A Message to All Swans Supporters Out There: Stay Positive

A message to all Swans supporters:

 

Another brilliant opportunity goes begging. The Swans leave the Etihad Stadium in complete shock. We now face the very realistic prospect of missing the eight for just the third time since I was born. And when you look at our injury list and our last few games, you realise how ugly things could get for us.

 

Of course, Swans fans are not the only ones. Media personnel and opposition supporters are also noticing this change. Often in the media, the Swans are rarely talked about because there is always a certain expectation that we will make the eight. Thus, they do not often say too much about us. Now, the Swans are the topic everyone is fixated upon, and I don’t think anybody would have seen this coming after they started 11-3.

 

If you’d predicted that the Swans would miss the eight this year, you would be incredibly brave. I would have called you insane. But if you look back at our season as a whole, we haven’t really put a full team performance together. I reckon the only game where we got close to an across-the-board performance against a good team was against the Eagles in round 13. But even then, we had two goalless quarters, much like we did against the Suns, and we all know how that panned out.

 

Just think about our other performances. In the first round, Buddy won it with eight majors. He also helped us avoid a comeback from GWS with a booming goal from beyond 50. Josh Kennedy’s fourth quarter against the Cats at GMHBA dragged us across the line. And Ben Ronke, at 20 years of age, has won us two games off his own boot, against the Hawks and North Melbourne. Talk about pressure for someone who debuted in Round 6. Other than that, our wins came against the Dogs, Dockers, Lions, and Blues. None of them are in contention for finals.

 

Still though, while it was obvious that the Swans weren’t playing up to their 2012 standard, nobody could have anticipated such a dramatic fall from grace. But I still hold hope for them until there are about 40 seconds left, when there is no chance. So I still think we can make the top eight. I don’t care what others are saying, I am going to back us in next week.

 

Yeah, we do have our injury concerns. They have played a big part in our decline. Some of our casualties include Hannebery, McVeigh, Jack, Reid, Melican, Naismith, Rohan, Mills, and the suspended Zak Jones. Was there any need for that??? In finals time, can we really afford to let Marsh, Fox, Newman, and Dawson run around? The inexperience is costing us big time, so while they aren’t bad players, we just need these more experienced players back soon. As far as we know, Jack is likely to make a return next match. There is also talk of McVeigh returning, which would be a massive boost. Hannebery needs to come back as soon as possible, because his leadership is more important than how he is playing at the moment. He still deserves his position in our best 22.

 

The injury concerns are even worse at Collingwood, but they have been a better team this year. However, it has not begun to take its toll yet, and this week, they are without De Goey, Treloar, Scharenberg, Elliot, Dunn, Wells, Reid, and potentially Jeremy Howe. I think they are due for a loss soon, and we need to be the team to give it to them.

 

The critics say that we need to let Buddy roam around in the front half and do what he came here to do. And I do agree with this for the most part. However, with someone like Buddy, I think it is best that he plays slightly up the ground. Not too far, but he should stay in the area between the centre square and the 50m arc. Around him will be our crumbers, who can send the ball inside 50 for another forward to pop up. This is where I think one of the smalls should come into play.

 

Tom McCartin is still too young to roam free in the forward 50. If we had Reid or Rohan available, they would fill that void with no problem. In my opinion, Buddy and McCartin should patrol that half-forward area, in a Jack Riewoldt-style role, swapping between each other, because Buddy can’t keep doing it all the time. Around that area, have players like Papley, Hayward, Ronke and Hewett, and possibly Jack as well. However, I think once the ball hits the deck, one of these forwards should run back to the goalsquare as fast as they can, for an easy mark or goal out the back door. So rather than have a big target at full-forward, have the big-targets further up the ground, leaving the small forwards to do the hard work. Maybe we can put someone like Ronke close to the goalsquare for the fast ball in. Keep in mind that Collingwood’s three big defenders are injured, with two of them definitely unavailable for the game. This is where we can expose them.

 

So I still think we can beat the Pies. I am more optimistic than some, and unless we make it to round 23 without adding to our 11 wins please don’t lose hope, Swans faithful. Keep the faith, and expect big things. I will be at the game next week, and I expect big things. Cheer cheer!

 

For more stories on the Swans click here.