Matt O'Dwyer

[royboy42]

I watched a young gun named Matt O'Dwyer playing in the dewkickers on Sunday. Still a bit light, but has that off the mark burst of speed, has the knack of being where the ball is and disposes of the ball as well as any of the big fellas showed later in the day!
He doesn't even turn 20 till July and is on the rookie list, WATCH THIS SPACE. This kid has got it!..Any thoughts?

[SimonH]

Careful, now. You'll rebut the deeply-cherished view that the reserves best players on the Swans' official website are a political put-up job. He got listed as the Swans' best there, too.

Haven't seen him, but as a player of his size (competing with a casual 8 or so other youngsters of roughly his size), in his 2nd year on the rookie list, now is definitely the time to make his move, if he's going to make it to 2009 with the Swans.

PS Did Fossie play?

[Triple B]

.....disposes of the ball as well as any of the big fellas showed later in the day!

Unfortunately, the bar was not set very high.

His biggest failing and undoubtedly the main reason he has not been elevated to the senior list when there is room, is that his foot skills are ordinary and not up to standard at this time.

If he can improve in that area he has, as you say, a bright future.

[liz]

His ball use on Sunday was a tad disappointing because it is an area he's shown definite improvement in this year. In terms of winning the ball, especially in the air, that was the best game I've seen him play by a long way. But the fact he probably butchered around 50% of his kicks was disappointing, even more so because his speed was getting him into space after he won possession, so he had time to steady and use it better. Hopefully it was a case of him not realising how much time he had created for himself and he can learn to slow down just a tad before he kicks.

I reckon that's something Jack has learned to do over the last couple of months, and it may be a large reason why his disposal has become much more consistent than it was.

Would be great if O'Dwyer could make strides with his disposal because the team is still low on dash-factor, and MattyO has plenty of that.

[Old Royboy]

That is my take on him too Liz - he appears to be trying to dispose of the ball still running at full pace. Dewkickers was right, most players spent the first quarter on their backsides - very slippery in the early going.

Speaking of dash factor, one of the disappointing things so far this year has been Laidlaw's injury problems. If he had been injury free,would definitely have been a 1st team regular by now. He has dash and marking skill.

[ScottH]

PS Did Fossie play?

Yes.

[Triple B]

Speaking of dash factor, one of the disappointing things so far this year has been Laidlaw's injury problems. If he had been injury free,would definitely have been a 1st team regular by now. He has dash and marking skill.

Yep, ROK #2

[liz]

Yep, ROK #2

Not convinced he's ROK no 2. To me the player he most reminds me of is Matty Nicks, though with a better leap.

I have a feeling Aaron Bruce could be a ROK #2. Similar build, not overly quick but runs and runs and runs up and down the ground all day. Strong overhead too, not quite in the same way as Laidlaw but takes some strong marks on a tightly pursued lead.