Preview Finally - Sydney v Essendon (79 day wait is over)

[Kennedy Parker]

end of 16 Sydney probably thought by 2020 it would be parker, kennedy as he is roughly but hanners still going and heeney and mills in the guts

Would've been pretty reasonable to expect Heeney and Mills to be well established mids by now.
Hanners at his best would've made us a different team even today.

 

[SGBeach]

Would've been pretty reasonable to expect Heeney and Mills to be well established mids by now.
Hanners at his best would've made us a different team even today.

Pretty hard to transition from one brilliant midfield to another. Things happen out of 'the powers that be's ' control. Hanners, Heeney and Mills for example
A midfield of JPK, Parker, Hanners, Heeney and Mills + the young crew would have us top 4.
oh well...
Time to enjoy the development of the young mids, Respect the old mids, and Watch them smash the bombers on the weekend

 

[caesar88]

Bulldogs and GWS are the literal two best midfields in the comp who rarely get beaten at all and Hawthorn were a dynasty that our midfield regularly matched up well enough with in plenty of home and away games. Those are extreme examples for a team that didn't make finals to compare to.

Florent isnt going to carry the midfield for a few years yet, even in that round 1 game it was just 1 quarter out of 4 that he was great, not sighted much in the other 3. Our two gun academy midfielders arent midfielders at all and we let the young gun mids we had walk. Heaping on Parker and Kennedy regularly is unnecessary, they are two of the best servants the club has ever had and were the two best mids for 4 quarters in Round 1. Parker in particular thrived with an actual ruckman in the team which we havent had for 3 years.

Bad luck, arguably poor development, and poor list management is why the midfield sucks, not Parker and Kennedy.

I wasn't just referring to the last few years when we didn't make finals though. Are you going to deny Hawthorn haven't been a problem for us dating as far back as 2013? Or that the Bulldogs and GWS weren't a problem for us in 2016 when we had five future or past All Australians in our midfield? They're not "extreme" examples. They're valid examples of teams that have regularly caused problems for us both when we were a powerhouse and now that we're a rebuilding side.

You say that GWS and the Bulldogs are "the literal two best midfields in the comp who rarely get beaten at all" and that Hawthorn "were a dynasty", then shouldn't they be the exact teams we should be looking at as a benchmark?

They are quick and efficient out of the middle. They don't over-possess the ball, they don't waste their clearances, and they spread well. They are hallmarks of not just those two teams that have given us grief over the years, but also Richmond's and Hawthorn's dynasties. That those areas have been particular weaknesses of ours for not just the last one or two years, but the last half a dozen areas or so, suggests there's something amiss, and that's all I want to fix because it will take us closer to a premiership. Whether we do that with a bunch of club champions or a bunch of nobodies, I really don't care who is responsible for that change, but it has to come.

JPK & Parker not getting enough support because of the bad luck, poor development and poor list management, and the fact that Florent is young, seems to be the common excuse used around here. But to me that's a cop-out, because they had the exact same struggles going back half a dozen years. It's never been fixed under Horse, and it's never been fixed with JPK & Parker involved.

They can be two of the best servants the club has ever had and still not be the right fit.

 

[SSwans2011]

I know it was only one game, but anyone else really excited to watch our mids develop after Naismith's round one performance? First use is a huge deal. Crazy how Naismith has arguably become one of our most important players (IMO).

 

[The Gong]

I know it was only one game, but anyone else really excited to watch our mids develop after Naismith's round one performance? First use is a huge deal. Crazy how Naismith has arguably become one of our most important players (IMO).

Made us look like a different team. I know Adelaide probably aren't the best yardstick but I can't remember the last time we dominated the clearances like that. Ironically it was our defence that looked a bit shambolic but I'll forgive them because they've been keeping the team above water for over two seasons now.

 

[BloodySwan]

Made us look like a different team. I know Adelaide probably aren't the best yardstick but I can't remember the last time we dominated the clearances like that. Ironically it was our defence that looked a bit shambolic but I'll forgive them because they've been keeping the team above water for over two seasons now.

Defence starts in attack. The more we focus on opening up our attack the more we'll open up ourselves.

 

[SwansProudly]

Michael Knoll PCL - Naismith tight hamstring

 

[SSwans2011]

I know it was only one game, but anyone else really excited to watch our mids develop after Naismith's round one performance? First use is a huge deal. Crazy how Naismith has arguably become one of our most important players (IMO).

Whoops.

 

[Millky95]

Michael Knoll PCL - Naismith tight hamstring

Well.

*.

 

[nickh32]

At this rate neither team will have any players left!

 

[LukeParkerno1]

Well.

fu**.

How on earth can we get so many injuries with blokes playing XBox and what not...

 

[Heeney2Franklin]

How on earth can we get so many injuries with blokes playing XBox and what not...

Very easy

Sitting down playing Xbox then getting up and doing home training viola injuries happen, most of the AFL players do have home gyms.

 

[Heeney2Franklin]

Well.

fu**.

Sinclair back to solo rucking! poor bugger.

 

[Millky95]

Can't even have Reid as a back up.

So Aliir will play 2nd ruck and pinch hit down back

 

[LukeParkerno1]

Very easy

Sitting down playing Xbox then getting up and doing home training viola injuries happen, most of the AFL players do have home gyms.

Still we seem to get a LOT of them compared to other clubs.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

Can't even have Reid as a back up.

So Aliir will play 2nd ruck and pinch hit down back

Well AA did have good games in there. Least it’s only Essendon’s ruck division not say Collingwood

 

[scaryness]

 

[caesar88]

No excuses this is nothing new. And if we take Aliir out of defence then it's entirely self-inflicted.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

No excuses this is nothing new. And if we take Aliir out of defence then it's entirely self-inflicted.

What is the alternative?

 

[caesar88]

What is the alternative?

Sinclair?

 

[LukeParkerno1]

Sinclair?

For the whole game? He will need a break at some point.

 

[caesar88]

For the whole game? He will need a break at some point.

Don't recall anyone else rucking in 2018 when Sinclair had solo ruck duties. But if it's that important, bring McLean in. They can share ruck role and double as forward targets which we also need.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

Don't recall anyone else rucking in 2018 when Sinclair had solo ruck duties. But if it's that important, bring McLean in. They can share ruck role and double as forward targets which we also need.

Sinclair is 2 years older now. I just can't see us not having some form of relief if Sinclair is the main person.

 

[The King!]

Naismith up to his old tricks then

 

[The King!]

I’ll ruck