Sorry Swans ignore pleas to dig deep
AFTER a disastrous second quarter, South Barwon wanted to see more effort in the second half but was left disappointed.
Not even a stern halftime address from its outgoing cocoach could inspire the players on the day the club gathered to remember and celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the 2007 flag.
Compounding matters was another hamstring injury to former VFL player Tom Maas, who failed to make it to halftime after suffering his third setback of the year — potentially ending his season.
In a one-way second quarter, South Barwon only went inside 50 three times and failed to score, but even the halftime rev up didn’t inspire much, the team eventually losing to Bell Park by 57 points.
A dominant performance in the midfield drove the Dragons forward, leaving the Swans’ defence constantly under pressure.
“We just wanted to see effort and intent and we weren’t getting that,” Swans co-coach Clinton Wells said.
“That’s what we spoke about to them at halftime, just asking for them to at least give us that and unfortunately we still didn’t see it.”
Fellow co-coach James Maas agreed: “(Bell Park) just outworked us, you could just see everywhere the footy went they had extra numbers and were working harder than us, we just didn’t fire a shot in that second quarter.
“It was a pretty stern message, it’s really hard but we just spoke about the frustration not only for us as coaches but for the players, we know we can perform better than that.”
The disappointed coaches were left to ponder how many more big defeats are left for their squad, which they had thought was turning a corner after promising recent performances.
Aside from a 100-point loss to St Joseph’s in Round 2, South Barwon hadn’t been blown away this season and had remained competitive, even against the top sides.
Even when the Swans and Dragons met earlier this season at Hamlyn Park, the gap was little more than two goals.
“We spoke before the game and said that our best footy and our worst footy, we were really bridging that gap and that was probably why we were not getting belted,” Maas said.
“We felt like we were more competitive and were staying in games and threatening to win those games against top sides.
“We still believe that, but it’s about the players believing in themselves.
“We hate using the term ‘young side’ but you’ve got to keep reminding them of the positive stuff but it didn’t quite change today.”
Tom Maas didn’t last until halftime, suffering his third in-game hamstring injury of the season.
Maas missed 10 weeks for a hamstring earlier in the year and was returning from his second tear, but was ruled out of the match before the main break.