Game thread Swans versus Lions

[2005]

Some of you Make me laugh!!! Leo did not play well tonight but I disagree that he is on his last legs. I do however think he plays better when he is in the back pocket or flank where he has played the last two games and played so well. Tonight he was full back which is not his choice. Bradshaw kicked 5 - 2 of which were from MOL turnover and one when Craig Bolton was on him. Also the ball was coming down quite quickly from turnovers and sometimes not much Leo could really do - Roosey actually said this in his post-match conference. He did look very down though. Obvioulsy quite disappointed in himself.

I don't think it is necessary to bag him so personally. It is funny - when Leo Barry has a good game it is not mentioned but as soon as he has a bad one you "supporters" can't wait to give it to him. I really think that Bradshaw was on fire and the marks he took where from great kicks that hit him right on the chest - not sure if any other player would have done any better. He is a big strong boy.

Anyway what does it matter - we won - move on. Leo's first bad game for the season. Kirky had his first good game for the season.......

Sorry I just don't agree with attacking players. Yeah he did not play as well as he has been playing - the end.

Finally someone has made sense, well put Alison.
Daniel Bradshaw is a quality player who got the better of Leo and that happens just like B2 got the better of The Brown Dog & Festival got it on Merret.
Leo is no doubt at the end of his carreer and he will not get any better and though until there is someone better to bring in for him he will always be in our best 22 and thats why he still is a Captain.
So many positives to come out of last night , we should be wrapt of our start this year !!

[Industrial Fan]

All good signs last night (with possible exception of Jolly)

Great team goal we scored in the 4th, kick down the wing, kirk sheppards for Baz to collect, handpass to Moore, Moore great long kick to the advantage of Mick in the goal square (who was playing behind) who could sheppard the ball for ROK to run on to and goal.

All the players were on the same wavelength.

Thought Mattner had a great game, and looks to be a top pickup. Great composure under pressure not afraid of a contest.

Baz moving well and looks like he'll be dangerous again. I thought Merrett played ok, Baz just worked harder than him in the end.

I think it was a good move not to drop Goodes for this week too...

[2005]

What I liked about tonight.
Jack bursting thru the guts, passing to Bird, having the confidence to keep running to accept the handball and have a ping.
Barlow sidestepping two tackles and hitting Hall lace out.
Moore and Bird combining brilliantly for a goal.
Moore's great goal just before half time.
Barlow's terrific snap under pressure.

I'm looking forward to the response from all the knockers who have said that our kids can't develop properly in the Canberra comp. Sure the pace of the game resulted in many of the kids getting caught HTB a few times, but overall their contribution to tonights win was fantastic.

Very pleased.

Cant agree on the Canberra comp Old Royboy no where near the standard of the VFL ,SANFL ,WAFL or TAC U18s.
In the past Ive said the Canberra Comp isnt the right level to go from and I will stick to that , our Eastern League here in Melbourne would destroy most sides in that comp. Saying that our kids are stuck with it and its better than The Port Mebourne experiment in the early 2000s.
Thats why so many of our young blokes take time Eg Moore , Jack , Barlow
Apart from Birdy we have hardly had a young kid walk in and play ones straight away and hold their spot.

[connolly]

I've seen Davo play great footy up the ground. Mostly because he knows how to find the footy and is a long and accurate kick. Now that we have the youngsters giving us a dangerous look in the midfield we don't need Boltons game. Davis would be a perfect fit IMO

There are a few drawbacks:

1. Davis is slow- even slower than Jude. Fast midfields would leave him in their wake
2. He is a poor tackler
3. He has shown no propensity to put his head over the ball in pressure situations
4. He needs the ball out in front of him.
5. He has poor aerobic capacity which would meean 15 minutes on the pine every quarter
6. He is a good kick but would rarely get one in the hot contested packs
7. He is a weak overhead mark (still waiting to see one)
8. He rarely takes contested marks where he is not leading up the ground
9. He is now in the veteran stage so a young gun should have preference selection
10 He is undisciplined in getting back behind the ball
11. He has no determination. lacks concentration and drifts out of games.

Apart from all that its a top idea. Give Roosey a bell.

[NMWBloods]

Most of those are thin caricatures, but I see little point arguing it with a zealot.

[connolly]

All good signs last night (with possible exception of Jolly)

Great team goal we scored in the 4th, kick down the wing, kirk sheppards for Baz to collect, handpass to Moore, Moore great long kick to the advantage of Mick in the goal square (who was playing behind) who could sheppard the ball for ROK to run on to and goal.

All the players were on the same wavelength.

Thought Mattner had a great game, and looks to be a top pickup. Great composure under pressure not afraid of a contest.

Baz moving well and looks like he'll be dangerous again. I thought Merrett played ok, Baz just worked harder than him in the end.

I think it was a good move not to drop Goodes for this week too...

Agreed and Tadgh played some wonderful threading the pack running. Maybe its the bare noggin but he looked positively Juddish last night. When Malceski comes back we will have the best rebound in the comp. Better than Geelong.

[goswannie14]

Most of those are thin caricatures, but I see little point arguing it with a zealot.

It's also hard to argue with a guy who constantly says that Bevan is one of our best players.

[connolly]

It's also hard to argue with a guy who constantly says that Bevan is one of our best players.

And says Davis is one of our worst. Still one is in the ones and the other is in the twos and heading into a suitable lower grade of less intense football permanently.

[Matt79]

Great win and made all the more enjoyable having headed up to Brisbane to see the game live.

C. Bolton is an absolute star!! He will be in the Dream Team for sure.

Goodes, Kirk, McVeigh, Richards, Kennelly played well again.

I am feeling more optimistic about this season than a fortnight ago!!

[2005]

There are a few drawbacks:

1. Davis is slow- even slower than Jude. Fast midfields would leave him in their wake
2. He is a poor tackler
3. He has shown no propensity to put his head over the ball in pressure situations
4. He needs the ball out in front of him.
5. He has poor aerobic capacity which would meean 15 minutes on the pine every quarter
6. He is a good kick but would rarely get one in the hot contested packs
7. He is a weak overhead mark (still waiting to see one)
8. He rarely takes contested marks where he is not leading up the ground
9. He is now in the veteran stage so a young gun should have preference selection
10 He is undisciplined in getting back behind the ball
11. He has no determination. lacks concentration and drifts out of games.

Apart from all that its a top idea. Give Roosey a bell.

Connolly, you should be coaching !!
This is NICK DAVIS , always has been , always will be.
Been thinking why he was dropped as well.
I can give you an example of his attitude..
We went to the Kids Junior Clinic after the Saints game in Port Melbourne the next morning , and those who were their know that it wasnt that big of a turn out. All the players who attended were assigned to 10 groups behind whichs hats , and as they all walked out Nick Davis spent it on the phone while kids were chasing all the players.
Davo then didnt end up with a group and then sat on the fence talking to someone he knew. He couldnt give a @@@@ !
After that I didnt see him at all, everyone has there little bitch they hate and he is mine. Cant keep living off that game Davo Im afraid .

[TheGrimReaper]

Connolly, you should be coaching !!
This is NICK DAVIS , always has been , always will be.
Been thinking why he was dropped as well.
I can give you an example of his attitude..
We went to the Kids Junior Clinic after the Saints game in Port Melbourne the next morning , and those who were their know that it wasnt that big of a turn out. All the players who attended were assigned to 10 groups behind whichs hats , and as they all walked out Nick Davis spent it on the phone while kids were chasing all the players.
Davo then didnt end up with a group and then sat on the fence talking to someone he knew. He couldnt give a @@@@ !
After that I didnt see him at all, everyone has there little bitch they hate and he is mine. Cant keep living off that game Davo Im afraid .

And yet zealots like Bloods always seems to bag McVeigh, and find it hard to give credit where it's due!

Davis is a lazy @@@@, who has all the talent in the world, but doesn't utilises it. He should be what Brett Ebert is or dare I say it Steven Johnson and Nathan Brown from Richmond? Davis can't live on the 2005 Semi-Final forever.

At least McVeigh is working hard on improving, which is something Davis is afraid of, and that's hard work.

[liz]

Cant agree on the Canberra comp Old Royboy no where near the standard of the VFL ,SANFL ,WAFL or TAC U18s.
In the past Ive said the Canberra Comp isnt the right level to go from and I will stick to that , our Eastern League here in Melbourne would destroy most sides in that comp. Saying that our kids are stuck with it and its better than The Port Mebourne experiment in the early 2000s.
Thats why so many of our young blokes take time Eg Moore , Jack , Barlow
Apart from Birdy we have hardly had a young kid walk in and play ones straight away and hold their spot.

I don't think ORB was lauding the standard of the ACTAFL. He was pointing out that the evidence - to this stage of the season - doesn't support the doomsayers who reckon that the reserves playing in that league will prevent the club developing young players.

And he is right. Jack, Barlow, Moore, Grundy are not just filling spots. They are making telling contributions at critical stages of the game. They are well drilled, all look very very fit and certainly strong enough to hold their own.

Bird is a bit of a furphy given that he's come in straight from U18 level. Though he'd have had no chance last year to play the odd few games with his (now) clubmates had we been farming out a dozen players to a VFL team.

It's not about whether the current set-up is perfect. It's about what the most viable option is, given where the club is located.

[Wardy]

well from where I was sitting, it was great to see the young kids really put in and the flow on effect was obvious, it made the older guys stand up and get the hunger back. We played some great free flowing footy at times. So it wasnt a shellacking, but the positives far outweighed the negatives.

Hall has his eyes for marking back - the goal kicking will come with a bit of time but his movement has improved since his his grease and oil change in the off season. Kirk was back and in the thick of it - he's taken a few week to get going, but he's no spring chicken either., MOL was running around like a kid again, And Craig Bolton was , as usual the ever supporting back bone.

there is always room for improvement, but geez our new young midfeild is something to get excited about.

[jenky28]

Well what a win!
Loved the game and love the look of Jarred Moore!
Might wear his playing guernsy to geelong i think!
Hope we can knock off the eagles next week now!

[Xie Shan]

Real good win that one. It was a terrific contest to watch, lots of errors yes but the attack on the footy from both sides was great. Brisbane's tackling at times was amazing and we stood up extremely well under pressure. The turnovers killed us but we mostly bounced back from them well.

A lot of players had really good games: Moore, McVeigh, Barlow, O'Keefe, Kirk were the ones that stood out for me. Hall looks like he is running into some good form. Mattner looked like he belonged out there for the first time this year. He will be a good player for us.

But by far the most pleasing thing was that we displayed an attacking mindset right from the opening bounce, a rarity in recent night games. The willingness to play on at every opportunity and move the ball on relatively quickly; the ridiculous number of running handball receives; the determination to take on the tackler wherever possible all featured heavily last night. Yes, this will result in turnovers, but IMO this is the attitude that will win us more games.

Still lots to work on, Brisbane are a tough side, but next week will be a good early test. We should beat the Eagles comfortably at home on current form, but nothing is certain when these two teams meet.