An interesting conversation....

[Theprofessional]

I have been speaking to various Swans fans lately and many have informed me with someone I thought would happen, but I hope it didn't. Although I thought it raised a point of interest.

Swans fans are now hoping barry Hall doesn't get in the side due to our sucess.

Now I feel with the rest of our forward line firing I reckon we should make Hall the SECOND choice underneath Mickey O. Then if he gets less ball, Mikey may take the best defender one week and then Hall the next.

Then they can run into some form.

What do you think will happen when hall returns? Will it be a bad thing?

 

[MF]

Hall will and always should be the main focal point IMO. Hopefully though, we will see our mids trying to spot up the other forwards a bit more often and using Hall as a decoy on a few more occasions. Mick is suited to being the second option as it gives him more space to exploit defenders with his silky skills when the ball hits the deck. I also think if Playfair keeps his spot after Halls return that he will suprise a few people. From what I've seen so far he's a very good mark and always at least provides a contest for our crumbers to take advantage of.

Hall coming back into the team can only be a good thing but hopefully now our midfield has a bit more confidence in our other forwards.

 

[RUNVS]

What do you think will happen when hall returns? Will it be a bad thing?

On paper Hall returning will be great but i am also worried as currently the Swans are sharing the ball around and kicking the ball to the player who is in space in the forward 50 which is obviously working as not only are our forwards kicking goals but so is our midfield.

What im worried about is with Hall in the team instead of kicking it to the player in space they will kick the ball to Hall 80% of the time whether he was 2 defenders on him or not. Hall may be a great player but even he has trouble marking the ball when he has 2 defenders hanging off him.

If the Swans continue to kick the ball to the best option then i have no robem with Hall coming back into the team but if they start kicking the ball to Hall just because he is there then i am not so keen on Hall coming back into the team.

 

[Costanza_]

Hall coming back into the team can only be a good thing but hopefully now our midfield has a bit more confidence in our other forwards.

/thread - Says it all.

Having our best KP forward in the team, as well as our most physically intimidating player can only be a good thing. With O'Loughlin, Moore and O'Keefe in form, and Playfair holding his own, we can only hope that delivery from the midfield is shared around accordingly.

 

[Liesha]

I cant wait for Barry to get back. I think his fitness will have improved even more with the forced lay-off. I didnt see any huge problems with the function of the forward line whilst Barry was in the team earlier this season, cant see why there would be any issues now. With Micky O firing and Playfair getting some solid performances under his belt our forward line should be great once Baz gets back. Baz also has the motor to play up the ground a little more too.

 

[Costanza_]

I think his fitness will have improved even more with the forced lay-off.

True that, he should be in amazing shape. He would have been drilling himself on the track since he got suspended, and will be so keen to make it up to the team when he returns. Only hope his wrist holds up =/

 

[EatBig Australia]

I can't wait for Hall to be back. The Hall coming back is not the Hall from last year. We were all excited this year before the 'brain fade' at how good and athletic he was looking. Maybe the weeks off will make him even more dominant leading into the business end of the season.

Hall has had a long spell on the sidelines to think about what he has done and I believe he will be out to make things up to his team mates.

Also if Hall is not firing he always takes the best backman so would free up O'Loughlin from Scarlett, Croad etc come finals time.

 

[Toodogs]

I can't wait for Hall to be back. The Hall coming back is not the Hall from last year. We were all excited this year before the 'brain fade' at how good and athletic he was looking. Maybe the weeks off will make him even more dominant leading into the business end of the season.

Hall has had a long spell on the sidelines to think about what he has done and I believe he will be out to make things up to his team mates.

Also if Hall is not firing he always takes the best backman so would free up O'Loughlin from Scarlett, Croad etc come finals time.

I hope the Big Man is as intimidating as always when he comes back - a great sight in a game with increasingly less physical contact. IMO the biggest concern will be his match fitness; you can have fitness but nothing beats the type of fitness you get from playing a couple of full games, flat out running with adrenalin pumping, contesting hard ball, stop, recover, go again... The coaching staff may choose to bring him back thru the ressies.. That should set the cat amongst the pigeons in the ACTAFL.
If his form doesn't come back straight away; he may be tempted to have another brain explosion. He has a lot of lost time to make up to his team mates!!

 

[EatBig Australia]

The coaching staff may choose to bring him back thru the ressies.. That should set the cat amongst the pigeons in the ACTAFL.

I reckon if they can squeeze Eski straight in after knee surgery then Hall will be straight in. Would be good for the Canberra league crowd if he did play though!

 

[lazy]

jeez....

Sound like we are all on the same page here. We want Hall back in but only if he slots in as another option on the forward line, not the only option.

If we can all see it I am confident Roosy can too

 

[OperationGetCats]

Hall straight back in without a doubt. Can only see positives with a fully fit and healthy Hall in the team. He needs to be in the side if we are to have another crack at a GF.

 

[Lakeside Legacy]

I reckon if they can squeeze Eski straight in after knee surgery then Hall will be straight in. Would be good for the Canberra league crowd if he did play though!

Agreed EBA, Hally is a walk-up start regardless of the time he has had out of the game. I am hoping he will come in cherry ripe and be a welcome addition to a forward line that is now functioning pretty well. The only problem Roosie and the selection panel now face will be How to fit them ALL in ???

 

[bradmanstandguy]

I agree,he will be straight back in. But feel that he should be used off the bench
in spurts,to see where his actual match fitness is at. Dont think they will throw
him in at the deep end first game back.

 

[ssfc0203]

He's big and he's the focal point of the forward line, something would be amiss if he wasn't the number one target. I do hope this has entrenched within the team the idea of spreading the goal kicking around; its been working wonders for us the past couple of weeks.

There are two things I can take out of this, though;

• Hall may have just prolonged his career and sustained better form
• We’re not completely stuffed without Hall. This is probably the better of the two ;]

 

[Barry Schneider]

It's not Barry's fault our midfielders kick it to him all the time even when he is double and triple teamed.
Playfair was brought to the club to be another option up forward and with Hall out he has shown his team mates he is worth kicking to if Barry is covered.
I can see them working in tandem taking turns to lead further up the field while the other stays closer to goal.
With the running Barry has been doing he might he even do a Richo now and then and run all over the place.
It will be great to have him back.
It is like recruiting a great player mid season.
I haven't yet worked out who gets dropped for Barry.I'll leave that to Roosy.

 

[nico]

I would expect that he will no longer be leading up onto the wing as in the past with our current game plan, where he would hold up the play when he took a mark.

I would think both he and MOL will play either out of the square or just forward of it and lead to different sides of the ground with Buchanan dropping in behind the one it is kicked to. It is working right now with MOL. Even another midfielder such as Bevan rushing in for the fall of the ball as he has the last 2 games.

O'Keefe now joins Goodes as an elite midfielder. His work all over the ground against the Tiges was outstanding. It is a straight swap; O'Keefe for Buchanan with spectaular results. Roos is a genius once again.

How on earth did the Tiges expect to beat us in the midfield.

 

[rancidpants13]

I would expect that he will no longer be leading up onto the wing as in the past with our current game plan, where he would hold up the play when he took a mark.

I would think both he and MOL will play either out of the square or just forward of it and lead to different sides of the ground with Buchanan dropping in behind the one it is kicked to. It is working right now with MOL. Even another midfielder such as Bevan rushing in for the fall of the ball as he has the last 2 games.

O'Keefe now joins Goodes as an elite midfielder. His work all over the ground against the Tiges was outstanding. It is a straight swap; O'Keefe for Buchanan with spectaular results. Roos is a genius once again.

How on earth did the Tiges expect to beat us in the midfield.

i don;t think too many tigers fans expected to beat us
and i think wallace and co knew at some point late in the first quarter that they were up against it
ROK is a superstar, but we're going very, very well right across the team
j moore, almost BOG previous two weeks, was probly one of our least effective players yesterday (not a criticism at all)
for me, personally, it's still a bit of a blink/double take situation, i can't quite comprehend how much we've improved and how well we've adapted to the younger players and different style
i can't believe people here are suggesting hall's return will be a negative
he was going very well before the stakerwhack
i suspect playfair will be dropped

 

[Tuco]

It comes down to this:

Without Hall we lost to the Cats, drew with the Kangas, and lost to the Dogs - all genuine contenders.

We then recovered and smashed Richmond, Essendon and Port - not one of them a chance for the 8 IMHO.

Sure we have found other avenues to goal, and the confidence is right up. But without Hall our chances of making a Prelim or beyond are severely reduced.

 

[RUNVS]

It comes down to this:

Without Hall we lost to the Cats, drew with the Kangas, and lost to the Dogs - all genuine contenders.

We then recovered and smashed Richmond, Essendon and Port - not one of them a chance for the 8 IMHO.

Sure we have found other avenues to goal, and the confidence is right up. But without Hall our chances of making a Prelim or beyond are severely reduced.

Against the Cats our Forward Line was non existant (Playfair didnt play) and we lost to the Bulldogs due to our rather poor shot accuracy and the Bulldogs unnaturally good shot accuracy.

 

[CAS79]

Without Hall we have learnt a bit about other forward strategies.

However, a fit and focused Hall adds tremendous value to the team, not just 1 but 2 defenders at times need to take him and his work rate at making himself a target all over the ground added to a firing midfield the damage he could do (with the ball).

The swans wont be leaving him out if he is fit and he will slot back in around centre half forward.

Besides, could anyone image how the Tuggernong defenders would feel if Barry Hall started running in their direction.

 

[Lakeside Legacy]

Without Hall we have learnt a bit about other forward strategies.

...Besides, could anyone image how the Tuggernong defenders would feel if Barry Hall started running in their direction.

I would imagine it to be a bit like the Ford commercial Big Baz starred in last year, where he plays against the entire Broadford U/11's

 

[Toodogs]

I would imagine it to be a bit like the Ford commercial Big Baz starred in last year, where he plays against the entire Broadford U/11's

Sure Baz would dominate against the young smaller frame players of Tuggeranong (a battling club with approximately 1/16th the budget of the Swans reserves); but I have no doubt that the other four clubs in the ACTAFL (Queanbeyan, Belconnen, Eastlake & Ainslie) have more than enough large frame players that would enjoy the challenge of playing on Baz and give him a good warm up game in preparation for a return to the big time!!
Smaller grounds and lower skill levels bring even the best players back to the field to a certain extent - no doubt this is the reason why Malceski was brought straight back into the firsts.

 

[Corpuscles]

I would imagine it to be a bit like the Ford commercial Big Baz starred in last year, where he plays against the entire Broadford U/11's

Or the upcoming Toyota ad (can't wait) where Hally KO's a glangly stalker in blue & yellow!!!


Just might be a blessing in disguise.... they have started training & form early this year and may give the side a freshen up in the run home

I would prefer to see Hall play out of FF! with Micky O as alternative FFP to divert or crumb at his feet. Henry can make the contests necessary at CHF and will improve!

 

[Banyo Bloods]

I'm probably the lone voice here but hope Davis can slot back into the forward structure.

I agree with what has been said where we didn't dominate the better sides in fact didn't beat them at all.

I think that the recent games have given some players some valuable game time to gel and perform as a unit.

However, I don't think the current set up could do the job come the business end of the season when it counts and when other teams are bringing their best games.

Roos suggests the 22 playing are the best available 22 I'm not convinced and maybe I'm living too much in the past on good performances when it has counted such as Davis and Fosdike.

Seeing as I've been totally off topic time to get back to the original question. Can't wait for Hall to return we are not a genuine threat without him comparing other clubs. The recent losses by the top teams have made it difficult to focus as I was wondering how we were going to beat the top four to get the cup. Now I'm worrying about teams like Brisbane and Collingwood as well.

West Coast this week is no walk over either they can still bring dam good game at home now there is a few games under the belt of their returning better players.

 

[rancidpants13]

I'm probably the lone voice here but hope Davis can slot back into the forward structure.

I agree with what has been said where we didn't dominate the better sides in fact didn't beat them at all.

I think that the recent games have given some players some valuable game time to gel and perform as a unit.

However, I don't think the current set up could do the job come the business end of the season when it counts and when other teams are bringing their best games.

Roos suggests the 22 playing are the best available 22 I'm not convinced and maybe I'm living too much in the past on good performances when it has counted such as Davis and Fosdike.

Seeing as I've been totally off topic time to get back to the original question. Can't wait for Hall to return we are not a genuine threat without him comparing other clubs. The recent losses by the top teams have made it difficult to focus as I was wondering how we were going to beat the top four to get the cup. Now I'm worrying about teams like Brisbane and Collingwood as well.

West Coast this week is no walk over either they can still bring dam good game at home now there is a few games under the belt of their returning better players.

i still regard geelong and c'wood as the teams to beat, well, they will be come september
dogs have been hardened by last year's disappointments
i don't really rate brisbane or adelaide as flag contenders
hawthorn is a query ... so much talent but i can't help wondering if the hawks are a year off, that they need another year's finals footy to get premiership tough

as for our side's make-up, i'm surprised it's even an issue - hall has to play
he was in his best form for almost 2 years, and if that continues he must come straight back and he makes us a better team
seriously, as good as playfair has been, if it's a choice between the two, hall wins
as for other players, i'm not convinced many of them would do much to improve the team dramatically
davis and fosdike are obviously struggling, for different reasons, whereas the blokes in the side now, and the likes of schmidt and barlow, are young, fit and hungry
i like and respect davis, but one has to question whether he has that raw hunger in him to really want to get back in the senior side
and fosdike is close to a return but is he as good as he was, and even if he is, who does he come in for?