Match thread. Round 12, Swans v Richmond.

[111431]

And he played in weaker sides and played less than 200 games. He was pure class and skill. My favourite all time Swan

Fully agree- he was our only shining light in a dark era

[Thunder Shaker]

Sirswampthing on Bluesky has been posting some fun facts after the Richmond game:

After a loss in 2026, Sydney's won the next game by an average of 121 points.
Teams with players kicking 7 goals or more in a game in 2026: Sydney 3, other 17 teams combined 2.
Charlie Curnow hadn't been born the last time a Sydney player kicked 8+ goals in a game v Richmond. (Tony Lockett kicked 12 in 1996)

[SwanSand]

If we want to win it all, some players need to go and some need to lift.
Cleary is probably not made for it, cannot make the right decisions even when not under pressure. Hanily played better but probably has a ceiling.
I think if we need to have a realistic chance, Sheldrick needs to lift. He is ok but needs to go to another level. Bice is being a bit more physical which is good. He needs to do more to be this physical presence on top of his link up, kicking play.
we need to fix our ground ball in defensive 50. Not sure who would help. Usually Gulden does a good job with it when he is in the team. But it was too easy for even Richmond.
I think Cunningham is the other one who is good at it and Lloyd. Not sure how they would be involved in defensive 50 when mills is back. May be give Mills some midfield minutes

[crackedactor 01]

That just shows you how good Bedford was. He was super quick and a great kick.

Bedford was a amazing player. The sad thing was he was by far the best in the team and opposition would target him with several whacks into the back of his head and receive no umpiring protection. It is good that those days are over.

[crackedactor 01]

Hope we can somehow make Ladhams and Grundy fit in the same team. I think Ladhams has some X factor and would allow Grundy to rest. But it’d mean we’d probably have to drop one of our key forwards

Yes there was absolutely nothing wrong with Pistol Pete's game. The game by Mclean was also good.But how many talls can we have?

[MattW]

Kyle's debut was the highlight for me. He grew into the game with each possession, and he looked poised and moved really well. He's still only 18, so an exciting prospect.

That was probably the brightest Hanily has looked. He used the ball around the ground really well and was involved in some good attacking movements.

Chad's best game in a while - he looked focussed and motivated. Excellent games again from Heeney and McCartin. Also, happy for Ladhams to have applied his VFL form in the top level.

Finally, I think Sheldrick is going well. He certainly knows how to find the ball in and outside. Thirty disposals (13 contested) in 69% game time. He has only played 40 games, and he is still developing his game.

[KSAS]

I think Cox will experiment playing 2 rucks leading up to our bye in R15. This will give opportunity to rest Armartey and Logan seperately whilst playing McLean.

Cox was open with our structure post game. I think he's bent on we don't repeat the mistakes of '24 by not managing players and being flexible with selections, when we had opportunities to do so.

Melican (hamstring tightness) & McInnerney (rolled ankle), are likely to at least miss out of caution.

it may provide an opportunity for Snell , but it also depends who is returning next week with Mills, Roberts and Rosas being possibilities.

[Thunder Shaker]

If we want to win it all, some players need to go and some need to lift.

We need to get some injured players back. Having Campbell, Gulden, Mills, Papley, Rampe, Roberts and Rosas all unavailable due to injury means about 30% of best 23 players aren't playing. If all these players were available (and there were no other injuries to best 23 players) then we would be a chance to beat anyone, anywhere, anytime.

[BRS328]

Very low intensity game but we must keep pushing. Not that there is anyone about to push in from the 2nds. Grundy back I guess. Whoever goes out will be unlucky.

Maybe Hanily out and Ladhams a crumbing unpredictable forward? lol

Hanily was pretty good yesterday and used the ball well when he was in possession. Based on form you would have to say Cleary would be the one to go

[BRS328]

I think Cox will experiment playing 2 rucks leading up to our bye in R15. This will give opportunity to rest Armartey and Logan seperately whilst playing McLean.

Cox was open with our structure post game. I think he's bent on we don't repeat the mistakes of '24 by not managing players and being flexible with selections, when we had opportunities to do so.

Melican (hamstring tightness) & McInnerney (rolled ankle), are likely to at least miss out of caution.

it may provide an opportunity for Snell , but it also depends who is returning next week with Mills, Roberts and Rosas being possibilities.

Snell had a shocker in the VFL game with his unknown opponent kicking 5 goals on him. Some were from pretty soft free kicks but he certainly had the better of Snell

[Hotpotato]

So they (the commentators) are mostly now frothing on about Freo
who we play on a Thursday night on the
9th July at Optus .

Coxy will be already forward planning for that on that hard
ground.

Some tired players will need a rest prior.

[dejavoodoo44]

Kyle's debut was the highlight for me. He grew into the game with each possession, and he looked poised and moved really well. He's still only 18, so an exciting prospect.

That was probably the brightest Hanily has looked. He used the ball around the ground really well and was involved in some good attacking movements.

Chad's best game in a while - he looked focussed and motivated. Excellent games again from Heeney and McCartin. Also, happy for Ladhams to have applied his VFL form in the top level.

Finally, I think Sheldrick is going well. He certainly knows how to find the ball in and outside. Thirty disposals (13 contested) in 69% game time. He has only played 40 games, and he is still developing his game.

While I only listened on radio and watched the highlights, it sounds like Kyle had a decent debut. Certainly his run through the middle to hit up Heeney looked like a quality player. It'll be interesting to see how they try to develop him for the rest of the season. My general impression on why the first round bid was matched, was that they knew how athletic he was and that they thought that they might be able to turn him into a big bodied midfielder, with the speed to escape from congestion. Early on in the VFL season, he was playing a bit of midfield, but they may have decided that it was a bit too much to soon and switched him back to running defender. So, will they keep him in defence or have another try at converting him to a mid? Personally, I think there's more upside to the midfield option. Plus there's a couple of current academy prospects, with similar sort of profiles, who could become very good rebounding defenders, if we somehow manage to draft them: Jake Medved and Mason McGroder.

As far as I know, Medved is a recent convert, who was just running around playing touch footy, until playing for the academy this season. At 193cm, he's probably quicker than Kyle and I'd say that his disposal skills are more damaging to the opposition. I strongly suspect that he's a big fan of Blakey, because he loves to take off out of defence at high pace. Unfortunately, he may have already played himself out of our draft range, because we don't have a first round pick, and even if we traded in a pick or two, it's likely that we'll have to play the competency tax.

McGroder at 195cm is a little bit taller and a bit more solidly built, which means he has spent a bit of time as a KPD and a bit of time as a relief ruck. He's probably even more athletic, winning the Australian u20 long jump as a 16 year old and also being a quality 400m runner. While he's been in the academy a few seasons, he's possibly still inexperienced, as he regularly misses games to compete in athletics championships. His positioning might need a bit of work and he's yet to have the sort of high possession game, that tends to attract the attention of recruiters. However, when he does get the ball, he reminds me a bit of a 12yo playing in the u10s. If he does decide to pursue an AFL career, rather than athletics, he could also rise up the draft boards.

And I use the term, rise up the draft boards, quite loosely, because the only Swans player mentioned in the rankings that I've seen, is the injured McCartney. So perhaps the experts will continue to ignore our academy prospects? Which is possibly a bit too much to ask for. Perhaps a more likely scenario, is the hype coming for one of them and the other being a bit underrated. Like how the hype came for Campbell, while Gulden slipped through to pick 32.

Anyway, Kyle to midfield, and hopefully we pick up at least one of Medved or McGroder, as the perfect rebounding partner to Blakey.

[111431]

Whilst yesterday was a good win, it was case of men playing boys. My concern is, early in the game they went goal for goal with us. I think we’re not defensively strong and will be found out in finals, or against good teams, yet again. How do we strengthen our defensive game so we can compete strongly when it matters?

[Dow]

Don’t you love a good old fashioned flogging.

I guess the curious part of the Ladhams and McLean contributions today is what you do when Brodie returns. Ladhams is clearly an AFL level ruck and Hayden is clearly an AFL level forward, so if you want to play an extra tall? I’d probably lean to playing Hayden given Brodie loves churning out huge minutes and Hayden can do what he does ahead of the ball, but it’s a tough one.

Good to see Chad back on ball, McCartin keeps inching towards an AA, and that’s the best game of footy either Cleary or Hannily have played, albeit against crap oppposition.

As for Kyle, can’t believe some of the early crap on here. He was playing as a defender and didn’t get beaten once, then as his confidence lifted, got some ball. And that one two off half back when he then took off through the middle and delivered to Heeney was footy porn. If that’s what he’s doing when he’s raw as it comes, look out.

will be interesting who makes way for Grundy, as for Kyle he has talent but a long way to go and a lot of hard work before he realises it IF in fact he does - he’s raw and he may never move past that (Braeden Campbell and Dylan Stephen’s are guys with undeniable talent and never really realised it, league is littered with them, I look ward to watching his journey

[Dow]

Whilst yesterday was a good win, it was case of men playing boys. My concern is, early in the game they went goal for goal with us. I think we’re not defensively strong and will be found out in finals, or against good teams, yet again. How do we strengthen our defensive game so we can compete strongly when it matters?

I must admit I do agree and have similar concerns