Match thread: Swans v Bombers.

[neilfws]

Certainly not a pretty win, but a win nonetheless. Conditions were pretty horrible yesterday, you could see at the ground how the blustery wind was affecting kicks.

Another huge game from Grundy and I liked what I saw of Dattoli, he moved and led well, worked hard and was in all the right places. Sheldrick was busy too, and McCartin solid on return.

Swans absolutely dominated in many of the stats, but the disappointing one was inside 50 efficiency - 23 shots from 61 entries (38%) vs Bombers 19 from 46 (41%). I saw several instances of excessive handballing inside 50 ultimately leading to a turnover or missed opportunity, because no one had the confidence, space or speed to take the shot. Goes some way to explaining why field dominance didn't translate to scoreboard dominance.

That, and the several snaps that should have been drop punts Buller showing them how it's done from the boundary.

Anyway - a win. Hopefully McLean back next week, and maybe Hayward too?

[MattW]

Certainly not a pretty win, but a win nonetheless. Conditions were pretty horrible yesterday, you could see at the ground how the blustery wind was affecting kicks.

Another huge game from Grundy and I liked what I saw of Dattoli, he moved and led well, worked hard and was in all the right places. Sheldrick was busy too, and McCartin solid on return.

Swans absolutely dominated in many of the stats, but the disappointing one was inside 50 efficiency - 23 shots from 61 entries (38%) vs Bombers 19 from 46 (41%). I saw several instances of excessive handballing inside 50 ultimately leading to a turnover or missed opportunity, because no one had the confidence, space or speed to take the shot. Goes some way to explaining why field dominance didn't translate to scoreboard dominance.

That, and the several snaps that should have been drop punts Buller showing them how it's done from the boundary.

Anyway - a win. Hopefully McLean back next week, and maybe Hayward too?

Cox indicated in the after match press conference that Hayward had a minor calf issue. He also sounded less than impressed with the second half and intimated that they didn't play as planned.

You're right, though: a win is a win. We still have key players out and there were some positives.

Cox sounded noticeably optimistic about Dattoli in interviews both before and after the game.

[longmile]

Not reading too much into that game. Looked like neither time - especially the Swans - wanted to be there which is somewhat understandable. If we kicked straight in the second we would've put them away but we've dropped a few games and probably our finals chances through not being able to kick straight this year.

Pretty hard watching, but overall impressed with Dattolli, Grundy and yes even my least fave Swan, McInerney. Grundy (with maybe Heeney) looming as our AA rep this year. Would like to see Cleary start next week.

Must say I think Chad has been pretty disappointing this year. Bit of a one way player and seems to blaze away at any exciting opportunity rather than doing the team thing.

[dejavoodoo44]

Coaches votes for the game, with Grundy continuing his charge up the leader board.

9 Brodie Grundy SYD
9 Nick Blakey SYD
5 Isaac Heeney SYD
3 Sam Durham ESS
2 Justin McInerney SYD
1 Andrew McGrath ESS
1 Callum Mills SYD

It's actually possible for him to win the thing, but it would require Anderson and Daicos to fall into big holes. Perhaps best ruck would be achievement enough?

93 Noah Anderson GCFC
87 Nick Daicos COLL
78 Jordan Dawson ADEL
78 Matt Rowell GCFC
78 Bailey Smith GEEL
77 Brodie Grundy SYD
77 Max Holmes GEEL
76 Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera STK
73 Max Gawn MELB.

[imuninformedtwo]

He certainly now deserves AA. Gawn has been very good this year, but Brodie's coming home like a steam train.

Rest of the votes from that game, fair enough - bar Andrew McGrath. I must have missed something (as did the Bomber recruiters when they took him over McCluggage.)

[dejavoodoo44]

Actually, now that I think of it, it would require Anderson to fall into an even bigger hole, because the Suns still have their postponed game against Essendon.

[BRS328]

Or the warriors that actually watch the game

To highlight my point, Buller has 11 touches in 3 qtrs playing alongside another tall and 1 touch in the last when Ladhams was subbed off despite Rucking as well

In fairness to Ladhams, conditions did not suit big ruckmen on Saturday. Grundy was exceptional and underlines what a talent he is.

This is not a criticism of Buller, but when he became the relief ruckman in the last quarter on Saturday, it was noticeable that Essendon started winning centre clearances (together with the help of some questionable frees), but they lifted and you could feel a momentum swing.
I was sitting behind the coaches box and you could see Cox gesturing to get Grundy back on immediately.

The point that I am trying to make is while Ladhams had minimal influence on the game, he was competitive in the rucking contests against Goldstein in the first 3 quarters

[Thunder Shaker]

Actually, now that I think of it, it would require Anderson to fall into an even bigger hole, because the Suns still have their postponed game against Essendon.

Grundy has averaged 8.0 coaches' votes in his last 8 games. Anderson has averaged 4.9 across his 19 games so far.

At this pace, Grundy could score another 24 votes in his last 3 games (total 101), and Anderson 20 votes in his last 4 (total 113).

That's not including the other players in the top 10, all of whom could win it at this stage.

[UUaswan]

The point that I am trying to make is while Ladhams had minimal influence on the game, he was competitive in the rucking contests against Goldstein in the first 3 quarters

Maybe lost in translation, but that is the exact point I have been trying to make for 3 months.

Ladhams is about structure, he helps our rucks and helps our fwds. In fairness to his performance it's hard to be consistent when your not getting a decent run

Look at the top teams, you need to play MINIMUM 2 tall fulltime fwds PLUS a ruck AND a ruck fwd.
If you have enough down the line, worst case the ball gets brought to ground and our smalls can dominate.

Heeney and Wilbur play tall, you just dont want them to play on a tall thus removing their advantage.

This also means you need 3 tall defenders and in our case that is plus Blakey as you dont want him wrestling with a tall fwd, you want him running off.

What has frustrated me all year is we have left Ladhams out and had Mclean being the part timer, making iur fwd line useless.
Mclean isn't a Ruck, but can be a decent fwd.

Cox and Co only need to look at the ladder for teams that play tall.

Surprise surprise, we beat Freo with 3 tall defenders plus Blakey and 2 tall fwds, a Ruck and a Ruck Fwd

[imuninformedtwo]

Actually, now that I think of it, it would require Anderson to fall into an even bigger hole, because the Suns still have their postponed game against Essendon.

I wish I had access to my old account and could find the old posts predicting Anderson was destined to win a Brownlow. Mind you, I also thought Hugh McCluggage would and for some reason he never garners big votes.

Regardless, I think the coaches award craps all over the Brownlow for value and weight these days. Heeney would have won last year had he not sat out the last round, but the Brownlow had him well back of the extraordinary voting tally given to Cripps. I genuinely admire him as a player, but he wasn’t the best player in the comp, and the tally and margin were absurd.

Anderson has been remarkable this year, and should also be captain of the AA side. What he’s done as a first year captain has been sensational.

[UUaswan]

I wish I had access to my old account and could find the old posts predicting Anderson was destined to win a Brownlow. Mind you, I also thought Hugh McCluggage would and for some reason he never garners big votes.

Regardless, I think the coaches award craps all over the Brownlow for value and weight these days. Heeney would have won last year had he not sat out the last round, but the Brownlow had him well back of the extraordinary voting tally given to Cripps. I genuinely admire him as a player, but he wasn’t the best player in the comp, and the tally and margin were absurd.

Anderson has been remarkable this year, and should also be captain of the AA side. What he’s done as a first year captain has been sensational.

Daicos is winning the Brownlow
He is a Star and well deserving but also polls incredibly

The only question at the start of the year is will he play enough games, if he does he gets 35 votes minimum.

[dejavoodoo44]

I wish I had access to my old account and could find the old posts predicting Anderson was destined to win a Brownlow. Mind you, I also thought Hugh McCluggage would and for some reason he never garners big votes.

Regardless, I think the coaches award craps all over the Brownlow for value and weight these days. Heeney would have won last year had he not sat out the last round, but the Brownlow had him well back of the extraordinary voting tally given to Cripps. I genuinely admire him as a player, but he wasn’t the best player in the comp, and the tally and margin were absurd.

Anderson has been remarkable this year, and should also be captain of the AA side. What he’s done as a first year captain has been sensational.

Yes, the Brownlow has become not only a midfielder's award, it's increasingly become an inside midfielder's award. Bash and crash right in front of an umpire and it seems that they'll give you votes.

And on award gripes. I had a look the other day, at the poll they were doing on the AFL site, about who you wanted to see in the All Australian side. The first couple of pages had preselected options for defenders. I was a little bit peeved that I couldn't vote for Wicks, but more peeved that there wasn't an option to vote for the sort of small defender, that spends much of their time attempting to shut down a dangerous small forward. The closest option was Zorko, who while he is small, largely bases his game on rebounding, rather than defending. There were also few medium size rebounders, like Dale and Ash. For the talls, the majority were guys who defended against tall forwards, but for some strange reason, actual defending didn't seem to be valued when it came to small defenders.