Round 13: Sydney Swans Reserves v Sydney Uni

[Primmy]

Agree with liz and ugg at this point.

Nipper is starting to work his arse off. Effectively. Thought that Dylan McNeil would have the X factor, but of late no so sure.
Naismith. I want to keep him. He is getting better and better; he shouldered a huge amount of the ruck work after Seaby went off.
I like the cut of the jib of Tom Mitchell. And Alex Brown (seriously quick reflex handballs). And Campbell Heath, Harry, Biggs.
The future of the club is laid out in front of us, and it looks like it could be a keeper.
Back to Naismith, a ruckman with local roots who won't want to go home. He is big. Reeeeaaaalllly big. And he learns his lessons from Steve Taubert.

What do you two think?

[707]

We definitely need a young project ruckman in the squad and I'm happy with the thought of him being a local. Can probably get him for nothing in the PSD.

[Mountain Man]

Naismith is quite a lump, and did pretty well. What training/role models for him to have - Mumford Pyke and Searby!

He was 'not rewarded' for a kick on goal by Morton; who certainly looked better than the only other Reserves game I watched (GWS), but I reckon DTL is the more valuable contributor

[ugg]

He was 'not rewarded' for a kick on goal by Morton

What do you mean by this?

[royboy42]

Mixed messages for me..Did Mitch play or was he rested? I thought I saw him out for a few weeks on an injury report last week??

[ugg]

I assume you mean Tom Mitchell. He played the second half only

[Mountain Man]

He was 'not rewarded' for a kick on goal by Morton
What do you mean by this?

re Naismith comment: there was a passage of play where Naismith did centre bounce duties, and he was able to regain the ball from the scrimmage and kick it downfield. He the rumbled towards goal and was in a very good position to receive a handball for the kick on goal. Morton chose to ping himself (and got it). At the time the score was 127 to 33.

I did think (maybe unfairly) that it was a Mitch Morton selfish act and not a team thing that could have 'rewarded' a top up kid doing a good job in his team.

[ugg]

Thanks I thought that was what you meant, had to double check

[Rod_]

Got there just before 3/4 time. Saw Mitchell shoot a couple of nice well timed handballs to players on the run. Kicked a nice goal from a tight angle, looked nice, however the as the score line indicates. The opposition was a little behind in the skills and drills department..

Nice turn of speed from Cunningham ... Bulldog just goes and goes... White didn't look like a player that wanted to play firsts. Needs to make every ball in his area his. However he is well above the opposition.. Morton gave it a go and is likely... Spangher wasn't seen a lot however I am hopeful... Nipper was trying hard and got away from the opposition easily...

That is about all I can recall.

Game was well and truly over by the time I got there and as such would suggest not a good game to show your best..

Rod_

[Primmy]

Game was well and truly over by the time I got there and as such would suggest not a good game to show your best.. Rod_

Actually I feel it is just this sort of game that shows the depth of competitiveness. If the boys are still competing to the last bell then it means they are not going to slack off because "we are winning anyway". They should be showing that fight and consistency for the full 4 quarters, and I believe that is what we got mostly. Don't have time to feel sorry for the opposition, these boys are fighting for a chance at senior level, so they have to show they will fight to the end.

[Lucky Knickers]

Thought that was Mortons best game defensively. Tom Mitchell is a freak. On the ground for 40seconds and he has 3 possessions.
Spang to return soon I'd say.

[ugg]

Sydney Swans

Goal Kickers: M. MORTON 6, N. GORDON 5, M. SPANGHER 4, J. WHITE 3, H. CUNNINGHAM 2, T. MITCHELL 2, T. WALSH , M. SEABY , T. DENNIS-LANE , S. BIGGS , J. LYNCH , D. MCNEIL
Best Players: S. BIGGS, T. DENNIS-LANE, H. CUNNINGHAM, J. MOORE, J. Dunn, M. MORTON
Sydney Uni

Goal Kickers: A. McConnochie , M. Krochmal , L. Clancy , T. Elkington , M. Lemme , A. Turco
Best Players: A. Lee, N. Roberts, N. Bowen, T. Elkington, R. Silvester, D. Vincent

[lwjoyner]

a good effort by TDL is as mentioned earlier he sat out 2nd half as snr emergency. Is it correct that he was second best.

[ugg]

Quick thoughts on the game.

• Seaby - Started well again, had many clear, effective taps most of them to Moore. The Uni ruckman wrested some control back in the 2nd quarter before Seaby went off injured. Didn't see the incident itself.
• Mitchell - Spent the first half in the tracksuit top warming up, and came straight on for the second half in effect 'subbing on' for TDL (see below). With one of his first kicks, he already had a shot on goal which unfortunately didn't score. He started many center bounces outside the square rather than his customary position next to the ruckman. He missed one game then had the bye last week but for him to regress to one half of NEAFL footy would indicate that there's still ongoing concern about his knee issues and that he's a long way from a senior debut.
• Meredith - Another comeback game, played more inside than in his previous games. Needs to find more of the ball at this level. A solid game without any real memorable moments but it's hard to pass judgment without knowing if any injuries have kept him out of the past few games and if it's still hampering him.
• Dennis-Lane - Starts forward for the center bounce but with a licence to push all the way back to defence to help out. He only played the first half before being taken off as the senior emergency, and kicked 1.2 but was named 2nd best so his tackling and defensive work must have really impressed the coaching staff.
• Malceski - Surprisingly started the game as a forward but once it was clear that Sydney Uni were starting to pose an offensive threat was switched back to defence. He had plenty of possessions as his teammates looked to get the ball to him and while most of his kicks hit their targets, the ones that didn't were the short kicks.
• Morton - A better game in terms of his defensive work, but it really grates on me how selfish he can be. If he gets half a sniff at goal, and you were his teammate don't be expecting a handball or kick to be coming your way.
• Walsh - Worked hard and presented multiple times on the lead but once the ball hit the deck he isn't likely to win it on the ground. He also needs to work on his body positioning as well and learn to use his significant bulk to outmuscle his defender. Having such a stacked forward line doesn't help his cause.
• White - Played as an onballer for the majority of the day with rests up forward. Didn't think he was particularly good as a midfielder as he lacks the finesse and composure when confronted with heavy pressure and tends to kick indiscriminately as a result. Up forward, doesn't seem to be improving in this regard, finding new ways to mess up either arriving way too late to the marking contest or just plain reading the play wrongly and having the ball bounce metres away from where he's positioned. Not sure where he's at and what this midfield role signifies in terms of his future
• Spangher - Wasn't as clean with his hands as he would have liked but kept competing when the ball hit the deck and ended up kicking 2 very lovely goals from left foot snaps. His competitiveness and agility for a man of his size are assets to be coveted, as is his unselfish nature - he's constantly looking for teammates in better positions.
• McNeil - One of his better games of the season despite rotating heavily off the bench. He worked well with the topup ruckman Naismith and pushed forward hard when not in possession.
• Moore - Dominant midfielder of the day. Won plenty of clearances through his grunt work and strength. Didn't have as much scoreboard impact as usual but probably didn't need to given the talent up front.
• Heath - Didn't have much to do after the 1st quarter, saw him on the bench a few times.
• Brown - Played mostly off a half back flank but also found himself on the half forward line and had a hand in 2 goals. Possesses a very deliberate kicking action, not too dissimilar to that of Alex Johnson which is not surprising since they both played at the same TAC Cup side.
• Lynch - As with Heath had a quietish game but a late, late cameo up forward to claim the last goal.
• Kruger - Saw plenty of bench time but when he was on the ground was playing in defence. Highlight of his day was a passage of play which saw him streaming down the middle of the ground at full pace and handballed it off to Morton for an easy goal. Haven't seen much dash from him this season which is disappointing as we know that his athletic background provides him with this advantage.
• Cunningham - On-ball role. We've all witnessed his fantastic pace during the pre-season but looks like he has a pretty solid tank as well.
• Gordon - Split time between the forwards and the midfield. He nailed all 4 of his set shots but wasn't as accurate with his field kicking and general ball usage.
• Biggs - I've been trying for weeks to come up with a succinct way describing the way he plays. Efficient is probably the closest term I can find although it doesn't fully explain it. He never seems fazed, avoids tackles with the minimum of fuss and hardly ever wastes a possession with his kicking. Played off the wing with patches as an inside midfielder and was involved in many plays as the linkman between defence and attack.

Not surprisingly the ressies game plan is very similar to that of the seniors. They like to push numbers back and when they win the ball they move the ball quickly and have players spread at speed into the open spaces of the forward half. There were numerous instances of a chain of quickfire handballs as they transferred play from the defensive 50 into the forward 50. This happened less in the 2nd half when the Swans were well on top and they could just rely on winning the clearances and dominating possession.

[dimelb]

Thanks heaps ugg. Better than the journos give to the firsts.