Swans best 22 in 2018?

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Curley has been our team reporter on the AFL website for I reckon about 5 years.
And he's terrible.

He blocked me on Twitter back when Kieran Jack and his parents were having issues. He was spruiking some garbage he wrote about it and I said "Is this for the sports section or gossip columns?".. apparently worthy of a block. Very thin skinned that one.
 
And he's terrible.

He blocked me on Twitter back when Kieran Jack and his parents were having issues. He was spruiking some garbage he wrote about it and I said "Is this for the sports section or gossip columns?".. apparently worthy of a block. Very thin skinned that one.
The majority of his tweets are GWS https://twitter.com/AdamCurleyMedia
 

SouthSwans

Norm Smith Medallist
Mar 29, 2005
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Bushrangers, Liverpool, Celtics
B: Smith - Grundy - Melican
HB: Mills - Rampe - Newman
C: Jones - Kennedy - Lloyd
HF: Papley - Reid - Hewett
F: Hayward - Franklin - Jack
R: Sinclair, Parker, Heeney
I/C: Towers, Hannebery, Rohan, McVeigh
Emerg: Cunningham, Fox, Marsh, Aliir
 

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sr20

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Sep 20, 2011
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Sitting at 6-3 we are ticking along nicely, be interested to see how people thing our Best 22 is shaping up.

This was the side from the weekend:

B: Smith - Grundy - McVeigh
HB: Jones - Rampe - Lloyd
C: Hannebery - Hewett - Cunningham
HF: Ronke - Franklin - Heeney
F: Papley - McCartin - Hayward
R: Sinclair - Kennedy - Parker
INT: Mills - Rohan - Jack - Florent

I think Reid coming in for McCartin is a no brainer once he is fit from injury, but this is great exposure and game time for a young kid.

I think Melican is essential at full fitness, especially when we come up against the likes of West Coast, Port Adelaide and Adelaide. Who he comes in for is the big question, as it could be any of Jack, Rohan or Cunningham at this stage.

Potential Best 22
B: Smith - Grundy - Rampe
HB: Jones - Melican - Lloyd
C: Hannebery - Hewett - Florent
HF: Ronke - Franklin - Heeney
F: Papley - Reid - Hayward
R: Sinclair - Kennedy - Parker
INT: Mills - Rohan - Jack - McVeigh

Plenty of goalscoring options, plenty of runners off half back, enough stoppers down back and a solid Midfield.
 
I think it would be Cunningham or Jack, but most likely Cunningham. Jack might have the yips with his goal kicking but his on-field presence in tight games more than makes up for that.
 
I think it would be Cunningham or Jack, but most likely Cunningham. Jack might have the yips with his goal kicking but his on-field presence in tight games more than makes up for that.

Cunningham doesn't seem to shank as many Wacko is these days.
 
I think it would be Cunningham or Jack, but most likely Cunningham. Jack might have the yips with his goal kicking but his on-field presence in tight games more than makes up for that.

Cunningham has been a far more consistent performer than Jack all season.

Cunningham is averaging 17 disposals at 79% DE
Jack is averaging 16 disposals at 60% DE

And that's not even taking into account that Cunningham has had way more of a crack than Jack this year (never thought I'd say that.) Jack is still capable of some good things, like the Geelong game when he was one of our best, but those games where he looks frail and goes to ground so easily and shits the bed in congestion are becoming more frequent. I know who I'd rather if it came down to it.
 
Cunningham doesn't seem to shank as many Wacko is these days.
I like Cunningham and think that in most other clubs he would be best 22, I just don't think that he can offer as much as Jack so he will be the one that goes.

Cunningham has been a far more consistent performer than Jack all season.

Cunningham is averaging 17 disposals at 79% DE
Jack is averaging 16 disposals at 60% DE

And that's not even taking into account that Cunningham has had way more of a crack than Jack this year (never thought I'd say that.) Jack is still capable of some good things, like the Geelong game when he was one of our best, but those games where he looks frail and goes to ground so easily and shits the bed in congestion are becoming more frequent. I know who I'd rather if it came down to it.

Seriously, I don't know where you get this stuff from... I have never seen him 'look frail' or 's**t the bed in congestion'. He's made some errors sure, and his goal kicking has been very wayward this season, but the experience and leadership skills he brings to a very young team more than outweigh any errors he makes. Have you seen his list of credentials? Compared to all this wealth of experience, Cunningham brings speed and a slightly better average disposals number at a better effective rate.

I do not believe there is even the slightest chance that dropping Jack would be preferred to dropping Cunningham, all other aspects being equal.
 
I like Cunningham and think that in most other clubs he would be best 22, I just don't think that he can offer as much as Jack so he will be the one that goes.



Seriously, I don't know where you get this stuff from... I have never seen him 'look frail' or 's**t the bed in congestion'. He's made some errors sure, and his goal kicking has been very wayward this season, but the experience and leadership skills he brings to a very young team more than outweigh any errors he makes. Have you seen his list of credentials? Compared to all this wealth of experience, Cunningham brings speed and a slightly better average disposals number at a better effective rate.

I do not believe there is even the slightest chance that dropping Jack would be preferred to dropping Cunningham, all other aspects being equal.

Jack's season has been defined by him mostly shitting the bed in congestion. He's good for a classic Jack sidestep and a selling of the candy, but when he's not doing that he is going to ground incredibly easy, fumbling the easiest of should-be possessions, and panicking so much under pressure that he'll just give it straight to an un-manned opponent. I never go with the 'he's cooked', 'he needs to retire' crap that is dribbled on here, but he is ageing and that is very apparent. He's not done yet, but he's also not the lock he once was. If he's not performing and is putting in too many games like the other night he should be in the reserves IMO.

Btw if you suggest a player should be in the reserves on here you're met with bewilderment. If Adam ******* Goodes went to the reserves when he wasn't performing up to standard, then the likes of Jack and Rohan etc definitely can! It's how you keep every member of the 22 accountable.
 
I like Cunningham and think that in most other clubs he would be best 22, I just don't think that he can offer as much as Jack so he will be the one that goes.



Seriously, I don't know where you get this stuff from... I have never seen him 'look frail' or 's**t the bed in congestion'. He's made some errors sure, and his goal kicking has been very wayward this season, but the experience and leadership skills he brings to a very young team more than outweigh any errors he makes. Have you seen his list of credentials? Compared to all this wealth of experience, Cunningham brings speed and a slightly better average disposals number at a better effective rate.

I do not believe there is even the slightest chance that dropping Jack would be preferred to dropping Cunningham, all other aspects being equal.
Experience should mean bugger all when someone else is clearly outperforming you.

Cunningham has been very good all year. One of the better things about the team this year has been their ability to break the lines on bigger fields (which will be very important come finals time) and Cunningham has been one of the best at that. Not to mention he smashed Isaac Smith who has been close to Hawthorn's best player this year.

It will be a joke if he gets dropped if he continues to perform how he currently is.
 

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Jack's season has been defined by him mostly shitting the bed in congestion. He's good for a classic Jack sidestep and a selling of the candy, but when he's not doing that he is going to ground incredibly easy, fumbling the easiest of should-be possessions, and panicking so much under pressure that he'll just give it straight to an un-manned opponent. I never go with the 'he's cooked', 'he needs to retire' crap that is dribbled on here, but he is ageing and that is very apparent. He's not done yet, but he's also not the lock he once was. If he's not performing and is putting in too many games like the other night he should be in the reserves IMO.

Btw if you suggest a player should be in the reserves on here you're met with bewilderment. If Adam ******* Goodes went to the reserves when he wasn't performing up to standard, then the likes of Jack and Rohan etc definitely can! It's how you keep every member of the 22 accountable.
I totally disagree with the first paragraph with the exception of the last line. I agree that if you are out of form and not performing to the required standard then you should not make the 22. But you don't send a player to the reserves just because he is not performing at his best, you only send him if the level he is performing at is lower than any replacement might be. I think Jack brings more to the team than Cunningham.
 

sr20

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Cunningham has been a far more consistent performer than Jack all season.

Cunningham is averaging 17 disposals at 79% DE
Jack is averaging 16 disposals at 60% DE


And that's not even taking into account that Cunningham has had way more of a crack than Jack this year (never thought I'd say that.) Jack is still capable of some good things, like the Geelong game when he was one of our best, but those games where he looks frail and goes to ground so easily and shits the bed in congestion are becoming more frequent. I know who I'd rather if it came down to it.

That in itself would suggest to me that Cunningham probably has a little more worth than Jack at this stage if one of them had to go - and then you add in the fact that he can also play a lock down role adds to that. Cunningham's efficiency may be slightly inflated by a bit of chipping around the back half, but you need those link players.
 
I totally disagree with the first paragraph with the exception of the last line. I agree that if you are out of form and not performing to the required standard then you should not make the 22. But you don't send a player to the reserves just because he is not performing at his best, you only send him if the level he is performing at is lower than any replacement might be. I think Jack brings more to the team than Cunningham.

I guess we'll agree to disagree then. I'm not saying Jack should be dropped, but he's definitely one of the few who would want to improve their output should those in the reserves continue to bang the door down. (Towers for one was unlucky to be dropped.)
 
I totally disagree with the first paragraph with the exception of the last line. I agree that if you are out of form and not performing to the required standard then you should not make the 22. But you don't send a player to the reserves just because he is not performing at his best, you only send him if the level he is performing at is lower than any replacement might be. I think Jack brings more to the team than Cunningham.
The thing is though, he doesn't. You can't compare stats and when Cunningham's are comfortably better, dismiss that because 'experience'. It's not as is we're talking about a rookie here either. Cunningham will play his 100th game this season.

Besides, if the last two Grand Finals showed anything, it's that experience is overrated in the modern game.
 
Experience should mean bugger all when someone else is clearly outperforming you.

Cunningham has been very good all year. One of the better things about the team this year has been their ability to break the lines on bigger fields (which will be very important come finals time) and Cunningham has been one of the best at that. Not to mention he smashed Isaac Smith who has been close to Hawthorn's best player this year.

It will be a joke if he gets dropped if he continues to perform how he currently is.
I agree that he has had a brilliant year and has improved out of sight. He will certainly be hardly done by if he is dropped. The question was who do you drop to bring Melican back in and Rohan, Jack and Cunningham were the options provided... For me it would be Cunningham if they were my only options.
 
The thing is though, he doesn't. You can't compare stats and when Cunningham's are comfortably better, dismiss that because 'experience'. It's not as is we're talking about a rookie here either. Cunningham will play his 100th game this season.

Besides, if the last two Grand Finals showed anything, it's that experience is overrated in the modern game.
Well I reckon you can, you know, because I'm pretty sure that I just did... ;) And it's not just his experience, it's his leadership skills as well. Cunningham's skills might be 'comfortably better' at the moment, but can he hold a team together when the pressure is on? Can he bring the structure back when it's lost under pressure? Jack brings a lot more than just good stats to the team.
 
Well I reckon you can, you know, because I'm pretty sure that I just did... ;) And it's not just his experience, it's his leadership skills as well. Cunningham's skills might be 'comfortably better' at the moment, but can he hold a team together when the pressure is on? Can he bring the structure back when it's lost under pressure? Jack brings a lot more than just good stats to the team.
I disagree. Jack's best performance this season was the Cats, and even on that day, he was only marginally better than Cunningham. Otherwise other than maybe the North and Eagles games, Cunningham has been better. We've had a handful of close ones in that bunch too. The Hawthorn, Bulldogs and Crows games went down to the wire. Even the GWS game was close for most the night. The Crows game was when we needed someone like Jack to hold the team together and bring the structure back, and he was our worst player that night.

I'm also not sure why you put single quotation makes around "comfortably better", the stats shown he has been comfortably more efficient than Kizza. Hitting the target 8 out of 10 times is a pretty huge difference compared to hitting the target 6 out of 10 times. Especially considering Cunningham is more likely to take on difficult, line-breaking kicks than Kizza.
 
I do understand where you are coming from, and agree that the statics show indicate that Cunninghams is playing better than Jack so far this season. I just don't think that stats tell the full story.

No doubt time will prove one of us right, but for now, I think I'll just agree to disagree.
 
Jun 14, 2011
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Your all wrong anyway, because if the choice is out of Kiz, Harry or Gaz then Gaz is the one that should be dropped. We have enough x-factor in our forward line with Paps, Ronke and Hayward that we don't need to continue to carry Gaz every single game for his 7 disposals. Gaz for Melican, Tmac for Reid.

Best 22 right there
 
Jul 20, 2001
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Isn’t it great that the likes of Hayward, Florent and Ronke pushing up is allowing us to have these discussions about who is in the best 22 from a longer list of players.

Looking forward to Stoddart, CoR and others adding to that pressure for spots.
 
Feb 5, 2012
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Your all wrong anyway, because if the choice is out of Kiz, Harry or Gaz then Gaz is the one that should be dropped. We have enough x-factor in our forward line with Paps, Ronke and Hayward that we don't need to continue to carry Gaz every single game for his 7 disposals. Gaz for Melican, Tmac for Reid.

Best 22 right there

Preach it brother!
 
Isn’t it great that the likes of Hayward, Florent and Ronke pushing up is allowing us to have these discussions about who is in the best 22 from a longer list of players.

Looking forward to Stoddart, CoR and others adding to that pressure for spots.
and I feel for Dawson being injured, I was so looking forward to seeing him in the seniors.
From Tom Harley's injury update, back in mai training but perhaps 1-2 weeks away from playing NEAFL,
 
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