Tweet
Ball's tough task in the battle of the overachievers
By Joel Gibson
July 5 2003
In the hot seat: Sydney Swans ruckman Jason Ball at training at the SCG yesterday. On Sunday Ball faces the tough task of containing the Eagles' in-form Michael Gardiner.Photo: Tim Clayton
Sydney Swans big man Barry Hall has spent plenty of time as a sitting duck for jibes and insults down at full-forward, but even he was surprised to hear that a Western Bulldogs cheer squad member had been suspended for spitting at Collingwood's Anthony Rocca last weekend.
"I've never seen anything like that personally," Hall said yesterday. "I've been fairly lucky as far as that sort of thing [is concerned]. You obviously hear it but if you're concentrating on the game you don't notice it."
The amount of time Hall spends standing within niggling distance of the hecklers in tomorrow's game against the West Coast Eagles will be a useful measure of the Swans' success.
In what could be labelled the battle of this year's two great AFL overachievers, the Swans must find a way to contain the Eagles' rampant midfield before they will be able to give Hall and their other forwards some work to do.
"The midfield's really their key so if we can get on top there, we should give a good account of ourselves," ruckman Jason Ball said.
Ball will come up against a number of former West Coast teammates, most notably in-form ruckman Michael Gardiner. Swans coach Paul Roos has dubbed Gardiner the best ruckman in the league, issuing a coded challenge to Ball and his in-form offsider in the ruck, Adam Goodes.
"[Gardiner] is pretty dangerous and he certainly looks after the Cousinses and the Judds and those sort of guys, so if you can get on top they'll get less of the footy," Ball said.
The secret might lie in Ball and Goodes working in tandem.
"It's to our benefit that we've got two ruckmen," Ball said. "Sometimes it can be difficult to match up. Goodesy runs around a lot and has got a great leap so it makes the ruckman think who they're going to play on."
Ball is a stockbroker in between centre clearances. When he crunches the numbers on game day he will find some of them in his favour.
At 200 centimetres and 104 kilograms, Ball is marginally bigger and taller than the 199cm, 99kg Gardiner.
Gardiner turns 24 today. Ball is five years wiser, and will be hoping his opposite number celebrates with gusto tonight.
Both were hampered by injury in 2002 and both have emerged this season as crucial cogs in teams performing above early expectations.
The Swans have had an extra day to recover from their sodden tussle against Port Adelaide in round 13, and Ball said he has never seen the Eagles' Subiaco Oval as wet as it was for their muddied match against the Kangaroos last weekend.
Asked about the challenge of containing Gardiner, Roos accepted the big man from Albany would get his hands on the ball. The question was how often. But Roos said Sydney would not resort to all-out defence by marking up across the field.
"We've got to back our talent at some stage against their talent and hope that our guys can do the job," he said. "In the games [West Coast] have lost this year they've kicked 15 goals on average.
"It's quite a staggering statistic . . . so they obviously can score very heavily and they're an exciting team to watch."
With the SCG surface as lush as an Augusta fairway, a sunny forecast and on-field success bringing back the sometimes fickle fans, the Swans are once again in a situation reminiscent of their 1996 scarlet patch.
By Joel Gibson
July 5 2003
In the hot seat: Sydney Swans ruckman Jason Ball at training at the SCG yesterday. On Sunday Ball faces the tough task of containing the Eagles' in-form Michael Gardiner.Photo: Tim Clayton
Sydney Swans big man Barry Hall has spent plenty of time as a sitting duck for jibes and insults down at full-forward, but even he was surprised to hear that a Western Bulldogs cheer squad member had been suspended for spitting at Collingwood's Anthony Rocca last weekend.
"I've never seen anything like that personally," Hall said yesterday. "I've been fairly lucky as far as that sort of thing [is concerned]. You obviously hear it but if you're concentrating on the game you don't notice it."
The amount of time Hall spends standing within niggling distance of the hecklers in tomorrow's game against the West Coast Eagles will be a useful measure of the Swans' success.
In what could be labelled the battle of this year's two great AFL overachievers, the Swans must find a way to contain the Eagles' rampant midfield before they will be able to give Hall and their other forwards some work to do.
"The midfield's really their key so if we can get on top there, we should give a good account of ourselves," ruckman Jason Ball said.
Ball will come up against a number of former West Coast teammates, most notably in-form ruckman Michael Gardiner. Swans coach Paul Roos has dubbed Gardiner the best ruckman in the league, issuing a coded challenge to Ball and his in-form offsider in the ruck, Adam Goodes.
"[Gardiner] is pretty dangerous and he certainly looks after the Cousinses and the Judds and those sort of guys, so if you can get on top they'll get less of the footy," Ball said.
The secret might lie in Ball and Goodes working in tandem.
"It's to our benefit that we've got two ruckmen," Ball said. "Sometimes it can be difficult to match up. Goodesy runs around a lot and has got a great leap so it makes the ruckman think who they're going to play on."
Ball is a stockbroker in between centre clearances. When he crunches the numbers on game day he will find some of them in his favour.
At 200 centimetres and 104 kilograms, Ball is marginally bigger and taller than the 199cm, 99kg Gardiner.
Gardiner turns 24 today. Ball is five years wiser, and will be hoping his opposite number celebrates with gusto tonight.
Both were hampered by injury in 2002 and both have emerged this season as crucial cogs in teams performing above early expectations.
The Swans have had an extra day to recover from their sodden tussle against Port Adelaide in round 13, and Ball said he has never seen the Eagles' Subiaco Oval as wet as it was for their muddied match against the Kangaroos last weekend.
Asked about the challenge of containing Gardiner, Roos accepted the big man from Albany would get his hands on the ball. The question was how often. But Roos said Sydney would not resort to all-out defence by marking up across the field.
"We've got to back our talent at some stage against their talent and hope that our guys can do the job," he said. "In the games [West Coast] have lost this year they've kicked 15 goals on average.
"It's quite a staggering statistic . . . so they obviously can score very heavily and they're an exciting team to watch."
With the SCG surface as lush as an Augusta fairway, a sunny forecast and on-field success bringing back the sometimes fickle fans, the Swans are once again in a situation reminiscent of their 1996 scarlet patch.
hopefully we see some crowds return with this beautiful weather today 
Comment