When was the last time the Swans handed out a ten goal football lesson, while in the process of kicking 20+ goals in a game?
Some stats guru out there will know, but certainly not this season.
Swans arrived at the ground trying, as usual, to shake off the effects of the Mogadon.
BBB Hall seems to be the major culprit here as he dashes off here and there all over the forward line to try to run out the niggles early.
SC Roos should instruct him to stand in the goal square like a stone statue early, and let the midfield kick long to him, and see what happens.
The tricky stuff can come later, and there sure as hell wouldn’t be as many first quarter turnovers
As I’ve been saying all season, the coaching staff are still trying to work out what’s going on behind the slow start, in this case having four goals kicked on them from the off, and they better find a solution before September, otherwise there is no going anywhere against class teams.
And in tactical terms, never mind putting on six goals in the Championship Quarter, they really should have put the opposition away – and they didn’t.
Another worry.
Spida Everitt had his first best on ground performance of the year with a classic display of old fashioned tip and run ruck work.
As evinced by his opening goal, when he won the centre bounce hit out, then bounded away down to centre half forward using all of his eight legs, before picking up the ball off the carry from a couple of centremen, and booting it through the big sticks, untouched throughout.
Malceski wasn’t far behind for best; if it wasn’t for him they could have been a lot further down at quarter time, and he provided the backline starch on a day where Kennelly’s knees/groins were obviously being nursed off the bench.
He even took the opportunity afforded by hopeless defence to have a good run along the wing and kick a couple of goals himself!
Along Came a Schneider warmed to the theme with a couple of very very clever goals, while McVeigh put in two excellent quarters, and what more can be said about Cap’n “never played a bad game” Kirk?
As usual, Nick Davis Come to Save Us, didn’t get much mud on him, but a least he put away a few majors.
In other words, everyone who should have been on fire, was.
But, Carlton is a classic example of a team gone bad -- the senior list is in disarray on the paddock, and as a result, the junior staff appear to be pretty much clueless.
So in those terms, perhaps the Swans performance should be rated as little better than going around the course in regulation?
Denis Pagan must be suffering from hot and cold flushes, and the night terrors, I’d reckon.
As for Fevola, in his first game back from being dropped for being a complete idiot.
As a good friend in Melbourne said a couple of weeks ago at the height of the controversy:
aah, that Fevola, he’s just such a knob, isn’t he?”
I’d love to be a fly on the wall at the Monday morning smoko.
Who knows what SC Roos would discuss with the leadership group?
Perhaps the prospect of Ben “how to win a Brownlow off your chops on crystal meth” Cousins returning to a hopelessly out of form Weagles side next week against them at Subiaco would be on the agenda?
The sledging possibilities, surely, would be endless.
SYDNEY: 3.3, 11.7, 17.9, 25.12 [162]. Goals : Everitt 4, Hall 4, Davis 3, Schneider 3, Kirk 2, McVeigh 2, Malceski 2, O'Loughlin 2, Jolly, Fosdike, Goodes.
CARLTON: 5.3, 7.4, 12.9, 15.10 [100]. Goals: Fisher 3, Lappin 3, Fevola 2, Bannister, Houlihan, Betts, O'Hailpin, Simpson, Koutoufides, Scotland.
At Sydney Cricket Ground.
Crowd: 24, 858.
A footnote on another dodgy crowd figure: Can’t believe that I was among only a handful of punters [less than 100 on last week’s fudged figure in the rain] that decided not to pay the $38 minimum to go to the ground and see Sydney play a very poorly performed side in a match they were expected to win well. Seems like Swans administration has decided in the reconfigured construction site that is the SCG, to just pluck an attendance figure from somewhere between 24 and 25 thousand out of thin air, and say to the AFL: “that’ll do”. Never mind the reality.
Didn’t pay much attention to the Friday night stoush between the Mighty Tiges and the Evil Silvertails.
Otherwise engaged at the opening of a street art exhibition, including something of a retrospective from the folk who brought you the BUGAUP movement in the ‘70’s and 80’s.
The Little Creatures beers for a gold coin donation to the “starving artists fund” were good, and it was most entertaining, unlike the football, apparently.
When I walked in through the front door with 15 minutes left in the match it was all over bar the shouting.
By all accounts the Tigers dominated Manly in the first half, but failed to convert the advantage into points on the score board, after being cruelled by a late Sea Eagles try, when Heighington apparently gave away a really stupid penalty.
There appeared nothing Balmain do could to stop the advance of the Manly steamroller after half time, while being severely punished in defence.
People I’ve spoken to [mind you, no-one who was actually at the ground] say the Tigers were caned in the penalties, but 22 unanswered points after the break says “don’t argue” to me.
Silvertails, on that form, would be entitled to be disappointed if they didn’t win the JJ Giltinan Shield for taking out the minor premiership.
Tackled on radio interview by Paul Osbourne after the game about the team’s copybook inconsistency, SC Sheens said:
”I don’t know. Back in my day, after a loss like that, we would have been hanging ourselves from the nearest trees, but nowadays, these kids, well, they just shrug it off saying ‘well, that was a bit of bad luck there, we’ll just have get ourselves up for next week’. I don’t know if that’s good or bad.”
Joisus, if the genius doesn’t know, what hope have any of us got?
MANLY WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES 34. Tries: Menzies (2), Stewart, Monaghan, Robertson, Bryant. Goals: Orford (5).
WESTS TIGERS 4. Tries: Flanagan.
At Brookvale Oval.
Crowd: 15, 288.
