Earl Hood

Umpiring is really pro Pies.

That was a 50m penalty every day of the week! Takes Green head on and high then initiates a wrestle.

Interesting take that you think a professional footballer would check out leading into a finals series. He did all the training as I remember it and seemed to be getting on with his team mates during those finals training sessions.

But I worry it will cost us longer term. Let’s face it we will be on the edge every game hoping Max doesn’t get injured.

All that happened points to just that conclusion. The refusal to select Grundy in the last 5 weeks or so tells me something went wrong at the club. The original plan was for Grundy to ruck and Max to go forward and pinch hit in the ruck. Max didn’t work up forward. By round 18 it was Grundy who was sent packing to work on his forward craft because it wasn’t working up forward. And that was it for Grundy. It’s a team sport but I have had a suspicion that the captain spat the dummy on this.

It’s all history now but I agree the whole Grundy saga was a stuff up. Interesting Cornes had a lot to say about it on SEN this morning. He said we had Grundy signed for 4 years but let him go one of our fiercest competitors, not the Eagles or Kangeroos, for pick 46! And did this knowing there was no ready backup ruckman for a 32 yr old. He has a valid point. Our whole season depends on Max staying fit. The inability to make the Grundy thing work still staggers me.

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.

Did anyone notice any change to our game plan from previous years? The game evolves every season but our game style seem to stay the same. There might have been a few more attempts to switch play but largely our ball movement was predictable and that only works if you can win contested football by a large margin. Positives were newbies Windsor, Howes and add McVee and May and Fritsch up forward. The on ball unit racked up possessions but rarely managed to link up to do real damage to the Swans. Could be a long season.

Evident that the Swans have worked hard to develop a new game strategy of precise short passing to break through our strengths, intercept defence and contested possession midfield bulls. Swans quick ball movement is moving around our midfield and chopping up our defensive wall. That said we are still in it even with our old game plan that never seems to change. Field kicking is rubbish, goal kicking accuracy is rubbish. Who knows something might click in the second half but really all the innovation seems to be coming from Longmire!

JFC I am sick of those finger nail goal reviews from 40 meters! They all go against us. I don’t think the Swans even claimed a touch.

This years game plan is looking a lot like last year’s and the year before that, and the year before that….goal kicking accuracy is shizen again.

Agree he should get 6 for the head high, leaving the ground bump but I would add another 2 for stupidity. The Coaches must be beside themselves that one of their players would be so reckless after all that has happened in recent years on this very subject.

Were supporters allowed into the ground today?

Better hide him away pronto. If he draws any attention we won’t get him under the current absurd academy, draft rules.

Didn’t we move to Casey to build our supporter base as it was in the major growth corridor of Melbourne? So it’s great that we are training at Casey at times unknown and when you do, you keep the sessions closed during school holidays and all other times for that matter lest a fan stumble into the inner sanctum. Of course I understand the need for utmost secrecy regarding our game plan, the new one we develop around this time every year that starts out with a few nuances but by the second half of the season looks exactly the same as it has for the past 5 seasons. Using a boxing analogy the Goodwin game plan reminds me of a heavy weight slugger who only knows one way to fight, keep moving forward throwing as many punches as possible hoping by sheer strength to overpower your opponent. It works most of the time until you run into opponents who know how to really box. That said for one glorious period of 10 weeks in 2021 we boxed like Ali and destroyed all before us. Where did that magic come from and where did it go?

Still believe even a mentally checked out Grundy (who was still training as required) was a better option than Schache, a selection that Goodwin refused to use in a crisis! Grundy playing the last quarter against Carlton would have at least been able to contest up forward (if not elsewhere on the ground) and bring the ball to ground. I still blame the Coaching hierarchy for a large part of our finals clusterf**k. The non selection of Grundy was mind boggling, selection of Schache and Bailey as subs in finals were baffling.

I sat in the Ponsford and saw close up most of his bag against Richmond this season. That convinced me that this guy is one of the answers to our forward problems. He made the Tiger backline look inept with his reading of the ball coming in and his ability to lose his designated defender and run at the ball, mark it with clean hands and then actually convert! If he can stay fit he could be one of the best KPF in the game, hopefully for us.

Gee I love how this club bends over backwards for its supporters! I mean did the Club advertise this move, did I miss the email? I have a family holiday house at Anglesea, if I knew I could have organised to drop in for a look. Oh but I guess the nature of the ground at Lorne means that they can’t lock out fans, so best to not tell anyone.

Were supporters know this event was on? I must have missed the email.

You couldn’t get Scotty to transport you inside the ground?

Yes let’s hope so. Although my observations, admittedly from when I was a regular track watcher, say up to 2020, the training day game plan practised didn’t always resemble the game day plan executed! At practice at least when I was there, the ball movement is constant and players are taking every opportunity & risk to switch play to find the next target forward. It’s great to watch at practice and for a sublime period of time in the second half of 2021 it appeared in all its beauty on successive game days right up to the GF win! Since then it’s been long stretches in games of one dimensional down the line delivery, muscling it over the boundary then push slowly forward, bombing it in to a crowded forward line but I am sure they still move the ball sublimely at practice.

I think it means that as opposed to Gosch's Paddock because Casey is surrounded by a high fence that we can actually lock people out, we will! Was thinking of taking a cruise up to Cranbourne tomorrow but not now. They certainly don’t go out of their way to encourage the fans. Not sure why I mean they won’t be practicing secret plays this early in preseason.

WCW Do you know the training time at Casey for Wednesday and if you are allowed into the ground? Thinking I might take my car for a drive up that way tomorrow. Last few times I drove interstate from Fitzroy to Cranbourne during Covid they had the ground locked and had to look in from outside😕!

Except we showed them our cards in the finals with our non selection of Grundy. They know the relationship is toxic.

Of course you are correct there. I remember noting to myself when Petty went down that our Cup chances were likely gone, then when Melk did his knee that was the ball game. However once that happened we had to improvise and as it turned out we lost 2 close finals by little more or less than a f**king straight kick. And in both finals we refused to select Grundy to play the sort of role we just witnessed Cox/Cameron/Frampton play to win a Cup. Still Flabbergasted!