Sydney Swans Flop Off The Bye At The Gabba
The Sydney Swans flop off the bye at the Gabba under fierce Lion’s pressure. Personally, I hate the bye and always have as a Swan’s fan. Too many times the team fails to fire after a week off. The Swans looked soft on this Thursday night featured contest with last year’s premiers. Brody Grundy gifted Brisbane goal scoring opportunities out of the centre 4 times on the night. These free kicks for crossing the line at the ball up are huge penalties to pay for this indiscretion, especially when advantage is taken and opposing players steal out the front of the centre square toward their goal.
AFL Sydney Swan’s Dive Against Brisbane
Grundy was not alone in gifting goals to the opposition. Riley Bice twice kicked short straight to a Brisbane Lion directly in front of their goal and they did the right thing by Riley by kicking truly. These indiscretions alone cost some 6 goals, when all was said and done. These couple of Swans were not on their lonesome when it came to being mentally unprepared for the intensity of the contest. Caiden Cleary was out of his depth and rarely won a contested ball. Why he was playing and Matt Roberts was omitted, I don’t know. Tom McCartin was off the pace in the first half and copped another head knock in the second half.
“CHRIS Fagan said Brisbane had prioritised defence over its mid-season break and the two-time premiers put it on full display in a statement 43-point win over Sydney at the Gabba on Thursday night.”
Gabba No Contest From Weak Swans
Time after time during the match the Swans would gift the ball to the opposition seemingly unable to cope with the physical pressure of the Lions. Let me tell you, watching this mismatch was no fun for a Sydney supporter. Chains of Swan’s possession would culminate in handpasses to no one and Brisbane would regain the pill and go down the other end and score. Defensive pressure is useless if your players are all several steps off the pace. Most of the team seemed to be still on holiday. Grundy was half the player he had been earlier in the season. Heeney was trying but fairly ineffective by his high standards. Rowbottom was hard at it but there were not enough of him. The Sydney Swans flop off the bye at the Gabba under fierce pressure from Brisbane.
Chad Warner Lone Light On Tough Night
Chad Warner was the standout Swan doing uplifting things and kicking goals. Charlie Curnow was Sydney’s best player in the first half and tried hard all night. Jai Serong was off the boil compared to his previous efforts in 2026. Logan McDonald and Joel Amartey were woeful up forward. I worry about these guys and wonder when they are going to grow up and become reliable players every week.
Ruck & Midfield Capitulation By Swans To Lions
It was around the ball and out of the centre that the Swans were destroyed by Brisbane all night. Our rucks were ineffective and well beaten and our midfield piss ordinary. Did they think that the return of Errol Gulden was going to magically lift them over the line? Errol played like someone who hadn’t played for 14 weeks. He is not the messiah, just a talented footballer who has missed a lot of football. Angus Sheldrick tried hard all night and never gave up. Chad Warner was our best in the centre but played a lone hand in winning contests. If 16 out of your 23 are getting beaten it is tough on the handful left. It was a very poor effort up against a side that got better and better as the evening progressed.
Swans Are Soft
The Swans are soft. You cannot rely on them to turn up when the going gets tough. Jake Lloyd was brushed aside by Cam Rayner so often he must have thought that he had died and come back as a curtain. Harry Cunningham was so busy trying to body Charlie Cameron he forgot to go for the ball.
If he didn’t hate John Denver before, he sure does now.
The Sydney defence was never up with their opposing forwards and paid the price on the score board.
Sydney Crap At Tackling
Half the Swan’s team needs to learn how to tackle. Pissweak broken tackles and giving away countless free kicks to the opposition was the result on the night. You have to go hard and low, not high and soft. I wonder about the coaches at the Swans. Good people, but are they hard enough? Simon Goodwin talks too much about love for me, I mean WTF? This is a football team not the love boat. Where is the mongrel factor? Where is playing on the edge? Hawthorn, Geelong and now, Brisbane have brushed the Swans aside when it mattered.
The Mysterious Art Of Coaching
“In contravention of the AFL media’s obsession with star players, the art of coaching demands so much more than a roster of stars. Indeed, the mysteries of coaching AFL are on display for all to see throughout the season. Why is one team so good and another side so bad? The talking heads would like to make it all about the talent of the players in each squad but that is decidedly not the exclusive reason for success. In truth, the athletes playing AFL at this level are all very good, which is why they ended up on a playing list at an AFL club. Most of these young men have been playing footy for much of their short lives. They are remarkably talented with ball skills and have honed their physical endurance in readiness for the big leap to AFL standard.”
Robert Sudha Hamilton is the author of The Stoic Golfer; The AI Heresy; What Price Life?; America Matters: Pre-apocalyptic Posts & Essays in the Shadow of Trump; and other titles. NOW AVAILABLE AT APPLE BOOKS & GOOGLE PLAY BOOKS. Google Play Books AUDIOBOOK
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