Swans v GWS game day

[stellation]

OK gonna say it. Jesse must NOT be trade bate, we have got to keep him. Best insurance you could have.

I thought that he'd passed the eye test of looking like he was an improved player this year, but was mindful I'm a fan of the big lug and my view might be tainted by willing him to succeed; it was nice to hear Mr Roos in the commentary point out (and this is before he'd kicked a few goals in the game) that "he's actually been pretty good this year when he's come in". I think Mr Hall may have also touched on consistency having been one of Jesse's problems and that he looks to have addressed that this year.

I know he tried very hard to improve his fitness over pre-season, and I believe set personal bests for his running. You have to wonder how much that played into some of his struggles, having spent the last couple of seasons playing as predominately a backup ruckman- he's a big lad, but he's generally a smidge undersized for the ruck and it takes a fair physical toll to try to hold position against a bigger ruckman (a little easier with the rule changes for engaging at ruck contests); they're leaning down and you're pushing up, a lot of work for the legs if you then have to try and run forward leading patterns.

[Bloodthirsty]

Jesse will play against the Eagles. In comes Morton, I hope, for someone.

[stellation]

Lamb made several excellent foot passes on the run that were very impressive. It's been good for him to gain these several games of senior experience. The improvement is evident.

BJ will be a good player, but still looks very raw. I'm sure he'll learn a lot from the senior experience. I think he should return to the reserves and be replaced by Harry C.

I thought Jed was excellent in the game, there was one instance where he found himself tight on the boundary line under pressure and couldn't get on his right and delivered a perfectly weighted pass off his left. It was absolutely lovely to see those sorts of (dare I say it, silky) skills in the team.

[ugg]

OK gonna say it. Jesse must NOT be trade bate, we have got to keep him. Best insurance you could have.

But does Jesse want to be that insurance policy? Playing the majority of the year in the NEAFL and only coming in when another big man gets injured isn't exactly that appealing.

[stellation]

But does Jesse want to be that insurance policy? Playing the majority of the year in the NEAFL and only coming in when another big man gets injured isn't exactly that appealing.

I think that's a fair point, whilst I hold out hopes that the NEAFL will deliver us a pretty decent reserves comp (so far it's certainly starting to delivered us an improved one) you do have to wonder whether it's not more attractive for a guy that's going to be a depth player to be running around in one of the stronger state comps (I don't think we have to wonder too hard).

And that's assuming they're happy being a depth player at a strong club versus getting a regular game at a weaker club. I think it's reasonable to suggest there's a number of other clubs where he'd be getting regular games.

[Doctor]

It's really hard to know what to take away from yesterday's game because GWS were so desperately disappointing. I know they went close to knocking the Dogs over last week but they were just insipid yesterday. It obviously took Gold Coast until Year 3 to develop some consistency and the AFL must be hoping like hell that the Giants follow that pattern.

We did well to lift after a pretty dismal first quarter and played with plenty of zip after that. The dual half back roles that McVeigh and Malceski are now playing are working a treat and seem to be a nice innovation that the coaching staff have introduced this year. Apart from Benny's hamstring twinge the only negative I took out of the game was our goalkicking, which has been poor two weeks in a row now. We should have gotten to 200 yesterday without any trouble. Of the 27 behinds, at least 6 were clear misses and double that were kickable. We'll have to take our chances better against WC next week.

[DK_]

OK gonna say it. Jesse must NOT be trade bate, we have got to keep him. Best insurance you could have.

I'm also a fan and believe that his increased fitness has been the big difference. It's allowed him to play a good role even when things aren't going his way and to dominate when they are. With that has come confidence. It was great seeing him throw dummies and sidesteps on the weekend! It must be a fearsome task trying to tackle him as he steps inside you!

Would love to see him stay in the red and white and hold down a position. The big question is whether he'll want to stay. I think he would have done enough this year to attract the interest of other clubs where he'll be a guaranteed starter. His contract ends this year, so it'll go one way or the other. The next few weeks will determine which way.

On another, unrelated, note, Reg seemed to go up a gear on the weekend, which was great to see. More mobile around the ground, inserted himself into the attack and was sturdy in defence. Not back to his brilliant best yet, but heading in the right direction.

Rampe seemed to be spending a lot of time in the attacking 50 leading up to scoring that goal. Seems very un-Swans-like, but I wonder whether Ted sent him forward to get on the scoreboard?

[jono2707]

Jesse was a good choice as sub too. Was he the tallest sub used by any team since the infamous Seaby-as-sub debacle from a few years ago?

[hot potato]

Would definitely endeavour to keep Jesse if possible, because he is so moulded with the Swans culture and fitness levels, plus he's evolved like LRT did to a reliable and skilful player.
HP

[Ruck'n'Roll]

Anyone know why the goal umpires flags were in the giants colours?

[ernie koala]

I thought Jed was excellent in the game, there was one instance where he found himself tight on the boundary line under pressure and couldn't get on his right and delivered a perfectly weighted pass off his left. It was absolutely lovely to see those sorts of (dare I say it, silky) skills in the team.

I agree Stell, he looks like a really natural footballer,with silky skills. He's not really fast, but he's a smooth mover, with good evasion . Bit like Mark Bayes in that respect.

[jono2707]

Anyone know why the goal umpires flags were in the giants colours?

Multicultural round - apparently orange is the colour of peace as well...

[Swansongster]

Would definitely endeavour to keep Jesse if possible, because he is so moulded with the Swans culture and fitness levels, plus he's evolved like LRT did to a reliable and skilful player.
HP

I have to say that on a quiet day when I enjoyed the sunshine, the fans and just being at the SCG watching the Swannies play, my highlights of the day were when Jesse went near the ball. I grimaced a few times at his misreading of the play but, by God, he looks the part and (I thought) contributed pretty well to a good win.

[Untamed Snark]

Anyone know why the goal umpires flags were in the giants colours?

Only way to have the 'ants associated with goals?

[wolftone57]

Oh, I forgot to say - Good umpiring today! So good to have a game where the umps were not driving me crazy. A couple of errors, but that's about as good as you can expect in a game of footy.

Thanks umps.

I thought Umpire Foot interpreted the game differently to the other two and that just confused the players. I know it was confusing me. I didn't think any team was benefiting one way or the other just strange interpretation. I think he should run around as a player in a minor league just to find out how hard his interpretations were.

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I'm also a fan and believe that his increased fitness has been the big difference. It's allowed him to play a good role even when things aren't going his way and to dominate when they are. With that has come confidence. It was great seeing him throw dummies and sidesteps on the weekend! It must be a fearsome task trying to tackle him as he steps inside you!

Would love to see him stay in the red and white and hold down a position. The big question is whether he'll want to stay. I think he would have done enough this year to attract the interest of other clubs where he'll be a guaranteed starter. His contract ends this year, so it'll go one way or the other. The next few weeks will determine which way.

On another, unrelated, note, Reg seemed to go up a gear on the weekend, which was great to see. More mobile around the ground, inserted himself into the attack and was sturdy in defence. Not back to his brilliant best yet, but heading in the right direction.

Rampe seemed to be spending a lot of time in the attacking 50 leading up to scoring that goal. Seems very un-Swans-like, but I wonder whether Ted sent him forward to get on the scoreboard?

DK all the Giants players were in our forward half so Rampe was there too. At one stage Teddy & Reg were both in the forward pocket. I think someone told them both to get the hell out of there and they cleared the area. Rampe was just playing a defensive role on his man following him down.

I believe Jesse played CHB in the same team as Tip played CHF so there could be a full time role for him for a while if he goes back. did so a couple of times in the Twos and was pretty good.

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Anyone know why the goal umpires flags were in the giants colours?

Wishful thinking?

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I thought Jed was excellent in the game, there was one instance where he found himself tight on the boundary line under pressure and couldn't get on his right and delivered a perfectly weighted pass off his left. It was absolutely lovely to see those sorts of (dare I say it, silky) skills in the team.

Have to say I agree with you. His delivery was sensational. When he gets the ball on a string full time and not just some of the time he is going to be even more Daicosesque than he is now. He seems lazy but always makes the contest because he reads the ball so well. some of his in close work on the boundaries was so clever.