Does anyone else find it hilarious that the Greens didn't get Marrickville cause Liberal gave their preferences to Labor?
I know it's a joke, and you've got a point, but I don't think it's the whole reason they lost. The Greens didn't get Marrickville, or Balmain, for a couple of reasons that go beyond (and, in some ways, contribute too) Liberal preferences. Statewide the Greens campaigned poorly, and failed to seize on a variety of moderate left issues which were important to the electorate. On top of this they ran former council members who are popular in the hard green movement, but have reputations as old school obstructionists (NSW planners absolutely hate Jamie Parker), and have very poor reputations in the wider community. Candidate choice was, I believe, one of the reasons the Libs rightly chose not to preference them in certain areas.
Finally they were running against two very competent Labor incumbents who are largely untouched by the god awful, corrupt political quagmire that is the NSW Labor right. Both Verity Firth and Carmell Tebutt are clever, effective and careful members, who've done good political work. They've occasionally been given poison chalices by Sussex Street which have damaged their reputations, but they are known within the NSW public service as being two of the better candidates who ran this time around.
It is very difficult to assess the effectiveness of lower house preferences deals, particularly in highly educated areas. There is no clear information to suggest how much influence how to vote cards have on the electorate, and attempts to quantify it are statistically fraught.
As a side note; The Greens need to improve if they want to form a viable third party. It's not all their fault, as the anger with the government sent voters directly to the opposition, and disadvantaged anyone offering a left wing third option. The Federal association with Labor might also have disadvantaged them, but compromise is part of being a main stream party - they need to learn to campaign successfully on many different issues, and make multiple deals without linking themselves to a single situation. Their campaigning and candidate choice this election has shown they are lacking the political competency to offer this as yet. I await improvement.