Reserves Report ? Practice Match versus East Coat Eagles
By Old Royboy and Primmy

The Swans reserves struggled to record a 40 point win against a surprisingly competitive East Coast Eagles side in breezy conditions. Long term reserves watchers were pleased to see how much the standard of local Sydney footy has improved since the Swans were last in that competition. Missing from the starting line-up were TDL, Meredith, Sumner, Lewis J, Thornton and Orreal.

The first notes for the year were ? ?this Paddy can tackle, has lots of toe and kicks well?. McKaigue drifted in and out of the game, but showed fantastic skill and good instincts for one so new to it. It is early days, but on first viewing he was very impressive.

Not so impressive was the lack of early intensity from the midfelders. One would have thought that a midfield comprising Hannebery, Smith, O?Dwyer, Rohan and Barlow under a dominant ruckman would have had little trouble with the locals. But the Eagles matched them in the first quarter and they changed ends 5 points up. Our boys could only manage two goals, but one of them did feature Bluey Rohan turning on the after burners and showing us just how fast he is.

The pattern changed to what we more expected to see in the second quarter. Hanners accepted a handball from the Crusher and snapped a nice goal, then Crusher marked and goaled. Hanners streamed away from the centre and Nipper Gordon took a good mark and goaled from 30 out on a 45 degree angle. Bevo kicked three from frees ? he got under a skin or two! But the highlight was from the top up number 50, Spragg. He kept the ball in front of himself and in play with a clever tap in heavy traffic, and then nailed the boomerang from the boundary. Seven goals for the quarter, and any thought of an embarrassing defeat gone.

Old Henry got into the action in the third and kicked three snags. The midfield was cruising but making far too many disposal errors. East Coast got a couple of goals back. Skinny Sam (Reid the Weed) lost contact with his man and was out marked and Heath was out bodied in another marking contest to concede a couple.

The last quarter was a bit ho hum, except they rewarded Patty for his work up back and let him off the leash. He obliged with a couple of goals, including one nice set shot from about 45 out. The game ended on a worrying note when Nipper Gordon took a great mark but crash landed. He was helped off looking like a question mark.

BOG by the length of the Randwick straight was Hanners. Big Bad, Primmy and I may be biased, but in the ressies young Dan stands out like a sore thumb as a class above. Hanners resembles O?Keefe at a similar age. They share that ability to concentrate on what was happening up and down the ground and appear to be a class above. And its inbuilt, not flash. The kid knows exactly what he has to do, and he looks like he has the "it" factor to put plan into action. A call up sooner rather than later is predicted ? like next week please!

Barlow was the usual frustration, one minute he nails a 50 metre pass, the next he goes off with the fairies and gets run down and caught HTB. Cheese is wrestling with his head, his problems are all above the shoulder s.
O?Dwyer got plenty of ball but did not do too much with it. Pyke was a monster in the ruck and took a couple of really good grabs. Unfortunately his kicking is still poor. A wholehearted effort from Henry ? his hands and kicking let himself down at times, but he sets the example and he will be a great ?Poppa Bear? for the young ones.
Crusher does good things when the ball finds him, but he still needs to impose himself more and find it. Looks like a confidence issue. Bluey Rowan showed his dash, but had a bad day with his hands; something he really needs to work on. Nipper Gordon continues to improve, what I like about this kid is that he is a good contested mark.

Nick Smith in the ressies always seems to be invisible, solid but not spectacular. Sam ?Weed? Reid shows talent , is fast and is good in close. But he drops too many marks that he should take. Patty played the back sweeper role for three quarters and did it pretty well. He thrived in the last when sent forward. Bevo never stands out that much in the ressies ? chases and tackles hard like he always does but does not dominate.

The new Irishman looks like a winner.

Overall, a bare pass. The team?s intensity was poor in the first quarter, and in the last when they should have buried a tired opposition.

Sydney 2-2, 9-3, 12-6, 14-8-96
Defeated
East Coast Eagles 3-1, 4-3, 7-5, 8-8-56
Swans Goals ? Bevan, Playfair 3, Veszpremi 2, Hannebery, Currie, Gordon, Spragg (+ #51 and one I missed)
Swans Best: Hannebery, Veszpremi, Gordon, Playfair, Pyke. O?Dwyer.