TOPIC:

Agree DW. It wasn't the most exciting game to watch. Although having watched many similar thrashings over the last 4 or 5 years where Swans have been on the other side of the ledger, I must admit that it felt good coming away from Bassendean with another 4 points under the belt.

From the opening bounce it was clear that Swans midfield was going to have a picnic. It was like men v boys really and Gault dominated the ruck all day giving an armchair ride to guys like Fisher, Cipro and Anderson amongst others. The use of handball was positive and directed at running players whereas the Eagles were static and disposing of the ball when under constant pressure. The forward line had so many options with Palmer, Riggio, Edwards, Noble and Notte causing mayhem. The only slight criticism of the first quarter was that Swans tended to blaze away at goals and a return of 4-6 was not really reflective of their dominance.

The 2nd quarter was a more dour defensive affair with the first goal not coming till nearly 15 minutes in. The Eagles finally got their first in the time on period. A sterling effort by the defence led by Jones, Erceg, Stevens and  Howard who consistently outmarked their opponents and easily repelled WCE's sporadic attacks.

The 3rd quarter was more of the same with Swans again peppering the goals but guilty of wasting opportunities like they did in the 1st quarter. Our pressure was outstanding and so many turnovers were created by players hunting in packs, stripping the Eagles player of the ball and then running forward in waves. It really felt like a 90 point margin at 3 quarter time rather than the 60 it was.

The last quarter was a bit annoying in that Swans allowed WCE to score 6 goals and in fact they doubled their score in the time on period ( the quarter nearly went 40 minutes again).  The coach will be quick to remind his charges that any such lapse against South Freo next week will be fatal.

Overall it is so much more fun watching this team in 2021, they have added a layer of class which has allowed the group to be far more attacking and entertaining to watch. Both Palmer and Jones are top shelf recruits who have added so much to the team, to go along with Fisher and Anderson who have proven themselves to be wonderful assets since their arrival.
Also the East Perth recruits Waite and Bayok have settled into the Swans style now and are contributing a lot.  Bayoks delivery into the forward 50 was outstanding and he set up several goals with some bullet like passes to the key forwards.
The most pleasing thing for me though is how some of the Swans home grown lads have developed. Guys like Clarke, Stevens, Cipro, Erceg and Beck seem to have taken the next step and are now a lot more consistent and have gained confidence from the overall way the team is tackling games at the moment.

Lots of more challenging games ahead but the team is going nicely and 2-1 is a good spot to be in.
 

wrote:

Very ordinary match from a spectator POV....most of the game played with every player huddled within a 1/4 of the oval- eagles ran with nobody in the forward half after bounce ups for most of the match. Riggs had a ton of footy today as the standout player on the pitch - enjoyed the game of Waite, Gault was solid all day and was great to see the endeavour of Reidy and Bayok throughout, We did what we needed to do against a very ordinary opposition and if not for poor accuracy would have run out even more comfortably with WC kicking junk time goals in the last qtr which I’m sure wouldn’t have impressed the coach who was looking for us to cash in late in the game.

Sorry fellas... Not the most thorough match report - I was quite bored watching this one as it was very one sided with only one side really playing to win. The one thing of real note for me on the day was the extremely poor form of Jarrod Cameron. He looked miles off the level- the WAFL level - let alone what will be required upstairs . Has he been injured? Looked extremely unfit and lethargic throughout. Pity as he has showed glimpses in the big show that he might be a much better footballer than I have previously given him credit for. Today he copped a bath playing against ex-teammates. I’d 100% expect him to be delisted if today’s effort is an accurate reflection of where he is at.

DW thanks for the report.  I wasn't able to get to the game so I watched some of it via the Eagles stream.  To answer your last query first, there were some comments that he is coming back from injury and his time on the ground was being "managed".

Hopefully, some others who were at Basso will provide some additional comments.  Obviously watching on tv it is hard to get a full perspective of the work players are doing off the ball.  Erceg seemed to me to have had a very good game.  Hopefully, there will be an analysis of the last quarter where we perhaps didn't work hard enough and chose some less than smart options.  I suppose that could be in part because it was a fairly warm day and the smoke haze wouldn't have helped either.

In the second and third quarters of what I saw, witches hats may have provided more physical presence than the Eagles players.  As DW mentioned it is good to see the players developing particularly after our last few lean seasons.  If we can keep the core of our players I can see Riggs and Notte lurking in the forward line not only in 2021 but 2022 as well.  Both have been outstanding contributors over many years for our club and deserve some success in the latter part of their careers.

I am more confident now than at the start of the season that we will have a reasonable year though we still have a fair amount of improvement in order to match the best teams in the WAFL.

Let me make an observation about the commentary and I note that T Gossage took some umbrage with respect to some of the observations posted on social media.  I did not see those comments but I can imagine there would have been some colourful and pointed remarks.  I would suggest that the commentators watch the replay and they might just understand why there might have been some concerns expressed relating to the commentary and I am not referring to the difficulties around the absence of the scores on the screen in the first half.

Yesterday's game again underlines that the match against Claremont was the only real barometer to gauge Swans' improvement. While it personally was enjoyable to smash an AFL club that I loath, the opposition yesterday were so bad that personal performances were hard to quantify. The WAFL website says that Swans were too strong for a 'gallant' eagles - Jesus wept: maybe Gossage or the three umpires from yesterday had a hand in writing the article. In the last quarter, Howie after coming off the bench had a crack at one of the umpires for holding the game up before a centre bounce to allow an injured eagle to come off the ground - I would say the advice came from the coach, but the umpires know who butters their bread.

After three games, Palmer looks a find and covers for Kohlmann heading home off season, while Jones and Stephens looked good in defence yesterday. Stephens' disposal needs to improve, but his use of the body to out-position his opponent was outstanding: but again the snoozer he was on wasn't gallant or bright (yes, Stephens is a left footer).
 

Not sure the Eagles are to worried about winning Wafl matchs..But playing  Wafl finals might be helpful if the Eagles are alive in the Afl finals..
Swans started well again and had a match winning lead by 1/4 time..Copped West coast+ Perth at good times..
Reigning Premiers at home will be a truer test of where Swans are at in 2021.Missed the last two games ,can't wait to be there for South's.Who play Steele Blue really well in recent years.

Not the best game but bank the 4 points and move on, we have had enough bad days so good to have a win.
Still a few weak links in the side if we want to challenge the teams around 4th or 5th spot which has to be our target.

wrote:

Very ordinary match from a spectator POV....most of the game played with every player huddled within a 1/4 of the oval- eagles ran with nobody in the forward half after bounce ups for most of the match. Riggs had a ton of footy today as the standout player on the pitch - enjoyed the game of Waite, Gault was solid all day and was great to see the endeavour of Reidy and Bayok throughout, We did what we needed to do against a very ordinary opposition and if not for poor accuracy would have run out even more comfortably with WC kicking junk time goals in the last qtr which I’m sure wouldn’t have impressed the coach who was looking for us to cash in late in the game.

Sorry fellas... Not the most thorough match report - I was quite bored watching this one as it was very one sided with only one side really playing to win. The one thing of real note for me on the day was the extremely poor form of Jarrod Cameron. He looked miles off the level- the WAFL level - let alone what will be required upstairs . Has he been injured? Looked extremely unfit and lethargic throughout. Pity as he has showed glimpses in the big show that he might be a much better footballer than I have previously given him credit for. Today he copped a bath playing against ex-teammates. I’d 100% expect him to be delisted if today’s effort is an accurate reflection of where he is at.

DW in fairness to Jarrod Cameron that was his first game back for about a year from injury and he was on limited minutes (as these afl reserves sides tend to do).
Since our incredibly straight kicking in Rd1 (18.1 - 109) we have been somewhat sloppy in front of goals kicking more points than goals and though we were able to get away with it against sides like Perth & WCER there is no way we can afford that inaccuracy against the top sides like SF, CL, SU & WP.
Disappointing last qtr especially the last 10 minutes where we allowed WCER to kick 5 or 6 goals but as someone else posted previously after the last few years it is at least good to be on the winners list again but will be a big test again this week against SF.

Im surprised there hasnt been more commentary about how bad the WCER are. They were embarrassing. Swans clearly clocked off early and Pickering would be filthy. Swans should have won by 100 points if not for terrible goal kicking and basically stuffing around.
I know the Eagles have a few injuries but I left disappointed with their next tier. 
Jamison, Ainsworth, Williams, Edwards x2, Jones played like they didnt care.
They didnt look fit which is an indictment on them as professionals.
Swans should be in the finals on the last 2 efforts.
Lets hope it continues
 

wrote:

Im surprised there hasnt been more commentary about how bad the WCER are. They were embarrassing. Swans clearly locked off early and Pickering would be filthy. Swans should have won by 100 points if not for terrible goal kicking and basically stuffing around.
I know the Eagles have a few injuries but I left disappointed with their next tier. 
Jamison, Ainsworth, Williams, Edwards x2, Jones played like they didnt care.
They didnt look fit which is an indictment on them as professionals.
Swans should be in the finals on the last 2 efforts.
Lets hope it continues

 

The lack on interest from the wce reserves was often the case during the alignment, they're playing for match practice and fitness not anything else

wrote:

wrote:

Im surprised there hasnt been more commentary about how bad the WCER are. They were embarrassing. Swans clearly locked off early and Pickering would be filthy. Swans should have won by 100 points if not for terrible goal kicking and basically stuffing around.
I know the Eagles have a few injuries but I left disappointed with their next tier. 
Jamison, Ainsworth, Williams, Edwards x2, Jones played like they didnt care.
They didnt look fit which is an indictment on them as professionals.
Swans should be in the finals on the last 2 efforts.
Lets hope it continues


 

The lack on interest from the wce reserves was often the case during the alignment, they're playing for match practice and fitness not anything else

As someone who is a little coy in expressing my views, well maybe not too coy at all, the reserves team for the Eagles adds nothing to the WAFL.  The team should not have been allowed back into the competition after 2020.

wrote:

wrote:

wrote:

Im surprised there hasnt been more commentary about how bad the WCER are. They were embarrassing. Swans clearly locked off early and Pickering would be filthy. Swans should have won by 100 points if not for terrible goal kicking and basically stuffing around.
I know the Eagles have a few injuries but I left disappointed with their next tier. 
Jamison, Ainsworth, Williams, Edwards x2, Jones played like they didnt care.
They didnt look fit which is an indictment on them as professionals.
Swans should be in the finals on the last 2 efforts.
Lets hope it continues



 

The lack on interest from the wce reserves was often the case during the alignment, they're playing for match practice and fitness not anything else

As someone who is a little coy in expressing my views, well maybe not too coy at all, the reserves team for the Eagles adds nothing to the WAFL.  The team should not have been allowed back into the competition after 2020.

And what is the alternative you offer? The AFL clubs will never go back to spreading their players out across the 9 WAFL clubs.