News Preseason 2013

[baja]

Meh I was standing next to this reporter, 1/2 the time he was on his phone, the other half he was chatting to another reporter.

Hisssssss lol

 

[grimlock]

Pictures from zimbio

Professor X tackling Pykey

Teddy spoiling Tippo

Marsh marking in front of Dick

Towers with a clearance

Nick Smith (just for SOPH_CROSS)

 

[baja]

60 minute game split into 3 terms of 20 minutes each. There were 3 AFL umpires, but only one boundary umpy with a trainer throwing it in on the other side of the oval. It wasn't raining at the start of the game but the ground was damp from the overnight drizzle. The heavens opened up after the first term but thankfully for the handful of supporters watching it did clear up for the last term.

The teams were supposedly random but I don't think this was completely true. The red team basically had the 'A' defence playing for them (sans Malceski) with Richards, Grundy, Towers, Shaw and Armstrong the forming what is likely to be the NAB Round 1 defensive core, Towers taking up an interesting role as a third tall defender. Smith and Johnson were restricted to running laps around the oval, along with Mattner, Mitchell and Morton. Rohan was also running laps but not with this group who were going at quite a pace. Mumford, with freshly minted beard, cycled on the stationary bike under cover whilst Goodes ran laps by himself, watched the game on his break and gave instructions and encouragement from the sidelines.

• Membrey (gold) - Dick (red): Membrey is the love child of Parker and White, Jesse for his tatts and Luke for the blonde hair and the solid build. Dick had the better of this matchup for the first 2 terms, keeping Membrey very quiet with effective spoiling and close checking but Membrey bounced back with a strong third term where he had a hand in a few goals. The gold team tended to go for the two taller targets in Tippett and Walsh (later replaced by Reid; see below) so we didn't get much of an opportunity to see Membrey's contested marking skills. Dick is a lot bigger than I expected (no pun intended), quite a chunky lad and he'll probably play as a key defender in the reserves this year. The only blot on his copybook from this game was an ambitious pass across the defensive 50 which was smartly read by Jude who intercepted and made Dick pay by converting the set shot.
• Shaw (red) - Biggs (gold): Rhyce has outlasted Malcelski in the beard growing stakes with his version still as bushy and full as it was on GF day while Mal has trimmed his significantly. Shaw was a loud voice in the backline and was constantly on the move with and without the football. Biggs (or "Shiggsy" if my hearing serves me correctly) had a different role as a defensive half forward, given that he played most of his football last year on the wing or off half back. He wasn't completely defensive though, showing off his excellent footskills in the second term by pinpointing Everitt in a pocket (who subsequently missed from the tight angle).
• McVeigh (red) - K.Jack (gold): The skipper looked in tiptop condition and was had a solid hitout. Played a little more inside than usual but ran hard to all areas of the ground to impact play in both attack and defence. Hardly wasted a possession. Jack also looks to be in good nick and had a good runaround without really impacting on the game.
• Hannebery (gold) - Lamb (red): Not sure if Hanners was on limited time but I didn't notice him until midway through the second term. His kicking was noticeably better, let's hope he keeps it up during the season. Lamb started as a high half forward but was then rotated through the midfield and spent most of his time in that area. He looked comfortable in that role with his clean hands in traffic very noticeable in the wet conditions. A very reliable set shot, he converted his one opportunity with calm and ease after juggling a mark just inside fifty.
• O'Keefe (gold) - Parker (red): Great matchup in the middle with both players attacking the ball hard and getting first hands from taps quite often. O'Keefe probably just shaded Parker by adding a smartly taken, quick snapped goal (gold's first) to go along with his many clearances.
• Cunningham (gold) - Jetta (red): I really enjoyed this matchup and both players did well during different stages of the game. I didn't feel Jetta was as influential as the Swans website has been making out. He was definitely very clean in the wet but his influence on the game itself was minimal. Harry did a great job of keeping Jets in check, including a brilliant (or lucky depending on how you saw it) strip of the ball from Jetta's hands just as he was about to take full flight into the open space. Cunningham was also responsible for a fantastic low drilled pass to Tippett that drew audible gasps of appreciation. Will be intriguing to see where Cunningham is utilised this year.
• Tippett (gold) - T.Richards (red): When he finally gets on the park Tippett will be a source of excitement and frustration alike for Swans fans. First, the good news. He is a big, mobile target that will cause consternation and a general sense of uneasein the opposition defenders. He leads well, works hard, demands the ball and isn't afraid to use his size either to establish position or to run into packs. On the downside, his goalkicking looks to be in need of serious work. He had 7 shots on goal today, finishing with 3.3 and the other hitting the behind post. 5 of them were set shots and none were particularly difficult. He also failed to take a contested mark but we'll put that down to the conditions given that he has excelled in this area for the Crows. He also struggled to work well with the other forwards, tending to lead into the same spaces. This occurred most often when Walsh was on the field, but Reid seemed to read the situations better and ran into other areas. Having said all that, Ted did play Tippett relatively well, spoiling effectively and it must be noted he wasn't completely responsible for all of Tippo's goals.
• Malceski (gold) - Had a brilliant game marshalling the gold defence, being the only senior defender in that group. He seemed to revel in the responsibility and in the freedom given to him. I can't recall exactly who he was matched up on, or if he even had an assigned man. He took multiple saving marks in defence and used the ball well in a sweeping role (except for one awful attempted pass on his right foot that travelled about 4 metres tops).
• Kennedy (red) - Bird (gold): The official report indicated that JPK was matched up against Kizza but from my vantage point I thought Bird had the run-with role on the BS medallist. Bird found it hard to curb Kennedy at the stoppages but managed to gather quite a bit of the ball himself. Looked to have jarred a finger against an unkindly bouncing ball late in the game, but despite showing symptoms of intense pain managed to shake it off and finish off the match on the field.
• Everitt (gold) - Towers (red): A very intriguing, and to me unexpected, matchup. Probably out of necessity due to absence of Johnson, Mattner and Smith but Towers started quite deep in defence. Everitt was quite anonymous in the first term and Towers led him to the ball a few times, but this matchup had a complete turnaround midway through the second term when Everitt pushed higher up the field and was soon proving to be a very effective link man, kicking one goal himself and having a direct hand in two others through some direct and precise kicking. It illustrated that Everitt is definitely better utilised as a tall wingman rather than a tall forward. Towers didn't looked completely comfortable with such a defensive role and didn't get a real opportunity to show off his much vaunted pace.
• Walsh (gold) - Grundy (red): Walsh played only the first term as a deep lying forward target. As mentioned previously, he and Tippett struggled to work together and Walsh hardly touched the footy. Not sure if he went off due to injury. Conversely, Grundy saw a lot of the football when the gold team continuously turned the ball over going forward.
• White (gold) - Pyke (red): Jesse rucked the whole game and wasn't afforded the same luxury as Pyke who had stints as a resting full forward, swapping with the rookie Naismith. On ruckwork alone, Pyke dominated White in the majority of the taps. As a full forward, Pyke almost pulled off a great mark whilst tumbling backwards off balance but unfortunately even his gloves couldn't prevent the wet ball from slithering away from his massive hands.
• Armstrong (red) - B.Jack (gold): Armstrong looks good and finds targets with ease when in space but his output and in particular his decision making falls away alarmingly when under pressure. There were a few occasions when he refused to kick the ball while bring chased despite many of his teammates beseeching him to do so and sold himself into trouble as a result. Jack was very lively and keen to use his speed, he often took off straight away after marking the ball
• Reid (red then gold) - Brown (gold) then Grundy (red): Reid took a spectacular pack mark very early in the first term (stock standard according to his highlights reel) but proceeded to smack his shot into right hand post. Didn't impact the scoreboard after that and credit must go to Brown who performed admirably given his height and reach difference. After swapping to the gold team for the last term, Reid and Tippett seemed to form a more natural partnership than the dysfunctional Walsh-Tippett combination that played out the first term.
• McGlynn (gold): Sat out the first term and was itching to get in on the action, bouncing and kicking a footy along the sidelines. When his opportunity finally arrived, he played well kicking his customary goal on the run into an empty goalsquare and narrowly missing a long set shot from the top of the 50m arc. Great to see him back.
• Lockyer (gold): Played in defence and helped Brown to handle Reid.
• Bolton (red): Played mainly in the forwards and besides his intercept goal mentioned earlier, terrorised some of the youngsters in the gold defence with his maniacal pressure, chasing and tackling.
• D.Robinson (red): "D-Ro" to his teammates, he had a few runs in the midfield without doing anything memorable.
• LRT (???): Longmire said he played so he must have, but I didn't spot him at all.
• Marsh (gold then red): Not only swapped teams but positions too. Started the game at halfback for the gold team marking Jed Lamb but later on assumed the role of a defensive forward for the red team. Showed terrific pace leading out of CHF. Kicked a very nice goal when after a goalsquare scramble, managed to pick up the loose ball, drop it quickly onto his foot and have it dribble over the goal line just as he was being tackled. Will be interesting to see where he plays, his draft profile says he played mainly in defence in his junior WA footy career, but the Swans have earmarked his attributes as being suited to being an inside mid.
• Naismith (red) - X.Richards (gold): Naismith kicked the first goal after intercepting a gold defender's kick. Swapped with Pyke for short runs in the ruck against White. Limped off the ground (with his guernsey off for some reason?) but didn't seemed distressed at all and was in fact shouting encouragement to his teammates whilst doing so.
• Rampe (gold then red) / Lloyd (red): Mixed up the 2 players during the day. Rampe seemed to play a little more behind the ball while Lloyd had a true midfielder's role.
• Topups - There were at least 5 of them but I didn't recognise any of them, assume they must be Swans Academy players. A tallish kid wearing number 50 on the red team snapped 2 almost identical goals on his left foot.

I know the scoreboard means nothing in this game, but I did keep count for those interested

Red 3.1 5.5 6.6 (42)
Gold 0.1 3.2 6.8 (44)

Goals
Red Topup#50 2 Naismith Lamb Marsh Bolton
Gold Tippett 3 ROK McGlynn Everitt


One interesting tidbit, which may amount to absolutely nothing but circumstance was the cherry picker used to hoist a camera for an overhead shot was behind the goals at the Randwick end, instead of its usual position on the wing. There was another camera filming from that wing, and that's where we've seen the highlights on SwansTV, but it was at ground level.

Great read Grim much appreciated.

 

[RW]

Fantastic write-up, Grim! I am most intrigued by the Cunningham-Jetta match-up. I wonder how not having Tippett on the field for half the season will affect the forward structure when he eventually plays... it is a unique situation.

 

[Sanecow]

Towers didn't looked completely comfortable

Otherwise a great report. Thanks for getting along and paying attention!

 

[SOPH_CROSS]

AWWWW SEXY SMITH THAT SMILE!

 

[Jack Lord]

Thanks for going to all that effort, grimlock. Great read. Less than a week and the rest of us can see the 2013 Swans in action. Go red!

 

[alanlau34]

Pictures from zimbio

Marsh marking in front of Dick

Lol at Dick's "O" face

 

[ShaySwannies]

• Rampe (gold then red) / Lloyd (red): Mixed up the 2 players during the day. Rampe seemed to play a little more behind the ball while Lloyd had a true midfielder's role.

Great write-up, can you expand a little more on how Rampe played?

 

[swansfan51]

60 minute game split into 3 terms of 20 minutes each.

Excellent work grimlock, thanks from all us interstaters. What I took from it:

White is bad
Walsh is worse
Lamb should be next cab off the ranks this year
Confirmed Robinson is another Dylan McNeil
I look forward to watching Brandon Jack
Pyke will be very important this year
Tippett needs to spend 3 months with Nick Davis
Lloyd may be a chance of playing senior football

 

[grimlock]

The only way to stop Jetta this year

 

[swansfan51]

Is that Dexter's table?

 

[SydneyPhilly]

I'd imagine one of the top-ups would have been Lloyd Perris unless the AIS has gone on tour again

 

[Bonz]

The only way to stop Jetta this year

It looks like we may be keeping him under wraps for the start of the season

 

[scottwade]

Thanks for the write up grim.

Did you happen to notice who was coaching the teams?

 

[grimlock]

Thanks for the write up grim.

Did you happen to notice who was coaching the teams?

No I didn't note that down but before one center square bounce, the game was paused while a few coaches were in there giving pointers to the midfielders and the ruckmen.

 

[GotTheGoodes]

Awesome stuff Grim. Cheers mate!

Towers was the interesting tid bit of info in all that for me. And great to hear Benny's pumped and back into it.

I reckon I would've been paying very very close attention to the Macca.v.Jack, Cunningham.v.Jets, White.v.Pykey, RoK.v.Parker match ups. Each of those would have been pretty entertaining I reckon.

 

[MarkP]

Thanks so much for the write up - the effort is appreciated.

 

[SM]

It's encouraging to see Mumford has the same sort of kinda believable but mostly uninspiring facial hair that I grow.

I don't even think I could get to Mummy's level.

 

[vonn]

I don't even think you could get to Hall's level

 

[S120]

The only way to stop Jetta this year

Is that a tattoo I spy on Jetta's ankle?

 

[zetz]

Is that a tattoo I spy on Jetta's ankle?

Premiership tattoo, Kizza and Hanners also got one

 

[Riders of Rohan]

New article on Dean Towers

http://www.smh.com.au/afl/afl-news/...t-just-a-kid-from-nowhere-20130223-2eyfx.html

 

[SkankDanker]

Dropped in to training yesterday, few observations (no notes taken):

Rehab group from what I saw (only briefly) was Bird, Mal, Tippett, Shaw, Marty, Jude, Mummy and a a few others. Pretty sure I saw Tom Mitchell. All left the track early except Jude. Mal looks a bit sore, but I didn't want to invade his privacy and ask why. Calf I think.

Simulation training where they split into three groups - orange, green and red, and had two teams on at a time one resting - standouts were Goodes who was moving beautifully, McGlynn, Jack and Jetta. Armstrong was pretty good, was yelling a lot of instructions. ROK as you would expect - he trains like he is playing in a grand final. Hard to recognise them in the different colour vests.

They did a boxing session at the end which made me tired to watch - the last drill was 1 punch to the opponent's training gloves, 9 push ups, 2 punches 8 push ups etc. Push ups required you to drop full on your chest and lft your knuckles off the ground - they were all stuffed by the end. Goodes did a lot of sprint work instead of the boxing, but like I said moving well and looks sharp to me.

I can confirm they were all completely knackered by the end, it was very hot and sunny.

 

[JBSwan]

The only way to stop Jetta this year

Mummy Wrap..