Tom Swift

[94_Eagles]

Found the ball a lot today but butchered it a lot. One thing you can't teach is finding the ball which Swift and Masten seem to have the innate ability to do.

Nic Nat is worrying tho...

 

[ziad]

Found the ball a lot today but butchered it a lot. One thing you can't teach is finding the ball which Swift and Masten seem to have the innate ability to do.

Nic Nat is worrying tho...

swifts best game . more composure - not a lot though but improving.

The key - he has real pace tried to run on many occasions - I am sure he is being encouraged to run and he will get confident. a couple of excellent tackle as well - pace and can tackle - a good combo

nic - at time brilliant attacking handball from a contest. tackles and blocks with force! the key is he like many has no confidence - that will grow as a team but not over night.

 

[Eastern Rangers]

Ive still be amused at his bad luck, he tracks the ball so well and has been running pretty hard. Butchered the ball on two occasions by foot and once by hand really badly but he was generally pretty effective.

Still good to see him take tackles and try to break them. A couple of preseasons and hell be able to do it.

Playing pretty uncontested football as well at the moment, so hes not getting in and under like he does at WAFL level.

I think someone else said if we get Masten, Swift and Scully in one side we could have one very special and very prolific midfield combo.

 

[greennick]

Swift doesn't look like he is quite up to it yet, but at least he appears to be getting more of the ball. Better disposal will follow once he gets a bit more experience.

That is the whole problem with all these kids, there are so many in the team and they really just need more experience on the ball to get better quickly. We will be average most of the time when relying on so many kids though.

 

[mitchzz]

Swift was pretty good, he was a bit fumbly at times which I thought was odd, because when I think of him I think of how clean he is. Screwed up a few bounces but I thought he was pretty good.

If we can draft 2 top 5 midfielders... oh man!... Scully, Morabito, Masten, Swift, Shuey, Selwood, Ebert!

That would be freaking awesome.

 

[Crimson King]

Jako made a good point about Naitanui. He said right now it looks like he lacks the confidence to take on the opposition and everytime he gets the ball he wants to put a team mate into a better position rather than taking the game on.

 

[Ochre]

Found the ball a lot today but butchered it a lot. One thing you can't teach is finding the ball which Swift and Masten seem to have the innate ability to do.

the kid had barely kicked the ball for two years, hopefully he can get his kiicking back to where it was before his injuries over the pre season

Nic Nat is worrying tho...

i thought he was good, should have had 4 goal assists (had 2), as CK said he just needs more confidence

 

[joeyavalanche]

Swift is so obviously playing with no confidence.
In the last half he got the ball and sidestepped, he doesnt seem to be playing with an attacking mentality, more just a "get rid of the ball effectively" one.

Even many of his simple handballs to open players were very slow, off the mark. Hope he comes good.

And why does Nic Nat seem to just jog along when he looks like he is in pouncing region of his opponent?

Players are worried by him, Cyril Rioli will always put up a small chanse, even if its just to worry the opposition and put pressur eon, not because he can actually catch them

 

[Chris_6678]

Swift may have not played a good game,but one thing i liked was he is finnaly taking the game on and not just siting back and collecting cheap possies

 

[scooter22]

Jako made a good point

 

[Crimson King]

I know!

Though he returned to being 'classic' Jako when he bagged Masten for a bad kick when he speared a pass to Lynch only to be cut off by Selwood.

 

[eagles rule]

Bit fumbley alright needs a lot of games put into him to bring him up to the pace

of the game.Keep playing him I reckon.

On Naita everyone knows he`s on a steep learning curve so will probably only

perform in patches so it`s hard to be too critical on his input at this stage.

 

[thesmallprint]

I know!

Though he returned to being 'classic' Jako when he bagged Masten for a bad kick when he speared a pass to Lynch only to be cut off by Selwood.

I lol'd at the pre game talk when after bagging Masten constantly for the last year he was suddenly a superstar

I think you have to look at what Fremantle have done with their youngsters. They've persisted and even though some have looked out of their depth at times they've all shown really good improvement. Swift hasn't played for two years and clearly lacks confidence at the top level. I hope they play him for the rest of the year and just tell him to take the game on. Same with Naitanui.

 

[WCFaithful]

Swift really does look like a kid out there but his confidence will grow and its already showing.

Im not sure what to think of naitanui. He does good things when he gets the ball but he just looks like he's not sure what he's meant to be doing. He runs around near the play but seems to be very hesitant to get amongst it.

 

[didaka]

You can tell with Swift that he doesn't feel anywhere near at home yet, thus shown up by the fact that he just does not want to put the ball on his boot. A little afraid of turning the footy over down the line at this point, that's why he continues to look for the short option and give the responsibility to other players..

He will get better with every game simply for the fact that as every game goes by he will feel like he belongs that little bit extra.

Finds the footy well, and the good part is he is creative with his hands, and knows what's going on around him.

He'll be a good player.

 

[Underdog]

And why does Nic Nat seem to just jog along when he looks like he is in pouncing region of his opponent?

His game style requires the fitness to get to as many contests as possible. He is currently nowhere near fit enough. That's not his fault, he had no pre-season and didn't play in the first half of the year.

Ultimately this year is about giving him some experience and taste.

FWIW, I think he has shown plenty. Particularly yesterday where he won a good number of hitouts, applied pressure, won possessions and set up some scoring opportunities - one through a trademark contested possession in a pack and a fantastic, creative handball out to a running player.

He's already performing better then many AFL ruckman. Imagine when he has experience, learns more about positioning, gains fitness and muscle!

Lets also keep in mind that he has only played a handful of games and it's already apparent that opposition teams have devised tactics to combat him. That's a mighty amount of respect to his ability

 

[neng]

Both players have shown they will be up to it.
Even though Swift got caught holding the ball twice, I like the fact he is attempting to take the game on.

One thing I have noticed is that Nat gets himself involved when the Eagles begin to get a bit of a run on, or start to dominate the contests. Otherwise he runs into the ugliest positions on the field to try and get a kick. But when he gains more fitness and can run faster for longer periods, he will hurt opposing teams. He was eager to tackle yesterday thats for sure!!

 

[sTeeL]

The knee surgery set him back there's no doubt about it. He will struggle in the ruck contests against any person who has 20kg on him... At least he comprehensively beat Clarke when matched against him.

 

[jazou]

Swift was pretty good, he was a bit fumbly at times which I thought was odd, because when I think of him I think of how clean he is. Screwed up a few bounces but I thought he was pretty good.

If we can draft 2 top 5 midfielders... oh man!... Scully, Morabito, Masten, Swift, Shuey, Selwood, Ebert!

That would be freaking awesome.

take out Morabito, add Kane Lucas (although he's more of the floating HFF types like Cousins)

 

[sTeeL]

What does Lucas add over Morabito?

Morabito is just about ready-made to step into a senior role with his body-size.

 

[bighit006]

Was good to see him take the game on, even if it didnt come off some of the time. As for Nicnat, going up against Ryder next week should be a good oppurtunity for him to have some solid ruck time without just getting muscled out of the contest.

 

[mitchzz]

Morabito is quick too, reminds me of Goodes.

 

[Eagle Number1000]

Swift- don't see nothing in him yet- nothing at all- Adam Cockie's better.
but Houlihan showed signs.
Don't know why Swift stayed in side and Cockie was ommited.

 

[Crimson King]

His game style requires the fitness to get to as many contests as possible. He is currently nowhere near fit enough. That's not his fault, he had no pre-season and didn't play in the first half of the year.

Ultimately this year is about giving him some experience and taste.

FWIW, I think he has shown plenty. Particularly yesterday where he won a good number of hitouts, applied pressure, won possessions and set up some scoring opportunities - one through a trademark contested possession in a pack and a fantastic, creative handball out to a running player.

He's already performing better then many AFL ruckman. Imagine when he has experience, learns more about positioning, gains fitness and muscle!

Lets also keep in mind that he has only played a handful of games and it's already apparent that opposition teams have devised tactics to combat him. That's a mighty amount of respect to his ability

This.

The few times he went up against Sandilands, he looked good. I think in his first 5 games, we have pretty much seen his most of his strengths and weaknesses. If he doesnt make it as an all-round player, the worst case is that he will be a very good ruckman.

 

[jaxxon]

Both of them need to practice bouncing, both seem to have the fumbles. Swift looked good, has no problem finding it, good pace, and Naitanui was much better than Zac Clarke, he did ok, looked very dangerous at times, but just plodding at others.

Both need more fitness and confidence, as well as experience. A lot of our players, especially those two, look like they have been listening to the media about our high rate of turnovers, and are now gunshy of kicking the footy. Let them both run the season out, they will be better for it.