Swans best 22 in 2018?

[CD__]

Where did the ‘Mills is slow’ sentiment come from? He’s obviously not as fast as Gaz but he’s definitely not slow...of our current mids he would have JPK, Parker, Hanners and Hewett covered and be the equal of Heeney.

 

[Jewelsbon]

Fox Sports best 22 for Swans
https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/be...8/news-story/d291cf53ee16f1aefc6d5f6e19af18b7

I appear to be the only one here, but I think it's a pretty fair and reasoned article by someone who actually does know our team, the list is BEST 22 and if I was rating our list from 1 to 45 that would be pretty close to it.

The only exception I'd make is Tippett and that's a heart call not a logical one, I'm still a fan of big Tipps so I live in hope......

 

[6yearsold]

mills is slow, dawson is a must and k. jack and mcveigh can't play in the same team. interesting.

 

[Grongey]

I don't think Florent is quite ready. Also Jordan Dawson is overdue foe some Seniors game time.

 

[6yearsold]

mills will be the next jpk

 

[Wolftone]

Didn't Deano put himself on the market at the end of 2016. Not one other team appeared to consider him list worthy let alone best 22. The bloke tries hard, but lacks good decision making. Sure he improved a bit in 2017 but he needed to. I do not see him as being best 22 next year.

Here we go again and again and again. Towers stood up against the Cats. He tackled, ran, chased, hit and banged his head against the turf because too few were doing what he was. He laid 9 tackles and should have been rewarded 6 of those but did not get one free. Rampe, Cunningham, Papley, Rohan, Reid, Smith and Sinclair were all poor, far poorer than Deano. Reg was the victim of too many tall players to mind, that was bad coaching and selection. Some of the players who got plenty of ball were not effective like Macca and Kizza. They both wasted the ball badly on most occasions due to pressure. Same goes for Joey & Hannas, who were both under pressure too often. Luke Parker tried hard but let's face it he had a poor first three quarters.

You are only as good as your last game and our last game was poor. Yet one of the players who tried his heart out is labelled by you as not good enough. Do you know I played for a club at one time who were not quite good enough. A coach arrived at the club who played in plenty of premierships for Port Adelaide. He put slogans on every wall in the change room. Simple stuff bur effective. Players that were seen as very ordinary not quite A grade players had wonderful seasons and one of our players won the medal. We won premierships in two divisions and runners up in one that year. Our juniors all won premierships. It's called attitude. The bloke who won the medal went on to play for Glenelg in two premierships and to be back pocket for South Australia, his name is Scott Salisbury. Scotty was told by Glenelg to go away because he wasn't good enough but Graham Campbell saw him and said his problem was not ability but fitness. Under Campbell and then Graeme Cornes, Salisbury bloomed into a really good, tough player who played for his state. I'm not saying that Deano will be a star but I'm saying that he is developing very well from how he arrived. He has ability but most importantly he has tenacity. He never gives in. That is so important. Wayne Broadbridge who coached Plympton must have had a similar outlook to Horse when it came to players, because he was able to get the bast out of just good solid players. I think Horse is bit by bit getting the best out of Deano.

 

[Kirkswan]

Again I reiterate really to know something is to observe and investigate. If you refuse to do this you are susceptible to being seen to harbour either naivety or ignorance. I'm sure that is not the case but.. The point I am making is no matter who's opinions you read they are just opinions. Grimlock, while following the reserves assiduously, still would have preconceptions, set ideas and ideals, biases (everyone has biases it's impossible not to even though we try) and expectations. For instance Grimlock's expectations, like most of us, of Aliir may have been far higher than the reality, they may not too. Just a theoretical example. The thing is if you wish to have an INFORMED opinion of the reserves players there is no replacement to watching the games on YouTube, NEAFL TV.

Not once did I suggest Aliir would be an automatic inclusion in the 22. But he can, and possibly will, play an integral part in our season. I don't believe any player is irreplaceable, unlike some here, but there are some that yell at you 'pick me' and you automatically do. That is probably a mistake as sometimes we tend to overlook form, actions on the park and ability to withstand pressure in big games.

I am very well aware Big Footy is about opinions but if you engender INFORMED opinions, not just by reading other people's opinions, but by investigation then your opinion holds much more weight. This is the trouble with Social Media. The acceptance that what other people write is indeed fact or close to fact. In reality it is just opinion and not necessarily a true and correct record of the facts. In defence of Grimlock I'm sure he does his best to give a very unbiased and as close as possible factual account of matches and performances. But we can only write from our own epistemological standpoint.

Right... thanks very much for your 'informed' opinions! Unfortunately, I live in the real world and the best I can manage at the moment is to get on to hop on to Big Footy once or twice a week for an hour or so.

FYI... On 20 July 2017 at 7am, I was standing on Penrith Station waiting for my train to work when I was notified my mother (83) had fallen and been taken to hospital. I left immediately and headed north and got there 8 hours later. She had broken her hip and arm, cracked her jaw and toes. She underwent surgery, four days later developed post surgery pneumonia, complicated that with congestive heart failure. I cared for my dad (84), and visited my mum daily and generally did my best to relieve their stress and care for them until mid September when she went into a nursing home. I eased my dad into living alone for the first time in 59 years. In mid October, the week before I was due to go home, he suffered a stroke, and now I am caring for him. I have not been home since July. During all of this I was being retrenched and am now out of work altogether. I do not have time to watch replays of reserves games!

I have not had more than four hours to myself (in one go) in almost six months. I haven't been to any games since July, I wasn't there when Buddy scored his 10 goals and a whole host of other Swannies moments... Life is about choices, I've made mine and I'll live with them. I don't tell you this to make you feel bad, but to remind you that all of us are living every day lives out here. Some euphoric, some tragic, most somewhere in between.

There is no way I am going to deprive myself of an outlet that I enjoy, simply because you think that I have not done enough research...

 

[SwansProudly]

Right... thanks very much for your 'informed' opinions! Unfortunately, I live in the real world and the best I can manage at the moment is to get on to hop on to Big Footy once or twice a week for an hour or so.

FYI... On 20 July 2017 at 7am, I was standing on Penrith Station waiting for my train to work when I was notified my mother (83) had fallen and been taken to hospital. I left immediately and headed north and got there 8 hours later. She had broken her hip and arm, cracked her jaw and toes. She underwent surgery, four days later developed post surgery pneumonia, complicated that with congestive heart failure. I cared for my dad (84), and visited my mum daily and generally did my best to relieve their stress and care for them until mid September when she went into a nursing home. I eased my dad into living alone for the first time in 59 years. In mid October, the week before I was due to go home, he suffered a stroke, and now I am caring for him. I have not been home since July. During all of this I was being retrenched and am now out of work altogether. I do not have time to watch replays of reserves games!

I have not had more than four hours to myself (in one go) in almost six months. I haven't been to any games since July, I wasn't there when Buddy scored his 10 goals and a whole host of other Swannies moments... Life is about choices, I've made mine and I'll live with them. I don't tell you this to make you feel bad, but to remind you that all of us are living every day lives out here. Some euphoric, some tragic, most somewhere in between.

There is no way I am going to deprive myself of an outlet that I enjoy, simply because you think that I have not done enough research...

Wishing all the best for your parents. Please take care of the carer as well.

 

[plays tall 1]

Is there any chance Heeney moves to the midfield full-time this year? How’s his tank?

 

[RUNVS]

Is there any chance Heeney moves to the midfield full-time this year? How’s his tank?

A reasonably good chance. I also think his tank is very solid. He struggled a bit in 2017 to run out games but he was still recovering from glandular fever.

 

[scaryness]

Was already a mid full-time last year, no?

 

[CD__]

Was already a mid full-time last year, no?

Pretty close to it.

 

[caesar88]

I want Heeney’s marking and class around the goals.

Sue me

 

[caesar88]

Here we go again and again and again. Towers stood up against the Cats. He tackled, ran, chased, hit and banged his head against the turf because too few were doing what he was. He laid 9 tackles and should have been rewarded 6 of those but did not get one free. Rampe, Cunningham, Papley, Rohan, Reid, Smith and Sinclair were all poor, far poorer than Deano. Reg was the victim of too many tall players to mind, that was bad coaching and selection. Some of the players who got plenty of ball were not effective like Macca and Kizza. They both wasted the ball badly on most occasions due to pressure. Same goes for Joey & Hannas, who were both under pressure too often. Luke Parker tried hard but let's face it he had a poor first three quarters.

You are only as good as your last game and our last game was poor. Yet one of the players who tried his heart out is labelled by you as not good enough. Do you know I played for a club at one time who were not quite good enough. A coach arrived at the club who played in plenty of premierships for Port Adelaide. He put slogans on every wall in the change room. Simple stuff bur effective. Players that were seen as very ordinary not quite A grade players had wonderful seasons and one of our players won the medal. We won premierships in two divisions and runners up in one that year. Our juniors all won premierships. It's called attitude. The bloke who won the medal went on to play for Glenelg in two premierships and to be back pocket for South Australia, his name is Scott Salisbury. Scotty was told by Glenelg to go away because he wasn't good enough but Graham Campbell saw him and said his problem was not ability but fitness. Under Campbell and then Graeme Cornes, Salisbury bloomed into a really good, tough player who played for his state. I'm not saying that Deano will be a star but I'm saying that he is developing very well from how he arrived. He has ability but most importantly he has tenacity. He never gives in. That is so important. Wayne Broadbridge who coached Plympton must have had a similar outlook to Horse when it came to players, because he was able to get the bast out of just good solid players. I think Horse is bit by bit getting the best out of Deano.

Ffs he had 12 possessions, had no impact on the scoreboard and his nine tackles were mostly ineffective because his execution is poor (he is like Reid in this department - applies the tackle but is shaken easily.) Maybe he’s best 22, maybe he’s not. Maybe some of us are too harsh on him and he could still improve. But can we please not make out like his game against Geelong was this stellar effort that will go down in Bloods history for it’s bravery and leadership? It was an OK performance in a game full of OK performances by most Swans players.

I hope he does improve because his assets are good ones. He can move the ball quickly out of the centre, he can pinch-hit in the ruck reasonably well, and he has that Tom Mitchell-esque capacity for making special goals happen out of nothing. The problem is it’s all way too few and far between for him to be taken seriously in my opinion. I just don’t think we’re at that point where we know which Towers we are going to get on a weekly basis, and given he’s 27 and played nearly 50 games I seriously doubt he’ll ever get to that point. And I think we are a good enough side where anyone who is in our best 22 we should have a pretty solid understanding of what we will get from them every game. Hell, Hewett and Papley and Mills debuted in the same game - all under 20 years of age - and haven’t taken a single step back since.

I still think some people are confusing Towers improvement with Towers actual value to the side, and those who are waiting on Towers to get better ‘bit by bit’ are probably the same people who think Sam Reid could still be a gun forward if he’s given time. But I won’t open that can of worms...

 

[mtooler]

Ffs he had 12 possessions, had no impact on the scoreboard and his nine tackles were mostly ineffective because his execution is poor (he is like Reid in this department - applies the tackle but is shaken easily.) Maybe he’s best 22, maybe he’s not. Maybe some of us are too harsh on him and he could still improve. But can we please not make out like his game against Geelong was this stellar effort that will go down in Bloods history for it’s bravery and leadership? It was an OK performance in a game full of OK performances by most Swans players.

I hope he does improve because his assets are good ones. He can move the ball quickly out of the centre, he can pinch-hit in the ruck reasonably well, and he has that Tom Mitchell-esque capacity for making special goals happen out of nothing. The problem is it’s all way too few and far between for him to be taken seriously in my opinion. I just don’t think we’re at that point where we know which Towers we are going to get on a weekly basis, and given he’s 27 and played nearly 50 games I seriously doubt he’ll ever get to that point. And I think we are a good enough side where anyone who is in our best 22 we should have a pretty solid understanding of what we will get from them every game. Hell, Hewett and Papley and Mills debuted in the same game - all under 20 years of age - and haven’t taken a single step back since.

I still think some people are confusing Towers improvement with Towers actual value to the side, and those who are waiting on Towers to get better ‘bit by bit’ are probably the same people who think Sam Reid could still be a gun forward if he’s given time. But I won’t open that can of worms...

Tend to agree, was genuinely surprised Reid held onto some marks leading up to the wing in 2017.

 

[Jewelsbon]

Ffs he had 12 possessions, had no impact on the scoreboard and his nine tackles were mostly ineffective because his execution is poor (he is like Reid in this department - applies the tackle but is shaken easily.) Maybe he’s best 22, maybe he’s not. Maybe some of us are too harsh on him and he could still improve. But can we please not make out like his game against Geelong was this stellar effort that will go down in Bloods history for it’s bravery and leadership? It was an OK performance in a game full of OK performances by most Swans players.

I hope he does improve because his assets are good ones. He can move the ball quickly out of the centre, he can pinch-hit in the ruck reasonably well, and he has that Tom Mitchell-esque capacity for making special goals happen out of nothing. The problem is it’s all way too few and far between for him to be taken seriously in my opinion. I just don’t think we’re at that point where we know which Towers we are going to get on a weekly basis, and given he’s 27 and played nearly 50 games I seriously doubt he’ll ever get to that point. And I think we are a good enough side where anyone who is in our best 22 we should have a pretty solid understanding of what we will get from them every game. Hell, Hewett and Papley and Mills debuted in the same game - all under 20 years of age - and haven’t taken a single step back since.

I still think some people are confusing Towers improvement with Towers actual value to the side, and those who are waiting on Towers to get better ‘bit by bit’ are probably the same people who think Sam Reid could still be a gun forward if he’s given time. But I won’t open that can of worms...

I kind of half agree and half disagree with you here.
I certainly don't think dear old Fawlty (thank you to whoever the genius was that came up with that one, suits him to a tee) is going to improve and agree he had a decent game against Geelong, but decent was all it was certainly not spectacular, but I think he's a very handy bloke to have around as he can cover a multitude of positions ably.
I don't think he's best 22 but I'd rate him as maybe 23rd/24th and seeing as it's pretty close to never that the best 22 is available, he's the sort of player every club would like on their list.

 

[caesar88]

I kind of half agree and half disagree with you here.
I certainly don't think dear old Fawlty (thank you to whoever the genius was that came up with that one, suits him to a tee) is going to improve and agree he had a decent game against Geelong, but decent was all it was certainly not spectacular, but I think he's a very handy bloke to have around as he can cover a multitude of positions ably.
I don't think he's best 22 but I'd rate him as maybe 23rd/24th and seeing as it's pretty close to never that the best 22 is available, he's the sort of player every club would like on their list.

Oh yeah he's great depth, and if there's injuries there's no reason he shouldn't be playing. He has his spot over Florent, Hayward, Dawson etc and I guess he earned it. But something tells me at least one of them will be seriously banging the door down by mid-2018, if not earlier. Towers improvement that his defenders so speak of needs to happen pretty quickly next year or he'll be exposed

 

[mikey_san]

Where did the ‘Mills is slow’ sentiment come from? He’s obviously not as fast as Gaz but he’s definitely not slow...of our current mids he would have JPK, Parker, Hanners and Hewett covered and be the equal of Heeney.

He's so slow it takes him an hour and half to watch 60 minutes.

 

[mikey_san]

I want Heeney’s marking and class around the goals.

Sue me

I think his temperament is better suited to forward anyway with a bit of time in mids rather than the other way round. I'd rather Hewett spends more time in mids as an extractor than Heeney. Will be interesting to see how Heeney goes this season - if he's over the glandular fever - and if he comes on as hoped.

 

[mtooler]

Oh yeah he's great depth, and if there's injuries there's no reason he shouldn't be playing. He has his spot over Florent, Hayward, Dawson etc and I guess he earned it. But something tells me at least one of them will be seriously banging the door down by mid-2018, if not earlier. Towers improvement that his defenders so speak of needs to happen pretty quickly next year or he'll be exposed

I definitely think Hayward needs to play ahead of him for his development.

 

[mtooler]

You don't need electric speed to be a midfielder. GAJ, Sam Mitchell and others. Skills, spacial awareness, reading of the game, foot skills... Mills will be fine and we should look to getting the ball in his hands more delivering inside 50.

 

[Vin Rogue]

Right... thanks very much for your 'informed' opinions! Unfortunately, I live in the real world and the best I can manage at the moment is to get on to hop on to Big Footy once or twice a week for an hour or so.

FYI... On 20 July 2017 at 7am, I was standing on Penrith Station waiting for my train to work when I was notified my mother (83) had fallen and been taken to hospital. I left immediately and headed north and got there 8 hours later. She had broken her hip and arm, cracked her jaw and toes. She underwent surgery, four days later developed post surgery pneumonia, complicated that with congestive heart failure. I cared for my dad (84), and visited my mum daily and generally did my best to relieve their stress and care for them until mid September when she went into a nursing home. I eased my dad into living alone for the first time in 59 years. In mid October, the week before I was due to go home, he suffered a stroke, and now I am caring for him. I have not been home since July. During all of this I was being retrenched and am now out of work altogether. I do not have time to watch replays of reserves games!

I have not had more than four hours to myself (in one go) in almost six months. I haven't been to any games since July, I wasn't there when Buddy scored his 10 goals and a whole host of other Swannies moments... Life is about choices, I've made mine and I'll live with them. I don't tell you this to make you feel bad, but to remind you that all of us are living every day lives out here. Some euphoric, some tragic, most somewhere in between.

There is no way I am going to deprive myself of an outlet that I enjoy, simply because you think that I have not done enough research...

Reckon you might have earned much respect from those who read your post. You are right to remind us all that bigfooty plays different roles in our lives and whilst some posters can push our rage buttons, we need to see a fellow traveller who is our other self in different circumstances. Stay strong and healthy and be proud of what you stand for. The path you have chosen is not easily trod - but very easy to admire.

 

[Kapanis]

Reckon you might have earned much respect from those who read your post. You are right to remind us all that bigfooty plays different roles in our lives and whilst some posters can push our rage buttons, we need to see a fellow traveller who is our other self in different circumstances. Stay strong and healthy and be proud of what you stand for. The path you have chosen is not easily trod - but very easy to admire.

Quality post that.

 

[getgaff]

Pardon the intrusion folks but thought I'd offer my views on the best 22 from an outsiders perspective. Feel free to pick apart as you wish.

FULL BACK: Allir Alir/ OR Lewis Melican ~ Heath Grundy ~ Nick Smith
HALF BACK: Zak Jones ~ Dane Rampe ~ Jake Lloyd
CENTRE: Callum Mills ~ Josh Kennedy ~ Dan Hannebery
HALF FORWARD: George Hewett ~ Lance Franklin ~ Kieren Jack
FULL FORWARD: Tom Papley ~ Sam Reid ~ Will Hayward
1st RUCK: Sam Naismith ~ Luke Parker ~ Isaac Heeney
INTERCHANGE: Jarrad McVeigh ~ Oliver Florent ~ Nic Newman
Dean Towers/ OR 2nd Ruck

 

[scaryness]

Tippett #1 ruck