Autopsy Unswanslike performance vs Richmond

[Bandicoot]

Richmond had their lowest "pressure rating" in 9 years last week. You can bet that pressure was their number one focus this week, before skill execution, clearance work, ball movement etc. And credit to them, they absolutely applied it when it mattered most.

We are usually the team bringing that. It's the single most important part of our game. More important than our elite kicking, more important than our speed. 78 of our 102 points scored against Collingwood two weeks ago came from turnovers. Prior to yesterday we'd averaged 71 points from turnover. Nearly three quarters of our scores.

Question is, what are the Swans if that pressure isn't there?

Think that's what Horse & co have to figure out. Can we afford to not make that pressure an absolute priority at selection?

Totally agree with your point about applying pressure but that doesn't apply just to us. Every top side relies on pressure to force turnovers which is where the majority of your score will come from. Up until this game, our pressure rating has been elite so it's not a case that we can't do it.

 

[The King!]

Perhaps we should try to utilise our strengths more, sometimes I am not sure Horse and the list management team have agreed on the brand we want to play.

 

[RUNVS]

I don't mind losing games, it happens, but I hate losing games where the Swans should win them. Losing on Sunday to Richmond of 2024 was far more deflating than losing to them in 2019. Feels like all the good work the Swans did in the first 3 rounds building respect and importantly building a bit of fear in the opposition went down the drain.

 

[sataris]

I can't remember who it was, but surrounded by 3 Richmond players, had an option to handball to an open Co. Warner, and didn't trust him enough and turned back into traffic and gave an immediate turnover.

 

[RUNVS]

I can't remember who it was, but surrounded by 3 Richmond players, had an option to handball to an open Co. Warner, and didn't trust him enough and turned back into traffic and gave an immediate turnover.

the amount of times a player had the ball, had an option to get the ball out of congestion but decided to hold it another second or two, getting under a lot more pressure was infuriating.

 

[Maddo11]

I can't remember who it was, but surrounded by 3 Richmond players, had an option to handball to an open Co. Warner, and didn't trust him enough and turned back into traffic and gave an immediate turnover.

We used to do this to Stephens, not a good sign

 

[Kapers]

I could not believe the run of the ball went Richmond's way all day. The ball constantly bounced to their advantage and our disadvantage. Every time the ball was blindly kicked or punched away from a pack, it went to a Richmond player 90% of the time.
It was just one of those days when everything went the way of the opposition.
Their tackling and pressure was off the chart and we just had an off day. I'm not worried from a long term perspective other than it's 4 points that we would have expected to put in the bank.

That's work rate. Sound dumb, but when you work harder the ball bounces your way more often. More at a contest, putting yourself in good positons.

 

[MR0808]

That's work rate. Sound dumb, but when you work harder the ball bounces your way more often. More at a contest, putting yourself in good positons.

Happened to us against Collingwood

 

[The Gong]

Perhaps we should try to utilise our strengths more, sometimes I am not sure Horse and the list management team have agreed on the brand we want to play.

I think the brand is clear and the list is positioned to provide it. The Tigers gave manic pressure and it broke down the game plan. If you apply enough defensive pressure to any team they will have difficulty executing.

 

[The King!]

I think the brand is clear and the list is positioned to provide it. The Tigers gave manic pressure and it broke down the game plan. If you apply enough defensive pressure to any team they will have difficulty executing.

True mate, just hope under pressure we focus on sticking to the plan

 

[SM]

"divisive"
"Senior teammate"

Senior teammate Sorta narrows it down

Only one senior team mate with a relatively recent ex..

 

[ShireSwan]

Rowbottom had a great first half. He's a gun.
Grundy was a plodder the whole game. Good stats, bugger all impact IMO.

I can't recall a game where we dropped so many marks despite getting two hands to the ball.

Heeney looked spent the second half. Good game to rest him this week for Taylor Adams

3

Taylor Adams

Age

30

Ht

181cm

Wt

85kg

Pos.

M/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

24.9

5star

K

13.5

5star

HB

11.4

5star

M

4.0

4star

T

4.8

5star

CL

5.0

5star

D

20.4

5star

K

12.4

5star

HB

8.0

4star

M

4.0

4star

T

5.9

5star

CL

5.9

5star

D

18.2

5star

K

11.0

4star

HB

7.2

5star

M

4.4

4star

T

3.0

5star

CL

2.2

4star

? So sick of Heeney being at 75% when we've seen what he can do when he's at 100%. Got to learn from the last few years, and other sports where rotation is a key element in selections. Or if we play him, play him forward, leave him up there and put his TOG down. I'd back Heeney to beat most defenders in the air, or on the ground if isolated up forward.

One of the bigs has to go for Sam Reid

20

Sam Reid

Age

32

Ht

196cm

Wt

96kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

11.3

3star

K

6.3

2star

HB

5.0

4star

M

4.7

4star

T

2.2

4star

G

1.1

4star

D

12.0

3star

K

6.0

2star

HB

6.0

3star

M

4.0

4star

T

0.0

1star

G

1.0

4star

D

9.4

3star

K

5.4

2star

HB

4.0

3star

M

4.4

4star

T

1.8

4star

G

0.4

3star

if/when he returns to form/fitness. Parker another option up forward later this year.
The current set-up isn't enough to win a flag IMO.

Can Amartey be a sub? He can give us a great quarter or a half, but seemingly not a whole game. Can he play down back if needed?

 

[rustycrate]

Rowbottom had a great first half. He's a gun.
Grundy was a plodder the whole game. Good stats, bugger all impact IMO.

I can't recall a game where we dropped so many marks despite getting two hands to the ball.

Heeney looked spent the second half. Good game to rest him this week for Taylor Adams? So sick of Heeney being at 75% when we've seen what he can do when he's at 100%. Got to learn from the last few years, and other sports where rotation is a key element in selections. Or if we play him, play him forward, leave him up there and put his TOG down. I'd back Heeney to beat most defenders in the air, or on the ground if isolated up forward.

One of the bigs has to go for Sam Reid if/when he returns to form/fitness. Parker another option up forward later this year.
The current set-up isn't enough to win a flag IMO.

Can Amartey be a sub? He can give us a great quarter or a half, but seemingly not a whole game. Can he play down back if needed?

I have been plugging this for ages. Why do we play players that are not 100% when we have backup players who can play so we can rest players. Lots of other codes rest players including soccer, basketball etc so that the squad gets through the season. AFL can learn from this. AFL though is stuck in tradition where if you have cracked ribs but can still give a hand pass then you can play.
Clubs need to be smarter and get the squad fit and ready to play end of season games which matter more.
Seeing Sydney qualify for finals with an injured side because all players want to play every game is selfish. The mindset of our club needs to change so that end of season success is put above just keeping the best players on the park by whatever means each week.

 

[bedford]

Rowbottom had a great first half. He's a gun.
Grundy was a plodder the whole game. Good stats, bugger all impact IMO.

I can't recall a game where we dropped so many marks despite getting two hands to the ball.

Heeney looked spent the second half. Good game to rest him this week for Taylor Adams? So sick of Heeney being at 75% when we've seen what he can do when he's at 100%. Got to learn from the last few years, and other sports where rotation is a key element in selections. Or if we play him, play him forward, leave him up there and put his TOG down. I'd back Heeney to beat most defenders in the air, or on the ground if isolated up forward.

One of the bigs has to go for Sam Reid if/when he returns to form/fitness. Parker another option up forward later this year.
The current set-up isn't enough to win a flag IMO.

Can Amartey be a sub? He can give us a great quarter or a half, but seemingly not a whole game. Can he play down back if needed?

WE have a bye the next week so no resting

 

[Jewelsbon]

True mate, just hope under pressure we focus on sticking to the plan

Hopefully this game was the kick up the bum they needed to show them what they need to do when other teams really put the pressure on us.

I have been plugging this for ages. Why do we play players that are not 100% when we have backup players who can play so we can rest players. Lots of other codes rest players including soccer, basketball etc so that the squad gets through the season. AFL can learn from this. AFL though is stuck in tradition where if you have cracked ribs but can still give a hand pass then you can play.
Clubs need to be smarter and get the squad fit and ready to play end of season games which matter more.
Seeing Sydney qualify for finals with an injured side because all players want to play every game is selfish. The mindset of our club needs to change so that end of season success is put above just keeping the best players on the park by whatever means each week.

What players are we currently playing that aren't 100%?

 

[Wolfgang West]

WE have a bye the next week so no resting

If we need to rest a bloke after 4 games we are shot. God spare me.

 

[bedford]

If we need to rest a bloke after 4 games we are shot. God spare me.

Couldn't believe it

 

[rustycrate]

Hopefully this game was the kick up the bum they needed to show them what they need to do when other teams really put the pressure on us.


What players are we currently playing that aren't 100%?

Currently we are probably fine. But we are only 4 weeks into the new season.
Before this season. A lot of times Heeney over many years. Reid at times throughout the last few years including leading up to a grand final. Mills leading up to a grand final a few years back. There are many examples.

 

[Jewelsbon]

Currently we are probably fine. But we are only 4 weeks into the new season.
Before this season. A lot of times Heeney over many years. Reid at times throughout the last few years including leading up to a grand final. Mills leading up to a grand final a few years back. There are many examples.

Past years yes as we haven't had the depth, but so far this season there's been no sign of playing anyone injured.

 

[caesar88]

I think if we can bank as many wins as possible early on, that can afford us some player management later on, when it matters most.

Last year because of our average start to the season, we played guys who were injured and basically ran them into the ground in our efforts to keep our finals hopes alive. The problem was that in doing so, by the time the finals arrived, they were that banged up that we ultimately ended up killing our own finals before they even began really.

Having as fit a playing group as possible in finals is absolutely crucial. It's such a long way away though that all we can do for now is just focus on winning.

 

[rustycrate]

Couldn't believe it

I did not mean rest them now I meant over a whole season. Lots of clowns jumping on a slow moving wagon driven by Bedford.
If we get niggles throughout the season we should rest players. I don't want history to repeat itself whereby we get through all the rounds and we have players that are not ready for finals because they are nursing injuries.

I get all who disagree with me want the best players on the park whether they are carrying injuries or not. That is the tradition in the AFL.

But I disagree.

 

[The King!]

I did not mean rest them now I meant over a whole season. Lots of clowns jumping on a slow moving wagon driven by Bedford.
If we get niggles throughout the season we should rest players. I don't want history to repeat itself whereby we get through all the rounds and we have players that are not ready for finals because they are nursing injuries.

I get all who disagree with me want the best players on the park whether they are carrying injuries or not. That is the tradition in the AFL.

But I disagree.

I agree with you .

It seems from the outside where there is a 50/50 Sydney probably go with play through the pain. I guess we don't always know but it seemed Heeney, Parker, Mills etc played injured last year for instance .

I also think if we can bank wins precautionary rest is smart too.

 

[bedford]

I did not mean rest them now I meant over a whole season. Lots of clowns jumping on a slow moving wagon driven by Bedford.
If we get niggles throughout the season we should rest players. I don't want history to repeat itself whereby we get through all the rounds and we have players that are not ready for finals because they are nursing injuries.

I get all who disagree with me want the best players on the park whether they are carrying injuries or not. That is the tradition in the AFL.

But I disagree.

Who are the clowns you talk about

 

[rustycrate]

Who are the clowns you talk about

Can't be you. You are driving.

 

[kelpie_X]

I thought during the comeback our delivery made their job largely impossible

we seemed to clear out for Amartey and just bomb and hope

Yep. We were bombing and hoping. It was shit