big offseason needed, need to get some ready to go players who can fill a few holes, and need to bring in an assistant coach who can bring some attack to the side. Confident we'll do the former not so confident we'll do the latter.

 

[MC Bad Genius]

I was really angry while i was watching it happening, but i had to temper that with the fact that we were all taught to do that in junior football. Greene just does it more overtly and seems to go looking for that action whenever he takes a mark.
I guess the difference is between going for a mark with your leg extended and studs out, and actually kicking that leg towards your opponent. Greene seems to do the later.

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

You were taught in juniors to stick your boot out sideways into an oncoming player to protect yourself in a marking contest? Wow, things really HAVE changed since I was a kid ...

 

[MC Bad Genius]

Maybe Heeney could pull his finger out of his arse and step up to the lofty accolades bestowed upon him ?

Heeney wasn't our problem yesterday. He was the only midfielder to look at all dangerous for us.

 

[dosser]

You were taught in juniors to stick your boot out sideways into an oncoming player to protect yourself in a marking contest? Wow, things really HAVE changed since I was a kid ...

In the 70s. And not sideways. And was taught by a VFL premiership player.

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[SwansFaninUSA]

Carbon copy of 2017. Saved our worst effort for last.

I set my alarm to be awake at 2 AM here in the states to watch this game. I gotta say you're right, this performance almost made the loss to the Suns look good. GWS outworked, outran, and outfought our boys all game long. Even more glaring was the lack of desire and composure. That was a damn nightmare.

At least Collingwood choked. Something about seeing Eddie McGuire upset in the stands made me feel better. A little.

 

[TheMase]

People keep talking about our talent.
The team we played against, by my count, had the following (pre mini draft counted as top 5) players and their original draft position.

#1 pick 2 players
Top 5 pick 8 players
Top 10 pick 12 players
Top 20 pick 16 players

(It scales so the 10s include top 5 and #1 and top 20 includes all above also).

Fair to see on pure talent purposes at draft time, they’ve had the opportunity to have us well and truely covered.

 

[Shiv]

Horse needs to change the game style or he needs to leave. At this rate we'll end up being like freo. Same issues every freaking year. Now we just dont have enough talent to cover it.

 

[Olian]

Then there will be a few less memberships next year. If Horse is there next year we are kidding ourselves. He’s had 5 years to do something.

Membership numbers have increased for how many years in a row with Longmire in charge?

 

[LukeParkerno1]

Membership numbers have increased for how many years in a row with Longmire in charge?

They might not next year. Absolute certain I won’t bother renewing next season unless there are changes. I’ll go to the matches in Melbourne through MCC membership

 

[Robwest]

Papleys goal in the 2nd on his left from the 50 to put us in front was a nice moment..
Struggling to find another one .

 

[Jack Lord]

Without a fit and firing JPK we are stuffed.

Recruit a tough inside mid - must be our top off season priority.