Marty Matt - Early Season Assessment

[TheGrimReaper]

Spot on as always Annie .

BTW.....Teddy on saturday nite was swantastic

Super Ted has been awesome, great pick up from Essendon.
I bet, they'll be regretting that they let him go.

[TheHood]

Super Ted has been awesome, great pick up from Essendon.
I bet, they'll be regretting that they let him go.

Was Ted as good at Essendon as he has been for Sydney in 2007? Dons people tell me he was a soft headless chook (bad coaching maybe).

IIRC, Ted was hired as a HF at Sydney and Roosy realised he didn't have a lot of forward smarts but is great overhead.

Ted is a great loose man in defence ala Dustin Fletcher in the twilight of his career, but I thought that was just a way of keeping Dustin from injury plus he has great rebound of course.

To date, Ted hasn't shown he can hold down a proper accountable position in the team. The Brisbane game was a classic case. People were calling for Leo's head after that game, unfairly. The same ones were praising Craig for "his" job on Brown.

Craig got ALL the support from Ted when Brown was the target but when a very in-form Bradshaw was the target Leo was left one out...where was Ted? Minding a stationary Brown with Craig.

In further defence of Leo, Bradshaw showed how good his form is down at AAMI...he's a star.

[goswannie14]

Was Ted as good at Essendon as he has been for Sydney in 2007? Dons people tell me he was a soft headless chook (bad coaching maybe).

Both my brother and sister are one eyed Bummers supporters, they were livid when he was let go. They both blamed poor coaching in the way that he was used at Essendon.

Back on topic. I was rapt when we picked up Mattner, and am even happier now seeing his good solid consistent form. he will figure well in the Club champion award. Great start to the season, hopefully he can keep it up.

[Jewels]

Both my brother and sister are one eyed Bummers supporters, they were livid when he was let go. They both blamed poor coaching in the way that he was used at Essendon.

My brother is also a one eyed Bummer and he was furious when Sheedy let Big Ted go.
I also have a friend who is a Crows fan and he was furious when they released Mattner. He said that if Craig had played him correctly, he would be a star and definitely in their top 22 and that it was the best pick up the Swans had made since Craig Bolton. I thought it was a pretty big call at the time, but as the season goes on and especially after the injury to Malceski, he may be right.

[Triple B]

Both my brother and sister are one eyed Bummers supporters, they were livid when he was let go. They both blamed poor coaching in the way that he was used at Essendon.

My brother is also a one eyed Bummer and he was furious when Sheedy let Big Ted go.

One of our long time brothers on this board has an Essendon supporting/member spouse.

I asked her the exact same question when I was there for Easter and she was also of the opinion that Sheedy screwed him over and whilst she recognised he was no champion, which he isn't, she was very disappointed to see him go.

As for Ted himself, every game he has played that sticks in the memory as being one of his best, he has played at the back. '06 GF he had a sensational second half and between him and Kirk almost got us over the line. His job on Riewoldt at Telstra/ANZ/Homebush last year was also a 'Super Ted' moment.

He takes a great mark, spoils well. IMO his greatest liability is his decision making, he can really be indecisive when looking for an option after he takes a mark in the back half. All that said, he is a backman, not a forward IMO.

[NMWBloods]

One of the problems Richards had at Essendon I believe is he wanted to be a forward and Sheedy didn't think he would make a good forward (as well as having Lloyd and Lucas). His kicking is not the best so although he came to the Swans in the hope of being forward, he is a much better backman and will probably stay there.

[BSA5]

To date, Ted hasn't shown he can hold down a proper accountable position in the team.

Does Riewoldt last year ring any bells? Ted can play one-on-one accountable footy; we just haven't needed it that often, because he is such a good loose man in defence, and we have Bolton, Barry and LRT. Richards is making backing into a big pack and pulling down the mark from the front a trademark of his. Why give him an opponent when he can do that? It's a bonus that when LRT, Bolton and Barry are out, he can take the opposition's best forward and do the job.

[JF_Bay22_SCG]

Yep, that's the bigger problem. The back six seems to be sorted.

Henry Playfair is another option. He must be ruing his hammie right now.

There is Jessie White to throw into the mid & long term calculations as well.With Grundy there as a decoy leading foward as well if we need somebody else. He ain't a backman, so why persist with him there when he CAN be useful up forward, especially if our opponents are too Barry/Mickey/OKeefe conscious.

The only real weakness in our side at the moment is in the ruck department. And we have Spida to come back soon, so that should help things a fair bit on that score.

JF