Preview Match Preview: Sydney Swans v Hawthorn Hawks - Qualifying Final 1 - Friday September 6 @ 19:50, MCG

[Tedeski]

JohnG!

We played players that weren't fit. I don't think the selectors got this one right. We at least had a fit Brandon Jack, Cunningham & Lamb on the sidelines.
B Jack & Cunningham would have provided the outside run we so very much lacked last night. Lamb after playing a great BOG game in the reserves wasn't rewarded. Longmire & co pretty much told these boys that they'd prefer a player that has ony played 3 Qs of reserves footy since round 4, over them.

That in itself can cause low confidence in these players.Surely the coaches knew that these youngsters would give a beeter out put than an obviously lame Jetta & Hanners.

As for Mummy! He is tradable. Offer him 2 years with the hope that we may get a front & square forward that has the smarts to not get sucked into a marking contest but read the ball off packs.

Pound for pound, dollar for dollar, Pyke is our most valuable player in big games.

No noise. No fuss. No 1 contested marks in the land!
The best part is that the man is still learning our game. I have full admiration & respect for him & totally trust that when he goes out, he will give his all & that will more often than not be better than his opponent.

So when a player doesn't sign on, wanting more but doesn't perform when it matters most, (Mummy in the GF & last nights final) his value ultimately decreases.

Shoe is now on the other foot.
Make Pyke a leader & give him the extra year or two Mummy is chasing.

I like Mummy but I love the Swans more!

 

[The King!]

Yer mate you could just feel during the second quarter we were just barely hanging on, what i don't understand is how can the team start to look good last week and last night go back to shitness

Felt like it was such hard work for us in the patches of both games we were competitive, it was always us pushing to hang on

All hawthorn had to do both weeks was hung tough til we faded then put the foot down

 

[kickthething]

Stop the Grundy bashing. He saved us many times tonight. Don't blame defenders tonight.
Blame the midfield out put, due to injury .

Many sore boys out ther tonight..

Unfortunately he cost us more than he saved us. Not a Grundy bash, it's simply how I saw it from where I was. As a defender, his role is relatively simple to analyze regardless of what the mids are doing.

 

[Banyo Bloods]

We need to stop jamming it on the boot kicking around the corner. We have to take the play on then kick or we give it up regardless.

The bombing works sometimes but generally not against the better teams.

Jetta actually had some good delivery into the forwards when he finally came on.

When we were a premiership side we did what Hawthorn did set it up at the top of the 50 with patience and then found a target. Probably too late to get that back this season but I hope we work towards that style of play again.

Glad I waited until after I slept to post.

 

[melbournehammer]

Anderson outmarked Rampe and Everitt together which was just appalling defending imo.

I'm pretty sure it was smith actually

 

[melbournehammer]

It's hard to tell exactly what happened last night. Was it Hawthorn's skills being so good in that 2nd half that even our pressure (which was ok as 65 tackles would signify) was unable to slow them down at all or was our pressure just not good enough from the outset of the 2nd half to slow them down like we did for large periods in last year's GF?

I tend to think their skills were just that damn good and our pressure subsequently wasn't good enough to stop it. When Hawthorn is on like that, few teams could stop them from hitting targets.

That said, the whole team looked out on their feet in the 2nd half and completely unable to go with the Hawks.

Our outside run was beaten well yesterday and, as everyone has mentioned, our forward 50 was a real struggle. With McGlynn and Rohan unable to win much ball at all and not being able to lock the ball in, we really looked incapable of doing anything. The forward line indeed does look too tall against the top sides. Reid, Goodes and LRT are talls but they are much more agile than what we have their right now. Not that those first 3 would be in automatically over who we have now, but a combination of them would be ideal. But oh well, deal with it.

Thought it was one of Bird's best games for the year - he barely made a mistake as I saw it, stuck tackles, won hard ball, bit targets - and despite still making errors, Jack and Kennedy were OK. Our tradition of getting it out of the middle clearance area just by bombing blindly was starkly contrasted by the Hawks' skillful and quick clearance work that made us look very second rate at times.

McVeigh probably played his worst game of the year and got hurt just to add injury to shitness. Hopefully he's good to go next week though at least Malceski played a decent game

It's funny I thought bird was pretty poor. He got a fair bit of it but butchered it a fair bit. He just lacks penetration by hand or foot, and his kicking on his left is terrible.

 

[grimlock]

I'm pretty sure it was smith actually

Yeah it was Smith

 

[The King!]

I guess whilst giving credit to the hawks who limited what we could do, not many played anywhere near their best

Eg hannebery just kicking to roughead on his own and mcveigh hitting a hawk on the chest are just dumb mistakes

 

[The King!]

So who is getting smashed more this weekend, us or the labor party

We were in it for a half i guess

 

[melbournehammer]

So who is getting smashed more this weekend, us or the labor party

We were in it for a half i guess

True, but at least we are back next week. Labor party don't get another crack for three years. Horrible wait.

 

[The King!]

True, but at least we are back next week. Labor party don't get another crack for three years. Horrible wait.

They keep kicking it to rudd thats the problem

 

[melbournehammer]

They keep kicking it to rudd thats the problem

He doesn't have clean hands

 

[Swansujelly]

Kinda glad my phone died at half time or I could have been banned by my own board. That 2nd half was played by a team that gave up/didn't care. However, the Freo win today has given a glimmer of hope. I feel far more confident against Freo than Geelong, and I have no doubt we can take either Rich/Carl. A GF now looks good, and with most probable Geelong Hawthorn smashing each other in the Prelim..hope springs eternal.

 

[Heeney2Franklin]

Yer i honestly thought if we were to lose it would be close especially with no Franklin and Rioli, i dunno im not liking the body language out there something is wrong.

 

[Jack2Jack]

We seem to have lost just a little bit of that punch this year in a lot of games when they really heat up.
Port game we led in the last and folded quite easily, Freo game we had a big lead but didn't respond when they stepped it up in the last 10. Failed to respond in recent weeks when teams have really turned the heat up. Even against the bottom sides we've coasted a lot. Besides that rounds 9-11 stretch (and maybe the Richmond game) we really haven't strung together many 4 quarter games.

I know last year we coughed up a few big leads but we always responded and fought it out, often coming away with the win. Had a little bit of ruthlessness as well. Hopefully the fact it's do or die now brings back a bit of that real fight and spirit. Just look really tired. Been a pretty good effort to get to top 4, really hope we can at least get a finals win...would be really disappointing to fall out in straight sets. They did well to get that prized top 4 spot, can't just throw it away.

 

[Heeney2Franklin]

We seem to have lost just a little bit of that punch this year in a lot of games when they really heat up.
Port game we led in the last and folded quite easily, Freo game we had a big lead but didn't respond when they stepped it up in the last 10. Failed to respond in recent weeks when teams have really turned the heat up. Even against the bottom sides we've coasted a lot. Besides that rounds 9-11 stretch (and maybe the Richmond game) we really haven't strung together many 4 quarter games.

I know last year we coughed up a few big leads but we always responded and fought it out, often coming away with the win. Had a little bit of ruthlessness as well. Hopefully the fact it's do or die now brings back a bit of that real fight and spirit. Just look really tired. Been a pretty good effort to get to top 4, really hope we can at least get a finals win...would be really disappointing to fall out in straight sets. They did well to get that prized top 4 spot, can't just throw it away.

Still a game to play tomorrow but we have been the most disappointing team so far no fight/heart, look at Port tonight no one gave them a chance and they never gave up.

 

[alanlau34]

I agree completely, but still hard to read and pisses me off
http://www.theroar.com.au/2013/09/11/hawks-say-swans-clash-not-finals-like/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed: theroar/aussie-rules (The Roar - AFL)
“It didn’t really feel like a final,” Breust admits.
“We had so many uncontested marks.
“You normally expect finals footy to be pretty congested and a lot of contested footy.
“It was a hard one on the weekend, I think we sort of just swept it under the carpet.
“We know that the preliminary final is going to be a lot different.”


Maybe this was all part of Horse's plan?? They know that the Hawks are mentally fragile.

Breust said coming off that comfortable victory and having this weekend off posed a potential danger for the Hawks, as they prepare to face the winner of Friday night’s cut-throat Geelong-Port Adelaide semi-final a week later.
“We fell into the trap last year against Adelaide that we weren’t prepared,” he said.

 

[SSFC]

Hope the players read that article

 

[melbournehammer]

I agree completely, but still hard to read and pisses me off
http://www.theroar.com.au/2013/09/11/hawks-say-swans-clash-not-finals-like/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed: theroar/aussie-rules (The Roar - AFL)
“It didn’t really feel like a final,” Breust admits.
“We had so many uncontested marks.
“You normally expect finals footy to be pretty congested and a lot of contested footy.
“It was a hard one on the weekend, I think we sort of just swept it under the carpet.
“We know that the preliminary final is going to be a lot different.”


Maybe this was all part of Horse's plan?? They know that the Hawks are mentally fragile.

Breust said coming off that comfortable victory and having this weekend off posed a potential danger for the Hawks, as they prepare to face the winner of Friday night’s cut-throat Geelong-Port Adelaide semi-final a week later.
“We fell into the trap last year against Adelaide that we weren’t prepared,” he said.

across the three games with teams in finals contention where the game was actually on the line (and if you exclude the first ten minutes of the collingwood game) each game was basically the same scoreline - visitors 100 swans 50.

we need a complete reversal of our form this weekend for it to change.

 

[Heeney2Franklin]

That should be plastered inside the walls of the players room.

 

[The Swans Blog]

1) The Swans are preparing for their fourth straight finals appearance and 10th from the past 11 seasons. That effort betters any previous South Melbourne/Sydney side of past eras.

We're the Arsenal of the AFL, except we've won something and our coach/manager isn't a raving lunatic at times. And we have a love relationship with 3rd/4th.

Btw. I'm a gooner