POSTGAME: Opening Round vs Sydney

[titan_uranus 25,000]

14 minutes ago, Roost it far said:

It’s pretty clear that we’re great at lowering the eyes and finding a target during the preseason. Ramp up the pressure and we simply revert to bombing it. Funnily enough I would have coached them to bomb it forward at all costs last night. The ball was soap and cute handballs weee not the answer. Goodwin out coached again.

I don't understand what your complaint is.

Bombing it wasn't the problem last night.

[Gawndy the Great 9,011]

2 hours ago, BW511 said:

My main concerns from last night;

Grundy absolutely dominated Max, it was like the first contest threw Max out and he never recovered. Ordinary display from the captain to throw his toys in the fashion he did.

Structure at stoppages was non existent. We always load up on one side and the opposition just walk it out the opposite one - it happens every bloody time.

We have a bunch of small forwards that have no tricks other than being small. The first few contests of the third quarter (I think) had Blakey on Spargo and Rampe on Chandler - Blakey got them going time and time again.

I can’t believe Lever gets so much praise for being so pathetic at defending. He’s a liability 1 on 1 and don’t get me started when he has ball in hand. 

The club keeps telling us culture is great but the players really seem to believe they are better than everyone, they play as if they should win every game and it’s only a matter of time before it clicks. Completely understand there is opposition doing what they can to disrupt us but our intensity and intent was so far off the boil.

Could go on forever but those things were the most frustrating bits of a long list

 

1. Max seems to roll over in big games more than rises to the occasion. I don't know if anyone else sees it but his demeanour sometimes is just a bit whiney and soft. I wish he would just get on with it. 

2. Our stoppage setup is outdated. We have 2 players that roll of the stoppage and sit in the backline. Why don't we just match up the numbers in the contest or better yet, move an extra player forward of the stoppage and force the opponent to setup defensively.  

3. Smart coaches put a player on Lever by sacrificing their own game. its a tried and true method to take him out of the game. Lever has to be smarter or the coaches need to have a plan to counteract this tactic. 

4. Our forwards appear to lack brute physical strength and yet our game style is to kick to the packs. The ball comes back out with such ease - too many tackles were broken as the Swans exited off HB. 

[Roost it far 8,255]

1 minute ago, titan_uranus said:

I don't understand what your complaint is.

Bombing it wasn't the problem last night.

No the fact they persisted with handballing was. 

[von 1,565]

8 hours ago, Deesprate said:

Try to justify it anyway you like but the longer term outlook is dire. Gawn best is behind him and other than Fritsch (Pickett is undisciplined) our forward line is woeful. T Mac and Brown great servants but finished. A club that struck it lucky with a COVID asterisk flag. Feed constant BS to supporters we are on a steady decline with a diminishing list and a stuffed culture.

Woah. Talk about the sky falling. Why diminish our flag though? 

[BDA 22,743]

I have to put my hand as one that overestimated the Carlton praccy performance.

and I'm probably overreacting to last night as well.

lets see how we go over the next month. Serve up more of the same and I will start asking serious questions of the coach and some of the senior players.

[Demonsone 2,037]

Can’t wait to see the Giraffe on roller skates Brown who’s knee will blow up & Tmac slowness had their time and will be 0-2 after the dogs game 

Petracca great player no question but needs to get mongrel in him too nice, all for playing the ball not the player but seems to nice 

Edited March 7 by Demonsone

[loges 6,767]

9 hours ago, Deesprate said:

Try to justify it anyway you like but the longer term outlook is dire. Gawn best is behind him and other than Fritsch (Pickett is undisciplined) our forward line is woeful. T Mac and Brown great servants but finished. A club that struck it lucky with a COVID asterisk flag. Feed constant BS to supporters we are on a steady decline with a diminishing list and a stuffed culture.

Sorry but didn't all clubs play under the same conditions in 2021 .

[Pennant St Dee 13,171]

10 hours ago, titan_uranus said:

There are some truly garbage hot takes in this thread, but equally there was some ridiculous overconfidence after beating Carlton in a practice match (say it with me one more time - it was a [censored] practice match).

I was there. The humidity was telling. We simply didn't cope. That's understandable, but disappointing.

Grundy was good but the key difference was he wasn't being blocked, checked, hit and kneed at every contest. Gawn was. We know this happens when we go in without proper ruck support. This has been happening for 8 years.

We were also visibly cooked about 5 minutes into the last. That will partly be because we were a player down plus May appeared to be hobbling, and partly because we struggled with the humidity. But it's also concerning. We pride ourselves on our fitness and specifically running out fourth quarters, but we were gassed too early.

Having said all that, three things really stand out to me as areas of significant concern:

1. I never, ever, want to see Spargo, Chandler and Laurie in the same side again. On the understanding that ANB is a walk-up best 22 player, there will never be a situation in which we need all three of these players alongside ANB. Sadly, I do not see anything in Laurie to suggest he's good enough, but IMO Spargo was atrocious tonight - I watched him and he appeared lazy, pointing without manning up and waltzing between contests. I didn't like that we picked him off no practice matches and I think it was a massive mistake. I think we conceded that we stuffed this up by subbing so early in the third, which we don't normally do. The worst bit was that this robbed us of a rotation when Bowey went down. Spargo will probably be suspended but I'd be happy to drop him for Kozzie next week
2. We can't play Schache again. Not after that. That was so, so weak. They ignored him most of the night, allowing McCartin to blanket JVR. Fullarton or Brown have to replace Schache next week.
3. We lost CPs and clearances to a side missing three first-choice midfielders. That is enormously concerning. We do not have a good enough forward line or forward half game to be that bad in the middle, and if a side missing that much midfield power can beat us in the middle, then we are in for a tough time.

I loved Howes and Windsor, Viney was incredible, and Oliver was so good for someone with the summer he's had. May was dominant in the air and Salem in the midfield clearly works.

I won't write us off after one summer's game in Darwin-like conditions, but enough went wrong tonight to give me a lot more doubt than I want.

Good post from someone who gets it, not a great night and plenty of basic errors but some of the tripe on here is predictable but just so uneducated.

Those who lauded us after beating Carlton are most of those who are the most vocal tonight and the ones who underestimated Sydney’s midfield which has had depth for years but never had a big physical presence in the ruck.

Am I concerned yes a little but been around long enough to know it’s a long season 

 

[Demonsone 2,037]

2 minutes ago, loges said:

Sorry but didn't all clubs play under the same conditions in 2021 .

Correct both flags by tigers & Dees were difficult to win considering no home ground advantage and living in hubs away from families with babies & young kids the mental strength needed .. the references to covid cups is BS 

[von 1,565]

We need a larger sample. This game was frustrating but we all know we suck in the wet/slippery conditions. It’s never as good or bad as it seems. The way everyone’s carrying on feels bigger than losing by 20 points interstate. Surely by now we all know the season is long and a lot happens over 6 months. It’s not like we have nothing to work with.

[ElDiablo14 4,998]

5 minutes ago, Pennant St Dee said:

Good post from someone who gets it, not a great night and plenty of basic errors but some of the tripe on here is predictable but just so uneducated.

Those who lauded us after beating Carlton are most of those who are the most vocal tonight and the ones who underestimated Sydney’s midfield which has had depth for years but never had a big physical presence in the ruck.

Am I concerned yes a little but been around long enough to know it’s a long season 

 

You mean it's been a long 2 going into 3 years after the flag... We seem to still be under premiership hangover 

[ElDiablo14 4,998]

55 minutes ago, Demonsone said:

Whilst it’s the 1st game some questions need to be asked in the 7 yrs with 8th coming up of Goodwin he’s had 10 finals with 5 wins 2 x straight sets & a Flag which most teams would take the Flag. Not sure what the hurry was in extending his contract after it was extended in 2022. Our game style after 1 game looks the same, they haven’t been able to fix our fwd issues in years and only Hogan in the last decade looked like a forward, Tmac & Brown bodies have been done since 2021 flag yet as team in the premiership window we haven’t been able to attract a power fwd & yes hard to find, instead we invested in Grundy who is now gone which was a poor blunder buy the club and who will replace  Max? 

In hindsight we should've waited untill after the finals,based on the results of last finals Goodwin didn't earn the extension.

[Fat Tony 5,228]

We have not played well in humid, slippery conditions since Roos/Goodwin took over. (We have struggled in Darwin, Cairns, Brisbane and Gold Coast.) My theory is that the slippery ball takes away the aerial strength of Max and our intercept defenders. Plus our midfield is not skilful and overuses the ball to exit stoppages.

The team selection was poor last night, with too many midgets. We need to place a greater value on small forwards who can compete in the air. The game has gone past players like Spargo and Laurie, who are hopeless in the marking contests, and not quick. We need Woewodin and Tholstrop to come on.

Oliver looks too heavy and lacked pace.

Schache just isn't urgent enough or strong enough.

Howes looks good and will be a player.

Windsor did some great things and will get better but is still really a 2025+ prospect.

I am often critical of Tomlinson, but he played a good game.

We can still win the flag this year, but we will need everything to go right.

[Mike 315]

Let's see the response over the next few weeks. Last night was a shocker but hopefully we can look back at that and see it as an anomaly.

[Roost it far 8,255]

Is Fullerton actually AFL standard? Max desperately needs support. Schache should be put in to exile along with Chandler and Laurie. Losing Bedford over Chandler still hurts.  

[D Rev 629]

11 hours ago, Males said:

Same old cr4p. Hodgey stated just before we kicked our 2nd goal on 1/2 time, we had kicked 1.8 from 29 entries. We never put teams away early when we have the chance.

 

Edit: We needed to take advantage before the humidity kicked in.

Hodgey would rather drink poison than give us a compliment.  Pretty easy to punch down when we are playing poorly.

[Smokey 4,389]

Schache 4 disposals 76% ToG. Embarrassing footballer. Not worthy of wearing our colours. Delist now.  

I’ve been a Goodwin apologist for a long time but that officially ended last night. Completely devoid of any tactical abilities. We desperately need a new head coach.

It’s time to admit we have a very ordinary midfield. Sure, individually we have good players there but as a collective they are unable to produce anything close to quality clearances/forward entries

This is going to be a very long season and at this point I hope we miss finals because that’s likely the only way we’ll get the wholesale changes we need across the board. 

 

Edited March 7 by Smokey

[Cranky Franky 2,051]

15 minutes ago, Fat Tony said:

We have not played well in humid, slippery conditions since Roos/Goodwin took over. (We have struggled in Darwin, Cairns, Brisbane and Gold Coast.) My theory is that the slippery ball takes 

IT WAS BONE DRY, PERFECT FOOTBALL CONDITIONS, WITH A NICE BREEZE BLOWING ACROSS THE GROUND & MUCH COOLER THAN MELBOURNE'S LAST MONTH. I WAS IN THE BRADMAN STAND & PUT ON A JUMPER AT HALF TIME

[Dee*ceiving 1,674]

Agree with many others regarding the low points but will start with the...

Positives. 

• Definitely found a player in Howes. Grew in confidence as the match progressed and maybe the only defender to hit some decent kicks out the of the backline. Windsor tried hard and will make the grade though I felt he's not ready for this level of intensity (which is completely fair)
• Defence held up extremely well for 3 quarters, Sydney's weight of contested possessions, I50s and fatigue lead to a knockout blow in the first 10 minutes of Q4. I thought we actually fought back a touch and arrested their momentum after that but the damage was done 
• We were well on top in contested possessions for the first half and had sufficient chances to lead at HT
• I thought Langdon was effective, did some nice things and nullified Gulden 
• Clarrie definitely undercooked but 30 possessions in hot conditions has to be seen as a positive first step in his return
• Other than Grundy entering Max's space at centre bounces (which left me scratching my head but could just be me not knowing the rules), I thought the umpiring was good
• Fritsch, a lone hand up forward kept us in the game, easily the classiest forward on the ground    

Negatives.

• The game presented finals like intensity (to me at least watching on TV) which exposed a few, Chandler & Schache the most, Laurie & Spargo (off limited prep in fairness). 
• I could see the logic of Billings as sub, bring him on later when fatigue sets in and hopefully use his kicking as a weapon. In hindsight though he probably should have started and Laurie been sub
• We've spend 12 months teaching Brodie how to negate Max, which he did superbly and showed the rest of the competition how to go about it
• JVR not ready to be the main banana with an A grade minder, particularly in slick conditions against an effective team defense 
• Field kicking hopeless. Didn't play to the conditions (again) and when we did attempt to kick with precision and turned it over it becomes apparent why we revert to overuse, handball and dump kicks 
• Bowey's potential injury, brave act that saved a goal and was one of our better performers until then 
• Again couldn't turn greater ball control and weight of contested possession into scoreboard pressure. Probably should have been in front at half time, though I don't think that would have led to a different result. Swans too strong & polished in those conditions

[ElDiablo14 4,998]

1 minute ago, Smokey said:

Schache 4 disposals 76% ToG. Embarrassing footballer. Not worthy of wearing our colours. Delist now.  

I’ve been a Goodwin apologist for a long time but that officially ended last night. Completely devoid of any tactical abilities. We desperately need a new head coach.

It’s time to admit we have a very ordinary midfield. Sure, individually we have good players there but as a collective they are unable to produce anything close to quality clearances. 

This is going to be a very long season and at this point I hope we miss finals because that’s likely the only way we’ll get the wholesale changes we need across the board. 

 

Goodwin's got two more years on his contract, doesn't he?

Hard to know if the club would actually sack him.

[adonski 12,058]

1 minute ago, ElDiablo14 said:

Goodwin's got two more years on his contract, doesn't he?

Hard to know if the club would actually sack him.

I think they only need to pay out 6 months worth of $ these days, regardless of length of contract

[Fat Tony 5,228]

1 minute ago, Cranky Franky said:

IT WAS BONE DRY, PERFECT FOOTBALL CONDITIONS, WITH A NICE BREEZE BLOWING ACROSS THE GROUND & MUCH COOLER THAN MELBOURNE'S LAST MONTH. I WAS IN THE BRADMAN STAND & PUT ON A JUMPER AT HALF TIME

It was definitely slippery due to the humidity being 89%.

[Smokey 4,389]

4 minutes ago, Cranky Franky said:

IT WAS BONE DRY, PERFECT FOOTBALL CONDITIONS, WITH A NICE BREEZE BLOWING ACROSS THE GROUND & MUCH COOLER THAN MELBOURNE'S LAST MONTH. I WAS IN THE BRADMAN STAND & PUT ON A JUMPER AT HALF TIME

You should probably see a doctor if you were cold at the SCG last night 

[D Rev 629]

43 minutes ago, Gawndy the Great said:

1. Max seems to roll over in big games more than rises to the occasion. I don't know if anyone else sees it but his demeanour sometimes is just a bit whiney and soft. I wish he would just get on with it. 

2. Our stoppage setup is outdated. We have 2 players that roll of the stoppage and sit in the backline. Why don't we just match up the numbers in the contest or better yet, move an extra player forward of the stoppage and force the opponent to setup defensively.  

3. Smart coaches put a player on Lever by sacrificing their own game. its a tried and true method to take him out of the game. Lever has to be smarter or the coaches need to have a plan to counteract this tactic. 

4. Our forwards appear to lack brute physical strength and yet our game style is to kick to the packs. The ball comes back out with such ease - too many tackles were broken as the Swans exited off HB. 

1. I couldn't disagree more.  He has regularly stood up in big games and often won them single handed.  Last Round of 2021 is just one example.

2. Goodwin does seem slow to adapt, losing Yze will hurt in this aspect.

3. As per 2.

4. You have to remember that we didnt have our first choice, or even second choice, forwards in. Kozzi and Petty will make a big difference.  I've been critical of Schache and continue to be.  Nothing personal, he doesn't seem AFL KPP level.

[Earl Hood 6,086]

29 minutes ago, von said:

We need a larger sample. This game was frustrating but we all know we suck in the wet/slippery conditions. It’s never as good or bad as it seems. The way everyone’s carrying on feels bigger than losing by 20 points interstate. Surely by now we all know the season is long and a lot happens over 6 months. It’s not like we have nothing to work with.

My biggest worry about last night is The small sample we got looks a lot like the very big samples of the last 2 years. We will beat up a lot of sides but the top clubs have worked us out and can execute their tactics to negate our so predictable ball movement. There is no sign that we have evolved our game plan or style or found solutions to our delivery into our forward line.