Review Sydney Swans vs North Melbourne - SCG 1.10pm

[Punts]

Not when we lost Mumford, White and Everitt for him and will probably lose Parker as well and Buddy is not delivering.

1. SKILLS - When have our skills EVER been good in the wet? We usually play stoppage footy and get numbers to the ball, but now the game plan has changed.

2. SLOW START - Apart from 2012, when in the last 10 years have we ever hit the ground running at the start of the season? (2013 doesnt count, easy draw to start season)

3. WEIRD COACHING DECISIONS - 3 talls in wet, Spare man in defence not manned up, Kennedy played forward for half the 3rd quarter, Grundy in forward line, should I go on?

As I said, wait until we have a few dry games, then we will start to see some form.

THEN add Goodes, Reid, Tippett!



Even if we finish 5-6, we will be stronger then the ladder position suggests and we will punch above our weight, even more then usual once franklin and tippett sync imo.

BUT we are still only 85% of Hawthorn's ability unless our skills improve considerably.

Mate you have o stop making excuses

 

[swancat]

The Swans have certainly changed, they are no longer a team to be admired. I may be mistaken, but I don't remember the old captains (Kirk & Co) finger-pointing and carrying on like McVeigh does.

 

[Tuco]

Anyone who thinks weather was not a determining factor clearly doesnt watch a lot of swans games in slippery conditions. We're just rubbish at it. Fast hands and circle work followed by long kicks to marking talls is great in the dry but it all comes apart in the wet.

The other thing about being a long kicking side is that it certainly can mask deficiencies in foot skills and that's just what wet days expose.

1 dry game and three wet games this year. 1-3 record. Tells you everything you need to know about how we handle the wet really

 

[baja]

Anyone who thinks weather was not a determining factor clearly doesnt watch a lot of swans games in slippery conditions. We're just rubbish at it. Fast hands and circle work followed by long kicks to marking talls is great in the dry but it all comes apart in the wet.

The other thing about being a long kicking side is that it certainly can mask deficiencies in foot skills and that's just what wet days expose.

1 dry game and three wet games this year. 1-3 record. Tells you everything you need to know about how we handle the wet really

Pity that football is a winter sport maybe we should have recruited accordingly?

 

[theta]

Mate you have o stop making excuses

Tell me what part of that is not accurate?

You cant judge a team's form in the wet, unless they are killing it.

Let alone one learning a new game plan that is radically different to what they have played for 10 years.

 

[theta]

Anyone who thinks weather was not a determining factor clearly doesnt watch a lot of swans games in slippery conditions. We're just rubbish at it. Fast hands and circle work followed by long kicks to marking talls is great in the dry but it all comes apart in the wet.

The other thing about being a long kicking side is that it certainly can mask deficiencies in foot skills and that's just what wet days expose.

1 dry game and three wet games this year. 1-3 record. Tells you everything you need to know about how we handle the wet really

THIS!

When we start playing crap in dry conditions I will concede that things have changed.

We just havent found form yet. Once we do though everyone here will no doubt pretend nothing was ever wrong.

 

[Tuco]

Pity that football is a winter sport maybe we should have recruited accordingly?

Nothing wrong with our recruits. Something very wrong with our inability to change our play accordingly .

Seriously when Cunningham is trying to ruck tap the ball to a teammate rather than take possession and handpass it to him, or when Dericx is attempting look away hand passes like an NBA allstar then the riot act needs to be read. Basic execution is all you wamt to see in the wet. Not this fancy champagne footy bullshit.

But dropping uncontested chest marks in your back 30 endlessly and coughing up goals...you can't do much about that.

 

[baja]

Nothing wrong with our recruits. Something very wrong with our inability to change our play accordingly .

Seriously when Cunningham is trying to ruck tap the ball to a teammate rather than take possession and handpass it to him, or when Dericx is attempting look away hand passes like an NBA allstar then the riot act needs to be read. Basic execution is all you wamt to see in the wet. Not this fancy champagne footy bullshit.

But dropping uncontested chest marks in your back 30 endlessly and coughing up goals...you can't do much about that.

Its not like the wet weather was a surprise, both teams played in it Im not a fan of the wet weather excuse regardless of our cattle. The basics just weren't there. Dunno if it was bad coaching or just simply shit football from professional footballers that all know too well what wet football is about.

 

[wobblyboot]

Very disappointed. Thought that this would be an easy game for Sydney. I don't really think Buddy is worth the money. Apart from last week, what has he done that's been outstanding? I think that he played well at Hawthorn because he was set up so much.

We got the gun...our team doesnt know how to load the bullets...duh

 

[theta]

We have become a team of arrogant, lazy show ponies.

BS

Too many half efforts from players beginning to believe their own hype.

WHO?

Nick Smith is one of the only players playing at potential. And there are some serious question marks...

The team is down on form and have played in 3 games in poor conditions, 2 of which were torrential downpours. Our skills have ALWAYS been poor in the wet.

What the hell has happened to Hanners?

One of many players in poor form.

Can Longmire coach?

He lead us to a flag 18 months ago! Was also voted by the coaches association best coach for 2012!

Yes, some decisions the last few games have been poor, but that does not erase the above.

How smart was ditching Mummy?

Time will tell.

Was Franklin the right recruit when we really needed a kpd?

Franklin is a marketing decision for a Rugby city. Amazing people still dont get this.

What happened to our fight?

Ugh.

You can disagree all you like but I've never agreed with the Buddy signature. Waste of money. And right now karma is coming back to bite us.

Old post below.

the buddy trade is a marketing deal. THATS IT! He wasnt traded in as some golden bullet to win flags. They are trying to make inroads into the biggest untapped market in Australia!

ITS NOT HARD TO UNDERSTAND!

Whats that?
Reoccurring front and back page AFL stories in multiple papers in Sydney? hmmmm, I wonder how much that is worth?

What's that?
Buddy's at the beach? Cha-CHING!
Buddy's car was crashed? Cha-CHING!
Buddy's drunk at a party? Cha-CHING!
Buddy breaks up with girlfriend? Cha-CHING!
Buddy gets a new girlfriend! Cha-CHING!
Buddy plays well? Cha-CHING!
Buddy not playing well? Cha-CHING!
Buddy gets suspended? Cha-CHING!
Buddy returns to footy? Cha-CHING!
Buddy kicks 10 goals! Cha-CHING!
Buddy kicks no goals! Cha-CHING!

IT DOESNT MATTER WHAT IS REPORTED, AS LONG AS HE IS REPORTED!
ITS CALLED MARKETING!
$10MIL IS A BARGAIN!
EVEN IF HE PLAYS ONLY 5 YEARS!

END OF STORY! THERE IS NOTHING ELSE TO TALK ABOUT. NOTHING. YOU UNDERSTAND? NOTHING!

duhhh, but he's killing their culture...
duhhh, but he doesnt suit their game plan..
duhhh, but his best years are behind him...
duhhh, but he's a coke head...
duhhh, but he gets bad delivery at sydney...
duhhh, but he's not a team player...
Go on, keep talking about him, its exactly what Sydney and the AFL want.

And if Sydney manage to win another flag? How much do you think that is worth in the Sydney market?

What if Sydney and GWS play off for a flag? How much is that worth to the AFL?

POST 2
You dont get it. SYDNEY IS A RUGBY CITY! They dont know the players, the decades of rivalries, who has won the premierships, how the finals work, what the rules are.....they just dont know! And they dont care! It is not in their culture. Rugby has had a strangle hold on NSW for over a century, and finally other sports are making inroads into their market and the AFL is trying to be one of them.

For AFL to regularly get prominent articles in their papers is a BIG DEAL! So it doesnt matter if its rumour, speculation, innuendo, or tabloid trash - AS LONG AS THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT AFL! As long as buddy isnt shooting up in public or taking a dump in the centre square, if he is in the paper then it is publicity other sports arent getting and advertising for the swans and the AFL that they wouldnt usually receive.

Whether or not he has a good influence on the team and culture of the swans is another question. The swans are now the oldest team in the AFL so their natural attrition points to them sliding anyway. The fickle Sydney market suggests crowd numbers would probably drop as the swans slide anyway (to a greater extent than most other teams), so AGAIN, buddy will help them keep numbers up over the next few years IF they do need to rebuild.

On the other hand, if they manage to win another flag in the coming years, well, the buddy deal will have paid for itself maybe twice over.​

It is a business decision that is unique to the Sydney market because it would not be worth it anywhere else, plain and simple.

All that said, the buddy deal may not improve the swans on-field performances. The chemistry may just not work, but that doesnt mean the other positives from his recruitment wont be worth it.

Only time will tell.

 

[wobblyboot]

THIS!

When we start playing crap in dry conditions I will concede that things have changed.

We just havent found form yet. Once we do though everyone here will no doubt pretend nothing was ever wrong.

Anywhere Anytime Anyone is what makes a champion team....weather is a speed bump

 

[robbieando]

We just havent found form yet. Once we do though everyone here will no doubt pretend nothing was ever wrong.

I'm sorry, but your saying there is nothing wrong and your entitled to that opinion, but having a go at posters who have a different opinion to yours by saying "will no doubt pretend nothing was ever wrong", doesn't that therefore imply that therefore IS something wrong?

 

[Wolfgang West]

Has Macca lost the group?

Elaborate. Why are you asking that ?

 

[melbournehammer]

THIS!

When we start playing crap in dry conditions I will concede that things have changed.

We just havent found form yet. Once we do though everyone here will no doubt pretend nothing was ever wrong.

You remind me of the two guys in Groundhog Day talking about a glass half full and another half empty.

You can't look over our past matches since port last year and conclude other than we are playing absolute garbage - and that includes matches against the dogs at ethics in the dry and melbourne at the mcg.

We are in really poor form, wet or dry.

Our best 22 can't get on the park.

The coaching has been abysmal and entirely masked by a win against Carlton last year - a Carlton which has been even poorer than us.

We are so far off the pace it isn't funny.

 

[theta]

I'm sorry, but your saying there is nothing wrong and your entitled to that opinion, but having a go at posters who have a different opinion to yours by saying "will no doubt pretend nothing was ever wrong", doesn't that therefore imply that therefore IS something wrong?

Go back to 'MODDING' because you constantly misquote the point of my posts.

 

[RUNVS]

Elaborate. Why are you asking that ?

I imagine because he is constantly blaming every player but himself. He looks like he wouldn't be the type of player other players would want to play with.

 

[stimpy870]

Settle down lads all these early losses are part of the plan.... we have blown from $5.50 out to near $11 for the flag now, the swans will unload on that and cover franklins contract with some money to spare

 

[theta]

Anywhere Anytime Anyone is what makes a champion team....weather is a speed bump

If you want to ignore that we have never had good skills in the wet then that is ok.

Also ignore that we are no longer playing stoppage footy and getting numbers to the ball then ok.

Wait until we play a few games in the dry, that is all I'm saying.

 

[robbieando]

Go back to 'MODDING' because you constantly misquote the point of my posts.

Address the point. Don't tell me how to suck lemons

 

[Wolfgang West]

I imagine because he is constantly blaming every player but himself. He looks like he wouldn't be the type of player other players would want to play with.

I wouldn't know one way or the other and you wouldn't know unless you are out there if his verbals are him being critical or giving direction. What I will say though is, his form as captain lacks leadership and to be brutally honest Jack is not far behind him. Jack only gets a pass because when he is involved its head over the ball and his effort is made to look better but McVeigh who is on the outside trying to set up looks far worse because his biggest strength his skill level is at the moment his biggest weakness.

 

[melbournehammer]

I have heard about enough of the franklin equals marketing nonsense. I can assure you that the swans would have seen franklin as the best available talent and marketing a distant second.

If we transition to Brisbane with Franklin playing the role jonathon brown the marketing he provides will be seriously useless.

 

[Wolfgang West]

Any person blaming the conditions for that lack of effort gutless display stop posting because you are exposing yourself as completely clueless. Both sides had 22 arms 22 legs and the 22 who were committed, who had a better attitude and clearly cared more about the result won the game.

 

[theta]

You remind me of the two guys in Groundhog Day talking about a glass half full and another half empty.

You can't look over our past matches since port last year and conclude other than we are playing absolute garbage - and that includes matches against the dogs at ethics in the dry and melbourne at the mcg.

We are in really poor form, wet or dry.

Our best 22 can't get on the park.

The coaching has been abysmal and entirely masked by a win against Carlton last year - a Carlton which has been even poorer than us.

We are so far off the pace it isn't funny.

2013 saw the worst year of injuries to Sydney in TEN YEARS. Kennedy admitted at the end of last season the midfield was shot HALF WAY THROUGH THE SEASON because they had to keep rolling back to defend. When Tippett arrived on the scene they CHOSE TO switch to a 'bomb it long' game plan in part because they couldnt run the season out - they were SHOT. They also wanted to try out Tippett of course. Not surprisingly that was when it all turned sour (the Port game 2013).

This year is a new year! We cant bring last years form into this year.

I think it is amazing how short most supporters memory is regarding our skills in the wet and our slow starts to seasons.

Add to that we are still adjusting to a radically different game plan, in what has been poor conditions in 3 of the 4 games.

These are not excuses, they are reasons.

So far we have 1 dry game to judge our form in, in which we played ok. Thats 1 game. So just ok is expected.

We are also 1 year older in the oldest team in the AFL, so a slight decline in performance would not be unexpected.


If we continue to play poorly in multiple dry games then I will happily eat my words.

 

[baja]

Any person blaming the conditions for that lack of effort gutless display stop posting because you are exposing yourself as completely clueless. Both sides had 22 arms 22 legs and the 22 who were committed, who had a better attitude and clearly cared more about the result won the game.

again Ill add the most telling stat, 22 smothers to 5 in a wet weather game full of rushed kicks speaks volumes.

 

[theta]

Address the point. Don't tell me how to suck lemons

I dont have to, you're doing a great job.

All I am saying is wait until we play a few games in the dry and find some form. Then we can judge how we are adapting to a new game plan.

That is all. It is not hard to understand.