2025 VFL Games.

[crackedactor 01]

As has been the case for a while, the game became tougher to watch in the second half. I think the main reason for that, is that it's a very unsettled squad, with players coming in and out: many of them VFL listed players, whose disposal skills are usually not as good good as AFL listed players. So, that affects the ability to move the ball efficiently, which during the match, sees confidence levels decrease and frustration levels increase.

I thought Mitchell was probably our best today. He now plays mainly as a defensive flanker, and I think that suits him. He applies good pressure, generally moves the ball quickly and usually hits a target. Edwards got plenty of it in the middle. As did Paton, who had more midfield time than usual. Buller battled hard up forward, but he generally doesn't get good service and he almost certainly would benefit from having another genuine marking target or two, sharing the forward line with him.

Dattoli did a few good things in his first game, but looked a bit short of a run. All our other AFL listed players did decent things, but I wouldn't say any increased their chances of being promoted.

I thought Dattoli and Bowman were ordinary today. I am not sure Bowman is even up to VFL level. Buller did not get a touch in the second half. Looks like there is no system in Swans play. I thought McVeigh would make a good coach, I was way off the mark with that idea.

[Thunder Shaker]

Endemann's goal: Is this the biggest torp ever?

[MattW]

Got to be thankful Coburg didn't kick straight 11.23 v 8.9, they completely out played us in the second half.
Anyhow here are my glass half full opinions on some players:
- Paton stayed busy throughout, went into the centre in the last Q and was more impactful
- Mitchell also worked hard, used his long kicking but not always successfully
- Buller competed well in the first half, soundly beaten in the second, though delivery was awful
- Dattoli had 11 disposals in a half. There wasn't much happening around goal, but won some nice clearances using his pace and elusiveness
- Green - last time I saw him he was very disappointing. This time he was ok.. So that is a positive?
The rest were good in parts, but unlikely they will use this in their highlights reel

I caught snippets. Among those Green took 2 or 3 contested marks, which was promising. Dattoli looked bright and I'm looking forward to seeing more. Mitchell was pretty good. Plays the one position we have depth, particularly with Cunningham to come back.

[liz]

I was only able to (half) watch the first half. Thought Leidler had some good moments (though maybe I was persuaded by Gemma's B's gushing over him as reminding her of a very early Chad).

[Bay View]

I thought Dattoli and Bowman were ordinary today. I am not sure Bowman is even up to VFL level. Buller did not get a touch in the second half. Looks like there is no system in Swans play. I thought McVeigh would make a good coach, I was way off the mark with that idea.

McVeigh hasn’t really had a team to work with so far. I reckon there’ll be more wins once we get players back from injury.

[liz]

McVeigh hasn’t really had a team to work with so far. I reckon there’ll be more wins once we get players back from injury.

I think I can see more semblance of a style, a system than we've had for the past two years. But yes, it's hard to tell with the cattle that McVeigh has had at his disposal. Not only have injuries caused pretty much all our fringe players - Warner, Hamling, Francis, Cleary (probably still fringe with a full list), Bice, Paton and Hanily at times - to be promoted to the senior team, many of our not-quite-on-the fringe players have also been missing for large parts of the season (Dattoli, Edwards, Snell, Andrew). So we're playing a lot of top-ups (mostly pretty young, mostly not quite VFL standard) as well as our core VFL players.

And then our core VFL squad isn't great either, because the salary cap is peanuts and it's hard to get decent players to move to Sydney for almost no pay. Our better academy graduates, players who maybe still harbour an ambition to one day make it to the AFL, have almost all moved down to play in the SANFL where they are less likely to have to make way for AFL players.

Of our regular VFL players this season, I suspect only Ben Edwards, the somewhat injury-prone Nick Shipley, and Matty Lloyd would be desirable players for the other VFL clubs. At the start of the year I thought Kluske might be another but he really doesn't get much of the ball. Last year I hoped Endemann might improve to be a true VFL-level player but he hasn't shown much development this season. Geddes might get a game for another side. You can't question his heart or work-rate. I've always thought he was a bit undersized (as in scrawny) and an unreliable kick, but he seems to have put on a bit of size now and his kicking has definitely become more reliable. Tidemann is a bit of a younger, shorter version of Geddes but he too has gained some size (bulk, not height) and improved his kicking this year. So maybe he's on his way to becoming a real VFL player.

Other than that, it's slim pickings. Most teams, especially the AFL reserves sides, are forced to play youngsters who aren't quite at standard (yet). But it becomes about numbers. Two or three of them can fill roles and be carried by a strong team. When you have eight or so in the team, they become more exposed.

[Thunder Shaker]

Endemann's goal is posted on Reddit here: Swans VFL's Jordan Endemann with a massive torpedo goal with nearly 1000 upvotes. I could watch it all day.

[Kafka's Ghost]

I think I can see more semblance of a style, a system than we've had for the past two years. But yes, it's hard to tell with the cattle that McVeigh has had at his disposal. Not only have injuries caused pretty much all our fringe players - Warner, Hamling, Francis, Cleary (probably still fringe with a full list), Bice, Paton and Hanily at times - to be promoted to the senior team, many of our not-quite-on-the fringe players have also been missing for large parts of the season (Dattoli, Edwards, Snell, Andrew). So we're playing a lot of top-ups (mostly pretty young, mostly not quite VFL standard) as well as our core VFL players.

And then our core VFL squad isn't great either, because the salary cap is peanuts and it's hard to get decent players to move to Sydney for almost no pay. Our better academy graduates, players who maybe still harbour an ambition to one day make it to the AFL, have almost all moved down to play in the SANFL where they are less likely to have to make way for AFL players.

Of our regular VFL players this season, I suspect only Ben Edwards, the somewhat injury-prone Nick Shipley, and Matty Lloyd would be desirable players for the other VFL clubs. At the start of the year I thought Kluske might be another but he really doesn't get much of the ball. Last year I hoped Endemann might improve to be a true VFL-level player but he hasn't shown much development this season. Geddes might get a game for another side. You can't question his heart or work-rate. I've always thought he was a bit undersized (as in scrawny) and an unreliable kick, but he seems to have put on a bit of size now and his kicking has definitely become more reliable. Tidemann is a bit of a younger, shorter version of Geddes but he too has gained some size (bulk, not height) and improved his kicking this year. So maybe he's on his way to becoming a real VFL player.

Other than that, it's slim pickings. Most teams, especially the AFL reserves sides, are forced to play youngsters who aren't quite at standard (yet). But it becomes about numbers. Two or three of them can fill roles and be carried by a strong team. When you have eight or so in the team, they become more exposed.

Spot on. There’s been almost no chance to develop a “team” style, as there’s been very little opportunity to have a stable team on the park. Both McVeigh and Cox have been hampered by this, as almost all our fringe players have had to be used in the seniors. A good team can carry 2-3 such players easily, it gets more difficult with 4-5, and next to impossible with 8-9. How much better did the seniors look with McInerney at last finding his feet again, and Amartey playing a key forward role? We’ve been right up against it at both levels for manpower this season.

[liz]

Spot on. There’s been almost no chance to develop a “team” style, as there’s been very little opportunity to have a stable team on the park. Both McVeigh and Cox have been hampered by this, as almost all our fringe players have had to be used in the seniors. A good team can carry 2-3 such players easily, it gets more difficult with 4-5, and next to impossible with 8-9. How much better did the seniors look with McInerney at last finding his feet again, and Amartey playing a key forward role? We’ve been right up against it at both levels for manpower this season.

An observation I omitted from my initial post was that this 8 or 9 at VFL level (or however many such players are needed each week) change from week to week, making it even harder to create team cohesion.

[BRS328]

I think I can see more semblance of a style, a system than we've had for the past two years. But yes, it's hard to tell with the cattle that McVeigh has had at his disposal. Not only have injuries caused pretty much all our fringe players - Warner, Hamling, Francis, Cleary (probably still fringe with a full list), Bice, Paton and Hanily at times - to be promoted to the senior team, many of our not-quite-on-the fringe players have also been missing for large parts of the season (Dattoli, Edwards, Snell, Andrew). So we're playing a lot of top-ups (mostly pretty young, mostly not quite VFL standard) as well as our core VFL players.

And then our core VFL squad isn't great either, because the salary cap is peanuts and it's hard to get decent players to move to Sydney for almost no pay. Our better academy graduates, players who maybe still harbour an ambition to one day make it to the AFL, have almost all moved down to play in the SANFL where they are less likely to have to make way for AFL players.

Of our regular VFL players this season, I suspect only Ben Edwards, the somewhat injury-prone Nick Shipley, and Matty Lloyd would be desirable players for the other VFL clubs. At the start of the year I thought Kluske might be another but he really doesn't get much of the ball. Last year I hoped Endemann might improve to be a true VFL-level player but he hasn't shown much development this season. Geddes might get a game for another side. You can't question his heart or work-rate. I've always thought he was a bit undersized (as in scrawny) and an unreliable kick, but he seems to have put on a bit of size now and his kicking has definitely become more reliable. Tidemann is a bit of a younger, shorter version of Geddes but he too has gained some size (bulk, not height) and improved his kicking this year. So maybe he's on his way to becoming a real VFL player.

Other than that, it's slim pickings. Most teams, especially the AFL reserves sides, are forced to play youngsters who aren't quite at standard (yet). But it becomes about numbers. Two or three of them can fill roles and be carried by a strong team. When you have eight or so in the team, they become more exposed.

Excellent summary Liz. There is probably a case for the AFL to allow the Northern States 2 or 3 extra players on their supplementary lists to allow for the retention of experienced players to help with the development of younger draftees. This has been allowed with the Gold Coast and we are now seeing an emerging team that has had the benefit of experienced players playing in their VFL side allowing for development of young players. There would be nothing more demoralising for new draftees at the Swans to go out and get belted every week.

[Thunder Shaker]

Excellent summary Liz. There is probably a case for the AFL to allow the Northern States 2 or 3 extra players on their supplementary lists to allow for the retention of experienced players to help with the development of younger draftees. This has been allowed with the Gold Coast and we are now seeing an emerging team that has had the benefit of experienced players playing in their VFL side allowing for development of young players. There would be nothing more demoralising for new draftees at the Swans to go out and get belted every week.

Another option is to allow larger salary caps for the VFL teams of the northern states.

[MattW]

Reserves team named here: https://www.sydneyswans.com.au/news/1794300/vfl-team.

Notes: Cunningham back and playing midfield; Shipley back; Dattoli plays again; Florent to play as a follower will be interesting; no Fox (who was a test to play) and no Francis. All the best to Aaron.

[BRS328]

Clearly Francis has not recovered from his concussion which is a bit of a worry. He had a similar concussion issue prior to the first game this year and took a few weeks to get over it

[Ocker]

Let's all hope that Aaron fully recovers and quickly.

The guy that hit him suffered nothing, although it was a similar situation to what saw Melican miss 3 weeks.

[The Big Cat]

Let's all hope that Aaron fully recovers and quickly.

The guy that hit him suffered nothing, although it was a similar situation to what saw Melican miss 3 weeks.

I think Grundy’s leg collected him in a marking contest. ‘Friendly fire’