Game Day Match simulation v GWS

[Superstar swan]

Pretty solid hit out.

The boys did what they needed to

Co Warner was very impressive

Amartey did everything right

Campbell kicked for goal with confidence

Tmac isn’t a forward

Heeney didn’t get out of 3rd gear but looks to carry on from last year

Melican was great

All in all a very good performance from the team at this stage of they year

 

[Nuggetz]

Apologies if this has already been covered, haven't read previous posts.

Rough notes:

1st quarter
- Heeney starting at CB then rushing fwd when rowbottom won a free kick. Warner did something similar when there was a stoppage after the CB. Mismatch opportunities?

- Kicks to leads in f50.

- Good early intensity from Warner

- Gulden running free

- Looking to play on quickly, good kick from Flo & body work by Campbell to earn a free kick in the f50.

- 1 tall (Amartey) in the fwd line with Adams, Hanily?, Campbell, Co Warner & Hayward. He's giving plenty of fwd instructions. Love it.

- 12.46 Q1. CB with Ladhams, Rowbottom (fwd), Sheldrick (mid) & Juzzy (def). **** me, good tap but even better read from Sheldrick who initiated body contact with a quick glance at the opponent then protected the 'drop' of the ball while getting seperation. At the same moment Juzzy moves towards a handball receive position travelling the opposite direction to Sheldrick. Juzzy gets tackled but just releases the ball to Florent who has come off halfback. Poetry in motion.

- Watching centre bounce in slow motion is soo good.

- Handball receives galore.

- Adams shifting into the stoppage at the centre of the ground then proceeds to 'win' the clearance with a tap out to juzzy. Quick between the ears.

- Omg Campbell, give him more ball.

- Great contested mark from Amartey, throwing his body around a bit & looking STRONG.

Alright back to reality.

 

[RUNVS]

I wasn't going to until I saw that the observations from this match alone took six pages. Clogs up the other thread. Will probably combine this one with a thread for next week's game, as more people will watch that and probably more comment will follow.

History will not kindly remember your actions here today caesar88.

 

[Nuggetz]

flipping hell, campbell should've played in the fwd line from the start of his career & heeney in the midfield. Soo many wasted years...

 

[Superstar swan]

Errol’s running power is insane . 3rd all Australian jumper coming this year

 

[RUNVS]

flipping hell, campbell should've played in the fwd line from the start of his career & heeney in the midfield. Soo many wasted years...

Heeney especially will have to go down as a player with the most wasted potential down to how a coach played him. I can't think of too many players who got screwed over like that more than Heeney has.

 

[bedford]

History will not kindly remember your actions here today caesar88.

You were against this thread but it says YOU started it

 

[Bloods86]

You were against this thread but it says YOU started it

This is the serious, on-topic sort of crisis that we should all really be focusing on.

 

[RUNVS]

You were against this thread but it says YOU started it

I am Archduke Ferdinand's driver. Just an innocent bystander who was blamed for a conflict I had nothing to do with.

 

[Bonz]

My overall thoughts.

Players

• Whilst Sheldrick was a little messy with his disposal, thought he really added to our midfield group, puts his body on the line, has that burst of speed and puts on good bumps and knock ons in the coalface.
• I think it might be Amartey's first uninterrupted Pre-season and it shows, had more repeat efforts than last year and his core appears to be stronger, isn't going to ground as often.
• Whilst McCartin couldn't get any seperation on the lead (No shame here Buckley is an exceptional defender) I thought he played a smart game, was opening up space and taking Buckley away from the contest, in particular when the weather more more dry.
• Campbell as a small forward really adds an extra element to our forward line, good with his body, adds pressure, smart leads and is incredibly effective with his disposal.
• Paton, he started slow but grew into the game, thought he did a good job on Greene.
• Wicks, made some very stupid errors but showed a lot with his rebound by foot at the same time, think there is something to persist with here.
• Got what we expected out of Heeney, Warner and Gulden. Not expecting a drop off this year
• Hanily showed some signs, there was one handball out of congestion that set up a goal that was simply exquisite. I don't think he starts this season (Papley, Campbell, Hayward and resting mids taking small forward spots) but he could keep on the pressure which is good.
• Ladhams, thought he was our best ruckman today, definitely gave our mods first use of the ball, shame we didn't get to see him matched up on Briggs much.

Game plan

• Felt we were putting more body on body pressure early on, definitely seems a little more contested than previous years, but we still have outside runners running through on the outside.
• Maybe just today (and a different role) but Blakey didn't come up the ground as much and I felt we held our defensive structure a little more instead of increasing risk and running the players up the field.
• Smaller forward line (Two talls instead of three) worked, we applied more pressure and I felt we still got great leading patterns from our smalls. I'm curious as to who second rucks, as I doubt both Ladhams and Grundy play the same game.
• Shame about the camera angles, would have loved to watch this game from above in the stands.

 

[Bloods86]

I am Archduke Ferdinand's driver. Just an innocent bystander who was blamed for a conflict I had nothing to do with.

Finally, someone talking about the real battle of the bridge.

 

[BloodySwan]

I haven't had a chance to watch the whole match yet, but Campbell is looking to have a big year. He doesn't need much to damage opposition

 

[Jimbo OZ]

Heeney especially will have to go down as a player with the most wasted potential down to how a coach played him. I can't think of too many players who got screwed over like that more than Heeney has.

Hard disagree. This is a revisionist view. He played midfield but didn't do as well. He was also badly hampered missing more pre-seasons.

 

[bedford]

Ben Hart on SEN now said the swannies were far more advanced and were a lot cleaner

 

[RUNVS]

Hard disagree. This is a revisionist view. He played midfield but didn't do as well. He was also badly hampered missing more pre-seasons.

I disagree here too as Longmire just played Heeney in the forward line too much and did not give him the confidence he needed to play in the midfield. If you are only in the midfield 20% of the time you are not going to get good at it.

 

[Dubai Quacker]

Flakey Blakey ... good one

Flakey Blakey loves a Potato Cakey but his deeeeeefence is Shaky.

 

[SSwans2011]

Heeney especially will have to go down as a player with the most wasted potential down to how a coach played him. I can't think of too many players who got screwed over like that more than Heeney has.

To be fair, much of that was down to fitness. It's not like Longmire wasn't willing to try it, he was playing wing in the 2016 finals series.

Also important to note there were a few times early in seasons where Heeney looked close to the best player in the comp as a forward but fell off due to all of those injuries he obtained. I think he would have been a full-time mid earlier if his body didn't routinely let him down.

Maybe he was mismanaged a bit, but they obviously had his body to worry about. And plus, without that experience up forward he might not be as dynamic as he is today which is largely what makes him such a star and almost impossible to tag because opposition coaches know he can just take his man forward and absolutely torch him there.

 

[RUNVS]

To be fair, much of that was down to fitness. It's not like Longmire wasn't willing to try it, he was playing wing in the 2016 finals series.

I am less sure to be honest as Mills was always fully fit and it took Longmire years and years to move him away from defence.

 

[giantsully]

At the game for the first 2.5 qrs and I thought we looked fantastic. Frankly the scoreboard flattered the Giants as we smashed them around the ball.

Campbell was electric, not just around goals but work he did up the field. Brilliant stuff from Joel too but he did benefit from some soft frees.

Chad worked into the game and was probably the best midfielder on the ground and Corey had some excellent moments too. I loved Olly Florent's game, there were few better out there.

The backline looked too short at times (even though GWS rarely had more than two tall up front themselves) and like others it was hard to see how the McCartin move upfront pays dividends given our exposure back.

Overall, as good as I've seen us play pre-season, and the contested wins were particularly pleasing.

Spoke briefly to Logan McD who suggested his injury was taking longer to resolve than he expected, perhaps a hint that he's still a little ways off.

 

[SSwans2011]

I am less sure to be honest as Mills was always fully fit and it took Longmire years and years to move him away from defence.

That is true. But it's also true that his body has fallen apart since then (I suspect the way he plays doesn't help).

Imagine his body now if a younger, scrawnier Mills had been pushed into the mids too early.

 

[RUNVS]

That is true. But it's also true that his body has fallen apart since then (I suspect the way he plays doesn't help).

Imagine his body now if a younger, scrawnier Mills had been pushed into the mids too early.

His body was mostly fine until Konstanty. I mean he played 45 games in 2022 and 2023.

 

[Nuggetz]

Watching the replay, Taylor Adams fwd 50 tackle leads to a free kick. Background commentary: That's flipping bread aye.

What the hell, I've never heard 'bread' used to describe something as good. Young people...

 

[SSwans2011]

His body was mostly fine until Konstanty. I mean he played 45 games in 2022 and 2023.

Wasn't it generally acknowledged both Heeney and himself had been playing with niggles for years that the club were conscientious of or was that exclusive to Heeney?

 

[The King!]

Heeney did get 2 All Australians under Horse

 

[BloodySwan]

I disagree here too as Longmire just played Heeney in the forward line too much and did not give him the confidence he needed to play in the midfield. If you are only in the midfield 20% of the time you are not going to get good at it.

Heeney has had such bad injuries there were rumours he would never play. How is he expected to run through the midfield?