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I'll add some comments to those I texted to Ugg during the game.
It was truly an awful performance. Quite possibly the worst I've seen - though there were some bad ones last year. That said, there were some mitigating circumstances. Twelve listed players only, and Thornton out before half-time, didn't make things easy. More of a problem was the mix of those twelve players - few genuine midfielders, and too many who are the (important) icing on the cake, rather than the cake itself. And then the quality of the top-ups was, well, dreadful. I don't want to knock these kids because I am sure they did their best. But the clubs giving up these youngsters need to get real. Some of them I doubt would get a game in their school team, let alone mix it with professionals in top grade ACTAFL. Many of them looked petrified to be out there. I know they laid one tackle between them because Mitch May scored a goal from a holding-the-ball free. But I think that might have been the only one between them.
As for the Swans:
As already noted, Sumner was very lively in the first half, and kept on trying to the end. If they were going to pluck out three players for a "bests" list, he would have been on mine.
Jetta turned it on for about 15 minutes in the first quarter and then all but disappeared from the game. Did seem to pick it up a tad in the final quarter, but to very little avail.
Reid rucked all game without a minute's break. Didn't have things as much his own way as he did last week, but was certainly competitive. Didnt do a huge amount other than ruck but was probably knackered, so can be forgiven.
Was surprised to see McNeill in the bests. Worked hard but his hands seemed a bit fumbly and his kicking inaccurate. Have seen him play much better.
Ditto Gordon, who spent a lot of time on the ball (while I think he is probably more of a HFFer). Tried hard but wasn't overly effective.
Vez I don't think started at one centre bounce, which surprised me given the dearth of onballers, and the fact he ripped it up a few weeks ago as an onballer. Struggled to get into it early, but tackled well. Got a bit more of the ball in the second and third quarters, but as others have said, tried to do too much. Not a great way to win back a senior spot but I did feel a bit for him because there was often little for him to give it off too. He will look far far better with a bit more quality around him.
Johnston had a dog of a day but at least worked his backside off. Even in the final quarter, he was still chasing hard, though messing things up more often than not. Two great goals converted from 50m out were about his only highlight.
Currie played mostly at centre half-forward and did take some good marks, but too far out for him to convert. From a team point of view he would have been better off playing a little deeper to create genuine goal scoring opportunities. But presumably they wanted him to move around more than playing in the goal square would have allowed. As already noted, his game time was clearly being managed. He was the only of the Swans listed players to be given bench time (injuries to Thornton and Cheese aside).
Gilly and McKaigue were both pretty innocuous. Thorton was OK up to the point he got injured but not great.
That's it for the players. If I have forgotten anyone, then they deserve to be forgotten. It was amusing to hear the comments being shouted from the coaches box. I am sure I heard some strong comments directed towards the umpires at one point - comments were justified because the umpires seemed to have decided that no Swan should be allowed even a millisecond of prior opportunity before being tackled - a rule they didn't apply to the opposition. Hearing their exasperated shouts at some of the players was as intereting. Early in the game they were shouting out some encouragement and some direction. But the end it was just "Patty!!!!" or "Lewis!!!" with tones of anguish.
It was truly an awful performance. Quite possibly the worst I've seen - though there were some bad ones last year. That said, there were some mitigating circumstances. Twelve listed players only, and Thornton out before half-time, didn't make things easy. More of a problem was the mix of those twelve players - few genuine midfielders, and too many who are the (important) icing on the cake, rather than the cake itself. And then the quality of the top-ups was, well, dreadful. I don't want to knock these kids because I am sure they did their best. But the clubs giving up these youngsters need to get real. Some of them I doubt would get a game in their school team, let alone mix it with professionals in top grade ACTAFL. Many of them looked petrified to be out there. I know they laid one tackle between them because Mitch May scored a goal from a holding-the-ball free. But I think that might have been the only one between them.
As for the Swans:
As already noted, Sumner was very lively in the first half, and kept on trying to the end. If they were going to pluck out three players for a "bests" list, he would have been on mine.
Jetta turned it on for about 15 minutes in the first quarter and then all but disappeared from the game. Did seem to pick it up a tad in the final quarter, but to very little avail.
Reid rucked all game without a minute's break. Didn't have things as much his own way as he did last week, but was certainly competitive. Didnt do a huge amount other than ruck but was probably knackered, so can be forgiven.
Was surprised to see McNeill in the bests. Worked hard but his hands seemed a bit fumbly and his kicking inaccurate. Have seen him play much better.
Ditto Gordon, who spent a lot of time on the ball (while I think he is probably more of a HFFer). Tried hard but wasn't overly effective.
Vez I don't think started at one centre bounce, which surprised me given the dearth of onballers, and the fact he ripped it up a few weeks ago as an onballer. Struggled to get into it early, but tackled well. Got a bit more of the ball in the second and third quarters, but as others have said, tried to do too much. Not a great way to win back a senior spot but I did feel a bit for him because there was often little for him to give it off too. He will look far far better with a bit more quality around him.
Johnston had a dog of a day but at least worked his backside off. Even in the final quarter, he was still chasing hard, though messing things up more often than not. Two great goals converted from 50m out were about his only highlight.
Currie played mostly at centre half-forward and did take some good marks, but too far out for him to convert. From a team point of view he would have been better off playing a little deeper to create genuine goal scoring opportunities. But presumably they wanted him to move around more than playing in the goal square would have allowed. As already noted, his game time was clearly being managed. He was the only of the Swans listed players to be given bench time (injuries to Thornton and Cheese aside).
Gilly and McKaigue were both pretty innocuous. Thorton was OK up to the point he got injured but not great.
That's it for the players. If I have forgotten anyone, then they deserve to be forgotten. It was amusing to hear the comments being shouted from the coaches box. I am sure I heard some strong comments directed towards the umpires at one point - comments were justified because the umpires seemed to have decided that no Swan should be allowed even a millisecond of prior opportunity before being tackled - a rule they didn't apply to the opposition. Hearing their exasperated shouts at some of the players was as intereting. Early in the game they were shouting out some encouragement and some direction. But the end it was just "Patty!!!!" or "Lewis!!!" with tones of anguish.
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