Latest news with #SydneySwans

'I've never seen that': James Hird takes blowtorch to Swans after shambolic scenes

Yahoo

7 hours ago

Entertainment
Yahoo

'I've never seen that': James Hird takes blowtorch to Swans after shambolic scenes

Essendon great James Hird has taken a blowtorch to the Swans and says one shambolic play in Saturday night's huge loss to Adelaide sums up Sydney's struggles in the AFL this season. Crows star Wayne Milera probably echoed the thoughts of many fans when he described the Swans as a "rabble" after his side's thumping 90-point victory at the SCG. And Hird pointed to Sydney's lack of class up forward, their lacklustre ball movement and inadequate distribution of the footy as major issues for first-year head coach Dean Cox to try and fix. "I think their biggest issue is they haven't got a forward line," Hird said on Nine's Footy Furnace. "They haven't got a forward line that can take a contested mark and their ball movement has gone off which was their one-wood last year. Their congested side of things is not where it needs to be, they rely on too few around the middle of the ground." The Swans have been one of the most consistent sides in the AFL over the last decade and went down to Brisbane in last year's grand final after finishing the regular season on top of the ladder. But Sydney's lofty standards have slipped in 2025 as the injuries have racked up, with Cox admitting Saturday night's performance against Adelaide was "unacceptable and embarrassing". Hird agrees and says the Swans' effort areas and failure to execute the fundamentals is a major concern. "And I think the one thing I've loved about the Swans over the last 10 years is their standards. Everything was done - not perfectly - there were some mistakes but not too many," he added. The Essendon great singled out a second quarter goal for the Crows where two Sydney players just needed to scramble the ball through the posts and concede a behind. Instead, they were caught dawdling and allowed Adelaide forward Riley Thilthorpe to toe the ball through the sticks for a goal, in a moment Hird said was indicative of the Swans' struggles this year. "I've never seen a Swans backline let a goal like that go through and it might be unlucky... but I just can't believe that ball went through and I just think it's just symbolic of where the Swans are at," Hird added. "Yes, it's not a massive thing, it's not a game plan thing but I've never seen a Swans group of players in the last 10 years let that happen." Hird and three-time premiership winning Geelong great Jimmy Bartel were also shocked to hear that Milera and the Crows apologised for referring to the Swans as a "rabble". The AFL greats insisted that such criticism was fully warranted after the 90-point hiding. "So what's the cut-off point, 100? You got belted by 90 points," Bartel said. "You were a rabble. We've been a rabble before when we've been belted. Adelaide CEO Tim Silvers reportedly called Swans counterpart Tom Harley to apologise for Milera's comments and Crows teammates insist he meant no harm. RELATED: Pies' move set to force rivals into rethink as Ginnivan predicts change Calls for Kane Cornes to be sanctioned over Luke Beveridge incident AFL world gutted over heartbreaking news about West Coast hero But Hird agreed with Bartel that the criticism was warranted after Saturday night's game and took no issues with the situation. "It seems to me as if they were a rabble and you know when players are back-chatting each other and talking on the ground, you really love it when the opposition is doing it," Hird added. "But at the end of the day they were a mess, they really were a mess on Saturday night."

‘Ridiculous': Adelaide Crows' apology to Sydney torn to shreds

News.com.au

a day ago

General
News.com.au

‘Ridiculous': Adelaide Crows' apology to Sydney torn to shreds

The Adelaide Crows have been torn to shreds by footy fans after apologising to the Sydney Swans on Sunday afternoon. The apology came after Wayne Milera offered up his thoughts on the Swans in the wake of the Crows 15-goal win on Saturday night. The 27-year-old hardly dropped the hammer on the now 4-8 Swans, instead he spoke about what he was seeing out on the field. 'You could sort of feel it as a group … they were sort of a bit of a rabble, just hearing them on the ground,' Milera said to ABC Sport. That's it. Despite the rather tame comments, Nine's Will Crouch reported that Milera had apologised to the Swans for his comment. The only thing Milera should be sorry for is not going harder on how paltry the 2024 grand finalists were in front of their home crowd. Just to add a bit more context to it all, the 90-point defeat was Sydney's heaviest loss at the SCG since 2000. Even Sydney coach Dean Cox went harder during his post-game press conference as he called his side's out 'unacceptable and embarrassing'. Swans midfielder James Rowbottom, also speaking to ABC Sport, was just as blunt with his assessment of how the club performed: 'Embarrassment is the first word that comes to mind.' Milera's comments were hardly him thrusting the knife in and twisting it, he wasn't meaning any disrespect with his remarks. And if anything calling the Swans a 'rabble' was pretty soft on a night when they showed no fighting spirit in front of the 2005 premiership squad. Fox Sports' David Zita even added on Sunday that the Swans 'weren't offended by the comments'. Footy fans united on Sunday in their agreeance that offering up an apology was not necessary and could stop players in future from speaking to the media at all. 'God forbid you are too honest in an interview,' Campbell Brown said on Seven's Sunday Footy Feast. 'That's such weak leadership as far as I'm concerned. Do you know who the rabble is now? Adelaide for having to come out and apologise.' Kate McCarthy added: 'The fact they've basically undermined their own player there to come out — yes, they've obviously had a conversation — but that did not need to be apologised for. 'We want that from players. He didn't at any point make that personal. They were unorganised, they were a rabble — I think Sydney would have almost admitted that. 'That is absolutely ridiculous.' ABC sports journo Marnie Vinall wrote on X: 'Well that feels completely unnecessary. Such a mild comment. We're really going to just accept 'we knew they'd be a hard team and we just had to focus on the contest' as the only thing footballers are allowed to say? 'And we wonder why so many players hate doing media, hmm.' Fox Sports' David Zita wrote: 'Not sure why this was necessary, by the way. Maybe Crows just trying to get ahead of it. But all good, back to robotic answers.' Sports broadcaster Daniel Garb wrote: 'Let's harden up a touch, please. There wouldn't be a Swans person who disagrees with Milera calling them a rabble.' Don't be surprised next week when every player who has a microphone thrust in their face busts out the stock standard responses to not ruffle some feathers. Or in this case, ruffle some feathers of an opponent who was not even remotely offended by the remarks.

'A rabble': Crows player's scathing swipe of Swans amid Adam Goodes appearance

Yahoo

a day ago

Entertainment
Yahoo

'A rabble': Crows player's scathing swipe of Swans amid Adam Goodes appearance

Sydney Swans legend Adam Goodes lifted spirits at the SCG on Saturday night with the premiership winning team of 2005 celebrating their 20th reunion, but it didn't help their former side improve after a dismal showing. The Adelaide Crows were far superior to the Swans on Saturday night having kicked 12 unanswered goals on their way to a 21.5 (131) to 5.11 (41) victory. The Swans were expected to make a contest of the clash having celebrated the famed Bloods team of 2005, but the the Crows battered last year's beaten grand finalists without mercy. Adelaide now move to third (8-4) on the ladder with the Swans' finals hopes hanging by a thread. Swans coach Dean Cox described the performance as "unacceptable and embarrassing" on a night a group of legends were in attendance. "I didn't expect that on such a massive night for the footy club, when you have a 20-year reunion for a team that played desperate, uncompromising, ruthless football," Cox said. "That was far from it." The 2005 winning team did a lap of honour at halftime to mark the 20th anniversary of their breakthrough premiership. the '05 Swans caused me more heartbreak than I've ever experienced in my entire life.. but ngl it's good to see Adam Goodes at an AFL game with a smile on his face — BRZY (@outbreezyWC) May 31, 2025 And fans were thrilled to see legend Goodes among the group. Goodes is an Australian of the Year and two-time Brownlow Medallist, and is still close with the Sydney Swans. However, his relationship with the AFL isn't as strong. Goodes was mercilessly booed by opposition crowds before he eventually retired in 2015, and the AFL later admitted it should have done more to stop the booing. He has been eligible for induction into the AFL Hall of Fame for several years, but appears no closer to accepting the honour. And he hasn't attended any official AFL functions since walking away from the game after calling out racism. However, Goodes was in attendance on Saturday night and the crowd adored the legend's appearance with the 2005 group in great spirits. it's 2025 and adam goodes is SMILING while on the SCG field for a lap of honour with the 2005 premiership team — jess 🫂 (@hopeurokayyyy) May 31, 2025 Adam Goodes joining the rest of the 2005 team in the walk to the SCG is so wonderful to see 🥺❤️ — Imo (@imogenrq) May 31, 2025 While the Swans were left embarrassed after the loss in front of club legelds, Crows star Wayne Milera took a dig at the side when they were down. The Swans made the final last year, before going down to the Brisbane Lions in a one-sided contest. With John Longmire leaving at the end of the season, Cox has stepped in and struggled as injuries have hampered Sydney's season. But after the Swans were left chasing the shadows as seats emptied at the SCG, Milera took a post-match dig at Sydney. Milera told ABC Sport the Crows could feel the Swans were rudderless at home after the 90-point drubbing "You could sort of feel it as a group," Milera said after the match. "They were sort of a bit of a rabble, just hearing them on the ground." Speaking on the thumping, AFL great Matthew Lloyd was scathing of his assessment. "Sydney have just fallen apart. They are all at sea," Matthew Lloyd said on Channel 9 in his breakdown of the game. "They just didn't adjust, they didn't look dishevelled as a coaching team. Right throughout." The comment will be a dagger for the Swans who now face 16th-placed Richmond next week. Josh Rachele and Ben Keays both kicked three goals, while Alex Neal-Bullen (25 disposals) and Josh Worrell (24) dominated possession. For the Crows, coach Matthews Nicks hailed his group for a dominant performance. "In my short time as a coach, we haven't had a lot of fun up here - we've often gone away disappointed," former Swans player Nicks said. "We knew Sydney would come out hard, and we had to match that. I'm trying to think through who our standouts were and from a coaching point of view, that's the most pleasing part of the performance - everyone contributed. The first key (takeaway) is we don't start talking about the second half of the season because we've still got a couple of games before the bye, so we just lock in now."