R22, AFL 2010 Lions V Swans: Gameday & Autopsy

[BSA5]

I am not sure I can see much Steve Johnson in Reid. I can't see him being that good at ground level, nor having the arsenal of kicking tricks.

He's a pretty tall young man (around the 195cm mark). He's much closer to a Nick Riewoldt-style - excellent endurance, effortless leap into a mark, and with a smooth extension of the arms to take the ball at its highest point. I'm not predicting he will become as good as Riewoldt (I'll wait until game 2 to do that) but style wise there are many similarities.

Definitely see Nick Riewoldt in Reid, right down to the inconsistent (at times beautiful, at times cringeworthy) disposal by foot. Ridiculously broad shoulders, long arms, great leap, incredibly safe hands, and bloody quick for a KP player. Has all the tools to be as good as Riewoldt, and judging by the amount of space he was able to generate last night in just his first game, he looks like he might just have the smarts too. Just needs to work on keeping his feet a bit more, but that will come as he bulks up and improves his core strength.

[rojo]

What a fantastic end to the home and away season. This time yesterday we could still have finished 5th, 6th or 7th. How amazing to finish 5th, only one game behind the Doggies and 4th place (% not quite up to the Doggies though). At the beginning of the season most of the 'experts', media etc. predicted the teams that have ended up in the final 8, except for the Swans. Many had Adelaidie as the other team to make up the 8. I must confess I had my doubts about us being there too and certainly not in 5th place. So I will happily give credit to Paul Roos and his staff, as well as the players. I was one of the ones who would have phased out a couple of the oldies and honest toilers to give some/more game time to the up-and-comers and potential future stars. As things have evolved with injuries etc the mix at the moment seems about right and working SOOOOO well.

And the final chapter for this season is yet to be written! Go Swannies!

[Bas]

That's a good word liz, Style. Agree.

How do they get that self assured at that age....I was a ball of insecurity at 19, and beyond.

It's all the hormones they put in chickens.

[sharp9]

Nick Smith the human glove - Todd Banfield just 5 touches and one goal. If my memory serves me correctly, Smith laid a great tackle on Proud and was unlucky not to be rewarded with a HTB free kick, the ball spilt out and Banfield kicked the goal unopposed.

Absolute;y correct...very unlucky. Absolutely head and shoulders the best small defender in the comp.

[giant]

Absolute;y correct...very unlucky. Absolutely head and shoulders the best small defender in the comp.

Especially since Banfield only got free because Smith had to cover Bevan's man because Bevan had over-committed in the contest - again. Sigh...

[aardvark]

Absolute;y correct...very unlucky. Absolutely head and shoulders the best small defender in the comp.

Yep ...and will probably do surprisingly well in the B+F.....

[Vonsteinman]

Just watching a bit of the replay and noted something I can't recall seeing before during a game.

When TDL kicks the Swans first goal of the third term (with 13.30) to go on the clock, he walks past Goodesy and gives him a pat on the bum, as you do.

Then, Brent Staker, who is lining up on Goodesy, makes a point of going over and giving TDL a pat of what seems to be congratulations for kicking the goal. It all happened in a moment, if you blink you'd miss it.

From what I can see, they played at different WAFL clubs and Staker apparently grew up in NSW so there's no obvious reason for the camaraderie...