Our bottom six...

[MightyBloods]

I admire how well our side is going at the moment but it's not good enough to win the flag. It will always come down to the "bottom six" of the sides to go all the way. In 2012 we were very even...this year (with injuries) the bottom six which normally mean the difference of going all the way worry me. Everitt, Lamb, Brandon Jack, Cunningham,White, Rampe. Beating Richmond and an increased intensity I think exposed Lamb although more games for him will improve him. Brandon Jack has heaps of potential but he worries me with his individual acts on occasions. Rampe has been a revelation as a replacement for AJ. Everitt is an ex factor but worries me under pressure..Jessie White is playing very well but is slow minded. Cunningham & Brandon Jack look good but very green.

Our midfield is great...so great that they are capable of taking us all the way.
Players to come back....Reid, Goodes, LRT, Jetta, Shaw, Rohan McGlynn.
To come back ...Shaw (releasing McVeigh to more midfield); for Cunningham
.......................Jetta/Rohan/McGlynn for Brandon Jack/Lamb
.......................LRT/Goodes/Reid for Everitt/White
If I had a priority (assuming fitness) it would be getting Rohan or Jetta into the side in place of B Jack and Cunningham.
Goodes in place of Lamb.
Reid in place of White as much as Jessie has played well (including Reid spending more time down back).

LRT may not be ready for finals...a shame as he is a finals performer.
McGlynn is a club fav however I have him out of the side based mainly on his inferior disposal.

I am not loving our injuries but loving our depth and we havent seen Membrey who I rate make his debut yet.

Get Jetta/Rohan/Reid/Goodes /Shaw into this side and the Swans will be fav to go back to back for the first time in their history.

[Auntie.Gerald]

mighty fair point

I suppose we need to compare ?

Hawks bottom six are ?

Cats bottom six are ?

[goswannies]

Get Jetta/Rohan/Reid/Goodes /Shaw into this side and the Swans will be fav to go back to back for the first time in their history.

Technically, I suspect we were probably "fav" to go back to back in 1933/34 given the amazing lineup we had back then ...

[Bloodthirsty]

Reid can go and earn his spot. He had never dominated, and never been in the vein of form expected as a power forward. One would be stupid to displace people who are playing way better.

Anyone who thinks Jetta is just going to come in right at the end, having been out for so long, and pick up where he left off last year needs to come back down from the clouds a bit.

Everitt's athletic and aerobic ability is probably far more of a weapon than what we would see from LRT limping into the side. But LRT is gone, so forget about him.

McGlynn is great. Bit harsh to drop him. He brings spark and agression to the team.

Goodes gets a hall-pass.

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Reid can go and earn his spot. He had never dominated, and never been in the vein of form expected as a power forward. One would be stupid to displace people who are playing way better.

Anyone who thinks Jetta is just going to come in right at the end, having been out for so long, and pick up where he left off last year needs to come back down from the clouds a bit.

Everitt's athletic and aerobic ability is probably far more of a weapon than what we would see from LRT limping into the side. But LRT is gone, so forget about him.

McGlynn is great. Bit harsh to drop him. He brings spark and agression to the team.

Goodes gets a hall-pass.

[DK_]

Reid can go and earn his spot. He had never dominated, and never been in the vein of form expected as a power forward. One would be stupid to displace people who are playing way better.

Reading between the lines on Horse's post-match comments, I think he will have to. Jessie's effort has seen him move to the spot being his to lose.

I think LRT is gone. Someone had to move to the long-term injury list for Biggs to get promoted to the senior list and LRT is the obvious candidate.

[aardvark]

I am fairly sure we had room to promote a rookie without anyone going on the long term injury list.

[Panttz]

I agree with the above comments on LRT, unfortunately even if he does come back in the next month he wont have the run in the legs to allow him to be the player he was last year. I suspect he will only be needed if Grundy or Teddy go down. Also, it might be worth giving Mal a week off and save him for the Pies at ANZ and let Shaw have a run around in the backline this week against the dogs. Would be the best way of getting some 1's game time into his legs as well as giving Mal a freshen up after that heavy hit he copped yesterday.

[zulu]

Greetings from Thailand, I enjoyed your analysis although I disagree on a couple of points, I would be very happy having White, McGlynn & Rampe sitting on the bench come finals time, assuming our injured players return. McGlynn is a terrific goal sneak, he is like a pop up sprinkler the way he can find space over the back of the opposition defense. I have been a critic of White for a long time, in my book he was just lazy, but now it seems he has rectified his work rate and is a very good kick for goal. An extra big body is a bonus, he makes the opposition aware of his presence.

Rampe will continue to improve and will eventually replace Shaw, it worries me when I see the older players taking such a long time to recover from injuries, it tells me they are nearing the end of their career, sadly this applies to Goodes as well.

I am a huge fan of Reid but I believe he is work in progress, he needs to bulk up a little, I think the the Swans should be patient with his development and continue to favour White over him until the time is right. OK, given what I have just said take White off the bench and give his seat to Reid.

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Greetings from Thailand, I enjoyed your analysis although I disagree on a couple of points, I would be very happy having White, McGlynn & Rampe sitting on the bench come finals time, assuming our injured players return. McGlynn is a terrific goal sneak, he is like a pop up sprinkler the way he can find space over the back of the opposition defense. I have been a critic of White for a long time, in my book he was just lazy, but now it seems he has rectified his work rate and is a very good kick for goal. An extra big body is a bonus, he makes the opposition aware of his presence.

Rampe will continue to improve and will eventually replace Shaw, it worries me when I see the older players taking such a long time to recover from injuries, it tells me they are nearing the end of their career, sadly this applies to Goodes as well.

I am a huge fan of Reid but I believe he is work in progress, he needs to bulk up a little, I think the the Swans should be patient with his development and continue to favour White over him until the time is right. OK, given what I have just said take White off the bench and give his seat to Reid.

[barry]

I agree with the above comments on LRT, unfortunately even if he does come back in the next month he wont have the run in the legs to allow him to be the player he was last year. I suspect he will only be needed if Grundy or Teddy go down. Also, it might be worth giving Mal a week off and save him for the Pies at ANZ and let Shaw have a run around in the backline this week against the dogs. Would be the best way of getting some 1's game time into his legs as well as giving Mal a freshen up after that heavy hit he copped yesterday.

A agree on all counts.

Our vunerability is key position defenders if Grundy or Richards get hurt. We need LRT to be fit enough to back them up if required.

[Wazza]

A agree on all counts.

Our vunerability is key position defenders if Grundy or Richards get hurt. We need LRT to be fit enough to back them up if required.

I think Reid is probably the back up if he gets back - if Jesse keeps going ok it could be Reid for Everitt, I think Reid could end up in defence.

Cheers

Waz

[Ludwig]

I figure we've got 8 players that didn't play on Sunday that will be available for finals:

2 Out of favour players in Morton and Armstrong
3 that are nearly ready to go in McGlynn (1 week left on suspension) Shaw and Rohan building match fitness. All 3 would usually be in best 22.
3 that are likely to be fit before finals (but not certain): Goodes, Jetta and Reid. Goodes and Jetta will certainly play if fit. Reid may have to play backup, as there is not an obvious player to drop when he's fit. As long as Jesse continues to play the way he has, there's no point to bring in Reid.

Although both BJ and Harry C have played well enough, surely they will be dropped for McGlynn and either Shaw or Rohan. Then it becomes more difficult. Lamb has looked good and is probably contributing at a level close to McGlynn, but is likely to make way for the 3rd inclusion, whoever that might be. After that, it becomes very difficult. I think the next in the queue is Dre, and he's really played well.

[Doctor]

Unless they bring back Reid as a defender then Dre isn't going anywhere. He's AJ's replacement and is doing a sterling job. The question really is what happens with Shaw. Rampe has replaced Mattner and the left footer brings that balance. If Shaw comes in does he push McVeigh back into midfield? If so, who goes out?

[dimelb]

Unless they bring back Reid as a defender then Dre isn't going anywhere. He's AJ's replacement and is doing a sterling job. The question really is what happens with Shaw. Rampe has replaced Mattner and the left footer brings that balance. If Shaw comes in does he push McVeigh back into midfield? If so, who goes out?

How I see it too. When we play Hawthorn we will need a third tall defender to handle Gunston after Ted and Reg take Buddy and Roughead; Dre is lining up for that very nicely. We might need Shaw for Cyril whose pace might trouble Smithy; he could go to Breust. As for dropping anyone from the mids, if it comes to that someone would be dead unlucky. I'd be inclined to play Macca between mid and defenders; he has been a revelation down back

[DamY]

Smooch has had Cyril's number in their past few encounters, so I think he's ok on him.

[Ratna]

IMO Ludwig has it pretty well correct. The two that will definitely go are BJ and Harry not that they have done anything wrong and the exposure will help in their development. After that the selectors have some really tough decisions to make. Looking at the list it is easy to think that Goodes, Jetta, McGlynn, Shaw and Rohan should all come into the best 22 when fit. That is the easy side of the equation who to remove or not include from this 5 is the tough part....and that is not mentioning Reid who IMO was not offering as much as Jessie prior to being injured but probably should be there. Good problems to have now and looking great for the future but I am glad that I am not the one who has to tell Dre or Jesse or Jed that they will be making way given the performances they have been putting in.