Preview Round 1: Sydney vs. GWS Giants

[GoTheSwannies]

I thought Grundy played really well today. I was thinking (leading into the season) that 2013 could be the year that he steps up and gets rid of those howlers from his game. I thought the same before 2012 as well but it sidnt quiye pan out that way. He was up and about today, if he can maintain that throughout the year he'll go a long way to making up for the loss of aj. And if someone else can step in and fill ajs role, our defence will be even better than it was last year

 

[CAS79]

Pretty c;ear they still needed the run. But everyone found a way to contribute despite this.

For someone in doubt though Mumford was great.

 

[jokiKan]

Grundy was our best defender today, no doubt about that. He looked twice the player he was last year. Is he finally ready to go to another level?

Rampe looked good,primarily run-with duties, got beaten only once which unfortunately led to a GWS goal. Good debut.

Our forward line still looks a bit dysfunctional - despite a few strong marks by Mummy and Reid, it just seems a bit ad-hoc the way we attack and just bomb it in there sometimes.

That said, with Tippett coming in, you could possibly have Tipp, Mummy, Reid and Pyke - thats some serious tall timber, and potentially the makings of a very dangerous contested marking team. Good luck stopping all those 4 guys at once.

 

[RUNVS]

I think Reid needs to get more involved in games. I know he had GWS's best defender today but i feel he should start imposing himself in games more now he has a few years experience under his belt. I just don't feel Reid is yet capable of kicking a bag of goals.

 

[daymee]

I thought Reid was pretty good today

 

[MF]

I think Reid needs to get more involved in games. I know he had GWS's best defender today but i feel he should start imposing himself in games more now he has a few years experience under his belt. I just don't feel Reid is yet capable of kicking a bag of goals.

Still too young to expect much from him. A slight improvement on last year is good enough IMO.

 

[YorshireSwan]

Grundy was our best defender today, no doubt about that. He looked twice the player he was last year. Is he finally ready to go to another level?

Rampe looked good,primarily run-with duties, got beaten only once which unfortunately led to a GWS goal. Good debut.

Our forward line still looks a bit dysfunctional - despite a few strong marks by Mummy and Reid, it just seems a bit ad-hoc the way we attack and just bomb it in there sometimes.

That said, with Tippett coming in, you could possibly have Tipp, Mummy, Reid and Pyke - thats some serious tall timber, and potentially the makings of a very dangerous contested marking team. Good luck stopping all those 4 guys at once.

Our entry into our forward 50 was extremely poor today I thought, we seemed to just want to bomb it in long rather then the precision passing to leading forward or free midfielder that we had come to expect especially in the 2nd half of last season. Here's hoping it just comes down to us being rusty and in need of a bit of match practice.

 

[RW]

I think I'm just relieved to get this game out of the way, we were always going to be rusty and you know the Giants kids will run all day. A bit concerning that there were periods of the game where the Giants midfield was actually on top. But the stat flashed up on the big screen at quarter time said we had 31 tackles, it was a reasonably high pressure game early on. We did tire later, but the hunger was still there, just not the skill and fitness.

 

[jokiKan]

I think Reid needs to get more involved in games. I know he had GWS's best defender today but i feel he should start imposing himself in games more now he has a few years experience under his belt. I just don't feel Reid is yet capable of kicking a bag of goals.

I have a feeling that Reid can be most damaging for us if he gets on his bike and starts taking marks all over the ground. A bit like Nick Reiwoldt in his prime. With Tippett coming in, he'll get the best defender, which will make Reids job much easier.

 

[Mick Oxlong]

Shit game, good result!

 

[Swansujelly]

I thought Grundy played really well today. I was thinking (leading into the season) that 2013 could be the year that he steps up and gets rid of those howlers from his game. I thought the same before 2012 as well but it sidnt quiye pan out that way. He was up and about today, if he can maintain that throughout the year he'll go a long way to making up for the loss of aj. And if someone else can step in and fill ajs role, our defence will be even better than it was last year

he still shanked a few...same old Grundy, solid, but kicking...

 

[CAS79]

he still shanked a few...same old Grundy, solid, but kicking...

Stats had him in top 4 for disposal efficiency for us. He head one shocker kick that went over Someones head but he was pretty good.

 

[grimlock]

Solid game but unsure about the fluoro yellow boots

 

[S120]

Solid hit out all in all. GWS looked so impressive at times, particularly for the first 15 minutes or so of each quarter. They just couldn't sustain it. Sumner, Treloar, Patton, Shiel, Scully all had some great moments.
In terms of Swans...I actually feel like doing a player by player thing. Here we go:

2. Rhyce Shaw: a little scratchy all in all I thought. Provided his typical run and took the usual bunch of risks he often takes but some of them didn't come off as well as they did last year. Also beaten a few times in one on ones by Sumner. The kind of contests that he has made possibly the strongest part of his game in fact. But that all sounds very negative and I think he was pretty solid really.

3. Jarrad McVeigh: I actually sat down on the boundary on the wing today because level 4 was blocked off (where I normally sit and prefer to watch the game from - pretty sure they blocked it out as they knew it would be a small crowd) and siting down at ground level really gives you a greater appreciation for the amount of talk that goes on. McVeigh was probably the loudest midfield talker I heard. Not the most spectacular game from him but he laid some great tackles, hit some neat targets and played a solid game.

4. Dan Hannebery: for perhaps our most fit runner, he spends a hell of a lot of the game looking exhausted. My mate and I kept spotting him down on his haunches and seemingly ready to jack it in but he just keeps going. Similar kind of game to McVeigh really IMO.

5. Ryan O'Keefe: he was getting absolutely sick of the treatment he was getting from GWS, particularly Callan Ward. He got some frees towards the end of the game for scragging which was good to see as Ward really was having a very easy time of impeding ROK without fear of punishment. That said, I was a little surprised to see he got so much of it in the end. I didn't notice him all that much aside from when he was going mental at the umpires, pleading with them to give him a break.

9. Nick Malceski: his long raking left foot was at its pure best today. Some of his (risky) yet perfectly timed passes were as crisp and low as ever. Made a few poor defensive errors but was a mostly solid pillar of the defence.

12. Josh Kennedy: what more needs to be said? He is impossible to tackle. He is too strong. That's it. 24 of 28 possessions contested and so many handballs in traffic while standing up in would-be tackles. A colossus.

15. Kieren Jack: lived up to his billing as one of the best offensive midfielders in the comp in his first game as co-captain. I'm not sure there is another midfielder (maybe GAblett aside - ****, he destroyed the Saints tonight) I'd rather have on the run inside 50 with the ball in his hands. Deserved winner of the Kirk Medal.

19. Tony Armstrong: poor bugger. Just can't avoid the dreaded vest. Did as usual when he came on, linked up nicely and showed off his skill.

20. Sam Reid: quiet first half followed by a very encouraging second half. That mark was the highlight of the day and shows Reid at his best. When he gets a clean run, he is just about unstoppable. Obviously that won't happen a lot given he is well known around the league now, but a decent game from Sam today.

21. Ben McGlynn: cracking game from McGlynn. Not huge possession numbers but he is a mad man at the contest. Tackling, chasing, defending all at very high speed. Deservedly rewarded with a couple of beautifully taken goals. I genuinely thought he was in our best 6 or so. I just love watching him, he's just always having a go at someone.

24. Jude Bolton: this will continue to be the standard Jude game I think. He'll kick a goal or two, have 12-16 touches, tackle like a beast and give solid minutes in the middle.

25. Ted Richards: did as Ted does. Sags off when possible and intercepts, wins one on ones more due to smarts than anything else and marshalls a sterling defence. I did think Patton and Cameron managed to isolate each other well for quite a lot of the game and Cameron was definitely showing some pace over Ted at times, but nothing really came of it.

26. Luke Parker: tried his guts out as always but thought it just didn't work for him today. Just seemed to be a bit unlucky, having kicks smothered and getting crashed around a lot. Still did well though and was a good link from midfield to forward line.

29. Marty Mattner: as Jude played a standard Jude game, Marty played a standard Marty game. Did things correctly in defence by default. Some shoddy skill errors at times, but he is always in the right spot to spoil, tackle or defend in one way or the other.

30. Lewis Roberts-Thomson: I breathed a sigh of relief when I looked at the GWS goalsquare to see LRT lining up on Giles. I really didn't lik the idea of Rampe doing that job and LRT duly played his role to perfection. Possibly our best defender today IMO. Didn't give the resting ruckman an inch and supplied a steady hand every time he ventured near the ball. I thought he was outstanding.

32. Lewis Jetta: didn't look to be working all that hard for long stretches today. Had a lot of different opponents (Bugg, Hoskin-Elliott, Townsend I saw on him at different stages) and he didn't seem able to burn any of them off as easily as he was able to do to opponents last year. When he did get some time and space with the ball, he disposedof the ball superbly, but it didn't happen often. Poor game from Lewis offensively but he did make some great chases and tackles.

37. Adam Goodes: I think this is the type of game that highlights just how good Adam Goodes is. He wasn't sublime, he wasn't in his best form but he still had 22 disposals, 4 marks and 2 goals. On a so-so day. There are so few players capable of that. Freak.

38. Mike Pyke: perfect foil for Mumford. Took 3 strong contested grabs and was showing he could do it in the forward line too. Not a huge fan of his great big mop of hair, but he can do what he wants if he keeps putting in games like he did today.

39. Heath Grundy: did a very good job today IMO. Patton played a great little 10 minute period in the 2nd quarter when he kicked his first couple of goals (**** me, he is going to be a superstar) but aside from that, I thought Reg played a very good game on him. Standard couple of Reg silliness moments, but managed to spoil, rebound and mark exceptionally well at times.

40. Nick Smith: see Marty Mattner/Jude Bolton. Another quality game from Smith. There can't be many better lockdown small defenders in the AFL.

41. Shane Mumford: beast. Unadulterated beast. Let's hope Mumford stays fit this year because if today was a sign of things to come, good lord. 6 contested marks, constant threat up forward (strangely missed many set shots, he's normally a good shot for goal) and always throwing his weight around. The amount of bumps, hip and shoulders and just shoulders he laid was just hilarious. He's constantly getting stuck in somewhere.

43. Dane Rampe: didn't do a lot to wow me or depress me. Probably a good thing really, he didn't stick out at all physically (he's an impressively built fellow) and just went about his business without much fuss. Will prove to be solid depth for us this year I think.

 

[S120]

Bests (IMO): Kennedy, Jack, Mumford, Goodes, Grundy, McGlynn, LRT, Pyke

 

[CAS79]

Looks like our friends over on the Giants board need more rule lessons. Thinking that Scully grabbed jude as he dived into a back constitutes a tackle.

Lesson, if that was in reverse Jude would corkscrew not dive forward. And that's why we got a kick at goal.

 

[Sanecow]

Congratulations to UWS on kicking a goal for the lead during the game. Probably should tone down the celebrations though; that sort of carry on is best reserved for after the game, or at least for the second half.

 

[Grongey]

Agree with the bests in post #340 above. Liked what I saw from Dane Rampe, who Paul Roos insists on pronouncing as Rampee. Also the contributions of Sam Reid and Mike Pyke.

 

[SBD Gonzalez]

Agree with the bests in post #340 above. Liked what I saw from Dane Rampe, who Paul Roos insists on pronouncing as Rampee.

How is it pronounced?

 

[daymee]

How is it pronounced?

Ram-pee

 

[DeadlyAkkuret]

Let's be honest, we did what we needed to do. Reid really looked good in the second half and Grundy lifted in AJ's absence to keep our backline solid as ever.

McVeigh, Jack, Hannebery, JPK and the rest of the engine room were leading the way as you'd expect and we're just dusting the cobwebs off. After the Suns we should be firing just in time for some of the tougher games.

 

[grimlock]

Just saw the KJ tripping incident on Coniglio. Not sure what to make of it as I can't recall a similar incident in the near past. No one in their right mind would try a rugby league ankle tap. Perhaps he'll be lucky that Coniglio didn't fall over, just messed up his kick

 

[.Shotties.]

Just saw the KJ tripping incident on Coniglio. Not sure what to make of it as I can't recall a similar incident in the near past. No one in their right mind would try a rugby league ankle tap. Perhaps he'll be lucky that Coniglio didn't fall over, just messed up his kick

He'll get a game down to a reprimand, IMO. I don't agree with it, it's just what I think will come out of the lotto.

 

[alanlau34]

Agree with the bests in post #340 above. Liked what I saw from Dane Rampe, who Paul Roos insists on pronouncing as Rampee.

I would think Roos would know how to pronounce it? It's not like he is BT or Tony Shaw.

Or Dermie. Loved how JPK called him out on the ice cream. I lol'ed

 

[SkankDanker]

He'll get a game down to a reprimand, IMO. I don't agree with it, it's just what I think will come out of the lotto.

Very similar to one by Tom Scully. Ankle tap, not sure which way it will go. Jack can just claim repressed memory from the back yard.

I would think Roos would know how to pronounce it? It's not like he is BT or Tony Shaw.

Or Dermie. Loved how JPK called him out on the ice cream. I lol'ed

What happened with JPK? Missed it.