LRT to come in CONFIRMED

[floppinab]

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,6435095%255E19742,00.html

Swans continue to blood youth
14 May 2003 Herald Sun
By ADRIAN WARREN of AAP

SYDNEY will ignore the old adage about never changing a winning side as it bloods yet another youngster for Sunday's AFL home clash with Geelong.

Coach Paul Roos today revealed the Swans would blood their fourth player in eight rounds by introducing 19-year-old ruckman Lewis Roberts-Thomson against the bottom placed Cats at the SCG.

Come this weekend, the Swans would have initiated as many newcomers to senior football as they did in the whole of last season with Roberts-Thomson joining James Meiklejohn, Mark Powell and Adam Schneider making their senior debut this year.

A product of Sydney club North Shore, Roberts-Thomson - who was also a promising schoolboy rugby union player - will replace Meiklejohn despite the fact Sydney has jumped to sixth with three successive wins.

"Regardless of the fact we've won three in a row, we are still looking at the big picture and we need to keep giving the young guys an opportunity," Roos said.





Good luck big fella

[penga]

great to hear! im disappoitned JM gets dropped but

good luck to lrt!!!

[Louellyn]

Excellent

He's been waiting to have a go for over 12 months. Are you sure M'john has been replaced by him?

Isn't it an exciting time to be a Swans fan, with all these new players and actually winning games? Somehow I am no longer the local joke amongst AFL fans, a fact I am happy about. Copped it sweet for so many years, and will probably cop it sweet for many more.

[thommoone]

I think its good, MJ prob needed some game time, and he was only going to get it in the 2's

[robbieando]

Menklejohn has seemed to play mainly down forward, so to take him out for LRT is a good move because LRT can not only ruck, but can also play both ends of the ground (mainly defence though) A good move at this stage.

[Reggi]

Very best of luck to LRT - have liked what I have seen previously.

Would be a plus for us if he can hold his spot but is definately one for the future.

Meiklejohn probably needs some full games now and some development in the reserves.

To early to tell with him looked mobile though.

[desredandwhite]

Probably to give them all a taste of it. There's no real point giving the young kids a full game in seniors only to have their confidence torn to shreds by bigger and more experienced opponents. He's had a taste of the pace and intensity of the big time, now he can put some of that to use in the reserves while The Hyphen gets a go. Good luck to both of them.

Of course, you also have the guys who claim a spot from their very first senior game - Schneider, Saddington, Crouch....

[liz]

Originally posted by desredandwhite

Of course, you also have the guys who claim a spot from their very first senior game - Schneider, Saddington, Crouch....

Crouch was probably a bit different because he was a bit older when he made his debut. I think he was in his 3rd - or maybe even 4th - season on the list by the time he played his first game having had real injury problems early on. So his body was probably a bit more mature than most debutants'.

Saddo was a freak in that when he was dropped to the twos for a couple of games early on in his first season he was just too good.

And too early to tell with Schneider. He's certainly holding his spot on merit at the moment but there's a decent chance he'll run out of steam later in the season. His body has a lot of physical development still to happen, and he missed a huge chunk of last year through glandular fever.

Changing the subject slightly, did anyone else notice how Dermie and Healey already had the Hyphen playing last weekend? I think they were getting Meiklejohn and Thompson confused because they spent several minutes commenting on Meiklejohn's rugby background and "hence" the diameter of his neck.

[footyhead]

Welcome aboard hyphen !! Good luck.

[chammond]

Changing the subject slightly, did anyone else notice how Dermie and Healey already had the Hyphen playing last weekend? I think they were getting Meiklejohn and Thompson confused because they spent several minutes commenting on Meiklejohn's rugby background and "hence" the diameter of his neck.

Heard what they said . . . didn't understand a word of it.

For me, that's a common state when listening to Dermie!

[penga]

yeah, i noticed that they were commenting on his rugby background however whos to say that meiklejohn doesnt have a rugby background???

i thought that maybe lrt and JM had the rugby background...

atm, JM is an all out ruckman of which we havent needed him all that much but lrt adds more as he can play KP

[EMJ]

Nicks is going to the reserves - that is good gives him a chance to pick up - and I am sure he will. Info on Swans site

[TheMase]

Originally posted by janpa
Nicks is going to the reserves - that is good gives him a chance to pick up - and I am sure he will. Info on Swans site

But why is Warfe still in the team.

Hell Nicks is more use to us in the side than Warfe!!

[swan_song]

yep good luck LRT... I guess Mikeljohn needs a full game in the reserves to keep up his match fitnes and touch, though the big question is will the reserves even play this weekend? Depends on how much more rain we have I guess.

[Bas]

Originally posted by lizz

And too early to tell with Schneider. He's certainly holding his spot on merit at the moment but there's a decent chance he'll run out of steam later in the season.

After the Melbourne game, they (Radio - 3LO via Newsradio) were talking about him and said that unlike other's in the U18's Championships (who played against boys), Schneider had been playing against men since he was 14 yrs old. So he's been taking the knock's for years but at a lower level of competition.

I'd be getting a few dollars on him for Rising Star, although he's got some significant opposition this year.