our last 4 top picks

[wolftone57]

Does anyone actually believe that Towers has been disappointing because he didn't play Round 1? WE are the Premiers and had virtually everyone available. McGlynn was a shoo in to return and Armstrong was an emergency for last year's GF. Sydney just does not rush draftees straight in. They have to learn the trade in the Magoos. This makes Rampe's elevation all the more meritorious.

Rampe played Two's for us last year and knows the game plan already that is why he got the nod. He is also another mature ager at 22 and turning 23 this year.

[wolftone57]

I have confidence that the players mentioned are going to be good for us when their time comes. I thought Lamb was reasonably good in the Twos this week but the opposition was pretty good too. I was impressed with both GWS & UWS on the weekend. I think our late start has affected quite a few of the players in the early season but we will pick up. The Two's are not yet playing with enough synchronization because too many of the players don't know the game pan well enough or the Swans work ethos. There were also a lot of toppies last weekend. On the Swans site it said Jesse rucked alone, not so he was helped by a toppie.

The Seniors had a fade out in the second but were able to steady the ship. The concentration is not what it should be but that will come. So will the fitness.

[liz]

The Two's are not yet playing with enough synchronization because too many of the players don't know the game pan well enough or the Swans work ethos.

Don't agree with this sentence. Against the Eagles and US, the reserves played with great cohesion, even without allowing for how many newish players there are in the team. And their work ethic was also fantastic, still busting a gut at the end despite being more than 20 goals ahead in a practice game.

What happened on Saturday was that they came up against a much better opposition with equivalent fitness levels, a similar amount of senior AFL experience (probably more games but spread across a similar number of players), almost no top up players, and a team drilled to exert pressure in a way that amateur SFL / NEAFL teams aren't.

I think it is a huge credit to the team's work ethic, determination and concentration that they came away with a win, despite being dominated in the midfield for large parts of the game. The scoreboard might suggest that they were merely the lucky beneficiaries of poor goal conversion by UWS. But while UWS missed a few goals they might have kicked, a lot of their shots were from long distance and/or tight angles on the run which says something about the team's defence.

[Legs Akimbo]

Re: our last 4 top picks

When I read all the palava about the draftees, what struck me about towers was that he's always judged as deficient at the level below but ends up succeeding because he is persistent and a great learner. I think he will get better as the year progresses.

[707]

How can you say Rohan is problematic? He broke his leg, we are taking our time in building him up and getting him going again.
There are plenty of examples of players making successful comebacks after a broken leg, so perhaps we should let the poor bugger at least kick the footy again before we write him off or label him problematic.

My point is that he has had an horrific injury and whilst we all want to see him come back as good as before the injury, we need to brace ourselves that no matter how cautious the approach to returning to playing is, he may not get back to pre injury wellness.

That said, I'm sure every genuine AFL supporter wants to see him fully recover, me included of course. I think the club will be quite prepared for him not to play at all this year, at any level, that would give him an additional 6 months before testing his ankle.

[707]

Looks like we should always trade away our first pick then ............ First round picks are still a lottery.

But stats conclusively prove that the higher the draft pick the higher the probability of getting a good player. So first picks are your most valuable, unless you are the Swans!