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When all was lost the Swannies fans found a new man to support and started singing this song in the Billy Walker stand:

As an 8yo back when that song came out I thought they were singing about the one and only Brad 'Bulldog' Shine SD!

Fair to say that loss has been coming for a few weeks. Swans really have been patchy since the State game in May. Since then in 5 games they have won 3 but you cannot say they have put in a four quarter performance in any of them. They played a poor first half against Perth but were good enough to come back, same with the Peel game. They really pinched the game last week and were comprehensively beaten by Subiaco.

The boys seem to have gone away from the team oriented game they were playing early in the season and are not playing with anywhere near the same intensity as they were prior to the State game. Claremont kicked some ridiculously easy goals today under very little pressure and that is a sure sign that many players were not working hard enough. Too much was left to guys like Riggio, Davis and Faulkner who were all great but the Claremont midfield were generally dominant on the back of their big blokes who monstered poor Nathan Blakely.

When we got the ball up into our forward line generally there was little system and our disposal made it easy for the Tigers defence to mop up. Even though they had less inside 50’s Claremont’s forward line was far more open and they looked much more likely to score.

The disappointing thing from Swans point of view was that Claremont won every quarter and the only time I thought we looked a threat was when we closed to within 11 points early in the last quarter but again the Tigers were good enough to steady and wrap up the match.

Faulkner was clearly Swans best player. He is a gutsy player but he really needs to tidy up his disposals as many of them went straight to the opposition. To be fair though often he was under pressure without much support.

I was impressed by Claremont; they have certainly improved since the last game at Bassendean. They have some very good players and they seem to have a much better team structure now. They are probably too far behind to make a run for the finals but they will trouble many sides before the end of the season IMO. Seaby played a great game today and gave the Claremont mids an armchair ride. Blackwell and Neates really enjoyed their days.

So a reality check for Swans, they really need to recapture the intensity and team pressure that they had in the early part of the season rather than relying on individual brilliance to get them over the line. This should be their focus at training in preparation for this week. Otherwise we could be in for a long cold afternoon at Joondalup.

Credit to the reserves for their great win. They have recovered brilliantly from that shellacking against Subiaco with three consecutive wins. Some of those players (Burnham, Riddoch, Stephens etc.) would be pushing hard for selection this weekend I would imagine. Also well done to our all-conquering colts who continue to bolt away from the rest of the competition.

Forgot to mention young Jason Daniels in his debut for Swans. He didn't do a lot but he looked like a good prospect. I spotted Hayden Bunton at the ground obviously checking out his grandson's debut. I think there may be a few more colts promoted as the season goes on to give them a taste of league footy

Do you think leaked email and cap details are weighing players n coach down. I thought you guys were playing like flag favs before this.

Do you think leaked email and cap details are weighing players n coach down. I thought you guys were playing like flag favs before this.

astro wrote: Do you think leaked email and cap details are weighing players n coach down. I thought you guys were playing like flag favs before this.

Haha nice try ya clown!! Big deal we lost a game!! Im glad to be 10-3 at this stage of the year and I dare say 6 or 7 other sides would say the same..especially West Perth the reigning Premiers!

Swandog wrote:

astro wrote: Do you think leaked email and cap details are weighing players n coach down. I thought you guys were playing like flag favs before this.

Haha nice try ya clown!! Big deal we lost a game!! Im glad to be 10-3 at this stage of the year and I dare say 6 or 7 other sides would say the same..especially West Perth the reigning Premiers!

Yep, and its in the bag mate ! Our drought is less than a year old, no other club can say that !!!

I think people need to look at this in the perspective that before the season started virtually everyone in the media and a vast majority of people on this forum had predicted that Swans would finish on the bottom of the ladder because of the number and quality of the players that they had lost.

The fact that they are sitting at 10 wins and 3 losses and 2nd on the ladder ahead of some much better credentialed teams including the reigning premiers is a credit to the coach and all the players for their commitment and team before individual approach.

I have said on another post that I have noticed a drop off in their intensity over the last few weeks which is inevitable I guess given that young guys will often get tired later in the season but no matter what happens for the rest of the year they have already exceeded all expectations for 2014. I am hoping that they can rediscover the formula that was so successful early in the season and then they may be a threat come finals time.

totally agree Mike, cant please some people.
expected to finish last and have won 10 games already and colts flying and reserves improving..
more postives than negatives..
young Blakely rucking against Seaby and Andrews summed up the game on saturday, same weeks the young blokes will struggle.
Claremont deserved the win and are not as bad as their ladder positon indicates.