Troy Shwarze, Sam Fisher and McQualter

[_Ron_]

First off, let's start with Troy. In my opinion he is the best kick in the side. Seriousaly, he can stab pass 40m no worries, he can kick 60m without breaking a sweat and his passes are generally pin point. A player with that ability alone cannot be dropped. Let's hope GT can see the light and leave him to run off HB or the wing and do his own thing because he's not a defender and never will be but he can set up play extremely well. He's also extremely mobile for his height.

Secondly the midfield looked good last night but the lions are a shadow and that's being kind of their former selves. Things need to improve drastically in this department if we are to match the top 4 or 5 sides and the only player we have currently who is both offensive and defensive when needed is Hayes and we need more players who can play this style accordingly. From what i saw last night the most promising player who can fill that role is McQualter so i'm hoping GT will leave him in the middle, not drop him and let him grow into a future star midfielder i hope he'll become.

Lastly Sam fisher at times has been bagged by myself as not being up to AFL standard but i'm happy to eat my words when i'm wrong and in this case i certainly am. Every time i see him, he seems to stand up well in defense and is becoming an iceman under pressure. Extremely impressed with him in defense and i'd have to say by far and away he's our most improved player by a country mile over the last year. Good work Sam.

 

[Kildonan]

First off, let's start with Troy. In my opinion he is the best kick in the side. Seriously, he can stab pass 40m no worries, he can kick 60m without breaking a sweat and his passes are generally pin point. A player with that ability alone cannot be dropped. Let's hope GT can see the light and leave him to run off HB or the wing and do his own thing because he's not a defender and never will be but he can set up play extremely well. He's also extremely mobile for his height.

Troy is a great kick and at his best he is up there rivalling Dal Santo and Goddard. He seems to kick nicely on the run but sometimes, off a standing start, he can kick quite poorly. His technique is beautiful, his trademark kick is a low trajectory drop punt, almost like a medium distance stab pass. He hits targets with the majority of his kicks and he anticipates leads well. He also can kick it long nicely, especially off a run. He still has a problem under pressure, it's almost as if he panics...and his decision making goes bad. If he can improve on this part of his game then he is a welcome inclusion.

Secondly the midfield looked good last night but the lions are a shadow and that's being kind of their former selves. Things need to improve drastically in this department if we are to match the top 4 or 5 sides and the only player we have currently who is both offensive and defensive when needed is Hayes and we need more players who can play this style accordingly. From what i saw last night the most promising player who can fill that role is McQualter so i'm hoping GT will leave him in the middle, not drop him and let him grow into a future star midfielder i hope he'll become.

Our midfield looked nice against Brisbane, Lenny Hayes was superb, Nick Dal Santo was too. The Brisbane midfield consisted of Voss and Power and a kid or two. Simon Black was tagged out of the match by superb play by Andrew Thompson. After half time, Black sustained an ankle injury but still played for a while, then Matthews took him off for last quarter. Ackermannis was tagged out of the match by Baker - who also had a good game. We lost Robert Harvey early and McQualter got a bigger run than was probably intended. I was impressed with him. I saw him in one of the preseason matches and was a little disappointed, but now it's nice to see that he has played himself into form. He was probably brought in to replace Powell. Montagna got a lot of the ball, he made a few mistakes, but he accumulated a lot of possessions and made amends for his few mistakes. Has pace and gives us the run through the middle that can negate opposition players going back. Has a great kick too but missed a few he should have got. Fiora plays a similar role to Monty, he chimed in with a few important forward movements and had a fair game. Blake played well - he plays like a midfielder who can ruck at times. Ackland needs to hit our players when he wins the ruck - too many taps to opposition, but an improved performance on the field. To drop Blake for Koschitzke would seem an injustice. Milne did OK in the midfield when he had a go. He still has a problem hitting his man when he is delivering forward. He must kick them to the man on the full - or he creates too much pressure for the forwards to do their best. Had a burst where he put the game beyond doubt, kicking 2 goals 1point. It is this type of explosive play that makes him such a dangerous player. Late in the match, he laid a tackle on Brown who got the ball away to a teammate, Milney put in a great second effort to smother. Nice. We get Luke Ball back next match and Justin Koschitzke as well. Our midfield will be boosted, even if Bally doesn't have a huge run. Port Adelaide are a tough foe, but lack a little depth now in their midfield like Brisbane, that is if Chad Cornes takes up a postion in defence. He murdered Sydney's midfield.

Lastly Sam fisher at times has been bagged by myself as not being up to AFL standard but i'm happy to eat my words when i'm wrong and in this case i certainly am. Every time i see him, he seems to stand up well in defense and is becoming an iceman under pressure. Extremely impressed with him in defense and i'd have to say by far and away he's our most improved player by a country mile over the last year. Good work Sam.

Grant Thomas has been accused of not having a plan B, well with the backline performing the way it did against Brisbane, you could see that Brisbane had decided to shut down Gram with his running role, so Sam Fisher takes over as seamlessly as if it were always so. He played nicely didn't he. Did some gutsy things in defence, gave us a lot of run out of defence and even chimed in on the forward line when he was needed. Seemed to play off a wing for a while. Maybe we were setting a wall up along the center line. Gram also did his part in the victory - it was a team effort. Nice to see everyone putting in.