Round 7: Sydney Uni v Sydney Swans Reserves

[Ruck'n'Roll]

Essentially as a key forward, which is IMO by far his best role.

At 6ft1 thats a very big ask.
I saw him take a centre bounce in a reserves game I don't think that makes him a ruckman.

[wolftone57]

I think he bulked up too much. If you look at his photo when he came he is considerably thinner than now. He is very thick set now, a little too much. Less time on the weights and more on the running track may do him good. He has the talent but that quick burst that gives him the advantage seems to have disappeared. I believe it is because he is carrying too much bulk. Some players don't do well with too much bulk and I think he may be one. Slim him back down a bit and he'll be fine!

[ScottH]

I watched a fair amount of the streaming. Armstrong looked not far off. seeming lack of pace is a small weakness for Walsh, would expect him to debute in the next few weeks. My guess is thatSeaby will start to tire in the no 1 ruck roll so Pyke does give you the confidence he could play that role.

Morton would impress more if he did not kick around corners as well. Must say hard to see why Lamb was picked so low for a not quick half forward

This was a known before we got him. My tiger mate said he's a good mark, but a @@@@ set shot.

Even then, hard to understand why he was rated so highly. Maybe it was foot skills. Tough as it sounds highly rated pick and not pushing for selection in your second year, you were probably a mistake

Apparently he was recommended by O'Loughlin who was impressed by his skills at the Swans Academy.

[Nico]

Lamb's fitness is a bit down due to injury and I think he may be carrying a bit of weight. Low carb, high protien diet for Lambchop!

The problem is probably the protein shakes he is slurping to put on bulk. A low fat diet with plenty of complex carbohydrate is far better for an indurance athelete. Just ask Steve Monaghetti and Rob Decastella.

[GongSwan]

I think he bulked up too much. If you look at his photo when he came he is considerably thinner than now. He is very thick set now, a little too much. Less time on the weights and more on the running track may do him good. He has the talent but that quick burst that gives him the advantage seems to have disappeared. I believe it is because he is carrying too much bulk. Some players don't do well with too much bulk and I think he may be one. Slim him back down a bit and he'll be fine!

This kind of training is about first getting the muscle, with heavy weights, low reps, then hardening and leaning the muscle with high rep exercises. Its a process that takes a couple of years, like JPK did and look at the monster now after being a bit too big last year

[magic.merkin]

Yeah build up the strength (comes with more size when you are a bean pole), then lean off and retain strength as much as possible. Will take a few years to settle down.

[liz]

Even then, hard to understand why he was rated so highly. Maybe it was foot skills. Tough as it sounds highly rated pick and not pushing for selection in your second year, you were probably a mistake

With respect, I think that is rot. Most players take time to adjust to the rigours, training, speed, professionalism etc of the AFL environment. Some slot in quickly and they set an unrealistic expectation that all players should do the same. Lamb spent most of last year injured, and is barely a quarter of the way into his second season. He could yet prove to be a disappointment, but to judge him after one and a little bit of a season is unfair.

[Mr Magoo]

With respect, I think that is rot. Most players take time to adjust to the rigours, training, speed, professionalism etc of the AFL environment. Some slot in quickly and they set an unrealistic expectation that all players should do the same. Lamb spent most of last year injured, and is barely a quarter of the way into his second season. He could yet prove to be a disappointment, but to judge him after one and a little bit of a season is unfair.

If we took the view no player who impressed at the start of their second season wasnt going to be any good , we would have dumped most of our current team.

[jono2707]

I think he bulked up too much. If you look at his photo when he came he is considerably thinner than now. He is very thick set now, a little too much. Less time on the weights and more on the running track may do him good. He has the talent but that quick burst that gives him the advantage seems to have disappeared. I believe it is because he is carrying too much bulk. Some players don't do well with too much bulk and I think he may be one. Slim him back down a bit and he'll be fine!

Can you confirm on what basis you're judging Jed to be too bulky? The Swans website lists him as 182cm and 79kg, which is probably still a bit light on by a few kgs for today's footballers. When I saw him in person at the trial vs the Suns at Blacktown he looked pretty lean and I certainly didn't think he was overly bulky - I didn't pay that much attention though.

I would have though his issue will be building a big enough motor to earn himself a game, particularly as small forwards these days are expected to chase hard and cover a heap of ground. As others have said earlier today, he is coming off an injury interrupted year last year, which would have set him back considerably in building the required motor. Also as noted they often bulk them up as a priority and then set about building their endurance - I am not in the least bit worried at his non- appearance in the 1sts at this stage...

[Reggi]

With respect, I think that is rot. Most players take time to adjust to the rigours, training, speed, professionalism etc of the AFL environment. Some slot in quickly and they set an unrealistic expectation that all players should do the same. Lamb spent most of last year injured, and is barely a quarter of the way into his second season. He could yet prove to be a disappointment, but to judge him after one and a little bit of a season is unfair.

Really. Which ones? I think that is rare. Very unlikely to make it if not in the mix now

[stellation]

Really. Which ones? I think that is rare. Very unlikely to make it if not in the mix now

I have to agree with liz on this one, Reggi- I think it's way too early to call it a dissapointment so far.

He was one of the younger players drafted that year, the rules had shifted so you had to have turned 18 by the end of the year of the draft and he only did on the 19th of October. He was too scrawny to play seniors in his first year, really, and from memory had hammy issues on and off that interrupted his season- he's now into his second season at the club, we're half a dozen games into it and he's still not quite 19 1/2.

Jed's basically the same age as Luke Parker, who is shocking us all with what he's been able to do at AFL level at that age- it shouldn't be a knock on Jed, who turned up with nowhere near that AFL ready physique that Luke did, if he's not doing something that we've generally acknowledged is abnormal.

[Primmy]

Really. Which ones? I think that is rare. Very unlikely to make it if not in the mix now

Nic Smiff; Brett Kirk; Macca; Reg; Jetta; ...

[jono2707]

Really. Which ones? I think that is rare. Very unlikely to make it if not in the mix now

If I had a few hours I would compile a very large list of players who have made it after spending a year and a half or more on a list before making their debut.....

[Triple B]

I think the truth lies somewhere in between.

In fairness to Reggi, he isn't talking all players, he's talking early draft picks, so guys off the rookie list like Smiff, Kirky and Reg etc. are irrelevant to his point. Reggi has a point that your first pick in a draft should be showing something very early on when circumstances permit ie. not injured. That's the way I read it anyway.

As much as we all like him and want him to step up, the fact is, he has been relatively injury free this year as far as we know, but his games in the ressies have been underwhelming to say the least for a player we have such high hopes for. As he even made the bests list in any games this year?

I'm not prepared to write him off at all, but if you believe he hasn't been disappointing so far this year than those red and white glasses are definately well and truly nailed on...

[stellation]

Jed was taken 21st overall? There's a huge difference between that and where Gary was taken; I appreciate he was our first pick, and it was in the first round, but it was in one of the oddity drafts- if he goes in a non-oddity year then 21st overall is in the 2nd round.

Whilst you'd always love it if they could, I don't really think the club took him expecting him to play seniors straight away. I've only caught a handful of quarters of the magoos this year and haven't seen a lot of him, but even if being underwhelming in those games would be more likely to be "dissapointing this year so far" as opposed to "dissapointing as a draft pick".