Swans V Port Practice (Including Score Updates)

[Jeffers1984]

Some Player Comments:


Hall - Mixed brilliance with some good contested marking but let himself down with the outlet handball afterwards or some hopeless short kicking.

ROK -Quiet game apart from that spark in the 3rd

Nicky D - Good goal kicking, probably should of had a few frees for him for being held.

Leo - Thought he was okay. Ebert probably should of had 7 goals though but was getting fantastic delivery from Ports midfield. Leo took a screamer too.

Buchanan - Best midfielder of the day who got some decent clearences.

Spida - Played the first 3 quarters and was only okay. Great taps but didn't do a great deal around the ground.

Malceski - Looked great off half back flank setting up our forward thrust. Struggled to find options when given the kick in duty though (not his fault).

J Bolton - Pretty poor tonight. Didn't get much of it and made a few silly errors.

Jolly - Wasn't too bad. Still doesn't tap to advantage, but he got 2 goals from frees.

Vogels - hmmmm serious doubts on him now. He WILL NOT make it as a backman. Extremely poor once he's given up front position. Got put up forward in the 2nd half and got caught in a few marking contests that he shouldn't of let his defender in. (ala getting in Hall's path).

Crouch - Promising signs for Crouchy i reckon. He really does add that extra run out of the backline. Still looks really underdone but his speed is still there.

The youngsters that played were: Phillips, Moore, Schmidt, Rowe, Laidlaw and Simpkin. All were given limited game time and only Laidlaw and Phillips really impressed.

Overall i was pretty disappointed with the performance considering the media said we were going to take this game "seriously". Extra thing to note that Port had no Tredrea, S and P Burgoyne and Brogan.

BUT it was just a practice match and the best news was NO INJURIES!

2 weeks to shape up Swans.

[nat]

Did anyone else notice how shocking Luke Vogels was tonight?

Ah and then he missed that goal in the last quarter!

[Jeffers1984]

Did anyone else notice how shocking Luke Vogels was tonight?

Ah and then he missed that goal in the last quarter!

Extremely poor. Jesse White is a better bet for round 1 IMO.

Vogels needs an extra year to learn the craft as a backman.

[ugg]

So I take it Kennelly didn't play?

[giant]

I know it's only a practice game but a bit disappointing with close to our best available 22 on the park. From media reports only played one quarter of footy - let's hope that changes by Round 1.

[nat]

So I take it Kennelly didn't play?

Nope, saw him walking down with Roos after the first quarter.

[DeadlyAkkuret]

So much negativity.

[Carolyn]

We would have lost by so much more if Port Adelaide were accurate in their kicking.

[liz]

Very ordinary first half from our boys. Main positive is that when they lifted their intensity in the third quarter, the results were immediate.

But all throughout the game the delivery into the forward line was abysmal, and there were lots of bad options taken clearing the ball from defence, giving absolute hospital passes to team mates and resulting in simple turnovers for Port. Port's pressure skills were pretty good all night, but the Swans were their own worst enemies. And the scoreboard definitely flattered us.

Witnessed some of the most frustrating, stupid, soft frees ever - about 50/50 to each team. This HITB rule is going to cause a lot of hair tearing and teeth gnashing.

I took some notes during the game and will write them up into some kind of report a bit later on.

[Mike_B]

BUT it was just a practice match and the best news was NO INJURIES!

Yep, take a look at the Roos today with Thompson tearing his medial off the bone and probably damaging an ACL in the process. Rumour has it that could have been Bazza last week Just gotta hope no injuries come out of next week's reserves practice match that some of the seniors will play in to get extra game time into their legs before round 1.

[ugg]

Cheers to all who attended and gave their thoughts on the game.

[AnnieH]

What a fun night out. I don't think many of the players on both sides were taking it too seriously - the scoreboard giving us one of Powa's goals was entertaining. My nieces and nephews loved it.

So good to meet a few of the "cheersquad". I put faces on names ... always a pleasing exercise!!

Biggest highlight by far was Micky O taking a vertical mark in the third.
He came running from about 15m away and just took a flying leap.
He's so freaking good - who said he was an old man with nothing left. It's like Magic from old. He's so lean and mean. Hopefully this is his year!!

[Matt79]

Fun night out. Sitting on the fence near the Port bench, there were quite a few Port Adelaide meatheads sitting near us. They were treating the win like a grand final!

Anyway gamewise...Ist half very poor, missing targets and forward line not functioning well. Fosdike was getting plenty of the footy.
2nd half was a different game, however, the most frustrating part of the night was the last few minutes of the game!!

Down by less then a goal, with the ball in the backline. We continue to pause, hold the ball up, take time and look for the perfect option. What is there to lose by going long, taking a risk and possibly conceding a goal but heck at least you tried getting one!!

[Triple B]

My thoughts:

Fosdike EASILY our best in the first half.

Phillips a certainty for Rd 1.

Buchanon excellent again.

Malceski is just a class act. Had a gazillion touches, players continually kicked back to him in the corridor around the back of the centre square, allowing him to pinpoint passes around CHF.

Dempster did enough to ensure selection in Rd 1. Notwithstanding a few clanger turnovers, supplied huge run from the back with Eski, Crouch and co.

Crouch was excellent for a guy who hasn't played for 8 odd months.

Laidlaw needs to keep his feet, a must in seniors in this day and age. Motlop slipped him a few times when he went to ground. That said, he was far from our worst and looks to have a future.

Had some interesting setups from the kickins. Eski took just about all of them, usually kicking short, then taking off and linking with Crouch, Leo, Dempster and others. If they persist with this tactic for the season, we will see some great length of the field goals, but our heart will be in our mouths often. If one handball goes astray, bang, rebound, goal. We'll need to bar LRT getting involved in any of these plays, my ticker couldn't stand it.

[Old Royboy]

I'm glad Liz took some notes, I fell down badly in that department tonight. So more of a general impression type thing tonight.

If tonight's umpiring was an indication of what we can expect in the season proper be prepared for some frustration. super soft unjustified frees, then blatant infringements ignored. Just woeful. (50 metre penalties when our blokes blew up on poor decisions cost two goals in the 1st quarter - hi Baz!)

It was just a horrible night for footy - 25 odd degrees, about 95% humidity and the ground wet from earlier rain. as usual, when conditions are poor, our blokes were slow to adjust.

1st half skills from our blokes were just awful. Leo had a similar night to what he had last year against Lloyd in round 1 last year - not watching the ball and cannoning into his opponent. Handballs going astray, hospital passes. Bazza just terrible, quick handballs going to Neville nobody and beautiful short passes to the oposition.

Come third quarter and the light came on. Leo started watching the ball instead of his man, several great spoils and a terrific mark. Passes started to hit the mark, Bazza started to be effective, midfied were working hard and effectively.

Last quarter was like - we've shown what we can do, just don't get hurt. No intensity.

Intererested to note that when he finally played well in the 3rd quarter, Bazza appears to have the new ITB rule sussed. He gets very close to hs opponent so that the ump is unsure whether he is pushing off or bodying. (I was unsure too). But he got two marks with this technique, both times I was waiting for the whistle which didn't come.

Phillips continues to impress. To put it simply, this kid is a footballer. He just does the right things at the right times, nearly every time. I had some doubts about Laidlaw, but he did a couple of things tonight which said the same thing - can play the game. He will make the grade.

Nicky D was same old. Got his goals and most of his posessions by sneaking away into the clear on spec. Can be valuable, but no team can afford more than one like that.

With limited time Crouchy looked good. He will play in two weeks.

My impressions of Port are that they have been well drilled in the off season, but they are overloaded with quick flashy types who melt when the pressure is on at the pointy end of the season. Give them a couple of years.

Cheers ORB