Tweet
Player of the Week - Round 10
Liz Read
05th Jun, 2004
The Swans? faithful know that it takes 22 players to win a game of football. The Player of the Week will invariably not be the best on ground, but, instead, aims to highlight the fact that, while one or two players usually draw the headlines, it is often less obvious contributions that make the difference.
In a week when the Swans? midfield finally got its act together and the defence came together as one, this week?s Player of the Week is?
Adam Goodes
Our eyes tell us that the Swans? midfield hasn?t quite gelled yet this year, and their delivery forward has been haphazard and inefficient. The score sheets tell us that the unerring accuracy that Hall, Davis et al delivered last year has so far been missing. Yet in three of the games that the team lost between rounds five and eight this year, they still managed to conjure up 15 goals. That would have been enough to put away all the teams they lost to in last year?s Home and Away season apart from the Hawks ? twice ? though admittedly the first Adelaide game would have been a line-ball affair.
So while there is scope for improvement all over the ground, it is arguably the leakage at the back end that has been the biggest difference between 2003 and 2004. For years the Swans defence has been undersized and outmuscled, at least on paper. Yet even in the later Eade years it was a remarkably efficient and stingy unit, belying its physical limitations. Its offensive power did not go unnoticed either, with the half-back line of Barry, Kennelly and Bolton lauded as one of the best rebounding units in the 2003 competition.
The 2004 version has battled manfully but the cohesion has simply not been there. Players have seemed less confident to leave their opponents to become the third man in a contest, while the crumbing and handballing escape has come unstuck more times than not. It was easy to point to the absence of Schauble as a major cause of the malaise, but this did not make it any more palatable for Swans fans, especially with Schaubs? likely return date still several weeks away.
So the team needed a big man to shore up the defence. Enter Goodes, in need of a position to call his own, even before a knee injury finally thwarted his desire to play in the ruck. He will face far sterner tests than a Hawks forward line bereft of confidence and a Jade Rawlings hobbling on a knee in even worse shape than his own, but Goodes? early efforts in his new role have certainly been credible. The focus and confidence have suddenly returned. Just as importantly, he looks like he is enjoying himself out there on the ground again.
I was a sceptic of the notion of Goodes in defence before it became a necessity, not because I doubted his ability to play there, but because I believed it would rob the team of its most unique asset ? the impossible match-up for almost every opposition. If his performance on Saturday night is anything to go by, my fears were unfounded. Goodes in defence may be no different to Goodes playing in any other spot on the ground. He will be there when he needs to be, but that won?t stop him playing every other position when he gets the chance. I lost count of the number of times he ran up to the wing, through the middle, even up to the edge of the Swans? forward arc. And if it wasn?t for the fact that Roos has said he won?t be playing ruck anymore, I could have sworn that was Adam contesting boundary throw-ins late in the game.
But maybe Goodes? greatest contribution was the effect he had on the rest of the defence. Suddenly they all looked confident and composed. They were backing themselves; they were backing each other. Barry and Kennelly were running far and wide; Craig Bolton was looking like the Craig Bolton from 2003. And young Bevan was playing with the composure of a hundred game veteran. So, for providing the glue that finally held the Swans? defence together, Adam Goodes is this week?s Player of the Week.
Liz Read
05th Jun, 2004
The Swans? faithful know that it takes 22 players to win a game of football. The Player of the Week will invariably not be the best on ground, but, instead, aims to highlight the fact that, while one or two players usually draw the headlines, it is often less obvious contributions that make the difference.
In a week when the Swans? midfield finally got its act together and the defence came together as one, this week?s Player of the Week is?
Adam Goodes
Our eyes tell us that the Swans? midfield hasn?t quite gelled yet this year, and their delivery forward has been haphazard and inefficient. The score sheets tell us that the unerring accuracy that Hall, Davis et al delivered last year has so far been missing. Yet in three of the games that the team lost between rounds five and eight this year, they still managed to conjure up 15 goals. That would have been enough to put away all the teams they lost to in last year?s Home and Away season apart from the Hawks ? twice ? though admittedly the first Adelaide game would have been a line-ball affair.
So while there is scope for improvement all over the ground, it is arguably the leakage at the back end that has been the biggest difference between 2003 and 2004. For years the Swans defence has been undersized and outmuscled, at least on paper. Yet even in the later Eade years it was a remarkably efficient and stingy unit, belying its physical limitations. Its offensive power did not go unnoticed either, with the half-back line of Barry, Kennelly and Bolton lauded as one of the best rebounding units in the 2003 competition.
The 2004 version has battled manfully but the cohesion has simply not been there. Players have seemed less confident to leave their opponents to become the third man in a contest, while the crumbing and handballing escape has come unstuck more times than not. It was easy to point to the absence of Schauble as a major cause of the malaise, but this did not make it any more palatable for Swans fans, especially with Schaubs? likely return date still several weeks away.
So the team needed a big man to shore up the defence. Enter Goodes, in need of a position to call his own, even before a knee injury finally thwarted his desire to play in the ruck. He will face far sterner tests than a Hawks forward line bereft of confidence and a Jade Rawlings hobbling on a knee in even worse shape than his own, but Goodes? early efforts in his new role have certainly been credible. The focus and confidence have suddenly returned. Just as importantly, he looks like he is enjoying himself out there on the ground again.
I was a sceptic of the notion of Goodes in defence before it became a necessity, not because I doubted his ability to play there, but because I believed it would rob the team of its most unique asset ? the impossible match-up for almost every opposition. If his performance on Saturday night is anything to go by, my fears were unfounded. Goodes in defence may be no different to Goodes playing in any other spot on the ground. He will be there when he needs to be, but that won?t stop him playing every other position when he gets the chance. I lost count of the number of times he ran up to the wing, through the middle, even up to the edge of the Swans? forward arc. And if it wasn?t for the fact that Roos has said he won?t be playing ruck anymore, I could have sworn that was Adam contesting boundary throw-ins late in the game.
But maybe Goodes? greatest contribution was the effect he had on the rest of the defence. Suddenly they all looked confident and composed. They were backing themselves; they were backing each other. Barry and Kennelly were running far and wide; Craig Bolton was looking like the Craig Bolton from 2003. And young Bevan was playing with the composure of a hundred game veteran. So, for providing the glue that finally held the Swans? defence together, Adam Goodes is this week?s Player of the Week.
Comment