Practice Match - date I was given is wrong

[BillyRayCypress]

But I don't really think any of those factors would stop them holding it at Lakeside on a Saturday instead. GWS held theirs at a suburban oval, I believe, and not at their home ground.

They held it at Bruce Pursor Oval at Rouse Hill. The facilities are significantly better than Lakeside but the Swans could have also held it at a better AFL suburban ground.

[Nico]

Roy thanks mate

in the video on the swans site Matthew Dick no 28 appeared to be involved in a lot of tackles and in the ruck fighting for the ball. Did you notice him much ?

And Jed with no 11 on his back popped up a couple of times

Great to see ROK still kicking it forward every time he gets it around the pack

Isn't that great about ROK. This time last year a few on here were questioning whether his time was up and he wasn't at all tuned up in the early season. Bonus, bonus bonus.

[ugg]

60 minute game split into 3 terms of 20 minutes each. There were 3 AFL umpires, but only one boundary umpy with a trainer throwing it in on the other side of the oval. It wasn't raining at the start of the game but the ground was damp from the overnight drizzle. The heavens opened up after the first term but thankfully for the handful of supporters watching it did clear up for the last term.

The teams were supposedly random but I don't think this was completely true. The red team basically had the 'A' defence playing for them (sans Malceski) with Richards, Grundy, Towers, Shaw and Armstrong the forming what is likely to be the NAB Round 1 defensive core, Towers taking up an interesting role as a third tall defender. Smith and Johnson were restricted to running laps around the oval, along with Mattner, Mitchell and Morton. Rohan was also running laps but not with this group who were going at quite a pace. Mumford, with freshly minted beard, cycled on the stationary bike under cover whilst Goodes ran laps by himself, watched the game on his break and gave instructions and encouragement from the sidelines.

• Membrey (gold) - Dick (red): Membrey is the love child of Parker and White, Jesse for his tatts and Luke for the blonde hair and the solid build. Dick had the better of this matchup for the first 2 terms, keeping Membrey very quiet with effective spoiling and close checking but Membrey bounced back with a strong third term where he had a hand in a few goals. The gold team tended to go for the two taller targets in Tippett and Walsh (later replaced by Reid; see below) so we didn't get much of an opportunity to see Membrey's contested marking skills. Dick is a lot bigger than I expected (no pun intended), quite a chunky lad and he'll probably play as a key defender in the reserves this year. The only blot on his copybook from this game was an ambitious pass across the defensive 50 which was smartly read by Jude who intercepted and made Dick pay by converting the set shot.
• Shaw (red) - Biggs (gold): Rhyce has outlasted Malcelski in the beard growing stakes with his version still as bushy and full as it was on GF day while Mal has trimmed his significantly. Shaw was a loud voice in the backline and was constantly on the move with and without the football. Biggs (or "Shiggsy" if my hearing serves me correctly) had a different role as a defensive half forward, given that he played most of his football last year on the wing or off half back. He wasn't completely defensive though, showing off his excellent footskills in the second term by pinpointing Everitt in a pocket (who subsequently missed from the tight angle).
• McVeigh (red) - K.Jack (gold): The skipper looked in tiptop condition and was had a solid hitout. Played a little more inside than usual but ran hard to all areas of the ground to impact play in both attack and defence. Hardly wasted a possession. Jack also looks to be in good nick and had a good runaround without really impacting on the game.
• Hannebery (gold) - Lamb (red): Not sure if Hanners was on limited time but I didn't notice him until midway through the second term. His kicking was noticeably better, let's hope he keeps it up during the season. Lamb started as a high half forward but was then rotated through the midfield and spent most of his time in that area. He looked comfortable in that role with his clean hands in traffic very noticeable in the wet conditions. A very reliable set shot, he converted his one opportunity with calm and ease after juggling a mark just inside fifty.
• O'Keefe (gold) - Parker (red): Great matchup in the middle with both players attacking the ball hard and getting first hands from taps quite often. O'Keefe probably just shaded Parker by adding a smartly taken, quick snapped goal (gold's first) to go along with his many clearances.
• Cunningham (gold) - Jetta (red): I really enjoyed this matchup and both players did well during different stages of the game. I didn't feel Jetta was as influential as the Swans website has been making out. He was definitely very clean in the wet but his influence on the game itself was minimal. Harry did a great job of keeping Jets in check, including a brilliant (or lucky depending on how you saw it) strip of the ball from Jetta's hands just as he was about to take full flight into the open space. Cunningham was also responsible for a fantastic low drilled pass to Tippett that drew audible gasps of appreciation. Will be intriguing to see where Cunningham is utilised this year.
• Tippett (gold) - T.Richards (red): When he finally gets on the park Tippett will be a source of excitement and frustration alike for Swans fans. First, the good news. He is a big, mobile target that will cause consternation and a general sense of uneasein the opposition defenders. He leads well, works hard, demands the ball and isn't afraid to use his size either to establish position or to run into packs. On the downside, his goalkicking looks to be in need of serious work. He had 7 shots on goal today, finishing with 3.3 and the other hitting the behind post. 5 of them were set shots and none were particularly difficult. He also failed to take a contested mark but we'll put that down to the conditions given that he has excelled in this area for the Crows. He also struggled to work well with the other forwards, tending to lead into the same spaces. This occurred most often when Walsh was on the field, but Reid seemed to read the situations better and ran into other areas. Having said all that, Ted did play Tippett relatively well, spoiling effectively and it must be noted he wasn't completely responsible for all of Tippo's goals.
• Malceski (gold) - Had a brilliant game marshalling the gold defence, being the only senior defender in that group. He seemed to revel in the responsibility and in the freedom given to him. I can't recall exactly who he was matched up on, or if he even had an assigned man. He took multiple saving marks in defence and used the ball well in a sweeping role (except for one awful attempted pass on his right foot that travelled about 4 metres tops).
• Kennedy (red) - Bird (gold): The official report indicated that JPK was matched up against Kizza but from my vantage point I thought Bird had the run-with role on the BS medallist. Bird found it hard to curb Kennedy at the stoppages but managed to gather quite a bit of the ball himself. Looked to have jarred a finger against an unkindly bouncing ball late in the game, but despite showing symptoms of intense pain managed to shake it off and finish off the match on the field.
• Everitt (gold) - Towers (red): A very intriguing, and to me unexpected, matchup. Probably out of necessity due to absence of Johnson, Mattner and Smith but Towers started quite deep in defence. Everitt was quite anonymous in the first term and Towers led him to the ball a few times, but this matchup had a complete turnaround midway through the second term when Everitt pushed higher up the field and was soon proving to be a very effective link man, kicking one goal himself and having a direct hand in two others through some direct and precise kicking. It illustrated that Everitt is definitely better utilised as a tall wingman rather than a tall forward. Towers didn't looked completely comfortable with such a defensive role and didn't get a real opportunity to show off his much vaunted pace.
• Walsh (gold) - Grundy (red): Walsh played only the first term as a deep lying forward target. As mentioned previously, he and Tippett struggled to work together and Walsh hardly touched the footy. Not sure if he went off due to injury. Conversely, Grundy saw a lot of the football when the gold team continuously turned the ball over going forward.
• White (gold) - Pyke (red): Jesse rucked the whole game and wasn't afforded the same luxury as Pyke who had stints as a resting full forward, swapping with the rookie Naismith. On ruckwork alone, Pyke dominated White in the majority of the taps. As a full forward, Pyke almost pulled off a great mark whilst tumbling backwards off balance but unfortunately even his gloves couldn't prevent the wet ball from slithering away from his massive hands.
• Armstrong (red) - B.Jack (gold): Armstrong looks good and finds targets with ease when in space but his output and in particular his decision making falls away alarmingly when under pressure. There were a few occasions when he refused to kick the ball while bring chased despite many of his teammates beseeching him to do so and sold himself into trouble as a result. Jack was very lively and keen to use his speed, he often took off straight away after marking the ball
• Reid (red then gold) - Brown (gold) then Grundy (red): Reid took a spectacular pack mark very early in the first term (stock standard according to his highlights reel) but proceeded to smack his shot into right hand post. Didn't impact the scoreboard after that and credit must go to Brown who performed admirably given his height and reach difference. After swapping to the gold team for the last term, Reid and Tippett seemed to form a more natural partnership than the dysfunctional Walsh-Tippett combination that played out the first term.
• McGlynn (gold): Sat out the first term and was itching to get in on the action, bouncing and kicking a footy along the sidelines. When his opportunity finally arrived, he played well kicking his customary goal on the run into an empty goalsquare and narrowly missing a long set shot from the top of the 50m arc. Great to see him back.
• Lockyer (gold): Played in defence and helped Brown to handle Reid.
• Bolton (red): Played mainly in the forwards and besides his intercept goal mentioned earlier, terrorised some of the youngsters in the gold defence with his maniacal pressure, chasing and tackling.
• D.Robinson (red): "D-Ro" to his teammates, he had a few runs in the midfield without doing anything memorable.
• LRT (???): Longmire said he played so he must have, but I didn't spot him at all.
• Marsh (gold then red): Not only swapped teams but positions too. Started the game at halfback for the gold team marking Jed Lamb but later on assumed the role of a defensive forward for the red team. Showed terrific pace leading out of CHF. Kicked a very nice goal when after a goalsquare scramble, managed to pick up the loose ball, drop it quickly onto his foot and have it dribble over the goal line just as he was being tackled. Will be interesting to see where he plays, his draft profile says he played mainly in defence in his junior WA footy career, but the Swans have earmarked his attributes as being suited to being an inside mid.
• Naismith (red) - X.Richards (gold): Naismith kicked the first goal after intercepting a gold defender's kick. Swapped with Pyke for short runs in the ruck against White. Limped off the ground (with his guernsey off for some reason?) but didn't seemed distressed at all and was in fact shouting encouragement to his teammates whilst doing so.
• Rampe (gold then red) / Lloyd (red): Mixed up the 2 players during the day. Rampe seemed to play a little more behind the ball while Lloyd had a true midfielder's role.
• Topups - There were at least 5 of them but I didn't recognise any of them, assume they must be Swans Academy players. A tallish kid wearing number 50 on the red team snapped 2 almost identical goals on his left foot.

I know the scoreboard means nothing in this game, but I did keep count for those interested

Red 3.1 5.5 6.6 (42)
Gold 0.1 3.2 6.8 (44)

Goals
Red Topup#50 2 Naismith Lamb Marsh Bolton
Gold Tippett 3 ROK McGlynn Everitt


One interesting tidbit, which may amount to absolutely nothing but circumstance was the cherry picker used to hoist a camera for an overhead shot was behind the goals at the Randwick end, instead of its usual position on the wing. There was another camera filming from that wing, and that's where we've seen the highlights on SwansTV, but it was at ground level.

[ScottH]

Great work Ugg.
At least Tippett has a few weeks to straighten up his kicking.

[dimelb]

Great work ugg, and thank you.

[Primmy]

Well done ugg, beautiful work. You have a beautiful mind.

Kept an eye on LRT, white cap, spent nearly all of his time on the other side of the ground.

thought Jetts beard was as strong as the rest of them. What's with the mentality boys!

Watched Mummy power wheel his stationary bike over the road from the SCG, right up to the tent. Looks like he was told he had to take it himself if he want to play outdoors.

Oh and people, Rhyce Shaw had an engagement party last weekend, photo tweeted by Dane Swan (who I am surprised to say is smart; his tweets don't take up much room, don't occur very often, but are always succinct....follow him out of curiosity to see what a tatt man could do - learning all the time about never judging the book by its cover). As I was saying, congratulations to Rhyce, I am glad he is where he is.

[ugg]

Thanks Primmy I knew my eyesight was starting to fail me but I didn't think it was that bad. So he was playing in defence for the gold team, interesting.

[stellation]

Oh and people, Rhyce Shaw had an engagement party last weekend, photo tweeted by Dane Swan (who I am surprised to say is smart; his tweets don't take up much room, don't occur very often, but are always succinct....follow him out of curiosity to see what a tatt man could do - learning all the time about never judging the book by its cover). As I was saying, congratulations to Rhyce, I am glad he is where he is.

Holding an engagement party that will be attended by a fair few footy players in the middle of pre-season, smart way to keep the drinks tab down!

[Primmy]

Holding an engagement party that will be attended by a fair few footy players in the middle of pre-season, smart way to keep the drinks tab down!

[erica]

Engaged to a Sydney girl, Primmy?

[BillyRayCypress]

Well done ugg, beautiful work. You have a beautiful mind.

.

Primmy the NSW Government has recognised this and that is why the trams are going from Central via the SCG shortly. They want to give Ugg a job because of his memory.

[Auntie.Gerald]

brilliant report !

Marsh is a footballer thru and thru..........cant wait to see him out there !

[Nico]

What's with the players doing laps on a regular basis. Are they on a pre season rotation system perhaps. Appears we only have a couple of reported genuine injuries eg. Mattner, but plenty seem not to be ready yet.

[Primmy]

All had operations nico,they have to do a certain amount of mileage (showing my age) before they are allowed game time, that's a given. Its also what keeps old men like Goodsey and Mattner on the park, and not so extremely young men like Smooch and MM on the side lines. Not sure if MM had an operation, but am absolutely sure there will be a reason. Always has been. You canna play if you haven't done the legwork. Get the ground work absolute and the end of the season the durability of the boys is evident.

[Meg]

As an aside, the Gold team were wearing the guernsey design that GC Suns should have had. Predominately yellow with red trim. Would have distinguished them from the Swans colours and been more faithful to the lifesavers' colours (if that is what they had in mind as symbolic of the Gold Coast).