Game Day 2024 Non-Swans Game Day

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When I watch Hawthorn, I'm reminded that we don't have enough small forwards. They have three talls and they're all pretty average (Gunston in his day obviously was great, and Dear is only a kid) but you counter that with Moore, Watson, Ginnivan, MacDonald around their feet, it's no wonder they look so potent.

Same with GWS. They've got Hogan, Cadman, and usually Riccardi or Brown (though it's Keeffe at the moment.) Also all mostly average besides Hogan, but it doesn't matter when you've got Greene, Jones, Daniels and Thomas at their feet.

All those players mentioned there - Moore, Watson, Ginnivan, MacDonald, Greene, Jones, Daniels and Thomas - all so quick and small and creative, they bring mad pressure.

We are really lacking in this area and I fear it will expose our talls - who I like but I think are only average - come finals time.
I think one area we failed to assess this year was whether a different forward set up would work for us.

I understand trying to see if 3 talls would work. But it obviously hasn't, at least in 2024. I would have liked for us to have dropped a tall and seen what the output was like.

But alas. Here we are.
 

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I think one area we failed to assess this year was whether a different forward set up would work for us.

I understand trying to see if 3 talls would work. But it obviously hasn't, at least in 2024. I would have liked for us to have dropped a tall and seen what the output was like.

But alas. Here we are.
With all due respect, the bolded is a strange call.

Our attacking game has dried up in the second half of the year but we still have the most points for of any team this season. The three talls were still a part of that.

I guess the point I was trying to make was that three talls can work, even if the talls themselves aren't anything to write home about, if you surround them with good, zippy smalls who can bring pressure and chaos at ground level. I really think we haven't placed enough emphasis on this with our forward structure this year.

But I do agree that Horse & co could've explored different set-ups at times, just to see what else could work. The Port game when Amartey went out comes to mind.
 
All 3 of our potential week 1 opponents have weaknesses, so I’ll back us against whoever we get.

Port - different team in finals
Giants - we’ve had the wood on them the last 3 times we’ve played them
Cats - great forward line but average everywhere else. Just don’t think they’re a worthy top 4 side.

If we lose to any of them it’s because we haven’t turned up on the day. None of them are too good for us per se.
 
With all due respect, the bolded is a strange call.

Our attacking game has dried up in the second half of the year but we still have the most points for of any team this season. The three talls were still a part of that.

I guess the point I was trying to make was that three talls can work, even if the talls themselves aren't anything to write home about, if you surround them with good, zippy smalls who can bring pressure and chaos at ground level. I really think we haven't placed enough emphasis on this with our forward structure this year.

But I do agree that Horse & co could've explored different set-ups at times, just to see what else could work. The Port game when Amartey went out comes to mind.
I dont think our 3 talls have worked so stand by that. The reason why we've been the top scoring side all year was because our mids have chipped in a large proportion of goals.

The scoring dried up when our mids stopped dominating, which showed that a larger part of the reason why we scored so heavily was our midfield, not our talls.

When that avenue dried up. Our talls were exposed as not being very effective.

And to your point, I think the reason why our forward line hasn't functioned as well as it could is that we were too top heavy. Too many talls and not enough zippy players, drop a tall and replace them with a small and we theoretically become more zippier.

For all I know. That may not have worked, but I think it would have been worthwhile at least trialling it in a game or 2 to see what the outcome was.

The game where we included ladhams in place of amartey was the perfect opportunity. But in the club's defence. It was probably more critical to assess Ladhams ability rather than tinkering with the forward line.

So I'm not overly critical of it. Just more an observation.
 
Are we not a quality side, well-coached and first on the ladder? Yet we got belted by Port still. Bizarre, sure, but it - or something in the ballpark (I did say it didn't have to be 100+ points) - can happen if you punish a team that is off their game.

We've missed some opportunities to give some decent opponents some mental demons that we ourselves may have now.
Our game against the Giants never remotely resembled the Port fiasco. Right from the first bounce of that game, barely anyone on the Swans team could win a ground ball, kick, handball, mark, contest an aerial ball, tackle. The result tells us that Port kept the pressure up for the entire game, but I think it reflects on something being strangely wrong with us that night. It is possible Port inflicted mental scars on us that night that come out again if we face them in the finals. But the evidence thus far is that the Swans have been able to pick themselves off the canvas, find a bit of defensive backbone, structure and composure when things aren't going great, and then turn it on for long enough to win against two (admittedly so-so) sides - though the Pies have had a good last six weeks of the season.

In the Giants game we just got on top of them at clearances in the second quarter and into the third. And we do know our team is good at punishing the opposition when they win possession and can get it out of that inner pressure ring. The Giants had a good start (as everyone does against us). They never looked like a rabble. In the final quarter they stepped up their contested ball (and admittedly our pressure dropped a bit).
 

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The Cats feel gettable given that a little bit of effort from the Eagles and they have won the second half (even kicking 7.7 when they should have kicked like 10.4)
 
I've just realised that North have put themselves in reach of the wooden spoon again this year by losing by so much. They just need a modest win by Richmond over Gold Coast and the two will likely flip places. Gold Coast really should be beating Richmond but it's at the MCG and Richmond are officially (and unofficially) farewelling a fair few players.
 
Every time Jeremy Cameron does something that makes me hate him, he follows it up with something really ****ing endearing
 
Our game against the Giants never remotely resembled the Port fiasco. Right from the first bounce of that game, barely anyone on the Swans team could win a ground ball, kick, handball, mark, contest an aerial ball, tackle. The result tells us that Port kept the pressure up for the entire game, but I think it reflects on something being strangely wrong with us that night. It is possible Port inflicted mental scars on us that night that come out again if we face them in the finals. But the evidence thus far is that the Swans have been able to pick themselves off the canvas, find a bit of defensive backbone, structure and composure when things aren't going great, and then turn it on for long enough to win against two (admittedly so-so) sides - though the Pies have had a good last six weeks of the season.

In the Giants game we just got on top of them at clearances in the second quarter and into the third. And we do know our team is good at punishing the opposition when they win possession and can get it out of that inner pressure ring. The Giants had a good start (as everyone does against us). They never looked like a rabble. In the final quarter they stepped up their contested ball (and admittedly our pressure dropped a bit).

Yer that Port game was nonsensical more like a canon performance Port are nowhere near that good and we are nowhere near that bad.

Remember Geelong last week conceded 16 goals in the 2nd half against the Saints!
 
West Coast players

Season 4 Episode 20 GIF by Friends
 
Yer that Port game was nonsensical more like a canon performance Port are nowhere near that good and we are nowhere near that bad.

Remember Geelong last week conceded 16 goals in the 2nd half against the Saints!
Nah that game was season defining for us and fully and completely representative of where we are :)
 
I think had we played either WCE or Norf, both teams would've been leading at quarter time given everyone knows we are soft at the start and it's just mandatory to come out hard against us.

Then we would've blown them away.
 
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