TOPIC:

Time to move on and forward to this week after having our butts kicked by EF at the WACA.
EF well and truly outplayed us in almost every position on the ground and were pretty much allowed to do as they pleased to a Swans side that quite obviously did not turn up for a contest, even with their season on the line.
I cant see this week being much better up against WP who we havent beaten this decade and who are motoring along on top and looking like the side to beat for this years flag.
They have a very experienced side for a WAFL team in this era with more than a dozen having played over 100 WAFL games and only 2 of their players that thrashed EP on the weekend having played less than 36 games (2 full seasons of WAFL) in Kernutt (18 games) and former Swan Hinder (4 games).
For Swans after such an insipid effort against EF you would expect some changes at the selection table but with Tony going down unfortunately he will be one to miss.
After barely winning a clearance against EF our mids will be once again put to the test by WP's experienced group lead by Black, Nelson, Pierce, Hutchings, Lynch & co.
Lets hope Swans actually turn up this week and with an attitude of making this game a genuine contest!

Would love to see your lads roll the Joondy Garlics, so you can get the opportunity to shaft Peel out of the finals.

Senior Seagull wrote:

Would love to see your lads roll the Joondy Garlics, so you can get the opportunity to shaft Peel out of the finals.

What he said!!!

I think there will be a strong reaction by the guys to last weeks humiliation and they will be a lot better at Bassendean on Saturday. To be fair that capitulation in the last quarter was not typical of the way that the group have fought out losing games this year. Prior to last week our biggest losing margin was 18 points.

I think Pickering should not make any changes (apart from forced ones such as Tony Notte) and challenge the group to go out there in front of the 80s legends and show their character by taking it right up to the top side. Sad to hear that Tony's injury won't allow him to play, I was hoping it might be a minor twinge and that he could get up for this game. Probably Ottaviano or Spackman could come into the defence, both played well in the reserves last week apparently.

Even if Swans are at their best, I doubt it will be enough to overcome West Perth. The Falcons have too much at stake and they may lose top spot if they drop this game. Claremont are nipping at their heels and 1st place is such an advantage in a top 5.

It would be nice for us to keep our season alive for one more week and play off for 5th spot with Peel but ultimately Swans season has failed because of our inability to win more than one game away from home and that will be one of the areas to focus on when planning for 2023. 

Terrible news that Tony has done his acl and will be out for some time now.
I see he intends to play on but you would think he will be out for 12 months at the least.
We have been having a bad run of acl injuries over the last 2 seasons unfortunately.

Thats just dreadful for Tony, and to think only last week we were talking up the prospect of him getting to 300 games. What a terrible way for his career to finish if that is to be the case. I hope he can get back but realistically with a traditional knee reconstruction he won't be able to play till 2024 at which time he will be 34. Certainly not out of the question but still tough. Footy can be cruel sometimes.

Teams are up. Ireland is back to take Tony Nottes place in defence, also coming in are Beck, Bright and Ottoviano who are all good players. So even with Tony out it looks a better balanced team than last week. Reading through the West Perth team though they have all the foundations of a potential premiership side, solid defence, elite midfield and a potent forward line. I note that Mark Hutchings has been also included on the bench, I assume he has been out injured for a few weeks. His big game experience will be very handy for them in the finals. I reckon that a West Perth v Claremont Grand Final would be very spicy given the way that Harris was shown the door at the Tigers a few years ago. Still a fair bit to play out before that happens though.

Swans are well and truly up against it with these guys but I am hoping that the combination of wanting to make up for last weeks limp effort, the incentive of keeping their season alive and also performing in front of the 80s legends may get them over the line by a goal or two.

WP are the most experienced side in the WAFL by a very long way Mike.
They will have close to a dozen players playing tomorrow who have played over 100 WAFL games (half their side) whilst we will have only 1 that has played 100 with Tony out now unfortunately.
In fact with Kernutt & Hinder both dropped tomorrow the lowest games tally for a WP player will be ex Eagle Ben Johnson with 33!
Swans on the other hand will have 12 players (over half our side) that have played under WPs lowest games played player Johnson's 33 WAFL League games.

Very true BH. I will be going there tomorrow more with a sense of hope than expectation. We have a small core of experienced players who need to lead the way. The only advantage we may have with younger legs is that if we can get on a roll and get our running game going we might be able to catch them out on the break with our pace but you and I know that Black and Co have had it all over us in previous games so it will need a big turn around.

Hopefully WCER can help you Swannie boys out with a surprise win too......