Not Under The Radar

[Melbourne_Blood]

Jetts has looked much better than he did last year, true, but that may also be because he was pretty horrible last year. I don't want to put the kid down as I like him very much as a player And hope he goes on to be a star, but I do feel our praise of what he has done in the Nab cup so far is relative to our diminished expectations of his performances because of what he served up last year. Basically what im trying to say is I hope what we have seen so far this year is the start of an upward spike for Jetts, not the peak.

[Nich]

and geez he's got a good head for radio....

Don't know if you have HD but geez...it's the baddest head on TV viewed in HD. Terrible!

[mcs]

I can remember Tim Lane (sorry to mention him!) commentating in our final against St Kilda last year. After Mummy took a great mark...he commented "These Swans are on the rise. They are on the cusp of something special. If not this year, then in the very near future". This told me how much he rated our list and emerging talent. Tim Lane may report some stupid or ill-considered stories (ie Kieran Jack) on occasions but he's not a complete fool and does follow the game. Interesting remark from him at the time & raised my eyebrows that a Melbourne based commentater had this view early Sept 2011. Now if Jetta, Lamb, Rohan can stay free of unjuries and finally start to show form on the field...boy its going to be exciting. And I haven't even mentioned Hanners, Parker, Reid, Smith, Johnson and club insiders have been really impressed with Lockyer & Cunningham. I think it was Stuart Dew that remarked on the guernsey presentation night that they expected Lockyer to break into the senior team early this season....pleeease be another Alex J!

I remember that quote as well. Any person with a good footy brain can only see upside for our team. Whether we fulfill the undoubted potential in the squad is another thing, but I've always liked Tim Lane despite some of his misinformed comments at time, but I think he is spot on about our list. I'm not convinced we will get that much closer to winning the flag this season, but another solid season of footy, with maybe a prelim final and most importantly another 25 odd games into our younger guys, and then I think 2013 could be a great year. But who knows, I do love to be suprised, and I think this team has plenty of potential for achieving an awful lot this season as well.

[wolftone57]

Jetts has looked much better than he did last year, true, but that may also be because he was pretty horrible last year. I don't want to put the kid down as I like him very much as a player And hope he goes on to be a star, but I do feel our praise of what he has done in the Nab cup so far is relative to our diminished expectations of his performances because of what he served up last year. Basically what im trying to say is I hope what we have seen so far this year is the start of an upward spike for Jetts, not the peak.

Jetts has had to learn a totally new way of playing. For him in the WAFL the mode of play would involve running past as an outside receiver or getting lose. Not much would have been expected of his type of player in the tackling department. TDL has the same problem. This is why WA under-age teams invariably struggle at the National Level against the Vics and sometimes SA. Tackling is a huge part of Vic, NSW and SA Junior (Over 12) footy whereas WA Footy seems to be more about speed and skill development. He is learning and will do well this year.

[Dosser]

Jetts has had to learn a totally new way of playing. For him in the WAFL the mode of play would involve running past as an outside receiver or getting lose. Not much would have been expected of his type of player in the tackling department. TDL has the same problem. This is why WA under-age teams invariably struggle at the National Level against the Vics and sometimes SA. Tackling is a huge part of Vic, NSW and SA Junior (Over 12) footy whereas WA Footy seems to be more about speed and skill development. He is learning and will do well this year.

Interesting observation, Wolfy. I hadn't thought of it that way before.

[AnsweredPrayers]

The thing that worries me most about Jetta is his disposal. A Jetta highlight is him running with the ball. Rarely does he use the ball well. Maybe it's a confidence thing but cheap turnovers when you have the ball and are streaming towards your own goal are very costly these days. With other teams focused on their own game plans in the NAB Cup I think he's had the extra space he needs to impress. How many kicks and tackles would he make against a strong defensive team like the Hawks? I doubt we'll find out.

[DLBIA14]

I'm not sure we'll win a premiership in the next 5 years (If we do it HAS to be before Adam Goodes' form starts to slide), but we are certainly rebuilding on the run. Our kids are getting some attention and this year general expectations towards us are similar to our expectations of ourselves. Certainly it looks like we are finally getting some credit for our consistency.

Nevertheless I'm at the stage where I'm expecting us to either catch to top 4 or move out of the top 8 (depending on whether our kids meet their potential and whether our old guys can still produce with the same consistency). There is no satisfaction in finishing 6th and I would love to get into Horse's head and see how he plans to bring us another premiership. TBH I don't see an obvious pathway - our list needs to be trimmed and tightened.

[wolftone57]

The thing that worries me most about Jetta is his disposal. A Jetta highlight is him running with the ball. Rarely does he use the ball well. Maybe it's a confidence thing but cheap turnovers when you have the ball and are streaming towards your own goal are very costly these days. With other teams focused on their own game plans in the NAB Cup I think he's had the extra space he needs to impress. How many kicks and tackles would he make against a strong defensive team like the Hawks? I doubt we'll find out.

From what I have seen he seems to dispose quite well but at times he hits a little high for the forwards. He probably needs to drop the ball a little more to advantage for the big guys. But I thought he was following the game plan and doing what he was told quite well in all the footage I have seen so far and in the Intra. He has delivered some wonderful 50 - 60 metre in the NAB and a couple in the Intra.

[Auntie.Gerald]

blowtorch them..........its time to believe !!!

[wolftone57]

blowtorch them..........its time to believe !!!

You go Auntie.Gerald I'm with you. Gooooo The Blooodssss!!!!!! YEH!

[The Big Cat]

.pleeease be another Alex J!

I can hear it now "Jesaulanko, you beauty" or should it be "Lockyer, you beauty!"

[MightyBloods]

and better still if Jordan Lockyer becomes a Swans star...ooohhh how I'll bathe in premium shiraz! A son of an eagle star who was missed on a father/son...what a pity! NOT!

[AnsweredPrayers]

From what I have seen he seems to dispose quite well but at times he hits a little high for the forwards. He probably needs to drop the ball a little more to advantage for the big guys. But I thought he was following the game plan and doing what he was told quite well in all the footage I have seen so far and in the Intra. He has delivered some wonderful 50 - 60 metre in the NAB and a couple in the Intra.

Its under pressure when his execution lets him down. Hopefully he can grow in confidence and deliver. He has thhe skill and he's the sort of player we need to lift to the next level to win a flag this year!

[wolftone57]

Its under pressure when his execution lets him down. Hopefully he can grow in confidence and deliver. He has thhe skill and he's the sort of player we need to lift to the next level to win a flag this year!

I agree and with the distance he is able to kick and place a pass he could break the game apart. Imagine Jetts getting free on the hB and running to the wing and launching a 50-60 metre pass to Reid, Spang, Lamb, Morton, ROK, Benny, Bolts, Pykie etc the list goes on. Not too many of them are going to miss on this years form so far. The accuracy in front of goal has improved immeasurably. But then again he could break the game open by going the whole way himself as well. Jetts, Rohan, Harry, Keiran all breaking the lines. I am looking forward to this season.

[SCGonasunnyday]

I'm not sure we'll win a premiership in the next 5 years (If we do it HAS to be before Adam Goodes' form starts to slide), but we are certainly rebuilding on the run. Our kids are getting some attention and this year general expectations towards us are similar to our expectations of ourselves. Certainly it looks like we are finally getting some credit for our consistency.

Nevertheless I'm at the stage where I'm expecting us to either catch to top 4 or move out of the top 8 (depending on whether our kids meet their potential and whether our old guys can still produce with the same consistency). There is no satisfaction in finishing 6th and I would love to get into Horse's head and see how he plans to bring us another premiership. TBH I don't see an obvious pathway - our list needs to be trimmed and tightened.

Some interesting thoughts - I don't particularly agree or disagree. With 18 teams it is not exactly easy to win a premiership. You probably want to be in the best 3 teams in a given year - if we think Collingwood, Geelong, Hawthorn and Carlton are all a class above then not likely, if we think on our day we can beat any team then we are a chance. We have been a good 1/4 of football away from a preliminary final for a couple of years now, so no reason with improvement we cannot make a preliminary final. From then, any team can be in the right form at the right time.

I think we have closed the gap against Collingwood and Geelong (clearly having beaten them last year so well) but worry that we were pretty far away last year from Hawthorn and Carlton.

Another factor, probably coinciding with the Goodes factor is how good the new sides get having the benefit of the draft concessions. If the Suns end up being unstoppable in 3 years time then it would be a shame for our team to be at its peak at the same time and be eclipsed.