After what I saw on the weekend, can I have a mix of Freo and Sydney please, with a Port chaser?

You’ve got to have Fyfe. No one else can break through 3-4 tackles like he can. His vertical leap and high strong marking, sensational. But I can’t take the rest of the midfield because I would miss out on the electrifying hands of the Sydney mix. Jack, McVeigh, Parker, slickest hands in the East. And the strength of Kennedy.

Hills pace is also vital, something the Sydney mix is missing. That’s why I would need a Port chaser.

Bloody hard choice, not something I can do.

I don’t have to prove anything to you Don.

Just leave me out of your discussions and take a leaf out of your own book their in relation to opinions and footy.

Remember it well.

Certainly think round 10 is more likely to show us a top 4. I was surprised about the 6 of the top 8. I look at this years top 8 after round three and think….really?

Adelaide, Sydney, Freo Hawthorn….yes
Richmond, Collingwood, GWS, Essendon….can’t see it.

If we are making calls, I would have to put Port and North in.

No Don, just explaining what “Straw Man” means

Again Don, unnecessary.

Sorry for the repost, I was mid edit when the phone rang and may 10min expired

Are Essendon the real deal. The top four is locked. Now GWS are taking Giant strides.

Lets not get to far ahead of ourselves. There are lots of positives to take away but beating last years bottom dwellers; beating this years bottom dweller (GC) and hanging in tough against one of the top 4; is hardly much to base predictions on how they will fair against the rest.

Looking at Ryan’s list of upcoming matches, I can only see them winning 2 games before the round 13 bye (Carl, Bris). Their best chance might be against the Eagles this weekend, but it is a tough ask.

I’m happy to be corrected. Lets have this conversation again come round 13.

Are Essendon the real deal. The top four is locked. Now GWS are taking Giant strides.

Lets not get to far ahead of ourselves. There are lots of positives to take away but beating last years bottom dwellers, beating this years bottom dweller (GC) and hanging in tough against one of the top 4, is hardly much to base predictions on how they will fair against the rest.

Ok, we might pencil them in for wins against Richmond or Melbourne, but looking at Ryan’s list of upcoming matches, I wouldn’t have them winning any of the next 6. Their best chance might be against the Eagles this weekend, but it is a tough ask.

I’m happy to be corrected. Lets have this conversation again come round 10.

Two good players, that add depth to an already strong side. Hope they can get these two up and about again soon

Don, I am here to talk footy. Any time anyone wants to talk footy, that’s what it’s all about.

I am also not going to stand by and watch someone, emotionally charged, sniper peoples comments, simply because they are not reading what they want to hear.

Don, there is no need to chime in on every single comment like a sniper. If you keep those remarks to those parts of the thread it makes for a more enjoyable read.

EddyJ has responded to my post with a fair comment. I’ve read the whole thread and it would appear you are unhappy with people that don’t see things from your perspective.

I like reading your posts most of the time but when you get disgruntled, you can take things too far.

If I come across holier than thou, apologies. There is no tone in text.

Why be so antagonistic Don. It’s unnecessary.

Eddy, if Freo can stay injury free and if Ross can get them playing an even more attacking brand of footy, then we might just see it unfold.

Superleague? How did that end again?

I just realised how 1 eyed I can sometimes be.

I looked at this and tried to find all the negatives…..

The first thing that jumped out at me was tackles – 17th? Is it a good thing that a undefeated team is 17th in tackles?
18th in rebound 50’s? Does this mean they aren’t that good at rebounding out of the defensive 50m? Or does this mean they get rebounded upon more than any other team? Either way, that is also not a very good stat.
Who isn’t doing the 1%ers? Ross wouldn’t like this one.
Interchange, is this second highest rotations or second lowest?

If I was a Freo fan I would be calling out the top 4 from last year saying how great they are going against 3 of them. They would probably beat the Hawks if they played them right now as well.

But I am not a Freo fan and I can just as easily point to Adelaide’s loss to the Bulldogs, as an indication of what can happen if you get to far ahead of yourselves. The conversation could easily turn to the lynching of a coach if they should happen to lose a certain away match to the Dees.

Don…..that would be weak.

Everyone has a different perception of reality……just asked the bloke that thinks Michael Johnsons shin is a 30cm wide padded goal post.

The Llyod goal wasn’t overturned because the evidence was inconclusive. That is the process. Someone looks at it and decides if it is there or not. The reason everyone is complaining is that the umpire called the Tippett one a goal, and the review overturned it suggesting it definitely hit the post…..it was inconclusive and should have remained a goal.

Can’t help but feel that Freo were extremely lucky to get away with this one.

Lots of talk about dominant midfields and disposal efficiency and the like. Interestingly when you do some school boy searches, Hannebery was the top disposal getter with 31 at 74.2, like for like with Fyfe who racked up 27 at 70.4. You can do to the next who was Mundy with 22 at 77.3 over Kennedy with 23 at 65.2. Next was Parker with 22 at 72.7 over Hill with 21 at 66.7. I’d say that puts the Swans a fraction ahead?

I don’t think either team was overly impressive. Freo enjoyed a dominant period in the first half, ably assisted by some Sydney ill discipline that resulted in some pretty ordinary decisions in crucial parts of the ground. Sandilands rucked well but I liked the way in which Pyke continually tried to take front spot….I’d say there were two or three hands on a lot of those taps ;-). McPharlin did a great job on Buddy, probably won the night as a defender on a forward, but Buddy won the battle up the ground.

Sydney enjoyed a dominant effort just shy of a half of footy and couldn’t capatilse, whether it be the fault of their own boot or the fault of the pot smoking third umpire.

Hard to argue with those that are disputing the video review of that Bird goal and even more so, the Johnson LBP (work it out cricket fans). I had the pleasure of sitting behind the goals as well, not so for from the lovely NatSwansFan who managed to pick my boys and I out in the crowd (much nicer in real life). The laughing, and verbal between Johnson and Tippet was very audible from where we were also. I don’t really care whether it was or wasn’t a goal, but if it has been signalled a goal, at least ensure your looking for the right thing when reviewing. Initial replay was checking for Tippetts snap hitting the post……they appeared to not even know what they should have been checking. For something to be overuled, it can’t be inconclusive. With the Bird incident, this is just downright inexperience on behalf of all three umpires involved in that balls up. I find it harder to change my 4 years old mind than it was for that bloke to all of a sudden change his beliefs. Again, may not have changed the result at the end of the night, but this is a multi million dollar sporting organisation…..not a circus.

Nice work from Sam Reid and thank you to Freo for playing him into some form. That’s the promise this kid has always shown and why he is so valuable to the team either in defense or attack. He is a confidence guy, a game like this against tough competition is exactly what he needs. Great to see him back himself for that shot at goal in the dying minutes and just a shame he couldn’t convert. It is certaily a juggling act for where to play him. The kid needs time in front of goal to fix his conversion skills but probably won’t get that as he is required in defense.

Rohan was like a kid possessed and almost single handedly swung the game when he replaced Heeney. I am loving watching these subs who come on and play like demons. Llyod against the Bombers, Rohan against Freo.

It was a thrill to see Fyfe up close. He is a pleasure to watch and some of those big marks were fantastic. The kids loved it. I want to get a hold of Tabs and slap him around. Pavlich was the one to stand up and kick 3……but he won’t be around forever. This young fella is going to be the future of the forward line and 1 mark inside 50m and 5 touches is not great result.

Much has been said about the Freo defence and their ability to hold the Swans. It should be noted that aside from Pav’s 3, and Mayne’s 2 (one handed to him and the other on the run), the Swans defence was equally as impressive. I don’t recall Walters hitting the scoreboard.

I’m thinking this could turn into/replace the Swans v West Coast epics throughout 05-07. Certainly shaping up that way. Close encounters are common between these sides.

Freo by 14
Sydney by 24 (QF, 2014)
Sydney by 17
Freo by 25 (PF, 2013)
Draw
Sydney by 13
Freo by 11
Sydney by 9
Freo by 37

That’s as far back as 2010. All square. A final each, a draw.

Goodes will always take one of the best from the opposition……Towers won’t.

Towers and Laidler are not regular quality in my opinion. One of these guys will be bounced out for McGLynn. Likely to be Towers, as McGlynn offers so much more in his ability to chip in to the midfield, a hard body at the contest inside 50m and a quality goal scorer.

Laidler will likely stick around but I don’t rate him in our best 22. He is a bit slow. You could argue Grundy and Teddy are slow but I wouldn’t put Laidler in the same category in terms of defensive ability.

This is one of those knee jerky articles.

Goodes has less than standard game one week, gets subbed………..next week he is the sub. Toot toot…..battle stations!!!

If you expand it out. Goodes had a less the standard game, on a wet night, where his ordinary efforts were mirrored by just about everyone else on the paddock, there were some who were worse.

There was a young bloke who came on for a qtr and a bit and absolutely played out of skin. He racked up 13 touches in a little over a qtr of footy and depending on who you speak to in the media and around the club, swung the game. Jake Llyod.

It’s not surprising the to see that in a game that is a must win, and yes, the Port game was definitely a must win the scope of the entire season (an away match at the Fortress against a flag favourite), Jake Llyod gets picked ahead of Goodes for the Sub Vest.

Not a decision made necessarily because of Goodes effort the week before, as you could easily have given the vest to Towers, Heeney, Rohan or Jetta. But a decision made based on the fact that the old Mercedes will need to be carefully managed throughout the season to ensure the elder statesman makes it through his final season of footy.

For every argument about why Goodes got the sub vest, there is one as to why the others didn’t. It’s a credit to Heeney that he got the 4 qtrs. He put in a great effort throughout the pre season and an even better effort in round 1. Rohan is playing fantastic defensive football at the moment and deserves the opportunity to prove that he is the best replacement for Malceski. Towers overall pace was probably a more suitable choice than Goodes in a game where speed was a necessity.

When the old boy did replace Rohan, for about 10min of the final qtr, he contributed with 6 touches. Almost more than Rohan had for the 3.5 qtrs that he was on the field.

We are a little quick to judge. Bolton, god love him, was a fantastic footballer and obviously knows a thing or two about what is going on inside the club, but his analysis can sometimes be hit and miss. This one I believe is a miss.

As for the best 22 right now, that would be the team that won the other night wouldn’t it?

My best 22 does not include Towers or Laidler. It has McGlynn. It has Goodes. It has Cunningham.

I wrongly (at the time) predicted Malthouse would be given the boot about 3 games into his tenure at the club, and said he wouldn’t see the first season out. Malcolm Blight and St Kilda like. My reasons at the time were justified and here we are now, again talking about this, for those exact same reasons.

It’s pretty black and white in my eyes. He was on his way to retirement, Carlton rightly or wrongly wanted a coach to take a good team to greatness. Malthouse was an excellent candidate at the time based on a recent premiership, a history of flags at the Eagles, and he was the only bloke available at the time who could do what Carlton wanted. However greedy, hungry, angry, whatever, people think and say he was, he still had a lot to offer as a coach, particularly to that group of players.

I would expect Carlton wanted something Eade or Scott like (Swans 1996, Cats 2011), for Malthouse to take them to a GF and/or flag in the first season. It wasn’t an extraordinary possibility.

The results have been pretty poor. The list is different. Malthouse has become an even more cranky bugger.

At a time when most clubs (I repeat most) are turning the corner, Carlton seems to be going backwards.

It’s not a bad list. But it’s not a great list either. It’s a developing list, it has it’s injuries.

They are a club out of alignment with their list and direction and coach. They need to define themselves, they need to plug the few holes in the list to complete that definition, and then put the right coaching staff in place to complete the triangle.

If they keep going along thinking they can win a flag, then Malthouse will stay because he is probably the only coach that can get them there. This list won’t win a flag in the next 3 years, so bring a coach that can help them build.

Mick is not their man.

Couldn’t agree with you more there TomC (which is a pleasant way to start off 2015)

The Lions look very much at home in the traditional strip.

I generally take the same things away from the Swans first NAB hit out each year. For the past decade they have been coming off a finals series so have been somewhere around 1-4 weeks behind the rest in terms of preparation. For the most part it results in a loss. Skills are woeful across the whole group. They certainly did not run out the game.

I would love for them to be at least thereabouts in one area, polished skills or fit. The skills are a worry for mine at this stage of the year. Mainly the errors came from the new kids like Hiscox and Robinson, but seeing Kennedy miss fairly simple set shots was disappointing.

The Swans structures were certainly heavily impeded by the absentees, and I just hope we don’t face these sorts of outs throughout the year…..all at once. McVeigh was a noticeable absentee left out of the article. He will make a difference either in the middle or as the predictable replacement for Malceski of half back. Rohan showed he has the run and can defend but he just can’t deliver the ball like Malceski.

Plenty of room for improvement.

Shaping up as the biggest WOFTAM in the Swans recruiting history. Gees I hope they can get him fit.

Pretty much what I expected to see from Sydney this evening.

Brisbane are going along nicely having had an extra 4 weeks under their belt and a fairly solid hit out against St Kilda last week. There are some good signs there for the Lions but they would appear to me to still only be shaping up as a 9-14 team.

A Swans line up without Franklin, Tippett, Goodes, McVeigh, and Richards is probably going to struggle to play any better than they did tonight…..all season. So I just hope we don’t end up with those injuries. It’s good to see them giving all these youngsters a go which they generally always do at this time of the year. As with most NAB cups over the past two decades, their skills are always on poor display and sadly tonight we got to see how far some of those young blokes have to go to mix it with the seniors.

Disappointingly though, Kennedy’s set shots were woeful and the disposal effeciency across the park was pretty poor.

Looking for improvement next week against the Dockers. Lots of improvement.

If Sydney don’t make the top 4, both Natalie Swansfan and I will run naked down the Cappucino strip…..wearing only Freo scarfs.

I don’t believe she has made an appearance on here since Grand Final day so I can’t confirm that she will comply.

Believe it or not, I am still very bitter about the GF no show and the trade ban, so I am finding it very difficult to focus on writing anything constructive at the moment 😉

I’m yet to come up with any early predictions but I would expect to see Hawks, Port, Freo and Sydney thereabouts again.