Round 6: GWS Giants v Sydney Swans Reserves

[ugg]

Sorry about the unknowns, the facebook page stopped giving us the goalscorers. Perhaps someone can fill in the blanks.

Full time

Swans 1.2 3.7 6.11 12.15 (87)
GWS 1.3 2.6 3.9 3.9 (27)

Swans Goals: Dennis-Lane 3 E.Moody (Topup#47) 2 Bevan White Parker [Unknown] [Unknown] [Unknown] [Unknown]
GWS Goals: Reid Casley Carey

[Big Al]

Time for Big Al to put on the beige jacket Joffa-style, we just kicked another

Swans 1.2 3.7 6.11 10.14 (74)
GWS 1.3 2.6 3.9 3.9 (27)

Swans Goals: Dennis-Lane 3 E.Moody (Topup#47) 2 Bevan White Parker [Unknown] [Unknown]
GWS Goals: Reid Casley Carey

Beige??? It's a light tan friend.

[liz]

I wrote down TDL 2 T47 2 Jesse 3 Haren 2 Bevo Parker McNeil

[Triple B]

Haren kicked 2 I think. Certainly 1.

[Triple B]

Agree with those Liz. Dill kicked a great snap near the end.

[ugg]

Sydney Swans
Goal Kickers: J. WHITE 3, B. HAREN 2, E. MOODY 2, T. DENNIS-LANE 2, L. PARKER , P. BEVAN , D. MCNEIL
Best Players: L. PARKER, L. JOHNSTON, C. MCKAIGUE, M. THOMPSON, L. ROBERTS-THOMSON, D. MCNEIL

GWS Giants
Goal Kickers: B. Reid , A. Carey , B. Casley
Best Players: J. HOMBSCH, J. GILES, K. Aylett, A. Carey, J. Townsend

[aardvark]

Sydney Swans
Goal Kickers: J. WHITE 3, B. HAREN 2, E. MOODY 2, T. DENNIS-LANE 2, L. PARKER , P. BEVAN , D. MCNEIL
Best Players: L. PARKER, L. JOHNSTON, C. MCKAIGUE, M. THOMPSON, L. ROBERTS-THOMSON, D. MCNEIL

GWS Giants
Goal Kickers: B. Reid , A. Carey , B. Casley
Best Players: J. HOMBSCH, J. GILES, K. Aylett, A. Carey, J. Townsend

Interesting to see McKaigue there again Ugg. Is he ever likely to play seniors ?

[ugg]

I've come to the conclusion that the best players list is awarded according to how each player performed in relation to the goals set for them. McKaigue's main instruction would seem to be spoil, spoil, spoil and to be honest he has become very good at this aspect of the game, hence the votes. He's been playing as an undersized key defender mainly due to injury to other talls but with LRT apparently back in defence today I'm not sure what his role was. We'll have to wait for reports from liz, Triple B and Big Al and others to see.

I don't see him making it as a key defender at senior level, and it would also be a waste of his other asset which is his pace. He doesn't often display it when he has the ball as he's too busy concentrating on bouncing or kicking it, but watch him off ball and he is surprisingly much quicker. I'd like to think he's Kennelly's protege but at this stage his kicking isn't close to Tadhg's. How long will they be prepared to give him - another year on the rookie list? Will Chris be willing to stay around ?

[ugg]

We play GC reserves next week and they beat Brisbane Reserves by 40 points today. It looks to be the best matchup of the season for the Reserves especially if there are top 10 picks like Sam Day, Daniel Gorringe, Harley Bennell and Dion Prestia playing for them.

[aardvark]

I've come to the conclusion that the best players list is awarded according to how each player performed in relation to the goals set for them. McKaigue's main instruction would seem to be spoil, spoil, spoil and to be honest he has become very good at this aspect of the game, hence the votes. He's been playing as an undersized key defender mainly due to injury to other talls but with LRT apparently back in defence today I'm not sure what his role was. We'll have to wait for reports from liz, Triple B and Big Al and others to see.

I don't see him making it as a key defender at senior level, and it would also be a waste of his other asset which is his pace. He doesn't often display it when he has the ball as he's too busy concentrating on bouncing or kicking it, but watch him off ball and he is surprisingly much quicker. I'd like to think he's Kennelly's protege but at this stage his kicking isn't close to Tadhg's. How long will they be prepared to give him - another year on the rookie list? Will Chris be willing to stay around ?

Thx Ugg. I won't hold my breath waiting for him to debut. We may have too many strong bodies for the GC ressies next week. I predict a comfortable 3-4 goal win.

[Ratna]

I missed the first half but am surprised Sumner has not received a mention in the posts or amongst the best as I thought his second half was really good. Would love to see him given another go in the firsts sometime soon.

[liz]

I am not sure I can write anything to live up to Ugg's recent extraordinary standards, but here are a few musings about the game.

It was an odd sort of a contest playing in bright winter sunshine (this was Canberra, after all) on what looked like a perfect playing surface. Despite appearances, it was a surface on which many players struggled to hold their feet. Given my windscreen had ice on it this morning at 8am when I started my journey home (via Manuka for a warm breakfast, of course), maybe the ground was icy at just past 9am yesterday.

When we played the Giants in a practice game a few weeks ago, they were very good for the first quarter and then dropped away quickly. It is a credit to how quickly Sheedy and Williams are developing their kids that this time round they were right in the game - at least on the scoreboard - at three quarter time. The tide had probably turned a bit earlier than that, with the Swans gradually asserting their authority throughout the third quarter, but it wasn't until the final term that they managed to pull away on the scoreboard to any significant degree.

The main improvement the Giants had made was their ability to lock the ball into their forward line for long periods of the first half. They weren't able to manufacture much in the way of real scoring opportunities, but they certainly made it hard for the Swans to get the ball into the midfield, let alone their forward 50m. The Swans forwards found themselves getting sucked too far up the ground, meaning that quick squirty kicks out of defence hit the Giants' wall and came straight back in.

I hadn't given much thought to the strength of the Swans side before the game began, and at quarter time I started thinking to myself that we must be a bit shorter than normal on listed players, so (relatively) difficult they were finding it to win and sustain possession. But when I started to jot down who was out there I realised we had at least 15 listed players out there - so I had to give that one up as an excuse. What the team probably was lacking was a bit of run, because we had a large number of tallish listed players and relatively few who could run and carry. Lamb was absent for some reason - Ugg might know why - and Meredith was playing senior emergency so was also absent. I wonder if someone was in doubt for the game and hence they didn't give Brett at least a half of footy. So in terms of smaller players to run and carry the ball, we were left with Sumner, Parker, Bevan, TDL and McNeil (who isn't overly quick). And we were also missing many of the regular scholarship / Academy top up players who have added significantly to the reserves small man run-and-carry in earlier games.

I had a fantastic vantage point, bang in the middle of the Bradman Stand and within easy viewing and earshot distance of both benches. The Giants' bench, in particular, was very vocal - both in terms of shouting out encouragement to players on the ground and congratulating them when they came off the ground.

Luke Parker was the absolute stand-out for the Swans. He played like he knows he is ready for the bigger stage, and I am sure his performance will have garnered the attention of the coaches. I confess I didn't notice him overly in the first quarter, but after the first change he stamped himself on the game. I think I've seen him get more of the ball in other matches but his running to present, his use of the ball and his repeat efforts were all very good this week. The Swans' own report has mentioned this already, but his game was summed up by an effort late in the game with the Swans already 10 goals ahead. He ran hard to make a relatively meaningless contest on the wing, didn't get there in time to prevent the Giant player gathering possession but then flung himself across the opposition player's boot as he kicked the ball and smothered the ball out of bounds. Moments later he was to be seen down in the Swans' forward pocket, presenting as a marking option (though not used).

LRT was very important, especially in the first half when the Swans were seriously challenged in defence by the amount of time the ball spent down there. He looked markedly more full of run than last week, and played what is best described as a Dustin Fletcher role, playing tight and spoiling when needed but also parading around the back line chopping off attacks, using his cool head and experience to clear the ball to the Swans' advantage, and sometimes wandering a bit further up the ground with ball in hand.

The Swans' report describes Johnston as being superb at CHB. I thought he was good, but maybe not as impressive as last week. There were a few occasions when he found himself behind his opponent and allowed a relatively easy lead and mark. That said, he still set up play well for others and found plenty of the ball. I think he was minding Josh Bruce for much of the game, though on several occasions I heard the Giants' bench shouting to Bruce to mind a different Swan. (At least once this was Spangher, before he was injured.) Bruce didn't have much of an influence on the game, so Lewis did his job pretty well.

I am not really sure what Jesse's instructions were for this game. If it was to present hard and often on the lead, he didn't do it. However, there wasn't much flowing play emerging from the Swans' backline for the first half of the game so maybe there wasn't much worth leading to. He did take what looked to be an excellent mark, holding his ground and using his body strength, in the first quarter, but the umpies disagreed, awarding a free against him for a push. (The Swans coaching contingent sitting close by in the Bradman Stand were not impressed by the decision.) He was also robbed off a very good diving mark on the wing right in front of me where the umpire was unsighted, guessed that the ball had hit the ground, and called play on. Looked like a clean take to me. Bewilderingly he also spent some time in the ruck. Given the Swans had Seaby and Currie in the team to share the ruck load, and Longmire has admitted that spreading Jesse between ruck and forward duties might be hindering his development as a forward, I thought this was a bit odd. Maybe they are still hedging their bets a little and hoping he'll suddenly discover the art of rucking. He was OK in this role for the time he spent there but that's not really the point. When the flood gates opened in the final quarter, White was able to chime in with a couple of goals, including one very nice long kick from about the 50m line on the run. Overall his was a decent contribution without being a great one.

Haren was just OK for the first three quarters - I've seen him present better in other games - but chimed in when party time started, which includied him provding his requisite curling goal from a long range snap across his body. They always look a bit speculative and maybe a big chancey but he's done it too often now to write them down as complete flukes.

McNeil is a player whose best work often goes unnoticed and I confess I didn't notice a whole lot of him when the game was tight, though I am sure he was doing what he usually does at the feet of Seaby and Currie. He did get to stretch his legs in the second half and went for a few runs. Though not overly quick, he doesn't mind going for a bit of a charge through the middle of the ground at times, and he contributed an excellent goal in the final quarter.

I don't remember too much specific about the rest of the listed Swans. I should have jotted down a few more notes while they were fresh in my mind. Seaby was strong in the ruck, as you'd expect. Currie played a bit in defence and a bit in the ruck. Sumner was busy and worked hard without doing anything I can remember as particularly outstanding. McKaigue was solid, stuck to his man, and is gradually improving. Bevan was relatively anonymous for someone with his senior experience. Otten still doesn't seem to have found his feet. He fumbled a lot and dropped marks he should have taken. TDL worked hard but didn't really get much of a look in in terms of scoring opportunities until the second half. He missed a couple but looked dangerous down there once the supply increased as the game went on.

The only top-ups I paid much attention to were numbers 47 and 48, who the Swans' official report tells us are brothers. They were kind of like mini-versions of Sumner - yes, that small! Though I saw one of them (Eric I think) trailing Sumner around in the Bradman Stand during the senior game and I think he is tad taller than Byron, though skinnier. The other one (Andrew) was smaller still and of very slight frame. They were both very enthusiastic in their attack on the ball and had a bit of zip about them. Andrew, in particular, found himself pushed off the ball a bit too easily, but that was no disgrace given his size and it didn't stop him going in for more. Eric's two goals were important, coming before the Swans really started to dominate. I am glad to read that they are Academy players but they're not on the list of inaugural inductees so it is hard to tell how old they are. I look forward to seeing a bit more of them as the season unfolds, especially Eric, who is more physically equipped at this stage.

[dimelb]

Thanks Liz, always appreciate your musings.
And there is at least one GWS player who'll be at home on his home ground.

GWS Giants
Goal Kickers: B. Reid , A. Carey , B. Casley
Best Players: J. HOMBSCH, J. Giles, K. Aylett, A. Carey, J. Townsend

[ugg]

Thanks for the report liz.

• Weird to hear about White in the ruck, I can only take this as a sign that they want him to continue in this role if he gets a recall.
• Lamb has a hammy issue according to a BFer who asked Stuart Dew, who was on the sidelines.
• On the Moody brothers, see this article MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY AFC - SportingPulse . I wonder if Micky O had anything to do with them, having been signed by Macq Uni this year but also obviously having a job with AIS Academy.

[liz]

Ugg, you never cease to amaze with your ability to dig information up from all sorts of places. Shame the piece doesn't give us a clue about how old the brothers are and thus how much growing they might have left to do - strength wise as much as height.