flower me.....
"Sydney under siege as turmoil mounts
Richard Hinds | March 28, 2008
IT WAS not long ago that everything seemed so calm with the Swans. The playing list had been turned over, weary bodies had benefited from a longer recovery period and even the smell of fresh paint in the dressing rooms gave a feeling of renewal.
Now, after a tumultuous month, you could hardly blame the Swans for feeling under siege. Even victimised.
There was the AFL's knee-jerk match-fixing investigation into the boundary-line comments of Paul Roos, a move so absurdly heavy-handed that it served only to gain sympathy in the wider football community for the coach - something he had not received from some critics last year who claimed he had too much to say.
Also disconcerting for the Swans was the AFL's announcement - firstly in the media - that it had accelerated its timetable for a second team in Sydney, something that was news to the first team here. Even those of us who believe the AFL is making the right call because it will only get more difficult for the game to make an impact in the western suburbs can understand why the Swans might think they should be at least as informed about the establishment of the new team as the Mayor of Blacktown given the commercial ramifications it has for the club.
Then, after a disappointing first-up loss to St Kilda, came the damaging allegations by Saints chief executive Archie Fraser that the Swans defence had employed dangerous "tunnelling" tactics to stop forward Nick Riewoldt.
They are claims that did not lead to any action by the AFL, a straightforward decision given that in the incidents highlighted it was obviously Riewoldt's propensity to run under the ball, rather than any deliberate action by Swans defenders. However, the Swans can be forgiven for wondering if the mud thrown by the Saints will stick on a small defence already disadvantaged by the hands-in-the-back rule.
Add the fact the Swans were again accused of playing "ugly football" during Saturday's admittedly ponderous and accident-prone six goals-apiece loss to the Saints and it has not been quite the start to the season those of us who had been regaled by tales of great feats on the training track this past summer had anticipated.
It is difficult to say to what degree, if any, the Roos investigation had on the Swans' preparations or whether they will be unsettled by the St Kilda slurs. Certainly, far more significant was the loss of Nick Malceski to a serious knee injury.
However, while a two-point loss to pre-season champions St Kilda is hardly cause for alarm, it is already apparent the Swans will have a job on their hands if they are not to suffer the type of slow starts they had to overcome in recent seasons - something they are determined to avoid.
That was evident in Roos's unusually strong criticism of Adam Goodes's poor night against the Saints, a performance that evoked memories of his oddly lethargic start to last season. Clearly unwilling to let history repeat itself, Roos said Goodes had to play "a hell of a lot better" - a ferocious bake by Roos's measured standards.
Yet, at the same time as addressing Goodes's apparent lethargy, the Swans know they must be patient with Barry Hall, who is below match fitness after post-season groin surgery. The coaching staff were encouraged by the way he moved against the Saints but believe it will take him time to find his touch.
Then there is the difficulty of bringing new blood into the team while maintaining the tight cohesion and discipline upon which the team has relied, something Bolton conceded this week was difficult. But perhaps most difficult of all is a draw that in the next five weeks pits the Swans against last year's runners-up Port Adelaide, the revitalised Brisbane (Gabba), modern rivals West Coast, mighty Geelong and survival-motivated North Melbourne (Telstra Dome). If they come out of that on the right side of the ledger, they will have overcome all sorts of obstacles.
