Bevan and Richards

[johnno]

For a while now, a lot of people here have been of the opinion that when we(the swans) were in a position to gain players back(from injury or suspension), that the 1 or 2 to make way would always be one of these two, if not both.

Now we have many players out at the moment....Bradshaw, LRT, Bolton.C, Seaby, Bird, McGlynn, Moore, ROK, O'Dwyer* and Vespa*.....(*= not regulars, but a lot here want them in the top 22.)

Let's say that we had these players fully fit and available( I know they're not), most people would have these 2 as the first 2 to go.

Now, what I'm getting at is, the way these 2 have performed in the last 3-4 weeks(especially Richards), there's no way you can drop them, they both have been outstanding. Don't know who you would drop, but its not these 2.

We've been fortunate(if you can call it that) that lately, when we have 1 or 2 changes a week, its been due to injury, as will be the case with Mumford this week. But if it wasn't Forced changes, and we wanted to bring players back in, these 2 are not the 2 that deserve to make way....your thoughts people.

[Hartijon]

For a while now, a lot of people here have been of the opinion that when we(the swans) were in a position to gain players back(from injury or suspension), that the 1 or 2 to make way would always be one of these two, if not both.

Now we have many players out at the moment....Bradshaw, LRT, Bolton.C, Seaby, Bird, McGlynn, Moore, ROK, O'Dwyer* and Vespa*.....(*= not regulars, but a lot here want them in the top 22.)

Let's say that we had these players fully fit and available( I know they're not), most people would have these 2 as the first 2 to go.

Now, what I'm getting at is, the way these 2 have performed in the last 3-4 weeks(especially Richards), there's no way you can drop them, they both have been outstanding. Don't know who you would drop, but its not these 2.

We've been fortunate(if you can call it that) that lately, when we have 1 or 2 changes a week, its been due to injury, as will be the case with Mumford this week. But if it wasn't Forced changes, and we wanted to bring players back in, these 2 are not the 2 that deserve to make way....your thoughts people.

Yes,you are correct,they don't deserve to be dropped. However it is important to note that the increased dominance of our midfield has eased the pressure on them enormously. Rather than hanging on desperately and trying to keep the tide from coming in,they have been able to release some creativity and relax and play rebound footy. It's all about playing in a winning side and they have run into good form doing this. A mistake doesn't mean you have lost the game for the team, going for a run means your team mate will stop anyone catching you...all these little things conspire to a team success and conspire to make them play good.Now their confidence is up and they certainly don't deserve dropping.

[desredandwhite]

This week might be easy. Mumford out and O'Keefe in. If Moore is right to come back, then I think it might be a raffle between Meredith, Smith and Rohan.

If we suddenly start talking about Bradshaw, LRT and/or McGlynn... then it gets much tougher!

[dimelb]

Yes,you are correct,they don't deserve to be dropped. However it is important to note that the increased dominance of our midfield has eased the pressure on them enormously. Rather than hanging on desperately and trying to keep the tide from coming in,they have been able to release some creativity and relax and play rebound footy. It's all about playing in a winning side and they have run into good form doing this. A mistake doesn't mean you have lost the game for the team, going for a run means your team mate will stop anyone catching you...all these little things conspire to a team success and conspire to make them play good.Now their confidence is up and they certainly don't deserve dropping.

I agree with this. I'd add that the modern high bench-rotation game, mostly involving midfielders, midfielder-forwards and midfielder-backs means that all those years of stocking up on mids has paid off. Not that we are as versatile in this department as Collingwood, but we are headed in the right direction. Bevo and Ted are, in part, beneficiaries.

[johnno]

This week might be easy. Mumford out and O'Keefe in. If Moore is right to come back, then I think it might be a raffle between Meredith, Smith and Rohan.

If we suddenly start talking about Bradshaw, LRT and/or McGlynn... then it gets much tougher!

Well, come 1st elimination final, if we have got Bradshaw, LRT, McGlynn, Moore, Mumford and Bird ready to come in, what do we do?

Bring them in? Go with who's there already?.....Not sure.

I think it will be a week to week basis....a horses for courses type scenario.

[Captain]

Based on the 22 who played on Sat and assuming all will come back (which I doubt):

Bradshaw for White
ROK for Meredith
McGlynn for Rohan
Moore for Jetta (though I most certainly dont want this to happen)
LRT for ??

There is no way Bird will get a gig.

[smurphy]

I'd say one thing about Bevan. He is a much better small forward than a back pocket. I don't think we do him justice when we play him down back, I don't think he has the foot skills to be in the back line. Whenever we use him up forward he does a really good job just as he did against the dogs.

[royboy42]

I don't think there is any chance of McGlynn for al least a fortnight..PF at earliest. ROK for Meredith..LRT for Mummy (placing heaps on Pike)..after that I gotta leave it to the selectors..too hard for me if everyone fit.
But , don't forget, every finals team leaves out some very deserving players..that's the nature of the beast.

[Hartijon]

I don't think there is any chance of McGlynn for al least a fortnight..PF at earliest. ROK for Meredith..LRT for Mummy (placing heaps on Pike)..after that I gotta leave it to the selectors..too hard for me if everyone fit.
But , don't forget, every finals team leaves out some very deserving players..that's the nature of the beast.

I think because of the increased intensity of a Final it will come down to who is carrying a niggle(probably half the team!) and who can handle it. Prior experience is a big + in these situations. Jude Bolton could have a broken leg and still play well with a few pain killers! So we don't know a lot of this and the selectors do but I think we have a sufficiently deep pool of players although I would have liked to see some have more game time. Unless Brisbane smashes half our team.I can not see too many Reserves playing up any more.All new spots will go to those returning from injury.

[magic.merkin]

I'd say one thing about Bevan. He is a much better small forward than a back pocket. I don't think we do him justice when we play him down back, I don't think he has the foot skills to be in the back line. Whenever we use him up forward he does a really good job just as he did against the dogs.

I think his foot skills issues are a myth, there's not many others spearing 50m+ flat passes into our forward line like he can. Playing him down back where there's been a tidal flood of incomming ball puts them under pressure bringing it back out.

I think he is exposed more one on one with him defending the ball coming into a forward. Whether this is due to his Rugby backgorund etc who knows, hell some life long aussie rules players just plain struggle defending a lead or bodying for a spoil. When the ball is at ground level he revels in physical contact/pressure and your right when he is a defensive forward then he creates alot.

[msb]

Richards worries me, it wasnt his best game the other night and his obvious replacement would be c.bolton. Bevan was quite lively in the forward line the other night and could be that option whilst mcglynn is out, but neither player is in our best 22 IMO.

[Hartijon]

I'd say one thing about Bevan. He is a much better small forward than a back pocket. I don't think we do him justice when we play him down back, I don't think he has the foot skills to be in the back line. Whenever we use him up forward he does a really good job just as he did against the dogs.

I totally agree and have argued this in another thread. I like him in a forward pocket with smashing tackles on the defenders that don't give away a goal if the Umpire judges them too high! He can lead well and can kick straight.At one time way back I remember he was second to Nick Davis in accuracy at practise. He always does a good job up front whereas down back he can sometimes be shaky and have the odd brain fade. TDL in one Pocket,Bevan in the other, Bradshaw in front of goals..now thats a good FF line!

[UglyDuckling]

im still not totally convinced these two will be in our best 22 if everyone was fit. Yes they have played pretty well recently but our backline really hasnt been functioning that well. For example against freo we dominated much of the game but it was still very close. Why? Because every time they went forward they scored, this was in part to our backline not functioning so well. The fact we're winning is making them look better.

the fact of the matter is that we have too many defenders Lrt, bolton, grundy, shaw, mal, mattner, kennelly, smith, bevan and richards that 10 blokes and even with rotations you only need 7 backmen.
If you start playing them forward you then take games from talented forwards like rohan, meredith, TDL, white or mcglyyn, moore, bradshaw
Or do you put them in midfield and drop jetta, kennedy, jack, bolton, kirk, mcveigh, okeefe

So it looks to me that they are depth players outside the best 22 and well outside a best 22 that is also looking to develop young players. The nature of depth players is that when you have many injuries, like we have at the moment, they do a good/servicable job, which they have but it does not change the fact that they are outside or best 22.

i would hate to see TDL dropped for bevan to play forward or jetta dropped for shaw to play midfield or smith dropped for richards

[GoSouth33]

That's why it would be no fun being a selector. I'm a huge Bevo and Richards fan and both have played really well. I don't think they can be dropped. On another note, I spoke to Ben McGlynn as he was walking into the ground on Saturday night. His face is still swollen. I was at Subi and had a clear view of the incident. I gave him my commiserations on his injury but congratulated him on the courage he showed with his attack on the ball even though I thought it was a bit kamikaze! I asked him about the prospects of playing in a few weeks and he said NO. Maybe he wasn't thinking beyond two finals but I wonder what the answer would be if there was a P/F or G/F in the offing. Still, don't underestimate the extent of the injury: it would be terrible to aggravate it and needs time to heal.

[Melbourne_Blood]

Based on the 22 who played on Sat and assuming all will come back (which I doubt):

Bradshaw for White
ROK for Meredith
McGlynn for Rohan
Moore for Jetta (though I most certainly dont want this to happen)
LRT for ??

There is no way Bird will get a gig.

They'd be pretty silly to drop Jetta, not saying Moore isn't important, but Jetta adds a lot to our side. He only needs 13 or so touches to impact a game.