NAB Challenge: Syd v Melb

[gossipcom]

SMH has a very quick review.

Swans beat Demons in practice match

[dimelb]

Back from the footy, nice afternoon, picnic atmosphere. Several of the ones you'd expect did well, even at half pace. Goodes a class above anyone else, Baz solid without trying too hard, Shaw further confirmed his value (should No. 2 now be reserved for ex-magpies?). O'Keefe, McVeigh, Malceski, Jolly, Jude, Teddy, Amon, Crouch, Mattner, B2 still a little rusty at times but obviously on track.
Of the newer boys I didn't see much of Meredith, DOK or Murphy, but Bird, Veszpremi, Moore, Laidlaw, Jack, White, Currie and Barlow all did good things (and one or two clangers). I especially appreciated the chance to see Pyke, who got first hand on the ball a few times at the bounce, and drew lots of laughter and loud cheers with a nicely executed drop punt for a goal. At this stage he's better with a chest mark than with his hands, but I think the raw material is there.
And don't read too much into what I didn't see - when they were over the other side I often couldn't see who did what.
By the way, what has Luke Ablett been doing? Mrs and Ms d were convinced that 20 was someone else.

[Nico]

Low scores again. From what I have seen most games have been low scoring. I heard a commentator on the radio saying teams are playing a moving defensive, rolling, zone press as in the Hawthorn style...aka...flooding. Another said an 18 man defensive zone. Funny how when it is not the Swans idea that it becomes legitimate and non boring to the scribes.

You just wonder how long it will be before low scores and boring footy gets AD off his expanding clacker and condemns it.

[kangle4]

just got home aswell, not a great game but better than last week.

hall is still very aggressive, pyke was great at ruck contests and when he kicked his goal it was the loudest cheer of the day from the swans supporters. barlow looked a lot better playing up front, goodes is class.
mcveigh, moore and ablett all worked hard in midfield. some of the lesser known guys haven't shown much though. bird started really well but i think he was subbed out of the game later on cos i didnt notice him anymore.

[2005]

Also just got home.


Wouldnt get to excited pretty ordinary game.
Goodsey,McVeigh and Shaw easily the best.

Just thought our young players were again all quiet and didnt have much impact. Bird,White,Vespa,Smith,Murphy,Currie,Meridith,Laid law & OKeefe all probably played a half and all got touches without being noticed.
Mike Pyke while he tries is a long way off, kicked a nice goal and rucked Ok, though simply has so much to learn.Daniel Currie also is very light.
LRT is simply the best option as a back up ruckman ATM.

Im convinced after watching Daniel OKeefe today that he wont make it.

Barry Hall, well he looked angry and was below par and played maybe 2 and a bit quarters.
Luke Ablett , certainly has lost weight and looked a gallop short, Jude was Ok. Bucky : Terrible. Rhino : Average .Bolts : Ok .Mattner : Good , Crouchy : Poor,Moore : Pass,

A wins a win and while we are looking ordinary at the moment, Melbourne are a long way off and there support base is worrying for them

[ugg]

New faces, old hands please Roos in win - Official AFL Website of the Sydney Swans

PR is definitely talking Pyke up.

Sydney Swans 1.3 3.5 6.7 9.9 (63)
Melbourne 3.1 3.2 6.5 8.7 (55)
GOALS
Sydney Swans: Barlow, J. Bolton 2, O'Keefe, White, Moore, Pyke, Smith
Melbourne: Sylvia 2, Miller, Morton, McDonald, Newton, Davey, Jetta
BEST
Sydney Swans: Goodes, McVeigh, Bird, Buchanan, Mattner
Melbourne: Sylvia, Grimes, Martin, Bruce
INJURIES
Sydney Swans: Nil
Melbourne: Bell (corked calf)
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Vozzo, Statham, Gestier

[R&WtilIDie]

Just got back.

First up, sorry, I missed the first quarter. Apparently, my brother thinks "pick me up at 12:00" means "pick me up at 12:25".

From reports from other supporters there, Melbourne were up 18-1 in the first quarter.

Lovely day. Lots of Bloods fans.

I saw some good things, young blokes looked good, Meredith, Currie, and Dan O'keefe did some good things in the second half. Thorton didn't play that I saw. I was told Murphy was pretty good in the first half, I couldn't spot him, but ran out of legs in the 2nd half, and had a couple of goals kicked on him. He's not injured, he's just recovering from a few niggles in the pre-season. Laidlaw was also quality. Nick Smith goaled late in the game to seal it. Pyke was even better than last week and got a big cheer after he goaled. All the boys ran to him afterwards. More important is that minutes before he'd dropped a sitter, then got a free awarded against him. Alot of rookies would go into their shell. He was the opposite. Go Pykey!

Jack, Bird and Moore were pretty solid, and are on track to improve on last year. Barlow was also solid in front of goal. I think he was our highest scorer. Vespa was keen as hell and wanted to be in everything, just needs to work o his accuracy. 3 behinds I think.

Senior guys were all ok, no kirky, and Baz subbed off at 3/4 time. Baz was aggresive, but in a good way, and as usual, got no joy for blatent frees against him. Jolly did good work in the ruck, but was a little rusty when he went up forward. Goodes was classy, but still looked at half pace. Jude, solid, but half pace. Ryan worked hard. Shaw and Mattner were good. Thumbs up to the Shaw trade. McVeigh is flying. All will be better for the run.

Overall, it was OK. You could definately tell it was pre-season. So many chances in front of goal were butchered, and went flying down the other end, especially when Baz was subbed. Defence was ALOT better this week. Gave away to many stupid free kicks though.

The day was great. Got to have a kick on the ground at half time and full time! The kids got autographs of all the players, and the line moved pretty quick even though it was massive.

Hope I didn't forget anything.

Sorry satchmo, my texting wasn't very fast at first, it was hard to put detail in, without missing the next play. Thanks for relaying the messages. Technology, huh?

[liz]

Don't think anyone has mentioned Malceski yet. How did he look? Any signs that the left foot bullet has rediscovered its radar?

[R&WtilIDie]

Oh, Mali looked great, very promising. The boy is back. Missed a left snap in front of goal, but overall, looks good.

[ShockOfHair]

Just got back.

.Overall, it was OK. You could definately tell it was pre-season. So many chances in front of goal were butchered, and went flying down the other end, especially when Baz was subbed. Defence was ALOT better this week. Gave away to many stupid free kicks though.

Doesn't sound like pre-season.

Great job RWTID, despite your bro.

[Emerald Hill]

Big thanks to all who contributed to the comprehensive report on today's game. Who needs TV and radio?

[Plugger46]

I went out for a look.

Goodes and McVeigh classes above the rest and I was happy to see the 2007 version of Malceski back in business.

I disagree with everyone else on Barlow though. Soft, no body-strength in contests and a real lack of intensity I thought.

Pyke was a little better than last week but is still a long way off - that's to be expected though. Currie had limited game time from what I could see but was solid enough when he was on the ground. Certain starter in round one I'd say.

Hall was pretty quiet but didn't play much of the second half. He does look fit and ready to go though.

Jesse White made position well a couple of times up forward to take some nice grabs. He's still got a lot to learn but I think he'll see a fair bit of senior footy this year.

Like the look of Meredith and Laidlaw.

[kangle4]

not to do with the game but sitting near me were michael voss, justin leppitsch, dustin fletcher, jason winderlich and mark mcveigh and andrew welsh both on crutches.

[ugg]

Official AFL Piccies

[RaZoRBlad3]

not to do with the game but sitting near me were michael voss, justin leppitsch, dustin fletcher, jason winderlich and mark mcveigh and andrew welsh both on crutches.

Yeah I saw Justin Leppitsch as well, and was wondering why he was there at our game, didn't see the other guys though.