Sydney vs Canberra Wildcats - RWO Reserves Match Report

[liz]

Old Royboy's reserves match reports are becoming a regular feature of RWO this season.

For those of you who turned up at the ground for the seniors game, or switched on Channel 10, and saw the scoreboard from the early match, check here for details of who did the damage.

Our usual photographer, Ugg, wasn't able to make it to the game this week so if anyone else took some happy snaps they'd like to share, please PM me so I can add them into Ian's report.

[ugg]

Thanks for the report ORB.

Regarding the player limit, wouldn't it easier to count the players on the bench rather than those on the field. Its a pretty silly rule IMO, and it has made no noticeable difference to how competitive the other clubs are. Players like White missing out will be a hurdle to their development.

[liz]

I only got to see the very end of the first half and then the second half, but one thing that really impressed me was that despite leading by over 30 goals by midway in the third term, the whole team is incredibly disciplined. Whoever is coaching them is doing a very very good job with this group.

A couple of years ago, when they first started getting on top of almost every game they played, one feared some bad habits might start to creep in. Sometimes the skills through the middle were pretty sloppy but it didn't matter because however many times they turned the ball over, they could pretty much win it back at will.

They aren't playing faultless football now, by any means, but the way they work off the ball, particularly in the forward line, to create space, continuously look for options in better positions than themselves rather than taking potshots (apart from Simpkin, who is prone to glory seek at times) is remarkable.

And they were defending their goal with fierce determination yesterday, even at the death. There was one play I recall where a Wildcat kicked the ball opportunistically towards an empty goal area and it was probably going through but someone (Simpkin IIRC) sprinted back a fair way to take a mark close to the goal line and save the goal. When your team is over 30 goals up, you don't have to do those things, but they keep doing them.

This is why I reckon splitting the team up across the competition would be a huge step backwards. The risk of them feeling the need to try and star within their respective clubs means they would probably start doing the wrong things, whereas at the moment they are as selfless and well drilled a unit as the senior team - maybe even more so. And given they will all have one eye on getting themselves noticed and hence in line for senior selection, that is doubly remarkable.

I agree with ORB's assessment of BOG - based on the second half anyway. Jack is becoming a real live wire and could be one to add some real straight line pace to the Sydney midfield or backline.

And I've always had a bit of a soft spot for Barlow, despite not really knowing why - given he has a tendency to be a bit of a clanger king at times. But ever since he had his hair cut, he has started looking like a real footballer, not just a big kid with a few tricks. He runs hard and straight, marks well, kicks very well, and has stopped trying to do too much with the ball when he has it. He was caught out a couple of times yesterday when playing back in defence - and like Vogels, White et al you'd think his chances of playing senior football would be enhanced if he could show some application at that end of the ground - but he seems to have moved from a marginal player to become another rookie with a real chance of playing senior football.

[Triple B]

The Swans only had 16 on the field the entire last quarter and 15 for the last 10 minutes.

I'm not talking listed players, I'm talking players, full stop. The interchange bench was that packed it resembled a team photo lineup.

[SimonH]

also just quickly i heard a rumour that nick smith didnt play ressie this weeks and the swans would not tell him the reason saying that "they have theyre reasons".????

According to the Swans' official report of the game, Nick Smith didn't play this weekend. That Daniel (who posted this 2 weeks ago, after a game when Smith did play) is ahead of his time.

And the first 5 paras of liz's post should be compulsory reading for anyone advocating the 'split 'em up among all of the clubs/send 12 blokes down to Port Melbourne' solution to the problem of where to play our 2nds.

Congrats (if that's the right word) to Matt O'Dwyer for his first premiership-season game for the Swans. Rookies have a very short one year to show to the club they're worth persisting with. Injuries, byes, and the 18/4 rule, all mean that the real game-time some blokes will have, is embarrassingly short. Here's hoping he can make it count.

And a super report as usual, ORB. Good on ya.

[liz]

Congrats (if that's the right word) to Matt O'Dwyer for his first premiership-season game for the Swans.
.

There were a couple of times during the game he had me reaching for my mental list of player numbers to work out who it was. There's not too much of him but he looks reasonably strong through the body for his build and seems to know how to position his body cleverly to win a contest (albeit with the normal caveat on the quality of the opposition). His skills looked pretty smooth too.

[hammo]

I agree with Liz's post that they looked very disciplined despite leading by 200. I have a feeling we'll get a good indication of our depth this week with Laidlaw and probably one other (other than Amon) to come in if all of Kennelly, Ablett and Goodes miss.