TOPIC:

Dirty Weekender wrote: Not sure what good is gonna do but I'm gonna be a whole nutha world of savage compared to that mikeh. Best I take a few deep breaths first, calm down before posting and go and do a bit of trainspotting. I'm sure to see a black n white train go past heaving with bloody passengers.

Yeah understandable Dw but there comes a time where you just have to recognise that the opposition are a class above your own team. Having said that Subis work rate was far superior to our guys and I lost count of the number of simple marks the Swans boys dropped. Hopefuly they learn from it and take these lessons into next week.

mikeh wrote:

Dirty Weekender wrote: Not sure what good is gonna do but I'm gonna be a whole nutha world of savage compared to that mikeh. Best I take a few deep breaths first, calm down before posting and go and do a bit of trainspotting. I'm sure to see a black n white train go past heaving with bloody passengers.

Yeah understandable Dw but there comes a time where you just have to recognise that the opposition are a class above your own team. Having said that Subis work rate was far superior to our guys and I lost count of the number of simple marks the Swans boys dropped. Hopefuly they learn from it and take these lessons into next week.

Thought we played submissive footy today mikeh. If they kick straight we lose by 20+ goals. Ellard and Howie excluded 20 blokes lowered their colours today. Junk time disposals the only thing saving half of our blokes from single figure disposal counts. Subi flexed their muscles early and we accepted our fate. Im particularly concerned about the effort levels of blokes like Ellis who has hardly brought a thing to the park the past 2 weeks. Seems completely disinterested to me which does not set examples for the young blokes let alone the colts lads he coaches. He coaches exceptionally well but right now as a player he is on the nose for me. You can't play this level half arsed no matter how good you were or are.

Beasley Hutton wrote: I am under no illusions about this game as Subiaco are the yardstick and have been for the best part of 32 years, as I posted earlier I just hope that we can be competitive against them.

I did try and warn us all.
Pathetic display today, I reckon only 4 or 5 blokes could hold their head high that they had a red hot crack.
Next week Freo in Mandurah who disposed of Claremont today.

Tony Nott,Matt Rodgers,Kirk Ugle.ño 39.The play was stagnant today BH.No run on handball,the ball movement was very slow.When Subi didn't have the footy.

mikeh: I agree Horsley could easilly be on an AFL List, we are very lucky to have him.
DW: I listened to the wireless broadcast and had a similar impression to what you wrote in your post. The commentators praised Subi, but like yourself, questioned the application of SD at times. If they did suffer a wee bit of stage fright, hopefully it will not happen in the future
BH: well picked.

Today reminded me a lot of many games in 2016. In the face of Subiaco’s organised game style, polished skills and constant pressure, the Swans players reverted to the style of grabbing the ball and bombing it into the forward line. You could see the confidence which had gradually built up over the past 6 weeks seeping out of the players very quickly as the match went on and then life became very difficult for the forwards. The killer was really red time in the 2nd quarter when in the blink of an eye, Subiaco kicked 3 goals in as many minutes to blow a manageable 14 points out to 31 at half time and I thought the 2nd half was pretty academic as the Lions toyed with our boys.

We missed Banfield’s pressure in the forward 50, Subiaco were able to move the ball out of their defence with ridiculous ease whilst our defence was under the pump all day. Ellis looked injured to me and he should not play if he is not 100%. Subiaco outworked us to the extent that there always seemed to be 2 or 3 lions players to 1 Swans player at most contests. That’s nothing to do with talent, that is about working hard for your teammates and that was missing from Swans game today.

I am not going to be too critical of the boys though as they have been terrific so far this season and also you have to admire the way that the opposition put the squeeze on them today. It has shown them though that they are a long way short of finals standard and it will be interesting to see how they respond next week.

Finally well done to the reserves team for their win today after a few close losses. A number of the guys who have been performing consistently in the ressies will be pushing hard for a league spot next week , particularly Slater, Cipro and Ridley. Tough league debut for Maguire today but he did a few good things and I hope they give him more opportunities.

I had the pleasure of meeting a few of the ozfooty members from Subi yesterday. A decent bunch of fellas. The one thing they all mentioned re Subi was the professionalism demanded by fellow team mates and the extremely high standards demanded by the coach. If you are not in it to win it at Subi you are not part of the program. These are the standards we need to set at our own club if we are ever going to become the force we all want our club to be in this comp again. It needs to be player driven, there is only so much the coaches can do. They train 5 days a week over there and if you miss a session you answer to your fellow senior players. From what I saw yesterday this is most likely the reason there is such a large gap between them and the rest of the comp. we can cry all we like about imports and dollars but reality is they prepare better and more efficiently than any other club in this comp and it is the key to their long period of success. They have set a standard amongst themselves and demand it of each and every team mate. This is the kind of culture we need to emulate. I guess our club brought in guys like Crowley, Ellis , Gault , Bennell and Ellard with hopes of creating this type of culture. I understand it's a work in progress but we need all of these fellas to buy in and demand it of those around them. Actions speak louder than words. I will single out Ellard as the one who so far epitomises these kind of standards. His work ethic since returning has been sensational and I really hope he is hanging around for a few more seasons as I believe from this bunch he is the one to lead us forward. I know we are a semi professional comp nowadays but if we want to beat Subi we need to follow the blue print their club and team culture demands. If we don't we can forget about winning flags and accept mediocrity season after season. Wayde Twomey once told me the difference between our clubs and after speaking with the ozfooty fellas and witnessing yesterday's performance I can finally understand what he meant. This has to come from the player group. Playing for your jumper also means preparing your absolute best to play in it, both mentally and physically. That's where we fall short. Now what we gonna do about it!!!!

DW: thanks for the great insights.

Well said DW. I know the recruitment is a big part of it but a hell of a lot of the success seems to come from players that are getting limited opportunities at other clubs. I often wonder why they would want to come to a strong club like subi if they are playing ressies elsewhere, maybe the desire is noted by schoey and the willingness to put in what is needed. We have had plenty that have left as well

Singha wrote: Well said DW. I know the recruitment is a big part of it but a hell of a lot of the success seems to come from players that are getting limited opportunities at other clubs. I often wonder why they would want to come to a strong club like subi if they are playing ressies elsewhere, maybe the desire is noted by schoey and the willingness to put in what is needed. We have had plenty that have left as well

Really? Robinson and Twomey were playing reserves for Swans were they?

Sure there may be some examples of what you have said but it is also a fact that Subiaco target the upper echelons of other clubs' players that effectively strengthens Subiaco and contemporaneously weakens the other club.