Autopsy Round 9, 2019: Swans vs Norf

[Wolftone]

mills was quite assured tonight

midfield time

He started slowly. Had a couple of clangers in the first. A missed sitter of a mark and missed a bouncing ball completely. But about half way through the first he seemed to get his rhythm back. He and Aliir we almost impassable tonight when intercepting. I'd still love to see him in the mids but Thurlow does not seem to be playing the sort of footy that Mills plays. In fact the coaches seem to be putting Thurlow on small fast players. How they thought he was going to keep up with Turner astounds me.

I want to talk about Jake Lloyd. Thurlow was being roweled up by Turner and Horse switched Lloydy to him. Lloydy was brave in the first contesting against far taller opposition and putting his body on the line. He then went to Turner and cut him up. Turner had little or no influence on the game after quarter time. In fact Scott moved him up the ground to get a kick.

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[connolly]

Did anyone else see the spectator giving Blakey a few (soft) kidney punches when Thompson had him up against the fence?

Yes I did. The howling disgrace of a so-called commentary on 7 deliberately didn't say anything. Thompson pushing the kid into and OVER the fence was dangerous. The coward in the crowd and Thompson should be cited. The coward that punched Blakey should be banned for life. I don't care if they were soft punches. Crowds must never become physically involved with footballers on the field. Its much worse than climbing a goal post. Genuinely dangerous. It wasn't shown by 7 because no doubt bad publicity for the Tassie North Melbourne PR. There was a deliberate intention to put the kid Blakey out of action after half time as Scott resurrected the Leigh Mathews playbook. Out of ideas and any sense of fair play. Should be out of the game also. North Melbourne are a heaving disgrace. The attack on Blakey was deliberate and I would suggest mentioned in the grub's dressing sheds at half time.

 

[Wolftone]

Special mention to COR, that dash off half back with a bit of attitude

Yes he was good wasn't he

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[BloodySwan]

Clarke looked good when told to keep a player accountable.

COR could be the player who provides some run from half back which we've been asking for

Hewett was terrific in the guts and made our midfield look balanced

Dawson is our most exciting prospect of all though.

A forward line of McCartin & Blakey looks like it can be a legendary duo

It's good to see the kids coming together. Gets me real excited for the future

 

[Wolftone]

Has to stop giving away frees

You still won't forgive him for the hundred will you. O'Riordan gave away two frees and got two back. I can remember Zac Jones being far worse in his first two years.

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[Grand Uncle Horace]

Have slowly read through this thread. The thoughts were astute and the joy unbridled. It was a happy start to a day.

I thought it a meritorious win against the odds. As others have posted the youngsters and unfeted players like COR, Clarke and Fox stood up.

Our few older players were all good. Ramps put in a near legendary performance against a skilled and much bigger opponent. I can remember an undersized Mopsy Rantall keeping Hudson' quiet. Ramps effort was equally grand.

Parker applied himself with ferocity and brushed a nasty head injury. I thought Sinkers and Reid both did important things throughout the game.

But last night was about the youngsters. Blakey showed great skill and mental toughness. One pass manufactured off the the outside of his boot was a gem. Hewett was immense in everything he did. Maybe Jose now realises in Papley we have a terrific small fwd.

For a couple of years some of us have looked forward to Dawson getting a decent run in the seniors. Injury and conservative selection policy held him back. Dawson has blossomed with successive games and IMO should be among the first picked. The young fella is a beast. Play him in the mids, play him back, play him fwd he does not let us down.

Tommy Mac missed a couple but his kicking is way ahead of last year. His endeavour, skill and footy IQ are obvious.

Ollie was important in the win as well. Haywood was quiet but did a lot of hard stuff, esp in the last quarter. Rowbottom was down but not disgraced. He must be persisted with.

Overall a great win. I am no fan of Jose but he should feel well satisfied. Hope he keeps playing the kids and sticks to a more attacking style. Kudos to Stevie J. Our forward 50 may be starved for entries but it is bloody efficient in using what it gets.

 

[connolly]

Yes Johnny nearly lost it by going far too defensive. You win games not save them. If the backline and Dawson had not been so good we would have lost. They had opportunities. Very lucky.

In all it was a great effort fought like a dogfight. Scrapping all the way. There were some wonderful moments. Paps, no more needs to be said. Dawson's pinpoint delivery. Blakey and McCartin's contested footy. Hewee. He is now the mid I knew he could be. Aliir was wonderful down back. Worried Parker will get a week. Ollie was really good too.

I still have a huge beef. Rowbottom looked lost as a half forward. Stick him where he belongs, in the guts. He is aninside mid. He battled hard but the only times he was effective were when the ball was in a pack and he was extracting or leaving the pack. He seems to like the contested ball better than the outside ball. Then let him have a go.

Sam Reid's forms a hello a worry. He seems completely at a loss as to where to go, how the ball will bounce and about a metre off his opponent. He's slow and gives up the contest far too easily as though knocked up. If he is to stay in the team his form had better improve markedly in the next week or so. With Lance and Menzell coming in he could very well be the bloke who goes out. At this stage that is very much on the cards. He would be the biggest underachiever in the side at this time.

All in all it was a good performance. The first quarter was almost unwatchable it was so scrappy and mistake ridden by both sides. The last was about the same mainly because Longmire decided to put everybody behind the ball. You can't score if you don't have forwards.

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Yes Johnny nearly lost it by going far too defensive. You win games not save them. If the backline and Dawson had not been so good we would have lost. They had opportunities. Very lucky.

In all it was a great effort fought like a dogfight. Scrapping all the way. There were some wonderful moments. Paps, no more needs to be said. Dawson's pinpoint delivery. Blakey and McCartin's contested footy. Hewee. He is now the mid I knew he could be. Aliir was wonderful down back. Worried Parker will get a week. Ollie was really good too.

I still have a huge beef. Rowbottom looked lost as a half forward. Stick him where he belongs, in the guts. He is aninside mid. He battled hard but the only times he was effective were when the ball was in a pack and he was extracting or leaving the pack. He seems to like the contested ball better than the outside ball. Then let him have a go.

Sam Reid's forms a hello a worry. He seems completely at a loss as to where to go, how the ball will bounce and about a metre off his opponent. He's slow and gives up the contest far too easily as though knocked up. If he is to stay in the team his form had better improve markedly in the next week or so. With Lance and Menzell coming in he could very well be the bloke who goes out. At this stage that is very much on the cards. He would be the biggest underachiever in the side at this time.

All in all it was a good performance. The first quarter was almost unwatchable it was so scrappy and mistake ridden by both sides. The last was about the same mainly because Longmire decided to put everybody behind the ball. You can't score if you don't have forwards.

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He went defensive too early in the game. Don't mind it in the last five minutes with us being two or three goals up but we conceded too much momentum to them too early as I think Horse had a spare back after about the twenty minute mark. When i go to the big Lake Oval grandstand in the sky I would like it acknowledged somewhere that Horse has contributed to more heart strain on old Blood supporters than the smokes with his last line defending of last quarter leads and cliff hanger finishes. He reminds me of the late great jockey Jack Thompson. He could fashion a photo finish while pulling his horse up. There is a wonderful story of the great horseman being just beaten in a whirlwind whip cracking finish at Randwick by an excited apprentice who when they were riding back to greet the judges said "I think I beat you there Mr. Thompson. The great man replied " I hope so son we were all on it".

 

[Wolftone]

Reid was enormous in tbe last but don't waste your time backing him on here. What's important is tgat those that matter want him in tbe team.

Yes his marking in the last and a punch away were very good. But on the whole it was a disappointing night for Sam. In fact this year has been very disappointing. I know he has had a lot of time out of the game and this has impacted. But the reality is that if Menzell and Lance were available now he would not be playing.

Another who is having some really disappointing games is Will Hayward. He is not terribly consistent. One week he will be an absolute match winner, not that we have won too many this year, the next non existent. Last night he was poor.

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[Wolftone]

People shitting on Reid need to pay attention. He was the only player who could take a mark or bring the ball to ground coming out of defence on either team and he was lively in the contest and laid some good tackles.

Sure he doesn't hit the scoreboard as much as we'd like but he gets flung up and down the ground more than anyone so it's a bit stiff to expect consistency.

No he wasn't. McCartin took at least one I saw. In the first Reid was not seen. He did not do a lot when we had that second quarter surge. He was better in the third and in the last he went into the cauldren as we went ultra defensive. He is sadly out of form. At his best he is a really wonderful player. I love his ability to gloat across a pack and take a huge mark. But there is less of that this year.

He seems slow and also seems to be getting out of position. I think if all our players were fit he'd be getting form in the Twos. He's had another whole season out. We can't expect him to be a match winner in those circumstances. In saying that if all things were in place he'd be finding his rhythm in the reserves. He is battling hard but I feel thr lay off is affecting him more than the last one.

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[Tedeski]

Yes his marking in the last and a punch away were very good. But on the whole it was a disappointing night for Sam. In fact this year has been very disappointing. I know he has had a lot of time out of the game and this has impacted. But the reality is that if Menzell and Lance were available now he would not be playing.

Another who is having some really disappointing games is Will Hayward. He is not terribly consistent. One week he will be an absolute match winner, not that we have won too many this year, the next non existent. Last night he was poor.

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You just keep believing that Wolfy.
I'm happy to just let his coaches & team mates judge him.

 

[Wolftone]

Mate, doing yourself no favours, open your eyes

I just commented on Reid. His problem is obviously the injury lay off. I think if a our players were fit and ready to go he would be finding his rhythm in the reserves. He seems slow and is not getting to the right spots to impact the contest. He is not judging the bounce of the ball either. These, are the signs of a player who hasn't played for an extended period.

This is not bashing Reid. At his best he is a sensational player. His pack marking superb. One of the hardest things about our great game is the pack Mark that is why about 90% of the contests end up with a crumb. He'll get back in form but if Lance and Menzell are ready and he is not quite right he will spend te in the Twos.

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[The King!]

Did anyone else see the spectator giving Blakey a few (soft) kidney punches when Thompson had him up against the fence?

I thought the north trainer pushed him near the bench too

 

[Wolftone]

You just keep believing that Wolfy.
I'm happy to just let his coaches & team mates judge him.

Look the stats tell the story if you won't believe me. It is hard to spend a whole season out abd then come back. Your rhythm goes. You don't get to position. You don't judge the flight of the ball. You miss the bounce. I have always been a fan. I live his pack marking. But atm he is out of sorts.

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[Grand Uncle Horace]

Yes his marking in the last and a punch away were very good. But on the whole it was a disappointing night for Sam. In fact this year has been very disappointing. I know he has had a lot of time out of the game and this has impacted. But the reality is that if Menzell and Lance were available now he would not be playing.

Another who is having some really disappointing games is Will Hayward. He is not terribly consistent. One week he will be an absolute match winner, not that we have won too many this year, the next non existent. Last night he was poor.

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Coming back from a broken jaw. I expect his confidence is down a bit. Thought he got back into the game in Q4.

 

[The King!]

You just keep believing that Wolfy.
I'm happy to just let his coaches & team mates judge him.

Agree like they did with jack

 

[replicant]

Did anyone else see the spectator giving Blakey a few (soft) kidney punches when Thompson had him up against the fence?

I just looked, it's 11:53 to go in the third. I don't think it was punches, i think they just patted/slapped him on the back. Nothing in it. They shouldn't touch the players, but it didn't look like there was any harm done.

 

[The King!]

Wish we could play bottom teams all the time like the last 2 weeks

 

[Grand Uncle Horace]

I thought the north trainer pushed him near the bench too

I missed these incidents. The Club must raise this with the cops.It is one thing an animal like Thompson targeting a player, it is another when Club officials and 'fans' get involved.

 

[The King!]

Coming back from a broken jaw. I expect his confidence is down a bit. Thought he got back into the game in Q4.

That smother was crucial

 

[The King!]

Look the stats tell the story if you won't believe me. It is hard to spend a whole season out abd then come back. Your rhythm goes. You don't get to position. You don't judge the flight of the ball. You miss the bounce. I have always been a fan. I live his pack marking. But atm he is out of sorts.

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He will be a bigger liability v Collingwood Geelong and west coast


Creating space and doing all of this magical unseen work for others won’t cut it

 

[Wolftone]

Did anyone else see the spectator giving Blakey a few (soft) kidney punches when Thompson had him up against the fence?

I didn't see that but if that happened then the Swans need to make an official complaint to the AFL and get the bastard banned. I think Scott Thompson should be reported for dangerously pushing Blakey into the fence. Thompson is a thug.

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[The King!]

Rampe was brilliant after a week in which he was basically accused of cheating , being sexist, rigging the election , stopping the boats etc he was fantastic again

He actually could be close to the best and fairest right now imo

 

[The King!]

Geez Dawson was crucial in defence taking marks

Our best player to push back late

 

[Banyo Bloods]

Yes his marking in the last and a punch away were very good. But on the whole it was a disappointing night for Sam. In fact this year has been very disappointing. I know he has had a lot of time out of the game and this has impacted. But the reality is that if Menzell and Lance were available now he would not be playing.

Another who is having some really disappointing games is Will Hayward. He is not terribly consistent. One week he will be an absolute match winner, not that we have won too many this year, the next non existent. Last night he was poor.

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Wrong.

 

[Grand Uncle Horace]

Rampe was brilliant after a week in which he was basically accused of cheating , being sexist, rigging the election , stopping the boats etc he was fantastic again

He actually could be close to the best and fairest right now imo

He surely would be well ahead. Last night was a terrific players response to a week of over the top criticism.