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Imagine a guy standing at least 6 ft 3, far from skinny but not really beefed up yet by AFL standards, attempting a contested mark in heavy traffic, almost completing it but not quite holding on, then gathering the ball off the ground, evading one tackle, bulldozing through another at speed, taking two bounces as he runs through the pack, before slightly losing control and scrubbing the ball forward (but still to the advantage of a team mate).
Then imagine its his first ever competitive hit out of Australian Rules football.
Welcome to the world of Brendan Murphy.
Still very early days, still very much a work in progress. And clearly an oppositon team of U18 players isn't the best to gauge performances against. But when - not if - this bloke progresses to senior football, he's going to be very exciting to watch indeed. Kicking looks smooth, marking needs some work, ground level skills look very decent indeed but his instinct of running with the ball and taking players on with pace looks most exciting.
Enough premature hyperbole (for now) about Murphy. In an otherwise pretty scrappy game, and allowing for the youth and inexperience of most of the players out there, there was still a fair amount to get Swans fans excited for the future.
Vezspremi played most of the first half as a forward, marking the ball very well but not kicking well for goal. I think I counted 4 behinds before he finally nailed one. But in the second half he moved into the midfield and showed a lot of class. This guy can seriously play and I suspect it's not going to be too long before he's way too good for Canberra. His footskills looked very good indeed, with a couple of sizzles almost in the Malceski class.
O'Dwyer was excellent as well, particularly in the second half. I am starting to be persuaded that his early season form isn't just a mirage but that he's significantly improved his kicking on last season. He kicked a couple of very nice goals that would have sprayed each and every way last season.
Smith too showed a lot of class. I hope this guy gets his chance at senior level, because although he's not got a lot of flashiness in his game, he has some tricks way beyond a couple of blokes on the senior list.
Currie, too, looks encouraging. He got his hand on pretty much every centre bounce clearance he contested - but that's probably to be expected given a height and small age advantage over his opponents. His taps were purposeful though, and especially in the second half his team mates were reading them well. And around the ground he looks mobile and his skills for a big bloke look pretty solid too.
On a less positive note, Meredith hurt his knee midway through the first quarter, tried to get up and put weight on it but couldn't and had to hobble off. I don't think it was too serious because he was running along the boundary a few minutes later, but I am not sure whether he took much more part in the game.
And one that might have ramifications for next week, and maybe beyond - the one bloke out there who you really didn't want to get hurt, Kennelly, wrenched his shoulder out after landing heavily on it halfway through the second quarter. It popped back in quite easily when the doctor got to it, and he didn't look to be in too much discomfort afterwards but he didn't take any further part in the game. Fingers crossed that the damage can be contained. He'd not been having that great a time of it up to that point, with several expletives aimed at Frosty McPherson (who was umpiring) when he thought he'd been unfairly pinged for a high tackle or 'in-the-back'. And many of his disposals were missing the target by some way.
Then imagine its his first ever competitive hit out of Australian Rules football.
Welcome to the world of Brendan Murphy.
Still very early days, still very much a work in progress. And clearly an oppositon team of U18 players isn't the best to gauge performances against. But when - not if - this bloke progresses to senior football, he's going to be very exciting to watch indeed. Kicking looks smooth, marking needs some work, ground level skills look very decent indeed but his instinct of running with the ball and taking players on with pace looks most exciting.
Enough premature hyperbole (for now) about Murphy. In an otherwise pretty scrappy game, and allowing for the youth and inexperience of most of the players out there, there was still a fair amount to get Swans fans excited for the future.
Vezspremi played most of the first half as a forward, marking the ball very well but not kicking well for goal. I think I counted 4 behinds before he finally nailed one. But in the second half he moved into the midfield and showed a lot of class. This guy can seriously play and I suspect it's not going to be too long before he's way too good for Canberra. His footskills looked very good indeed, with a couple of sizzles almost in the Malceski class.
O'Dwyer was excellent as well, particularly in the second half. I am starting to be persuaded that his early season form isn't just a mirage but that he's significantly improved his kicking on last season. He kicked a couple of very nice goals that would have sprayed each and every way last season.
Smith too showed a lot of class. I hope this guy gets his chance at senior level, because although he's not got a lot of flashiness in his game, he has some tricks way beyond a couple of blokes on the senior list.
Currie, too, looks encouraging. He got his hand on pretty much every centre bounce clearance he contested - but that's probably to be expected given a height and small age advantage over his opponents. His taps were purposeful though, and especially in the second half his team mates were reading them well. And around the ground he looks mobile and his skills for a big bloke look pretty solid too.
On a less positive note, Meredith hurt his knee midway through the first quarter, tried to get up and put weight on it but couldn't and had to hobble off. I don't think it was too serious because he was running along the boundary a few minutes later, but I am not sure whether he took much more part in the game.
And one that might have ramifications for next week, and maybe beyond - the one bloke out there who you really didn't want to get hurt, Kennelly, wrenched his shoulder out after landing heavily on it halfway through the second quarter. It popped back in quite easily when the doctor got to it, and he didn't look to be in too much discomfort afterwards but he didn't take any further part in the game. Fingers crossed that the damage can be contained. He'd not been having that great a time of it up to that point, with several expletives aimed at Frosty McPherson (who was umpiring) when he thought he'd been unfairly pinged for a high tackle or 'in-the-back'. And many of his disposals were missing the target by some way.
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