Game Day Swans (well, some of them) vs Suns (Preseason)

[SwansLifer]

Might be late on these but don't want to go through all posts.

Loved Riak. He is well ahead of what I thought he would be and believe he could/should be a 3rd tall/HB type for the start of his career. AND I will go even further, please Coxy don't be scared to throw him in there in his first year. Might not be for a whole season or anything, but give him a look.

Hanily was decent and gave a bit to look at it TBH and wouldn't be surprised if he gets a half look in for round 0 even though it looks like a logjam for his spot.

Overall though the young guys showed perhaps why they're not quite there. I have some thoughts on that anyway, ie the Swans not rotating players through often enough, but Co. Warner, Sheldrick, Mitchell and co didn't show enough poise when in possession and that is telling. But at least they are getting exposed to the level. I believe if they can get more exposure it will give them the confidence of breaking through because all of the young guys that played are good enough IMO.

Bice was terrific in D50 and Wicks equally too. Will give Cox no doubt to be able to swing these guys through as early as Round 0.

Anyway, probably a lot more that I missed but that's what springs to mind.

 

[RubbaDuck]

The silver lining of Gulden going down and out for months is the chance to sort through the rough for another diamond or three. Partly through necessity but also through choice our club has opted to bring in a lot more potential players rather than paying the big money for established greats.

We certainly develop more champions than we recruit, which suggests our development processes are very good. We also tend to hold onto those champions which suggests a close knit playing group and a view that we are in or never far from the premiership window.

So the opening that Gulden leaves may make the start of the season tougher but it opens a path for greater development of potential. This game showed just how many very good developing players we have coming through.

We've lost two grand finals recently due in large part to lack of depth. We've had underdone players, fatigued players, players carrying niggles which become injuries. We played untouchable footy early on when our team was fit and firing. We played some awful footy too, placing too much load on too few. We peaked early and had too little for the end.

I'm hoping we'll have at least four or five young players barging their way into top 22 this year. I'd like to see us get to 35 players ready to immediately step up into a senior role.

Established senior players who fail to perform should step back to the VFL snd allow someone else a chance. They should earn their way back to the senior list3e

 

[RubbaDuck]

Hanily & Wicks were the big positives for me.

Looking forward to seeing how both adjust to the step up from pre-season intensity/skill/opponent/tempo etc as the seasons kicks into full gear.

Wicks has been a real surprise packet down back. His pace out of defence is blistering, Blakey like only (without the sometimes silly risks that see Blakey tackled). As teams try to choke off our kicking options through the guts, the extra run and pace gives us a real wild card.

I was a bit meh about Wicks as a small forward but damn he'll be hard to budge from defence, especially as Harry is getting on a bit. Great move Cox

 

[giantsully]

I liked having Jordan, Gus, Mitchell, Macca etc in there. I thought when they put Jordan, Rowie & Gus in there in the last, we extracted really well. Matty Roberts was in the mix in the backs, playing almost as an extra mid. He's an exceptional player.

So many of the young guys were great last night. Andrew had a really good start to his career. Hanily & Bice both good. So was Paton. Green and Indi were also good. I thought Indi took a little while to get the pace of the game but when he did, he looked good. His tackling is super. Young Green is going to be s very good ruck. He was able to hold his own against Witts, who's is seen to be the strongest ruck in the AFL.

We came home really well. There was a period in the third and half way through the last where we were still trying to overdo stuff and stuffing it up. Our young blokes were getting used to the play and then about half way through the last we just clicked. I am pleased for the young guys and this bodes well for our depth, which was a ???? after the last VFL season. I think the change of VFL coach is a good thing because the players seem to be developing already and the young guys are on the same page as the seniors. It is noticeable already. Young Kirk, Green, Sid and Hanily are all developing well.

Just a shout out to Francis and Hamling. Both were really good. Wicks was great. Llloyd proved yet again why he is in the team, dependable and cool. Ladhams was good in the time he had. The McCartin experiment might just work but I am concerned over concussion. Amartey has gotten some aggression in the off season and I like it. He pushed three big guys, including Witts, and they were all vgiving ground. We tend to forget, Joel is a BIG BOY. He's 195cm and I think he is now about 100 kilos. His shoulders and arms are huge. But he has still retained the athleticism that mde him stand out. Some of his run downs of small players were sensational. These are players picked for their speed and he ran three down last night and they were not getting out of his tackles.

Great summary - saved me the effort and I couldn't have said it this well. Really loved the way the young blokes responded when the Suns came at them in the last. Hanlihy in particular was in it up to his neck. Good stuff.

 

[bedford]

2 GC players are so good , Rowell and the new Captain Anderson are so good to watch

 

[giantsully]

2 GC players are so good , Rowell and the new Captain Anderson are so good to watch

Rowell is freakn amazing, reminds me a little of Kel with that rare combination of fierce attack at the footy with superb skills. And yes, Anderson ain't half bad either. They'll be an interesting watch GC.

 

[bedford]

2 GC players are so good , Rowell and the new Captain Anderson are so good to watch

How good anyone disagree with this lol

 

[caesar88]

How good anyone disagree with this lol

I kinda disagree with it bedders.

Maybe it's that they don't have the outside players around them, but I feel like neither hurt you that much. There's a lot of handballs that go to a bloke under pressure so then they get it back. It takes them 3-4 possessions what other midfield pairings can do in 2 possessions.

They do have a red hot crack every game though, and probably need some more help in there.

 

[bedford]

I kinda disagree with it bedders.

Maybe it's that they don't have the outside players around them, but I feel like neither hurt you that much. There's a lot of handballs that go to a bloke under pressure so then they get it back. It takes them 3-4 possessions what other midfield pairings can do in 2 possessions.

They do have a red hot crack every game though, and probably need some more help in there.

Don't just go by last week 88 , they have Miller and Flanders as well