swannies
Brownlow Medallist
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Armchair Endzone Minor Comp Winner
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OK, so we have another round of 1 game on Saturday, with the remaining 3 being on Sunday, which is good news. This means I can go and watch the colts at 11:45 (yes, you read right), who I haven’t seen all year. Good times!!
Sharks v Falcons – being the only Saturday game, at least it made it easy which game to televise!
3rd v 5 and this is a season defining game for both clubs. Can the Sharks kick on and finally play some finals football, or can the Falcons get their season back on track and stay in touch with the top 4.Sharks have a very good running brigade, led by McGough, McNamara, Houlihan, Stevens, Monteath, Chidlow, Fasolo, Monk (who played well forward last week), Venturini. Last week they tackled and harassed brilliantly, but the defense didn’t have much work to do. Still, Spangher, Warren, Brennan were very good when they were called on. Up forward Monk was very good, McGough missed opportunities and the midfield basically provided a lot of the scoring opportunities as well, so the run needs to be stopped.
Falcons have a very good forward line, good running brigade and a very under rated defence. LeCras, Tsalikis, Gobbels, Saylor (if back) are a headache for most sides. Salecic, Guadagnin, Rice, Bewick, Crossland, Bartholomew provide some good run and real grunt inside with some of those guys. Down back Hunt is possibly having his best year and Lasscock, Tedesco, Pearce, Zanetti are providing good support. Should be a cracker this match, with so much on the line for both sides.
Sharks, just, but can see an upset happening.
Lions v Swans – Another big match this weekend, on a lovely Sunday arvo at Leederville. Lions can stay equal with Swans, in the battle for a top 2 spot, or Swans can get a 2 game break on the Lions, and stay equal with the Sharks, if they win, as expected by me.
Lions showed against the Tigers that they are far from a spent force, particularly as they hadn’t played for 23 days prior to meeting the tiges. They beat Swans at Basso with a more mature game plan, slowed the game down, pummelled the ball carrier and used the ball well when they had it in hand. Campbell’s been up and down, mostly down, but looms as a key in this match. Rix v Spaanders will also be critical, as Swans don’t have any really tall ruckman, Spaanders is only 194. If only they had some Naita fellow. Cossom. Keevers, Randall, Broadhurst, Hilda, Cockie, Nicoski will provide plenty of run and hardness. Parker and Rumble will provide good contests down back.
Swans need to rely on run and controlling the ball against the lions. Guys like Garlett, Wolfenden, Roach, van Groningen, Krakouer need to use their pace out in the open space. Roberts, Twomey, Walters, Pearce provide very good contest at the packs. Geappen, Hansen (if back) and Notte provide good focal points up forward and Ames, Spencer, Casserley, Jetta (a revelation this year) provide great rebound from the back half. Again, this should be a cracker and I expect it to go either way, perhaps I’m more hopeful than expectant.
Swans, just.
Peel v Royals – Unbelievably, the Royals win this and they are still in touch with the top 4. Peel win and they are equal with EP on wins, so this becomes a very important game for EP. in particular.
Peel have a fairly inexperienced squad and the experienced players are probably fairly average, excepting Battye, O’Brien, Williams, maybe a couple of others. Their youth look to have good potential and the only way for them to learn is to play league. Luff, Mason, Brown are playing this week and add in Bennell and Wilson and that’s a decent spread of talent. This is definitely a game Peel can win, because the Royal’s worst is quite poor.
The Royals have a decent player base, with the likes of Swan, Wulff, Pickering, Merrington, Travers supported by the up and coming Shepheard, Sweet, Cadwallader, Roberton, Prior et al. Last week showed what EP is capable of, they just seem to take a while to reach that top gear. They would have been motivated for the “hated enemy”, so can they keep the motivation up?
Royals should win comfortably, but if they’re not on song can see an upset.
Demons v Souths – being held in the middle of the Demons heartland at Wongan Hills, so if you’re out bush, get out and have a look! Both teams are in poor form this year, one worse than the other. One is coming off a big win last week and will have high spirits and the other was smashed by their arch enemy. Could be an interesting game.
The demons looked good running through the middle of the ground at will last week, but they were playing Peel. Mzungu, Smith, Sullivan, O’Sullivan, Young all racked up the possessions and dominated through the middle. Armstrong, Ferguson were dynamite forward, whilst Billings continued his good form down back. Siekerka looked to be getting towards his best form for the year as well. Youngsters Elari, Sneeujwagt, Fiegert (with the old styled mullet) got some good game time and possies as well. One would think it was a pleasure to train at Lathlain this week.
The Bulldogs still have quality all over the field but were made to look second rate. I’d bank my house on A Hams never having that bad a game again. He wasn’t alone as McGrath, Miller, Dell’olio, Adams, Thornton all struggled to have an impact as well. Phillips continued his good form, Graham was competitive in the ruck and Murphy and Wilson were dangerous if the ball was delivered inside 50 quickly. The defenders should have been played into form, they saw that much of the ball. Guys like Head, Hams, McGrath, Siegert (if playing), Dell’Olio all need to lift.
If players play to ability the Bulldogs should win, but again, can see this one going either way as well.
Hope everyone enjoys their footy this weekend and it looks like it's staying fine for us!
