TOPIC:

westaussieguy wrote: [quote="mikeh" post=68767 Actually I wonder if Swoop may be thinking of pulling the pin. He hasn't really set the world on fire this year and the recruitment of Joel Houghton has given Swans another tall option up forward. I hope he does play out the season because he is a mercurial player and can help the young guys.

Would not be surprising, but hoping he keeps playing. Has been at Swans since Twenty 07 or twenty 08 and came across from Tassie. Not sure if he's reached the 150th games played for Swans but must be close to it. Hasn't kicked a big bag of goals but then the season is still young. Kicked 3 goals several rounds ago which was a good effort.[/quote]

Yes he reached the 150 mark a few weeks back WAG. He has kicked 8 goals in his five games and averaged around 13 possessions a game this year which is not too bad for a forward. The one thing I have noticed this year though is that he is not holding on to his marks as well as he has in previous years. He has been a wonderful loyal player for the Swannies since coming over from Tasmania in 2008 and like you I hope we see a bit more of him out on the field.

mikeh wrote: Nathan Blakley named in both ressies and league. Find it hard to believe he wouldnt need at least one run in the reserves to get him up to scratch. Harding may be keeping his options open given that Houghton is out ( presumably injured) and Claremont have got big guys like Andrews, Seaby and Bradley to gang up on Nuich. Some good ins ( Elari, Faulkner and Cary). Mad Dog had the right mail on Swoop, may as well give him a break till after the State game and see if he can come back refreshed. Great to see all the newbies from the win over Peel selected again. Not sure what the weather forecast is for Mt Barker on Saturday, a wet greasy day might suit Swans as it would nullify somewhat the big man advantage that Claremont have.

It would be interesting to know how the team is getting to Mt Barker, I assume it would be by coach on Saturday morning unless they are flying to Albany and driving up? Does anyone know?

Car pooling I think.

Mad Dog wrote:

mikeh wrote: Nathan Blakley named in both ressies and league. Find it hard to believe he wouldnt need at least one run in the reserves to get him up to scratch. Harding may be keeping his options open given that Houghton is out ( presumably injured) and Claremont have got big guys like Andrews, Seaby and Bradley to gang up on Nuich. Some good ins ( Elari, Faulkner and Cary). Mad Dog had the right mail on Swoop, may as well give him a break till after the State game and see if he can come back refreshed. Great to see all the newbies from the win over Peel selected again. Not sure what the weather forecast is for Mt Barker on Saturday, a wet greasy day might suit Swans as it would nullify somewhat the big man advantage that Claremont have.

It would be interesting to know how the team is getting to Mt Barker, I assume it would be by coach on Saturday morning unless they are flying to Albany and driving up? Does anyone know?

Car pooling I think.

Maybe the WAFC suggested Shanks's pony af their preferred mode of transport.

As there will not be any broadcast of the Claremont & Swans game down in Mount barker 2day, We will try and give up2date scores on our Twitter page @Ozfootynet

Apparently Ames received an injury during todays match. Will be a huge blow to Swans if he cannot take to the field against Subiaco next week.

Looked like a pretty even slug fest & the cats only got away a bit in the second quarter - that's the 5 opened up to Claremont now

what was the ground like down there boys?......I see Cl had trouble finding the goals for a period of time by kicking 5.12 in the 2nd/3rd quarters to SD 5.3.....especially Richo with 1.4,usually the fella is a bit of a dead eye dick kicking for goal......looked liked SD were gonna pinch it for a while.....

Would appreciate a report from anyone who was down there. Looks from the scoreboard like Claremont were in control but they kept Swans interested because of their inaccurate kicking. Hopefully Ame's hamstring injury is not too serious

Mike not sure how good I can recap but I will give a quick observation.
The first quater Swans had the ball in their 50 quite a bit but did not put points on the board.
Second quarter was just pathetic. Really played poorly. Claremont out worked and how hustled the Swans terribly. The effort was similar to the east freo and south freo games where the boys just did not have the fire in their play.
3rd and 4th quarters were a bit better. They came out with some passion and I thought played hard with purpose. They fought their way back into the game. They just dug too deep a hole in that 2nd quarter. Cannot take anything away from Claremont but Swans did not play that 2nd quarter.
Nathan Broad I thought had a good game as well as Notte. Donovan at times was a little bit bull... went hard I thought. Blakely I though played well though at times he seemed a bit winded and that is understandable.
I would say, especially that 2nd quarter but as well the whole of the game that Ithink some players maybe should have a game in the reserves. There are some who on talent belong in the best 22 but there were times where guys just did not seem interested in being there much less playing with some passion and pride. Harding said at 3/4 huddle that he thought there were guys who had much more to give than they had.... he was not at all wrong.
Sitting next to the truck they had for the Swan coaches was an experience. Listening to some of the comments and conversations. There was some real frustration comeing from the coaches.
Last weeks effort would gain a win most weeks. Yesterdays effort, especially the first half will see most games over done with by half time.
The boys will need to lift next game as it certainly will not be easy. They need to play focused with pride and passion for all 4 quarters.

Proabable a bit rambling on here, sorry about that.
In short Claremont controlled that 2nd quarter but we made it easy for them. Swans did come back the 2nd half but the damage was too great to over come.

Swan Hobo wrote: Mike not sure how good I can recap but I will give a quick observation.
The first quater Swans had the ball in their 50 quite a bit but did not put points on the board.
Second quarter was just pathetic. Really played poorly. Claremont out worked and how hustled the Swans terribly. The effort was similar to the east freo and south freo games where the boys just did not have the fire in their play.
3rd and 4th quarters were a bit better. They came out with some passion and I thought played hard with purpose. They fought their way back into the game. They just dug too deep a hole in that 2nd quarter. Cannot take anything away from Claremont but Swans did not play that 2nd quarter.
Nathan Broad I thought had a good game as well as Notte. Donovan at times was a little bit bull... went hard I thought. Blakely I though played well though at times he seemed a bit winded and that is understandable.
I would say, especially that 2nd quarter but as well the whole of the game that Ithink some players maybe should have a game in the reserves. There are some who on talent belong in the best 22 but there were times where guys just did not seem interested in being there much less playing with some passion and pride. Harding said at 3/4 huddle that he thought there were guys who had much more to give than they had.... he was not at all wrong.
Sitting next to the truck they had for the Swan coaches was an experience. Listening to some of the comments and conversations. There was some real frustration comeing from the coaches.
Last weeks effort would gain a win most weeks. Yesterdays effort, especially the first half will see most games over done with by half time.
The boys will need to lift next game as it certainly will not be easy. They need to play focused with pride and passion for all 4 quarters.

Proabable a bit rambling on here, sorry about that.
In short Claremont controlled that 2nd quarter but we made it easy for them. Swans did come back the 2nd half but the damage was too great to over come.

Thanks Swans Hobo, good summary. Consistency from week to week is going to be the challenge for Swans this year and will determine whether they finish 4th or 5th or miss out altogether. Apart from Subiaco, there is not a lot between other teams apart from their attitude on the day. Will be tough next week, especially if there is no Ames but they must hit the game harder than they obviously did yesterday. Disappointing performance also by the reserves today, so will be a week of soul searching by all players.