Round 18: Swans v Fremantle.

[UUaswan]

That's a nice change. Phew.....it was getting tiring.

To be fair I've been consistent, Match committee is my issue, most of the garble is due to poor decisions at MC that are far from unforeseeable

[Hotpotato]

A blizzare game .
it looked like a tight contest until the last kick.
Then:
Everything went right for the Dockers in the second
half, the bounce of the ball, the frees for pathetic infringements
many of us didn’t know existed , the miraculous clearances then their
crowd support.

The momentum then blew us away.

[BRS328]

Only chop out for Mclean was his rucking/fwd role.

Made harder without Logan or Hamling for that matter playing fwd.

This is why Ladhams helps Grundy and Mclean to do their roles.

I would have thrown in Green to assist in that role


Also 3 of those bottom 6 players were made worse by match committee. We all knew before the bounce what a few of them were incapable of

When McLean replaced Grundy in the ruck in the third quarter was when Freo kicked 4 goals straight.Unfortunately McLean had a day he would like to forget

[UUaswan]

When McLean replaced Grundy in the ruck in the third quarter was when Freo kicked 4 goals straight.Unfortunately McLean had a day he would like to forget

been the case for 2yrs, Grundy resting is about damage control

[Velour&Ruffles]

been the case for 2yrs, Grundy resting is about damage control

If only we had a more than capable mature bodied 204 cm guy in the reserves….

[MattW]

The mentality piece worries me, as it hadn't really reared its head this year. Yes, we've been beaten, but that happens or there's context (ie: no Errol or Isaac vs Hawks).

This game reminded me of the Gold Coast and GWS games last year, when he had cracking first halves and then - whoosh - disappeared. Cox has spent a lot of time on the resilience piece and to a degree, our ability to get through some of those close games pre-bye when we weren't at our best suggests he's made progress, but last night it came back. And it was largely our leaders, to be honest. Mills and Rampe had shockers, and whilst Chad had a crack (though his disposal was off), our mids went missing. I wasn't that convinced by Errol's game in the second half either.

It's easy to point the finger at Cleary, and I'm deeply unconvinced by him, and even my man Kyle lost a couple of critical contests late, but when the side is getting overrun, you want your leaders to reverse the trend.

Which gets to my second issue. If we have a full complement of midfielders - both getting players like JMac back and having Paps fit enough to run through there at times - I reckon we can match up better. But against the best, if we're missing one or two, our depth isn't there. And that's with Grundy largely matching Jackson, no easy feat.

I'm not as doom and gloom on what it says about the season (bar Freo have the cracking list we already knew about), but we do have some work to do.

Yes, there were a couple of moments late where Kyle was in a 1 on 1 or 2 on 2, and I thought he might come out on top, but didn't quite. But it was only his fifth game, and I think he's learning with every moment. That was still his best game. Showed great poise with the ball a few times and stuck a couple of great pressure tackles. Every game until September is a chance for him to keep developing and be in a position to hit those moments in a final.

On the game, Cox discovered the team still suffers from brittleness under the hottest pressure. Unfortunately, it's been like that for years. The qualifying final against GWS in 24 an exception, but GWS weren't belting us earlier in the game - we were playing poorly. Against the elite, powerful teams - Brisbane, Geelong, now Fremantle - we've wilted.

We have many more out than them on Thursday, but I suspect even at full strength we'd be really stretched.

Anyway, Cox saw it. It is still there. Don't forget it; next time bring it.

[MattW]

Campbell won't come in on (hopefully) playing 1 reserves game - he has missed too much footy. We missed one of Amartey or McDonald badly. Hamling has never been a forward. Cleary is not going to make it I don't think. He just doesnt take the chances he gets. I would drop Cleary, Hamling at a minimum. Bring in one of Phillipou, Dattoli for the Cleary role and either Melican or Snell for Hamling. If McDonald is fit he is first in though.

It's getting late in the season to bring Phillipou or Dattoli in; maybe not quite too late, but almost there. And I think they'd be more a shadow for Hanily's role.

Cleary's playing as a pressure forward. I'd rather Coottee or Corey Warner (in that order) for that role.

[UUaswan]

It's getting late in the season to bring Phillipou or Dattoli in; maybe not quite too late, but almost there. And I think they'd be more a shadow for Hanily's role.

Cleary's playing as a pressure forward. I'd rather Coottee or Corey Warner (in that order) for that role.

Rosas, Datolli, Warner, Cootee
In any order are better than Hannily and Cleary

I would have thrown Phillipou in for a game by now too

No one has owned that spot, should have been a merry go round last 6 weeks until someone deserved to hold it

[Ocker]

Campbell is listed to play VFL today - when fully fit he is a strong contender for the pressure forward role. Otherwise Cootee has shown enough to deserve another go at it.

[Roadrunner]

The MC needs to get their act together regarding a few positions. Yes, we’ve had some bad injuries and that has exposed our lack of depth. Up forward, we only have Paps as a small and unfortunately he is injury prone. I thought Rosas would help that role but he’s inconsistent so we have to try Dettoli or Phillipou. The reality is there are some glaring holes in our midfield too so moving Mills there makes sense. I didn’t like his game down back against the Dockers and it’s time to bring Snell in- he has to be tried before the finals. As mentioned above, our bottom six are not good enough- we need at least three more quality players to be able to play four quarters of pressure football.

We have shown we can play 1-2 quarters but seldom a full game, especially against a top physical and quick team. Our coaches know this, of course, and keep going on about it but the fact is we are relying on Isaac, Errol, Chad, Charlie and to a lesser extent the Lizard and TomMc to win games and this just ain’t good enough. We need more talent-our draft picks haven’t been very successful so we need to trade in 2-3 very good players which is a tall order!

[UUaswan]

The MC needs to get their act together regarding a few positions. Yes, we’ve had some bad injuries and that has exposed our lack of depth. Up forward, we only have Paps as a small and unfortunately he is injury prone. I thought Rosas would help that role but he’s inconsistent so we have to try Dettoli or Phillipou. The reality is there are some glaring holes in our midfield too so moving Mills there makes sense. I didn’t like his game down back against the Dockers and it’s time to bring Snell in- he has to be tried before the finals. As mentioned above, our bottom six are not good enough- we need at least three more quality players to be able to play four quarters of pressure football.

We have shown we can play 1-2 quarters but seldom a full game, especially against a top physical and quick team. Our coaches know this, of course, and keep going on about it but the fact is we are relying on Isaac, Errol, Chad, Charlie and to a lesser extent the Lizard and TomMc to win games and this just ain’t good enough. We need more talent-our draft picks haven’t been very successful so we need to trade in 2-3 very good players which is a tall order!

Most of it is on Match Committee

Hopefully we play more teams like Bulldogs who are more stupid than our MC to play English at full back.
We just thought again that Grundy could do it all after he beat a bloke like Lobb who hasnt rucked consistently for years

[Thunder Shaker]

I haven't been posting in the thread because I had to get an early start yesterday to attend a funeral.

The MC needs to get their act together regarding a few positions. Yes, we’ve had some bad injuries and that has exposed our lack of depth.

Sydney had one of the longest injury lists at one point and was still able to win enough games to hold down second spot on the ladder. The Swans reserves are in the top six of the ladder. This suggests that lack of depth isn't the reason.

Contributing factors are team selection and to some extent a lack of match fitness for returning players. Sydney's not been rotating players much except when forced by injury. Sydney's used 33 players. The only clubs who have used fewer players are Fremantle (30) and Geelong (31). Those 33 players don't include Campbell who hasn't played a game this year.

Players in the VFL who should be considered: Campbell, Snell, perhaps Cootee and Phillipou. Not sure of others, as I didn't see enough of the game. Campbell's kicking was very good, I saw him kick to players with pinpoint accuracy a couple of times. Snell outmarked opposing forwards more frequently than Melican; on that measure Snell has to be considered for a debut.

[UUaswan]

Melican is a 100game AFL player, who would come in and be 3rd fiddle with little expectation to run off and intercept. What he does in reserves is kind of irrelevant, he is more than capable to step up.

Whilst id like to see Snell get a game, he is not playing the same role if pushed up to AFL.

Its similar to Rosas and co getting it 30x in the 2s and not being asked to play that role in the 1s

They should have given Snell a game when Rampe was out.

As far as Bice disposal, id prefer to be working with a guy thay can get the ball as opposed to someone that doesnt mess up cos they cant get near it.
All of Bices good games last year, including at Optus were up the ground.

[BRS328]

It's getting late in the season to bring Phillipou or Dattoli in; maybe not quite too late, but almost there. And I think they'd be more a shadow for Hanily's role.

Cleary's playing as a pressure forward. I'd rather Coottee or Corey Warner (in that order) for that role.

Forget Corey Warner, he ran into open goal from 30 meters out 3 times in the VFL game today and missed every time. He has ability, but lacks composure. He is very frustrating to watch

[Dow]

Melican is a 100game AFL player, who would come in and be 3rd fiddle with little expectation to run off and intercept. What he does in reserves is kind of irrelevant, he is more than capable to step up.

Whilst id like to see Snell get a game, he is not playing the same role if pushed up to AFL.

Its similar to Rosas and co getting it 30x in the 2s and not being asked to play that role in the 1s

They should have given Snell a game when Rampe was out.

As far as Bice disposal, id prefer to be working with a guy thay can get the ball as opposed to someone that doesnt mess up cos they cant get near it.
All of Bices good games last year, including at Optus were up the ground.

i Think you seriously overrate Melican he was bested today playing as a stopper in the 2s (his direct opponent had 4 shots on goal, lucky all behinds) he is struggling with confidence (and thst he is undersized) and was one of the reasons he was dropped (he is cover once Hamling retires, unless he can recapture some form)