Its been a bizarre season for Swans. We have only won 1 out of 8 home games this year with the last match against Subiaco this Saturday. Must be the worst home record for any side in 2025.
By contrast Swans away record has been respectable for a side in the bottom half of the ladder. 3 wins out of 6 and we have been competitive in the 3 games we have lost including a few weeks ago against Perth when we were still in the game up till the last 10 minutes.
Yet we have played some dreadful football at Bassendean where we normally make the opposition uncomfortable with the support of the Swans fans. I can’t fathom what has happened. One thing I have noticed is that the attendances have fallen away this year and the atmosphere at the ground is the most flat that I have ever seen. Not sure if that is a factor.
Hopefully we can at least finish the season with a home win over Subiaco on Saturday and give the long suffering supporters something to cheer about
Mike despite our abysmal form at home and very poor year to date we have the second best attendance record at Bassendean Oval only behind Fremantle oval which gets the Foundation Day holiday Monday sugar hit every year.
We are also second in total attendances behind SF.
As a secondary side note not forgetting the dismal state of the outer with all the works for the new lights leaving it a virtual sandpit in large parts, not exactly a fan friendly area to sit.
Fair enough BH. I suppose I am trying to find a reason why our form at home has been so abysmal compared with the competitive away form given that it is usually the other way around
I guess it does say we are a loyal lot at SD despite our continual low ladder positions.
If we ever get our act together on the field (hopefully in my life time again) we could actually get some decent numbers to the WAFL again but sadly this seems wishful thinking these days…
I would love to see the club have a look at what South Fremantle have done this year. They were down in the lower part of the ladder and in the doldrums this time last season. The addition of a new coach, development of existing players and some targeted recruitment have seen them jump up the table to the extent that they are now strong premiership favourites. As well as this the clubs lower grades are performing strongly, so there is plenty of depth. An impressive turn around
True but these people are not helping Swans be a consistent contender. I think there is a need for a change of personnel and a new approach. Nothing against Smart because he has brought some decent recruits to the club but very few have hung around for more than a year or two. This indicates a culture issue to me
Mike according to the bloke at the WAFC Luke Sanders on the radio a few weeks back SF & P were the only 2 clubs who got extra points, salary cap concessions for this season, so that would explain SF being able to add the likes of ex afl recruits Jones, Ruscoe, Hughes, Winder, Free etc.
I think we all agree P with an extended run of bottom finishes deserved some help, but SF as well considering they have won both a flag this decade already 2020 & played in a GF 2021 as well???!!!
That is just crazy, why would South get concessions given that they were in a grand final only 4 years ago??? I didn’t realise this, makes zero sense. So the answer is that Swans need to apply for some concessions. They would have more right to these than Souths given our record in the past 5 or 6 years which is far worse
Agree giving concessions to SF makes no sense. Also agree SD should be given some concessions. Moreover, SD and P should get concessions over an extended time, at least 5 years. There’s no point being able to recruit for 1-2 years, but then be unable to build on that. In considering concessions, the WAFC should consider win/loss over at least the previous 5 years, in which case SF would not have been eligible
In the 2021 season the baseline points cap was reduced from 100 to 95 but Perth and EF were allocated 115 points, SD 120 and EP 125.
From 2023 onwards the basis for determining cap concessions for competitive balance was based on the average ladder position over the past 3 seasons. WP, who won the flag in 2022 will qualify for cap concessions next year.
Subiaco finished 2nd in 2023 after the home and away season but 3rd after finals, will also qualify for concessions next year along with Perth according to Luke Sanders. I expect Swans will as well.
The commission also have discretionary powers to grant more or less.
Even worse with SF, they got done 8 premiership points as well…so agree not sure how SF got extra concessions…but hey kudos to them for taking full advantage by filling their boots with outside talent to strengthen the depth of their seniors. TBH if SF don’t win the flag this year, it will be a huge choke and monumental miss on their behalf.
SD have had a plethora of ES recruits of late, the two KP from memory, plus 2 Sandover Medallists from over east, plus a couple ES boys they still have now…sadly to no avail premiership wise. Injuries don’t help, which sadly have impacted SD this year, sometimes you get blessed with minimal numbers, and other years not so.
You would have thought winning a League Premiership and or even playing in a League GF within 5 years would make you ineligible for concessions but this is the WAFC we are talking about here…
Anyway back to the game. Swans have some winnable games in August starting with this one. They have
Claremont at Claremont (probably not)
West Coast at Lathlain
Peel at Mandurah ( may be winnable given Peel are all but mathematically out of the finals race)
If Swans could win 3 from 4, this would bring us up to 7 wins and give the supporters something to cheer about and at least go into 2026 with some optimism.
You are making alot of sense Ted lets hope sanity prevails. Will be terrible if Perth lose their gun recruits next season they have added alot of interest to the competition would like to see it ongoing .
Going to be a wet day at Bassendean, bring the snorkels and wellie boots
Pretty much the same team as 2 weeks ago, but Cipro is back which is a bonus. I notice that Nathan Ireland has been named in the reserves which I reckon is his first game at any level this year. The poor guy has been blighted with injury in the past 2 seasons
Another debutant tomorrow. Chase Loftus from Torquay FC in Victoria. Has been playing ressies all year but may have been selected because he is obviously accustomed to playing on slimy mudheaps and has a snorkel!
Dreadful game. More like a mud wrestling competition than a game of football. Can see why both teams are in the bottom half of the ladder. Subiaco had a fair bit of the ball and more inside 50s. Swans just had a bit more method going forward
Good tough game of football. At Bassendean, you know it’s rained hard in the lead to the game when water appears as wide puddles on grass on the scoreboard wing that is off the old creek line. Yes, it was a defender’s day, but the back six were very good. Hate to say it, but I would be surprised if Watson is not being assessed by the AFL parasites. His reading of the ball - and he playing in front - was outstanding, but Hilton, the unobtrusive Erceg (who had five touches; I think the same as the man he was on), and Fitzgerald were also good. Loftus started well, but faded. Still, an encouraging debut.
Hard to have respect for referees after yesterday’s display.
