Swans 22 for Rd 1 (Teams named)

[FootyontheBrain]

Reading some of the posts it seems we all have an idea of what we see as the 22.

B Ted Richards Craig Bolton Leo Barry
HB Tadhg Kennelly Lewis Roberts-Thomson Martin Mattner
C Amon Buchanan Brett Kirk Adam Goodes
HF Nick Davis Barry Hall Ryan O'Keefe
F Jarrad McVeigh Michael K. O'Loughlin Craig Bird
Follower Luke Ablett Darren Jolly Ben Mathews

Interchange Nic Fosdike Jesse White Paul Bevan Jared Crouch

There are definitely going to be some senior players under the pump for playing time, such as:
Mathews
Bevan
Ablett
Fosdike
to a lesser degree:
Barry
Richards
McVeigh

Unlucky to miss would be
Schmidt
Barlow
Laidlaw
Jack
Grundy
JBolt

No matter what, all this young blood pushing for selection is good for our side.

[swantastic]

Reading some of the posts it seems we all have an idea of what we see as the 22.

B Ted Richards Craig Bolton Leo Barry
HB Tadhg Kennelly Lewis Roberts-Thomson Martin Mattner
C Amon Buchanan Brett Kirk Adam Goodes
HF Nick Davis Barry Hall Ryan O'Keefe
F Jarrad McVeigh Michael K. O'Loughlin Craig Bird
Follower Luke Ablett Darren Jolly Ben Mathews

Interchange Nic Fosdike Jesse White Paul Bevan Jared Crouch

There are definitely going to be some senior players under the pump for playing time, such as:
Mathews
Bevan
Ablett
Fosdike
to a lesser degree:
Barry
Richards
McVeigh

Unlucky to miss would be
Schmidt
Barlow
Laidlaw
Jack
Grundy
JBolt

No matter what, all this young blood pushing for selection is good for our side.

B2 wont miss out.Bird wont get a run first up and neither will The Unit.Cheese will get a gig insted of Bevan.Fossie's not under the pump IMO,he is a little underrated.Other than that it looks like a good line up.Timmy will get a run insted of The Unit.

[FootyontheBrain]

Will make it real interesting when Spider's back and what to do with Playfair when he's healthy?

I think Bevan is safe. Roos loves the guy, and his tackling is second to none in the comp.

Would agree on Fossie, but I might put him in the "to a lesser degree" category.

[RogueSwan]

I don't think Fearless is under the pump either. Bevans tackling is at least second to Kirk's.
As for the starting line up for Round 1, let me think about it. I can't wait to see who is in though.

[Mike_B]

Reading some of the posts it seems we all have an idea of what we see as the 22.

B Ted Richards Craig Bolton Leo Barry
HB Tadhg Kennelly Lewis Roberts-Thomson Martin Mattner
C Amon Buchanan Brett Kirk Adam Goodes
HF Nick Davis Barry Hall Ryan O'Keefe
F Jarrad McVeigh Michael K. O'Loughlin Craig Bird
Follower Luke Ablett Darren Jolly Ben Mathews

Interchange Nic Fosdike Jesse White Paul Bevan Jared Crouch

I don't think we will see Fosdike for Rd 1 due to his injury and not having game time under his belt, so would imagine Jude Bolton will come in for him and I also don't see both Bevan and Crouch having spots in our best 22. Would probably expect to see Barlow take one of their spots.

[swansrule100]

jude bolton will play all 22 games, wether he deserves to or not is another question.

He looks to be back in some good nick though

id have bird and jack in round 1

crouch isnt in the best 22 imho neither is paul bevan

[RogueSwan]

Has Crouch been playing in the practice matches? If so is really past it? Did the injuries just become too much?

[AnnieH]

Has Crouch been playing in the practice matches? If so is really past it? Did the injuries just become too much?

I thought Crouch retired?????

(Or did we retire him at the end of last season? I can't remember.)

[TheGrimReaper]

Haven't I made a topic about this already?

[stellation]

I thought Crouch retired?????

(Or did we retire him at the end of last season? I can't remember.)

I believe RWO retired him, but neither Crouchy nor the club got the message (or if they did they ignored it).

[Mountain Man]

Scenario:
It is a centre bounce at the beginning of the 2nd quarter. Every one is warm and had touches. Coaches have just reminded players of their roles. There are no exploitable matchups, or obvious ?winners? to date. It is 4.4 each; there is no wind; we are playing in daylight. The next score is more important than planning for future plays, or rotations.

We want our best team out there. (Malceski, and for clarity Playfair and Thornton not available).

My selections and role instructions for 22 players would be:
1. 2 ruckmen in Jolly and Everitt. (I would have White as the fill in for injury, and that would give him the opportunity for 5 or so games at the start of 2008.).

2. If we tap to advantage;
a. On the ground, we have 1 in-and-under player in Kirk. On the bench, for rotation, we have another in Bird. (Over time Moore may become the replacement.)
b. We have 1 clever-outsider waiting for the extraction, in Goodes; on the bench, another in Schmidt. (I wish we still had Williams!)
c. Our stopper/tagger in Ablett is hopefully keeping the gun opposition midfielder at bay.
d. If we have to go wider, there are 2 Wingmen in Barlow and Mattner.
So, there are the 9 centre men selections.

3. If we are still going forward,
a. The half forward line is waiting in O?Keefe, Hall, and Grundy
b. The full forward line is waiting in McVeigh, O?Loughlin, and Davis
c. Add benchman for rotation and injury coverage in Buchanan
There are another 7 selections

4. If we don?t tap to advantage, and the stopper doesn?t recover,
a. The half backline is ready to stop and rebound in Kennelly, LRT, and Bevan
b. In worst case, the fullback line is there in Bolton, Barry and Richards.
c. There is no space for a benchman, so in case of injury we would use Grundy as the tall, and Buchanan as a small.

that makes 6 defenders, and 22 selections.

No room for older faithfuls of Mathews, Fosdike, J Bolton, Crouch

No room yet for younger hopefuls in Brennan, Jack, Laidlaw, DOK

[Jewels]

Scenario:
It is a centre bounce at the beginning of the 2nd quarter. Every one is warm and had touches. Coaches have just reminded players of their roles. There are no exploitable matchups, or obvious ?winners? to date. It is 4.4 each; there is no wind; we are playing in daylight. The next score is more important than planning for future plays, or rotations.

We want our best team out there. (Malceski, and for clarity Playfair and Thornton not available).

My selections and role instructions for 22 players would be:
1. 2 ruckmen in Jolly and Everitt. (I would have White as the fill in for injury, and that would give him the opportunity for 5 or so games at the start of 2008.).

2. If we tap to advantage;
a. On the ground, we have 1 in-and-under player in Kirk. On the bench, for rotation, we have another in Bird. (Over time Moore may become the replacement.)
b. We have 1 clever-outsider waiting for the extraction, in Goodes; on the bench, another in Schmidt. (I wish we still had Williams!)
c. Our stopper/tagger in Ablett is hopefully keeping the gun opposition midfielder at bay.
d. If we have to go wider, there are 2 Wingmen in Barlow and Mattner.
So, there are the 9 centre men selections.

3. If we are still going forward,
a. The half forward line is waiting in O?Keefe, Hall, and Grundy
b. The full forward line is waiting in McVeigh, O?Loughlin, and Davis
c. Add benchman for rotation and injury coverage in Buchanan
There are another 7 selections

4. If we don?t tap to advantage, and the stopper doesn?t recover,
a. The half backline is ready to stop and rebound in Kennelly, LRT, and Bevan
b. In worst case, the fullback line is there in Bolton, Barry and Richards.
c. There is no space for a benchman, so in case of injury we would use Grundy as the tall, and Buchanan as a small.

that makes 6 defenders, and 22 selections.

No room for older faithfuls of Mathews, Fosdike, J Bolton, Crouch

No room yet for younger hopefuls in Brennan, Jack, Laidlaw, DOK

Very well thought out and stated Mountain Man. I agree on 99% of your team and think your selections would give us a very strong team with a good mix of youthful exuberance and wily old heads. The only thing I would change is Laidlaw for Bevan as I think he offers more in his ability to clear the ball out of defence.

[AnnieH]

I believe RWO retired him, but neither Crouchy nor the club got the message (or if they did they ignored it).

If only they'd listen to us, eh!!

[FootyontheBrain]

In my 22 I was thinking what we're likely to see on the ground given the opposition and the track record of our selectors. Not necessarily what I'd like to see.

I agree with much of what Mountain Man is saying, but I'd drop Grundy for White for his versatility.

[sharp9]

B - Ted Richards - Leo Barry - Craig Bolton
HB - Tadhg Kennelly - Lewis Roberts-Thomson - Nick Malceski
C - Nic Fosdike - Luke Ablett - Adam Goodes
HF - Nick Davis - Barry Hall - Ryan O'Keefe
F - Jarrad McVeigh - Michael O'Loughlin - Adam Schneider
R - Darren Jolly - Brett Kirk - Jude Bolton

I - Peter Everitt - Amon Buchanan - Paul Bevan - Ben Mathews

Emerg - Jared Crouch - Tim Schmidt - Sean Dempster

Above is the team as selected for the whole of 2007 where fit. Only Amon Buchanan was ever dropped from the 22 as far as I can recall. Mathews missed a couple of games when he dropped himself but that was in 2006 wasn't it? Maybe Barlow was above Dempster by the end of the season.

The only other players to play any games were Barlow, Brennan, Grundy, Jack and Laidlaw...although see on RWO wiki Moore is listed as coming in for Buchanan against the Roos.

From that 25 we know for certain only that Schneider, Dempster and Kennelly are out and that Mattner is in. Everything else is speculation. Following my logic the current 25 is now.

B - Ted Richards - Leo Barry - Craig Bolton
HB - Tadhg Kennelly - Lewis Roberts-Thomson - Martin Mattner
C - Nic Fosdike - Luke Ablett - Adam Goodes
HF - Nick Davis - Barry Hall - Ryan O'Keefe
F - Jarrad McVeigh - Michael O'Loughlin - Amon Buchanan
R - Darren Jolly - Brett Kirk - Jude Bolton

I - Peter Everitt - Jared Crouch - Paul Bevan - Ben Mathews

Emerg - Tim Schmidt - Luke Brennan - Ed Barlow

Not very exciting is it? But that is the team we would all assume to be named come round one if all players are fit who have not been officially ruled out. In the real world Barlow might come in instead of Crouch for height reasons.

Roos have been making quite a few noises about players needing to lift their game, particularly regarding disposal. At least he has acknowledged that out terrible ball usage really cost us. He didn't mention lack of speed of thought, poor decision making and generally turning in circles then giving a hospital handpass which, at best, leads to a stoppage....but maybe he was talking about this too. It almost sounded like he was acknowledging that who are neither good users of the ball, nor creative might actually get dropped for a less experienced but more talented player. I say ALMOST because the only dodgy disposers ever dropped in the last 2 years were Schneider and Buchanan....2 of the most creative.

It almost sounded like Mathews, Bevan, McVeigh, J Bolton and Fosdike (in that order) were on notice.

However I would be SHOCKED, absolutely SHOCKED if anyone were dropped for round one. Only 2 players have caused a stir in the pre-season and surely injuries will be enough to see Bird and White named, saving Roosey the problem of having to drop anyone...or maybe not.

Injury cloud players (in order) would be Everitt, Richards, Schmidt and Crouch. Everyone else in the conservative 25 is fit and playing at the moment (or playing next wek in the case of Kennelly).

White WILL come in for Everitt but Brennan will come in for Richards and Barlow for Crouch leaving Bird to replace Schmidt in the emergencies only...(along with Grundy and Brabazon).

So that's it I'm afraid. Here is the team as it will be named for round 1 barring new injuries (and assuming none of the injured seniors come back)

B - Luke Brennan - Leo Barry - Craig Bolton
HB - Tadhg Kennelly - Lewis Roberts-Thomson - Martin Mattner
C - Nic Fosdike - Luke Ablett - Adam Goodes
HF - Nick Davis - Barry Hall - Ryan O'Keefe
F - Jarrad McVeigh - Michael O'Loughlin - Ed Barlow
R - Darren Jolly - Brett Kirk - Jude Bolton

I - JESSE WHITE - Amon Buchanan - Paul Bevan - Ben Mathews

Emerg - Craig Bird - Heath Grundy - Ryan Brabazon

There are probably only 3 people on the planet who would pick Bevan, Mcveigh and Mathews ahead of Bird on current form...but those 3 make up the Sydney match committee so Bird will be on the emergency list....then Roosey will give a presser about how fantastic Bird is and how he would have loved to fit him in and how he will surely be a champion in the future...then he'll get one game in the wet at Kardinia and be dropped when Bevan comes back half fit.

As for me personally I have a not very pragmatic approach to selection(although in the long term it should be better) which is "hang the four points, play the most talented players who are ready to play" in which case Bird, Moore and Jack would come in for Mathews, Bevan and McVeigh. I'm not convinced that Grundy is more talented than Brennan so I'll leave him in...but I would still leave Richards out when he comes back from injury...Brennan, White and Grundy would get the gig ahead of him...even though Teddy gives good value and cannot be faulted for effort or courage...my rationale is that those other 3 will be better players when they have had Teddy's experience and hence should get the nod now.