Morton's game

[The_Jam]

Morton is no Buddy. Yesterday he accumulated 8 possessions, was subbed off, kicked zero goals and had only one behind. It is quite possible that, if McGlynn is fit, Morton misses the Grand final. And, regardless of what happens next week, his position in the forward line will probably be Gary Rohan?s at the start of next pre-season. He has not set the world on fire. He has not secured his place in the 22. His has not made-it.

But I reckon he will. In yesterday?s game he had the third most tackles of anyone. He was the only forward in the top five tacklers (LRT was sixth). Watching the game on TV, he created goals for other people the hard way, applying blow-touch pressure and causing turnovers. Granted it wasn?t a complete performance, but few doubt he has the flare to score and given some time, I bet he?ll put that side back in. The question mark was whether he could play the team game, whether he could give up the glory, chase hard and stick tackles. If he hadn?t answered those charges already, in yesterday?s game he definitely did. In my humble opinion, this year Mitch Morton has proved himself a Blood.

Cheer, cheer!

[31 hard at it]

Watching the replay, in calmer demeanour, I thought he competed really well and gave the runners a real chance to score.

Just missed a couple of Marks and created a couple of goals at the right time.

He is on the fringe but that is a great sign for the Swans.

[mcs]

I thought, despite not kicking goals last night he did everything he was asked of and more. That relentless pressure that led to the Jetta goal from the wayward handball was fantastic. He will be desperately unlucky to miss out if he doesn't get a game in a week's time, but I too would not be suprised if Mcglynn came in for him. Whatever happens, he has impressed me over the last two games, and I would not be unhappy if he was in our final 22 at all.

[ScottH]

He was a presence up forward.
His tackle on Swan led to Swans goal.

But I feel you may be right.
Parker didn't have such a flash game either for the little time he was on the ground.

[Gary]

I have to agree that replay lifted my rating a little...but still a concern against Hawthorn IMO.
He looks good...but if benny is fit either Morton or Parker goes. What about the reid performance?

[Bloody Hell]

I think he'll be OK, but if McGlynn is ok he'll miss out.

There was one thing he did where the ball was going out on the boundary he stuck out his hand, took it cleanly and snapped over his shoulder that led to a Swans goal. Not many people in the team who would be capable of that.

I think he's gone ahead of TDL in the pecking order.

[aardvark]

If anyone deserves to be dropped it's Reid. He was pathetic. Mortons second efforts were good, its his first efforts that let him down a bit.

[Gary]

Reid clearly thought he was playing Lacrosse but forgot his net! His ground recovery is also very poor. Sure he did a couple of nice things, but his recent form is a concern playing hawthorn (or Adelaide for that matter).

[mcs]

There is no way you could possibly drop Reid though. He is struggling, no doubt - but he is so critical to our overall forward line structure, even if he isn't playing well himself.

[aardvark]

Player ratings on AFL site.....

Mitch Morton - 7
The stats sheet doesn't show it, but Morton should have done enough to ensure a Grand Final spot. He was a standout when it came to forward pressure. A tackle on Dane Swan five minutes into the second quarter led to a turnover and Josh Kennedy goal, and a gutsy second effort to chase and tackle Alan Toovey in the third quarter forced the Magpie to misfire a handball straight to Lewis Jetta for a goal. He also could have put the game beyond doubt early in last quarter when he won a free kick for a tackle on Harry O'Brien, but his set shot hit the post. Was subbed off a short time later.

Sam Reid - 2
Very quiet. Only four disposals and didn't kick a goal. Took a good intercept mark early in the second quarter and found Pyke, but Pyke missed the shot. Should have had a goal early in the third quarter but dropped a sitter of a mark.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/148194/default.aspx

[Hartijon]

If anyone deserves to be dropped it's Reid. He was pathetic. Mortons second efforts were good, its his first efforts that let him down a bit.

I see he was rated at just 2 /10.The battle of the brothers was easily won by his brother. Dropping easy chest marks ,running away from contests and finally being dragged,all in all a very bad night for Sam in stark contrast to the rest of the team.Its not like that the ball wasn't there ,its just Sam probably played his consistent worst game of the year.This gives selectors a huge headache because LRT was magnificent both at the contest,crumbing and marking.On pure performance Sam would have to be dropped for the Granny but that is unlikely to happen.However in a Grand Final don't expect Horse to leave him there long if he is giving us nothing. I agree Morton is worthy of a place and if Goodsey could only nail set shots,we would have a forward line to Challenge Adelaide or The Hawks.

[Triple B]

I don't think Reid was anywhere near as bad as some are making out. He still chased hard when it was his turn to go and tried hard.

[aardvark]

I don't think Reid was anywhere near as bad as some are making out. He still chased hard when it was his turn to go and tried hard.

After the game I would have agreed with you. After watching the replay this morning he spent a lot of time running around outside the contests not doing much.

[liz]

I don't think Reid was anywhere near as bad as some are making out. He still chased hard when it was his turn to go and tried hard.

Agreed.

We're going to have an unlucky player next weekend. The 22 who played yesterday and McGlynn all have claims on a spot but there are only 22 to go around. If McGlynn is fit he'll come in, and deserves too. The only real candidates to be the unlucky 23rd man are Morton or Parker, or possibly Pyke if Longmire decides to drastically change the structure. But I really can't see him doing that. There is no way known Reid will be dropped unless he is not fit enough to play.

[TakeTheSaucepan]

I don't think Reid was anywhere near as bad as some are making out. He still chased hard when it was his turn to go and tried hard.

Surely you're joking. He had 2 kicks, 1 tackle and NO shots at goal. How many times did the ball hit him in the hands and fall out? Don't forget he had only 4 kicks against Adelaide for 1 goal. This bloke is paid to take marks and kick goals, and he hasn't looked like it for 6 weeks. If he wasn't 6"5, he'd be sitting in the stands with us. As for Morton, he was outstanding. His pressure acts lead to 4 goals and he has a great deal of versatility (he was even swung into the centre for a couple of centre bounces in the 3rd quarter). The one on the chopping block is Parker. Even though he hasn't had a lot of game time of late, he's not quite the same player since the shoulder injury.