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May 29, 2005
Voice of the Outer
Just thought I'd plug the newest site in the footyblogs.com stable, now producing its very own style of horse shit:
Voice of the Outer (aka geelongblog.com)
Posted by madmin at 03:19 AM | Comments (2)
May 26, 2005
Round 10 Team Selections vs St Kilda
Well there is some good news and there is some bad news with this weeks team selections. The good news is that Ball and Williams return from injury and re-enforce our midfield and ruck stocks, but the bad news and this I feel could be the difference between us winning and losing this week is that Dempster has been dropped when it should of been Bevan to get the chop, Schneider brought in to play alongside Buchanan when both should be in the side together and that Saddo has been dropped yet Schauble wasn't brought in to help the defence out. Also Jarrad Moore got the axe but that was likely just to give him a full match in Canberra this week.
Personally I think its a huge risk taking on the out of form, under pressure and injury hit Saints without Schauble or Saddo to help out in defence, leaving LRT as the only back up to Leo Barry and Craig Bolton who will now certainly get the jobs on Reiwoldt and Gehrig. For a match Roos has called a "must win", I can't help but think this weeks team plays into the Saints hands.
Team balance has been an important factor in our wins over the past three weeks and I believe Roos and the coaching staff have tipped the balance over the edge to a loss. I hope I'm wrong, but unless our midfield can stop the Saints from getting ball after ball kicked long, the defence is going to struggle and basically I think to rob Peter to pay Paul is going to mean Goodes will end up playing back and that just means our team make up is back to what it was against Adelaide and we all know what happened there.
I just have a sick feeling about this match now.
Anyway here are the teams
SYDNEY
B: Nicks, Barry, C.Bolton
HB: Mathews, Roberts-Thomson, Kennelly
C: McVeigh, Ablett, Crouch
HF: O’Keefe, Goodes, Williams
F: Vogels, Hall, O’Loughlin
FOLL: Jolly, Kirk, J.Bolton
I/C: Ball, Bevan, Buchanan, Schneider
EMG: Dempster, Moore, Saddington
IN: Ball, Schneider, Williams
OUT: Dempster, Moore, Saddington
ST KILDA
B: Fisher, Hudghton, R.Clarke
HB: Baker, Maguire, X.Clarke
C: Gram, Ball, Jones
HF: Dal Santo, Riewoldt, McGough
F: Milne, Gehrig, Voss
FOLL: Ackland, Hayes, Powell
I/C: Thompson, Peckett, Blake, Goddard
EMG: Schwarze, McQualter, Stone
IN: X.Clarke, Maguire, Thompson
OUT: Penny (knee), Fiora (hamstring), McQualter
Posted by robbieando at 09:38 PM | Comments (0)
May 24, 2005
Swans Injury List
Well it keeps getting smaller and the good news is that Willo and Davis are close to returns within the next fortnight.
SYDNEY
Paul Williams (collarbone) test
Heath James (calf) test
Nick Davis (hamstring) 1 week
Nic Fosdike (knee) 1-2 weeks
Ben Fixter (quadriceps) 2-3 weeks
Stuart Maxfield (knee) 2-3 weeks
Stephen Doyle (ankle) season
Posted by robbieando at 09:59 PM | Comments (1)
News Roundup - Tuesday 24/5
Its been a while since I did one of these but never fear I'll try and keep up to date as much as possible from now on. Anyway onto the round up and we begin with Garry Lyon's article in today's Herald on this season's "Surprise packets". For Swans fans he has quite rightly singled out the improved performances Luke Ablett so far this season.
With his penetrating kicking, and developing powers of concentration and discipline, there are good signs that there will be life after Paul Williams when the champion No. 10 decides his time is up.
Lyon is certainly right about that. Ablett, Kirk and Jude are certainly a good base to build a premiership winning midfielder from. Just need a few of the kids (Moore, McVeigh, Willoughby and Malceski) to develop into the players we hope they will become and maybe a matchwinner or two to fill in the pieces.
On to the Luke Vogels story and in The Australian there is an article that has Paul Roos claiming that they are more players out there like him who just need a chance.
Roos said the Swans had decided to tweak their recruiting strategy at the end of last year by looking for unwanted AFL players, VFL players and talented country footballers.
and
"I have no doubt there has to be more Luke Vogels out there, but it is very hard for clubs to take the more experienced players because you may only get three picks in the draft," Roos said. "There is no doubt in my mind there are a lot of players out there who could potentially play AFL football that are now 21 or 22."
Hmmmmmm somebody has been reading a bit too much Moneyball. Still very valid point to make. Just better not turn it into a major focus of recuiting, the Under 18 system is still the primary way to get the talented players into the club. The Vogels model (ie. putting them on the rookie list first) is a fine way to go about this process of mature aged players.
Finally we finish with Richard Hinds opinion article in the SMH, Swans must meet greater expectations. Now while the point he is trying to get across is correct (we MUST win on Saturday Night), I just think some of his reasoning is a little misguided and in some cases wrong.
The Swans have won their past three games without injured ruckmen Jason Ball and Stephen Doyle (and without Darren Jolly on Sunday)
While it is true we have won without Doyle and Ball, we also lost without them so they aren't a key performance factor and Jolly didn't miss Sunday's game - it was the Essendon game to begin with. The most important factor about the ruck he failed to note was Goodes moving back into the middle. That has played a KEY role in our wins of late. heck I think it was Goodes who turned the match in our favour in the second quarter by burning Mitch Hahn in the ruck and proving the point that no one in the league can match up to Goodes when he plays in the ruck.
with creative defender Leo Barry sometimes asked to play on opponents 15 centimetres taller and with Tadhg Kennelly struggling to find his best form
Leo has played on taller opponents for the best part of the last two seasons, him playing there has had an impact on our style of play since 2003, but in the 3 losses in a row he kept us in matches by the same token. With the Kennelly line, well that just wrong. Yes he was out of form up until 3 weeks ago, but since then his drive off half back has been important and against Port he was a major reason why we won, hardly struggling.
Now as I said I have nothing against the article, the topic is correct we need to win this week but the reasoning and lack of research turned a good topic into a poorly written article that hardly gets the issue addressed.
Anyway thats it for today.
Posted by robbieando at 09:24 PM | Comments (0)
May 22, 2005
Same Old Story - Reserves win by A LOT
Yet another easy win for the Magoos and we remain un-beaten in the Canberra League this season. Good games from Malceski and Schneider should put them in the frame for senior selection in the coming weeks. Schauble had a good game and hopefully will replace LRT next week.
Sydney Swans Reserves: 23.10-148
vs
Tuggeranong Hawks: 10.7-67
Goals: Schneider 6 Powell, Malceski 4 Grundy, Erickson 2 Ball, Potter, Quade, Schauble, Spriggs 1
Best Players: Malceski, Powell, Erikson, M.Davis, Schneider, Potter.
Posted by robbieando at 09:32 PM | Comments (0)
O'Loughlin Magic brings Three in a Row
Ah, now thats certainly better.
After the three weeks of hell the Swans put us though, they have capped off an amazing turn-around in form by winning their third match in a row and in doing so moving back into the Top 8 and 6th position.
Not bad concidering the doom and gloom of just 3 weeks ago.
In a match that we had to win to have any chance of proving we can be the real deal, the Swans started off poorly thanks to some sloppy possessions, missed shots at goal and the Bulldogs having most of the play. Goals to Robbins and Cooney put the Swans on the back foot before O'Loughlin managed to get the Swans only goal of the quarter. Just as it seemed we might go into quarter time close to the Dogs, the Dogs managed to get away with two quick goals that put us down by 3 goals at quarter time.
Any thoughts of a quick start to the quarter was dashed when Robbins in his 100th game stood up for his second goal of the match and it appeared the Swans were slipping out of the match. But that turned out to be a blip on the radar as the Swans moved themseleves back into the match with 4 goals though hard work from Crouch, Hall, Goodes and O'Keefe and the Swans went into the half level and it seemed finally getting the better of the Dogs midfield....
...and thats how things panned out as the not only did the Swans get on top but we even got to see the return of the Magic O'Loughlin Show. Surprisingly good delivery into the Swans forward line from the midfield allowed the Swans and O'Loughlin in particular to just pepper the goals. After getting his second of the match to open up the scoring in the second half O'Loughln went to work on Bulldogs rookie Dale Morris. The sign that he was going to rip the game apart came with his third of the day, which was a superb soccer effort which put to shame most of the Man Utd players in last nights FA Cup Final. The Bulldogs managed to get one back but soon enough O'Loughlin popped up again for his 4th of the game, which was followed by Barry Hall's long range effort and the Swans had the match in their keeping. O'Loughlin managed a 4th for the quarter and his 5th for the match and the Swans went into the last change 21 points up.
However as is so offen the case the Swans allowed the Bulldogs to slowly build themselves into the match with three goals to Gilbee, Johnson and Hahn and all of a sudden we had a one point ball game and the Swans looking gone for all money with 4 minutes still to play. But never to worry us from the ball up that resulted in Hahn's goal the Swans moved the ball forward in hope and found 3rd gamer Luke "Breadman" Vogels who found himself with the ball close to the boundry line and meters in the clear. He slotted home his second goal of the match and the Swans had room to move.
That room was then used to slow down the play and waste time and soon enough the ball went forward and again found Vogels who slotted home his third goal and sealed the match in the process. From there the Swans ran out 14 point winners and as said above moved up to 6th on the ladder and to a record of 5 and 4 with a trip to Melbourne to face the out of sort Saints.
SYDNEY 13.11 (89)
WESTERN BULLDOGS 10.16 (76)
Goals: Sydney: M O'Loughlin 5 L Vogels 3 B Hall 2 A Goodes, R O'Keefe, J Crouch 1.
Best Swan on Ground: Michael O'Loughlin
Posted by robbieando at 08:39 PM | Comments (0)
May 21, 2005
Final Changes for Weekend
To counter the Bulldogs pace in their forward line the Swans have dropped Schauble and LRT so that we don't get caught out by it. Seem a stupid call, but if it works as Roos plans it to (ie. tricks Eade into sending Grant down forward and thus allowing Hall and Magic to roam free up forward) then it could be a master stroke.
In Schauble and LRT's place comes Nicks and Willo. However Willo is to be given until match time to prove his fitness and if he is to pull out and allow the injury another week to heal, then I suspect Roos to bring in Schauble. Might be a wise move.
Will be an interesting match with Roos wanting to pull one over his old boss, while the nature of the Swans play (ie - the flooding) effect on the so far free moving Bulldogs is another factor you can't ignore.
Still at the end of the day if the Swans want to make the finals, this is the kind of match they MUST win otherwise there would be no point to it. Going to be a difficult match but we should be able to contain the Bulldogs to put up win number 5 for the season.
Posted by robbieando at 05:39 PM | Comments (0)
May 19, 2005
Team Selections for Round 9 clash against Bulldogs
Well so far no major changes (or even minor ones for that matter), but that could change this time tomorrow, when the final team is submitted and if Willo makes his comeback to the side after injury. I think if he does play he'll replace McVeigh, if not then there will be no changes to the side that put away Port. Anyway here are the teams for this weeks match.
SYDNEY
B: Schauble, C.Bolton, Dempster
HB: Barry, Roberts-Thomson, Kennelly
C: Mathews, Ablett, Crouch
HF: O’Keefe, Goodes, Bevan
F: Vogels, Hall, O’Loughlin
FOLL: Jolly, Kirk, J.Bolton
I/C: Buchanan, McVeigh, Moore, Nicks, Saddington, Schneider, Williams
IN: Nicks, Schneider, Williams
OUT:
WESTERN BULLDOGS
B: McMahon, Harris, Power
HB: Morris, Grant, Gilbee
C: Eagleton, West, Giansiracusa
HF: Murphy, Skipper, Robbins
F: Smith, Johnson, Hahn
FOLL: Minson, Cross, Cooney
I/C: Birss, Boyd, Griffen, Morgan, Rawlings, Ray, Wight
IN: Birss, Griffen, Morgan, Rawlings, Ray
OUT: Hargrave (susp), Walsh (inj)
Posted by robbieando at 11:10 PM | Comments (0)
May 16, 2005
Leo Barry - The next fortnights captain
After such a good performance yesterday on Tredrea it seems as if Barry has been rewarded with the chance to lead the side over the next two weeks against the Bulldogs and St Kilda.
Good luck to him.
Posted by robbieando at 07:08 PM | Comments (0)
May 15, 2005
WANTED - FOR CRIMES AGAINST FOOTBALL
This joker NEEDS to go. How much longer can the AFL allow his bias to continue and effect Swans matches as a result. Today he killed us, but lucky for us we won and didn't allow him to take pleasure in our anger. So today we were lucky, maybe next we won't and we'll see a repeat of the 2003 Prelim Final.
Posted by robbieando at 07:44 PM | Comments (0)
Swans on a Roll: Two wins in a Row
Well what can I say, other than we won and we beat last years premiers at that. Other than that it was a boring game of football which we controled from the outset.
We got off to a quick start from Magic thanks to two goals and it looked as if we would take Port on, in an attacking style simular to the final in 03. We were winning the ball from the middle and Port struggled moving the ball forward, so it was a return to the free flowing attack of old. However as per usual once the behinds started to add up, so did the numbers around the ball.
From about the 10 minute mark the game desended into the pits of hell, Port started to get the ball moving forward and managed to get a goal out of a set shot from Kane Cornes. A few more behinds to both sides and the Swans went into the first break 8 points up. If the match was boring up to this point, it only got worse in the second term as the Swans and Port decided that football should only be played in the middle of the ground (stuff going into the forward 50 that would defeat the point). A goal each meant that both sides didn't change much ground going into half time, but the Swans managed to pull out by 14 points thanks to yet more poor kicking at goal.
The second half started like the second term and more defensive play was followed by even more as the Swans struggled to get the ball forward and online when they did, thanks to Ports lack of ball skills meaning that the game was held in a staging patten. Somehow in the face of poor umpiring (what did you expect from Goldspank) and a lucky goal for Port from Dew as a result, the Swans managed to get three goals on the board during the third term including two from Hall. Most of the attack seemed to be coming from Best on Ground Tadhg Kennelly and Jude Bolton. The late charge meant the Swans held pretty much a match winning 16 point lead going into three quarter time.
The last quarter started and I expected to see Port come out and try and win the match by trying to attack as best they could, but like the entire match poor skill errors hurt the Power and as a result the Swans jumped on them and got the first two goals of the quarter from Goodes to kill off the match. Late goals from the Power brought them closer but Luke Vogels in only his second match, sealed the match with his only goal of the match and the Swans were home by 24 points.
While the Swans have now won two matches in a row, they still have not played to the best of their abilty and frankly I think the only reason we have won is thanks to the poor teams we have faced who seem to lack any killer punch that would put us out of a match. Poor kicking at goal is still killing us and if we don't improve on it quick smart the season will end up being wasted because we can't put away sides.
Still we are improving on the form shown between Rounds 4 and 6 and with the team getting back to full strength we should keep on improving. Back to today's match, no doubt the football world will blame us for the boring nature of the game, but I put that at the feet of Port, who keep on stuffing up and thus held the ball in to keep us from getting away. Also Leo Barry has added yet another victim to his kill list in Tredrea who he kept goal-less and yet attacked as well to make a valuable impact. Tadhg Kennelly put in his best game of the year and Jude Bolton put in another solid outside as the matches leading possession winner.
We are getting there and with Saddington, Schauble and O'Loughlin getting back to full fitness we are a better side than what was put out against West Coast. On the youngster front Jarrad Moore and Sean Dempster continue to impress and should become valable role players as the season goes on.
Back to 4 and 4, and everything seems better than a fortnight ago.
SYDNEY 9.15 (69)
PORT ADELAIDE 6.9 (45)
Goals: O'Loughlin 3 Hall, Goodes 2 Vogels Ablett 1.
Best Swan on Ground: Tadhg Kennelly
Rising Star: Jarrad Moore
Posted by robbieando at 06:15 PM | Comments (1)
May 13, 2005
Final Line Up Changes
Well the final team is in and finally Spriggs has been dropped and in his place come McVeigh.
In: McVeigh and Jolly
Out: Spriggs and Davis (inj)
Int: McVeigh Saddington Moore Buchanan
Emg: Spriggs Malceski Schneider
Posted by robbieando at 10:38 PM | Comments (0)
May 12, 2005
Swans vs Power Team Selections
SYDNEY
B: Schauble Bolton Dempster
HB: Barry Roberts-Thomson Kennelly
C: Mathews Ablett Crouch
HF: O’Keefe Vogels Bevan
F: Jolly Hall O’Loughlin
R: Goodes Kirk Bolton
Int: Buchanan Malceski McVeigh Moore Saddington Schneider Spriggs
IN: Jolly, Malceski, McVeigh, Schneider
OUT: Davis (hamstring)
PORT ADELAIDE
B: Bishop Wakelin Walsh
HB: Montgomery C.Cornes Wilson
C: Pickett Francou Salopek
HF: Dew Tredrea Ebert
F: Wanganeen Thurstans Pettigrew
R: Primus Cassisi K.Cornes
Int: Brogan Chaplin Cochrane Eckermann Lade Mahoney Symes
IN: Brogan, Cochrane, C.Cornes, Symes
OUT: P.Burgoyne (hamstring)
Overall not a bad side with Jolly back in and the likelyhood of Spriggs getting dropped to a level where he belongs so either McVeigh or Malceski could show us what the future of this club will really be like.
Posted by robbieando at 08:44 PM | Comments (1)
News Roundup - Thur 12/5
Well today's round up basically will focus on the club's stupid decision to go with 6 captains for the rest of the season. We start with the SMH and its article Why Swans chose six captains. Poor Roosy, he again proves that he is the king of the cop out with a stupid statement like this,
"If someone asked me to, I couldn't rank them, but that wasn't the main reason," he said. "I just thought that we didn't need to do it [select just one]. They are very close. And we don't need to be rushed. I think it's a terrific opportunity for the club and those six players.
No need to be rushed hey??? Well I can think of many reasons why you should of, but then again I guess when you cop out of answering tough questions your never going to admit that this decision could send the wrong message to the playing list and even one of the group of 6. I would of thought that while this season was still alive, making a call on one player and standing behind them would of been the way to go, but with the Swans you know.........
Onto The Australian and if you wanted proof how much a joke the captaincy has become at the club this season, Captaincy quirk founded on six appeal, kind of proves it.
IN the past 32 years seven men have had their names engraved on the honour board as captain of the Swans.
Well that means that in this one season we'll have had as many captains as we have had in the past 32 years, now THATS a joke.
Anyway onto the Herald Sun and its basically more of the same with Swans mix it up.
In the only other news item today, it appears that the Swans have followed the lead of many other clubs in allowing their players to use No-Doz caffeine tablets. According to Swans stars on caffeine tablets in the Daily Telegraph the Club Doctor Nathan Gibbs admitted that
"They [caffeine tablets] are available to anyone that wants them," Gibbs said.
Now I don't know what to think on this one and its not really up to be to decide if this is right or wrong. However I will say I hope that the club knows what its doing and makes sure those who are using them are not badly effected by them.
Anyway thats all for now, Team lineups later tonight.
Posted by robbieando at 03:22 PM | Comments (0)
May 11, 2005
The New Club Captains
Better allow for a lot of room on the club Honor Board to list this year's Captain's after the Swans decided today to go with a "leadership team" by naming 6 players who will get at least two matches each as captain this year.
So therefore, your club captains are now
Brett Kirk
Barry Hall
Adam Goodes
Jude Bolton
Leo Barry
and
Ben Mathews
Any further proof that this club doesn't view this season with any further hope for success has just been given. First of all what a kick in the teeth for Kirk, clearly the club doesn't believe he is capable of doing the job for the rest of the year at least and basically have ruled him out of being named the full time captain next year.
Second of all, Ben Mathews as captain - Now there's something I wished I never would see. We get rid of one under-performing captain and replace him with another.
Now thats a joke.
The other four, well I think its clear that the club view them as the best options and I think it will come down to Jude and Goodes.
Anyway, here is the article from the Club's site.
"We had individual discussions with all members of the leadership group and they were very encouraging and enthusiastic about the rotational system,” said Swans coach Paul Roos.
Kirk will lead the team again this week for those who haven't stopped laughing.
Posted by robbieando at 05:41 PM | Comments (1)
May 10, 2005
Injury List after Round 7
Jason Ball (Hamstring) Test
Stuart Maxfield (Knee) 1 week
Heath James (Calf) 1 week
Ben Fixter (Quad) 1 week
Nic Fosdike (Knee) 2-3 weeks
Nick Davis (Hamstring) 2-3 weeks
Paul Williams (Collarbone) 3-4 weeks
Stephen Doyle (Ankle) Season
Well Maxfield and Davis join the happy band of Injury Room junkies and it appears that Willo's hoped for early return seems unlikely. At least Ball should be able to play this week and we also get Jolly back from suspension.
Posted by robbieando at 07:25 PM | Comments (0)
May 09, 2005
Little Swans do it easy yet again
The Swans Reserves had another win this time over Paul Kelly's old team the Wagga Tigers. Not much to go on but, McVeigh kicking 8 goals mean he must be close to playing this week and the normal players, playing well. Nicks and Schneider did well upon their demotion down to the reserves and (sadly) should be in the seniors within weeks. Can't read much into these results thanks to the weak nature of teams like Wagga, but also good to see solid form coming from the players who are deemed close to senior selection
Swans Reserves - 30.15(195)
Wagga Tigers - 4.3(27)
Goals: McVeigh 8 Grundy 4 Schneider, Malceski, Shaw 3 Ericksen, Potter 2 McConnochie, Schmidt, Powell, Nicks, Willoughby 1
Best: McVeigh, Malceski, Nicks, Schneider, Quade, Ericksen.
Posted by robbieando at 07:17 PM | Comments (0)
May 08, 2005
Swans finally win again
Well the Swans finally won a match and the first in the life span on It never rains but it pour's, so to say the least I'm very happy at the result. However the match wasn't without its moments and yet again the Swans had to rely on a last quarter comeback to win.
Lucky we played Essendon then isn't?
The result also ended a tumultuous week where the League CEO, called us boring and our captain stood down because of family issues. At least this week Andy D can't come out and call us boring, maybe error riddled, but NOT boring.
The match itself started off as the past week had been, with Nick Davis pulling his hamstring within 15 seconds of the match starting while going for the match's first mark from a Swans clearence. Clearly proof that the backroom staff DON'T do their jobs as well as one would hope, was finally given. Still the Swans battled on and got the jump on the Bombers after giving away an early goal, but in true Swans fashion decided that poor kicking was going to come back and hurt us to allow Essendon to take a one point lead into quarter time, when on the balance of play we should of been well in front. Ah, the pitfalls of supporting the Swans.
The second quarter saw the Swans sail out to a 13-point lead after first gamer Luke Vogels kicked a goal with only his second kick. But just like in the first quarter we let Essendon in and they made sure we went into Half Time 11 points down thanks to their stright kicking at goal netting them 4 goals. The third quarter was more of the same from the Swans, getting into the match only to let Essendon get away again and this time it looked like we were headed for our 4th loss in a row thanks to more poor kicking and lack of pressure from our midfield. Still with Essendon's last quarter record this year, we had some hope.
Surely enough the Swans came out firing and turned the match on its head with 4 quick goals to take a 13 point lead into time-on, with Jarrad Moore getting his first goal in league football (he looks like a keeper). But as we so offen do we let the Bombers get a sniff thanks to a late goal from Lloyd, which forced us to flood back and chip the ball around. But lucky for the team time ran out and we won by 6 points. Funny enough we scored 6 points from hitting the post so much, therefore if the posts didn't have so much paint on them we could be celebrating a 6 goal win, not a 6 point one. On well, a win a win.
SYDNEY 13.16 (94)
ESSENDON 14.4 (88)
Goals: Hall 4 O'Loughlin 3 O'Keefe 2 Buchanan, Moore, Goodes, Vogels 1
Best Swan On Ground: Captain Kirk (leads by example and gets 32 possessions in the process)
Posted by robbieando at 06:51 PM | Comments (0)
May 07, 2005
Swans WIN, I repeat SWANS WIN
After 3 weeks we finally have our 3rd win on the board. Still much improvement is needed if we are to get better. Should of won by 6 goals not 6 points and our kicking and pressure from the midfield is still weak as piss. Davis did his hammy and will miss the next few weeks.
Still an improvement on the past 3 weeks and certainly not boring football. But things must keep on going.
Match Report, sometime tomorrow
Posted by robbieando at 11:56 PM | Comments (0)
May 06, 2005
News Roundup - Fri 6/5
Well we have alot to get though today, so lets start with the major topic on everyone's mind - Stuart Maxfield standing down as captain of the club. I'll start with the Herald Sun report, Maxfield puts his kids before captaincy.
"So in terms of my strength as a leader around the place a lot of it has been off-field; if I'm unable to be around the place then I can't perform those duties to the best of my abilities."
We then move onto The Age, with Sydney or the push, Maxfield a captain no more and the SMH with Maxfield steps down, Swans look for someone to step up.
Basically I've said all that can be said, but I still think Stuart made the right call. Now he can focus on his game more and finish his career with a BANG.
On to his replacement and we have an article from the Swans Official Site called Kirk hopes to inspire. Clearly Kirk is best pleased with the honour thanks to the following quote,
"Growing up as a kid I barracked for the Swans so to captain this week will be a huge buzz."
Despite the decision on who becomes the full time captain next week I think Kirk has it in the bag, thanks to his two guess roles so far this season.
On to the last article of the day and its written by Paul Roos in his weekly article for the Daily Telegraph.
It disappointed everyone around the club that we were labelled by a person in Andrew's position. But let us forget that. We would like to think we are adult enough to get on with the massive job we have here in Sydney.
Good call.
To that end I'm urging everyone to get behind your Swans on Saturday night - because we are indeed YOUR Swans. The Sydney Swans.So come on Sydney, get behind the Swans.
Send the most powerful message of all to those who love to have a crack at us and speak with your feet on Saturday night.
Pretty passionate stuff
Posted by robbieando at 03:54 PM | Comments (0)
May 05, 2005
Swans vs Bombers Team Selections
Well finally Roos bit the bullet and made mass changes to the team. In comes the returning Saddo and Mathews and (best of all) first gamers Moore and Vogels (who was promoted to the senior list in place of Doyle). No happy that McVeigh was again dropped, but at least mass changes were made and 3 of the worst performing players from last week (Nicks, Schneider and Buchanan) got dropped. Sends a message to the list that no matter who you are, your not safe if you play poorly.
Teams as follows:
SYDNEY
B: J.Crouch A.Schauble P.Bevan
HB: L.Barry C.Bolton T.Kennelly
C: S.Dempster L.Ablett S.Maxfield
HF: R.O’Keefe L.Vogels N.Davis
F: D.Spriggs B.Hall M.O’Loughlin
R: A.Goodes B.Kirk(c) J.Bolton
Int: L.Roberts-Thomson J.Moore J.Saddington B.Mathews
Emg: J.McVeigh A.Schneider A.Buchanan
In's: Vogels Moore Saddington Mathews
Out's: Nicks Buchanan McVeigh Schneider
ESSENDON
B: M.Bullen T.Zantuck A.Welsh
HB: M.Johnson D.Fletcher K.Bradley
C: M.Bolton J.Johnson A.McPhee
HF: S.Lucas J.Watson J.Winderlich
F: A.Lovett M.Lloyd J.Murphy
R: J.Laycock D.Peverill M.McVeigh
Int: A.Henneman D.Rioli N.Lovett-Murray B.Stanton
EMG: T.Richards A.Monfries P.Thomas
In's: Winderlich Watson Lovett-Murray Stanton Bradley
Out's: Hird (hamstring) Haynes (broken arm) Solomon (corked thigh) Richards
Posted by robbieando at 09:57 PM | Comments (1)
Breaking News - Maxfield Steps Down as Captain
According to Melbourne radio station SEN and afl.com.au, Stuart Maxfield has stepped down as club captain and been replaced as captain by Brett Kirk for this weeks match, with a final decision on who becomes the new full time captain sometime next week, with Hall, Goodes and Kirk in the mix.
Sad that Stuart had to step down in this way, but his family comes first and he needs to put ALL his focus into that. I think its the right call.
Posted by robbieando at 05:17 PM | Comments (0)
May 04, 2005
News Roundup - Wed 4/5
Well I'll start today with the going spat between the Swans and the AFL. It seems as though Roos has decided to take some action upon the AFL and has pulled out of his committment to speak to 25 AFL big wigs on the State of the game in NSW.
"I think Paul feels seriously that he's a major supporter of the AFL in this market, and I think he feels this (the Demetriou criticism) was entirely inappropriate and unfair," Colless said.
Good call Roosy.
Depsite the boring nature of our play at the moment you needed to take action against the AFL for the unfair comments from Demetriou, who should of known better. I couldn't think of a better way to show the AFL than to pull out of a meeting that is of an important nature.
Still on to the news that after yesterday's reports that Club Captain Stuart Maxfield is spending half the week in Melbourne to be close to his kids, there has been pressure put upon him to step aside as Captain. In The Age we read that Swans skipper may have to quit.
Roos admitted he had asked Maxfield about the captaincy on Monday and would wait for his captain's decision when he returns to Sydney tomorrow.
"I must admit I haven't thought too clearly through it (the captaincy)," Roos said. "It's been the priority to get his family life in order. Now it's probably stage two in terms of where we go with the captaincy."
This debate is hotting up according to Watson calls on Maxfield to stand down as Swans captain in the Sydney Morning Herald.
But the thought of a club captain being away from his team for half the week brought criticism from many quarters yesterday, with several commentators, including former Essendon captain Tim Watson, calling for Maxfield to step down.
Now I have no problem with Stu, spending time in Melbourne during the week because his family HAS to come first, but at the same time the Swans need a captain who is available in Sydney during the week for media and promotional reasons. Having said that, I think its not the time to change captains and unless Stu decides on his own to step down then let allow him to get his family life in order during the week and captain the Swans on the weekend, until such time as he feels he isn't up to it.
Anyway onto the good news of the day and thats the return of Adam Goodes to being a full time ruckman. Roosy has seen the light and has taken his lumps to go back on his word not to use Goodes in the ruck again. I think this is good news and a step forward. But on to the articles. Goodes news bad news for vertically challenged Swans in the SMH details Goodes return to the ruck but also the back news of Doyle being out for the season. Still I liked this quote and proves Roos is trying to change thing around.
"I came away with the fact that whilst we have probably tried to protect him and play him elsewhere, I think he plays his best football as a ruckman," Roos said. "Having Goodesy in the ruck provides us with an attacking option that we haven't had and I think he enjoys his footy more in the ruck."
Goodes is back in the circle game in The Australian is the other article on the matter.
Well thats it for now.
Posted by robbieando at 01:55 PM | Comments (0)
May 03, 2005
News Roundup - Tue 3/5
Well today's news in regards to the Swans is more on Andrew Demetriou's stupid, crazy and out of line comments that the Swans played "not particularly attractive football". Now don't get me wrong, I agree the Swans style of play is poor and what was said was fair, but what I have a problem with is the fact Demetriou picked us out, when other clubs style of play is also poor and simular to ours.
Still today's papers have had a field day with this issue and instead of commenting on each one, I'm going to provide a link to each one and say that this is something that the club must fight back over. However that doesn't seem likely when Roos makes comments like:
"Clearly we're an easy target at the moment . . . it's not up to me to come back and say something. My job is to coach the team."
Ah well at least he is getting some pressure put upon him and his style by the media.
Swans stay out of brawl - Herald Sun
Melbourne is out to get us: Roos - Fox Sports/Daily Telegraph
Swans respond to AFL comments - Swans Official Site
Criticism may damage game in NSW: Swans - Swans Official Site
Sydney stands by coach - The Age
The other issue the has cropped up in the fact that the club has decided to allow club captain Stuart Maxfield to live in Melbourne for 3 days each week. Don't know what to think on this one, except I think it might be a good idea to have Stuart step down as captain and just allow him to focus on his game and family.
Same deal as before links below.
Swans OK Maxfield fly-in captaincy - Fox Sports/The Australian
Maxfield to reconsider captaincy - Fox Sports/AAP
Also in the article above the bottom part of the article gives us the good news of the day and proof that Roos is changing his ways.
Midfielder Jarred Moore will make his debut against the Bombers
That's great news.
Also here is a link to an article in today's The Age by Rohan Connolly called Pressure on Swans. A very good read.
That is all and remember "Less is Moore" (Anyone who guesses where that quote comes from, ie which TV Show wins a DVD of the Swans win over Port in the 2003 finals)
Posted by robbieando at 08:29 PM | Comments (1)
Injury Update
Well before I do the news round up, I use the Injury update to report on the worse news of the day and thats the news that Doyle's season has been closed down and we won't see him again until 2006.No news report link yet so, I leave that until tomorrow. Still here is the injury list after Round 6 and the normal suspects are on it.
SYDNEY
Mark Powell (foot) test
Ben Mathews (foot) test
Jarrad Sundqvist (ankle) 1 week
Heath James (calf) 1 week
Nic Fosdike (knee) 2 weeks
Jason Ball (hamstring) test
Ben Fixter (quad) 1-2 weeks
Paul Williams (collarbone) 3-4 weeks
Stephen Doyle (ankle) season
Posted by robbieando at 08:15 PM | Comments (0)
May 02, 2005
Yet again Little Swans prove a better bet than Big Swans
Yep the Magoos won yet again and again the best players on the field were the one I have been called of for to be given senior action.
Sydney Swans 15.21.111
Queanbeyan Tigers 14.11.95
Goals: Vogels 4, Moore 3, Grundy, Posch 2, Clarke, Saddington, Schmidt, Shaw 1
Best: Vogels, Erikson, Moore, Campbell, Potter, Willoughby
Surely its time for Saddo, Willoughby Moore and Malceski to be given the spots in the senior team taken up by Bevan, Nicks, Schneider and Buchanan.
Alas I doubt that will ever happen and certainly not this week. Still good on the Magoos for giving us Swans fans something to look forward to.
Posted by robbieando at 07:08 PM | Comments (0)
West Coast Match Review
The good news, we improved by a goal over last week. The bad news we got even worse. Yep the joy of being a Swans fan was put on show this week thanks to the crap served up to us by Roos and co.
Surprised? No. Upset? You better believe it.
I think Saturday Night was the first time I left the room with over 11 minutes to play in the match. I missed the back to back 50m penalties given away from Hall and I missed the rest of the poorest effort I've seen the Swans put in for many a year.
The game started well enough in the wet conditions with the Swans taking a small lead into quarter time, and it seemed the Swans had turned up to play and had the whether helping us like many prayed for. However whatever Roos said at quarter time must of gone over the heads of the players and we proceeded to throw away any hope we had in the match. 6 quick goals had the Eagles out of reach and despite a late 3 goal charge just before half time and the Eagle bench wiped out thanks to injury.
After half time is too hard to talk about, we just GAVE up. No excuses, just no committment to the 22 men in Red and White. Alas I think we can finally say 2005 isn't going to be our year (shock horror) and move on to planning for next year. Hopefully that means the rookies are given their long awaited chances and the future becomes brighter once again.
WEST COAST 15.14 (104)
SYDNEY 8.11 (59)
Goals:
West Coast: B Cousins, P Matera 3 A Sampi 2 C Judd Q Lynch D Cox T Stenglein D Adkins A Embley D Glass 1.
Sydney: B Hall 3 N Davis 2 B Kirk A Goodes J Crouch 1.
Best on Ground for the Swans: Goodes (See Paul he can play in the ruck and live)
Posted by robbieando at 06:48 PM | Comments (0)
May 01, 2005
Excuses, more damn excuses
On The Age website, this article Hard work the key for blue-collar Swans proves to me that there is no God. Yet again Roos has dragged out the same sorry excuses he uses week in and week out.
"We're not quite as talented as we'd like to be and obviously our supporters would like us to be, but they work very, very hard," he said.
Well Paul, that begs the question as to why these same talentless players are pulling on the jumper each week. You know they are no good, yet you STILL play them.
Why not try out a Josh Willoughby or a Nick Malceski, or god forbid you play a first year player in Jarrad Moore. Lets see what we have in the well and what they can do, because I know I rather have these three players in the team at the moment rather than waste time with the likes of Buchanan, Schneider and Bevan who at the moment have no idea what they are doing on the field and should be in Canberra each week proving that they can play.
But still I shouldn't pray for those changes as that would mean they would join McVeigh in rotating on and off the bench and would never get use to AFL level, let alone develop into the much needed midfield help we need. The way this list is heading, we will be bottoming out very quickly and the time at the bottom will be longer than this club can allow. Things need to change if we are to ever win a premiership in my lifetime.
But I guess finishing 8th is good enough, right Paul?
Posted by robbieando at 11:11 PM | Comments (0)