TOPIC:

This was a very poor standard game. West Perth were cleaner with their skills but still very wasteful and this kept Swans in the game for longer than they deserved. Aaron Black stood out like a beacon for them and Luke Meadows is a player who has always performed well against Swans and he did so again today.

Yet again I cannot criticise our guys for their endeavour and amazingly Swans got the ball more times than West Perth but we just butchered it so many times and handed the ball back to the opposition when we had worked so hard to win it. The fumbling, easy missed marks, kicking over guys heads, overuse of handball, you name it, it was all there.

In one five minute period in the first quarter I counted 3 occasions where a Swans player kicking out of the back line under no pressure delivered the ball lace out to a Falcons player sitting in the centre square. The mistakes were endemic in the whole team. It wasn't just the younger players either, guys like Rogers, Elari and Jukes were making fundamental skill errors and I know they are all capable of much better than what they showed today. Not sure Elari is enjoying the forward role and I thought he looked better when he was more in the thick of things in the 2nd half.

There were some positives though. What a great debut by Griffin Logue. He looked at home from very early in the game, took some excellent marks and also showed a lot of dash out of the backline. Jack Watson also looks every inch a footballer and he should be playing every week from now on. Nelson Ansey showed a lot today I felt, he was involved a lot more in the game than he has in the past. He should also be persisted with. Riggers tried his guts out and I thought he could have just about been BOG. Ames was sure in defence, Howard showed a bit in the forward line and Notte played his usual honest game. Yukich once more showed his potential, saw Percy talking to him during the breaks and he is certainly improving.

This is going to be a tough season for Swans and as supporters we've just got to stick with them and celebrate the wins we get, which may be few and far between. Having said that I don't think they will become a team that will get flogged every week because there seems to be a real spirit in the group.

I think Harding has a few tough decisions to make on players. I really admire Adam Faulkner and his ability to go in and get the tough ball but I am wondering whether his disposal and pace will ever improve to WAFL standard. I would be asking the same questions about Burnham and Coniglio. Would it perhaps be better to give another few young guys a crack at it like they did with Logue today with great success?

Mad Dog the young indigenous players can give us that wow factor.

Very poor standard game both clubs can start booking Sept hols, our skills pathetic, the will to win non existent, poor body language and an embarrassing day of WAFL footy. Feeling pretty disallusioned atm, bring on cricket season
Two things to be positive about = Logue, Ansey

Swandog wrote: Very poor standard game both clubs can start booking Sept hols, our skills pathetic, the will to win non existent, poor body language and an embarrassing day of WAFL footy. Feeling pretty disallusioned atm, bring on cricket season
Two things to be positive about = Logue, Ansey

I agree re the skills but I thought they were having a dip and the will to win was there.The body language was due to the fact was that they were turning the ball over so much. We are still only one game out of the top 5

mikeh wrote: This was a very poor standard game. West Perth were cleaner with their skills but still very wasteful and this kept Swans in the game for longer than they deserved. Aaron Black stood out like a beacon for them and Luke Meadows is a player who has always performed well against Swans and he did so again today.

Yet again I cannot criticise our guys for their endeavour and amazingly Swans got the ball more times than West Perth but we just butchered it so many times and handed the ball back to the opposition when we had worked so hard to win it. The fumbling, easy missed marks, kicking over guys heads, overuse of handball, you name it, it was all there.

In one five minute period in the first quarter I counted 3 occasions where a Swans player kicking out of the back line under no pressure delivered the ball lace out to a Falcons player sitting in the centre square. The mistakes were endemic in the whole team. It wasn't just the younger players either, guys like Rogers, Elari and Jukes were making fundamental skill errors and I know they are all capable of much better than what they showed today. Not sure Elari is enjoying the forward role and I thought he looked better when he was more in the thick of things in the 2nd half.

There were some positives though. What a great debut by Griffin Logue. He looked at home from very early in the game, took some excellent marks and also showed a lot of dash out of the backline. Jack Watson also looks every inch a footballer and he should be playing every week from now on. Nelson Ansey showed a lot today I felt, he was involved a lot more in the game than he has in the past. He should also be persisted with. Riggers tried his guts out and I thought he could have just about been BOG. Ames was sure in defence, Howard showed a bit in the forward line and Notte played his usual honest game. Yukich once more showed his potential, saw Percy talking to him during the breaks and he is certainly improving.

This is going to be a tough season for Swans and as supporters we've just got to stick with them and celebrate the wins we get, which may be few and far between. Having said that I don't think they will become a team that will get flogged every week because there seems to be a real spirit in the group.

I think Harding has a few tough decisions to make on players. I really admire Adam Faulkner and his ability to go in and get the tough ball but I am wondering whether his disposal and pace will ever improve to WAFL standard. I would be asking the same questions about Burnham and Coniglio. Would it perhaps be better to give another few young guys a crack at it like they did with Logue today with great success?

Im not sure the "effort" was there from all 22 Mike. The kids have all been good Dean, Ansey, Watson, Hackett et al and Logue was absolutely fantastic up from the Colts plus the veterans like Ames, Simpson, Howard, Riggio, Jetta continue to try their guts out but that mid tier of 23-27yo 50-100 gamers were EXTREMELY POOR today and have been all year to be honest and their lack of improvement and effort is a big reason why we are were we are at the moment plus an injury/absentee list that mounts by the week.

Yes I forgot to mention Kirk Ugle, hope he is OK

Nothing surprising bout the game, our skills are ordinary.
Coach puts our best marking defender from last week at full forward for 3 qtrs and the ball was hardly down there.
Once again Burham and Coniglio were embarrassing.
Riggs tried hard, Logue good and big Ansey hopefully has taken the best step
Freddie good also

Couple of things to touch on from the game.

Not sure why when we kicked a goal in the last to bring it back to 3 goals and there was a sense of belief growing,we had both Ames and Notte come to the bench. As a result WP kicked a goal while they were having s breather and our challenge had been snuffed out.

The other thing and this has been something I've noticed not only this season but in the last couple. Not only are we smaller in size but we are dramatically smaller in body shape. The lack of definition in our players bodies is alarming compared to every other team in the comp.

No time for the gym MD when we are working so diligently on those exquisite skills & strong tackling drills that have been so prelevant all season!!

,Take nothing away from west perth today but our boys were shocking. Sub standard ball use across the board, players either refusing or afraid to kick the ball to players one on none in better positions (toward Coniglio in particular from some of our senior defenders, something in that I'm assuming), lacklustre effort and passion for the contest and absolutely no wow factor as Mad Dog illustrated. This is a team with no idea how to win a game of footy, they are just hoping things fall their way and that a win might happen. First gamer Logue seemed to be the only fella on the park enjoying his footy today, good performance from Riggs even thou his must have burst a dozen fuses today such was his frustration at the lack of help in the midfield and Clutterbuck can hold his head high for effort. As a supporter I'm prepared to stick fat but what I saw today was a team not enjoying playing footy together. Harding has a lot of work to do to get this team to gel before seasons end or I believe his head will be on the chopping block. I'm not sure he has too many ideas left up his sleeve. Just an observation in the 2 weeks I've attended and putting injuries aside something seems to be on the nose around this team at the moment. Quite possibly a Murray Newman type factor. Things just seem very lacklustre around the SDFC atm.

On another note I sat and watched from the MacDonald stand most of the day. To get straight to the point the abuse towards the umpiring from a few too many of our supporters was childish and pathetic. Umpiring had nothing to do with why we lost today yet our supporters did nothing but constantly abuse the umps all game. It's a disgusting trait amongst some of our supporters, the language at times highly inappropriate with kids and woman around and I really felt embarrassed for some of the shit I heard leave these people's mouths. Time for some of our mob to pull there bloody heads in....nothing forgives some of the language I heard today with none of it in good humour. Grow up people...if you can't show fellow human beings including both umpires and the opposition supporters, the kids and the ladies in your vicinity some kind of respect then keep yourself and your potty mouths away from the footy as you are an embarrassment to our club!!!