NAB Challenge: Swans v Eagles @ BISP Thursday 27th Feb 2014

[Melbournehammer]

Yep. It will be great having buddy as the six five front and square rover.

[gumby_bolts]

Not sure why we would give all our main midfielders a rest this week considering it is Buddy's first game. You would think it would be an opportunity for him to get used to the delivery.

We have not handled the conditions well at all. Very frustrating!

This might be a long bow but didn't our midfielders log the most metres in the afl last season? So maybe they are starting resting the legs of the mids, although pre-season does seem a little early to start this approach. I guess it gives the untested youngsters a go.

[Reggi]

On the whole we were terrible. Must say we do not have a mass of young talent knocking thebdoorvdown

The good
Grundy outstanding looked great turned back the clock a few years
Cunningham would have sealed a rand 1 slot
Gary Rohan lively up forward was great
L?idler probably secured a rnd 1 spot
Brandon jack will press for,selection another pre season should see him in good shape

The Bad
Hannebury on that game will struggle to get into the side
Hannebury doesn't look fit was terrible
Hannebury couldn't get site of the footy
Our skills were terrible

[Ludwig]

After we lost Parker we only really had ROK as a contested ball winner. Almost all of the usual inside mids were rested. Bird did pretty well in his first game. We depended a lot on Robinson and Lloyd to move the ball forward, and although they showed some good signs, are still not adept at working the ball under pressure. I can see both doing okay with another year under their belts. Lloyd need to put on a bit of weight and get a bit stronger, but he does a lot of things well. Marsh was well off the pace.

It wasn't a particularly good mix of players for us and we didn't work well as a team. The combination of first up senior players and rookies as well as the wet conditions didn't suit a good hitout at this time of the year.

- - - Updated - - -

[Auntie.Gerald]

MIDFIELD: not playing Macca, Kennedy, McGlynn, Jack

boy did we miss the extraction of Kennedy and equally missed the calmness of Macca tonight in the decision making department !

Parker - went off early in the first half injured but was in amongst it when the game was a tight scrap first half
ROK - tried hard, in the thick of it, but on the spread struggled to go with his opposite number......good to see ROK looking a little sharper then last week......I still struggle to see how we can have Birdy and Rok in the same team in 2014 with the talent that is coming thru that is so much quicker and versatile
Birdy - tried hard, had tonnes of possessions maybe 30 plus.......still needing to get that spring in his step on the two way running but always attacking the ball in the ruck
Hannes - not very clean tonight compared to some of the other midfield opposite players playing for the eagles......he tried to play inside and struggled a bit
Cunningham - I think all around and versatility wise he is ahead of BJ right now
Lloyd - great effort to try and play inside but more suited to outside with his long kick and strong decision making
Robinson - really impressed by his development and also efforts tonight......his two way running is miles ahead to this time last year
Marsh - tried very hard but WC lifted the intensity and he struggled a little to match that pace around the rucks but Swampy also is miles ahead as midfielder project player
Naismith - a very dominant tap ruckman, good effort in tackling and picking up the scraps to handpass on
Pykey - looked like he was well under done fitness wise.....he will be fine come round 1 though
Derickx - Thought he battled hard but was off the pace with decision making

[crackedactor]

Personally I thought Laidler disposal was pretty average and I be surprised to see him in round one. Would not worry about Hannas, I see him putting in shocker and then next week being BOG. that's why he was pick 30 in the draft. Rohan looks lively, good signs.

[Auntie.Gerald]

agree on Laidler

Rampe is still ahead for that spot in the backs rotation

Rampe is very versatile and so to AJ when he is finally back

Laidler has work to do still but is good back up

[Ludwig]

Personally I thought Laidler disposal was pretty average and I be surprised to see him in round one. Would not worry about Hannas, I see him putting in shocker and then next week being BOG. that's why he was pick 30 in the draft. Rohan looks lively, good signs.

I'm more worried about Laidler's lack of pace than his disposal. He actually is quite a long kick of the ball. I'm not sure we can have both Reg and Laidler in the same side. We will just be too slow. Rampe continues to do well, but doesn't defend well on taller opponents, so we will still need that 3rd tall. If not Laidler, then either LRT and certainly AJ will get that spot in due course. It's still good to have Laidler on the list, as he looks a solid defender that's not going to hurt you if he come in for an injured backman. He may still get the nod in Round 1.

[i'm-uninformed2]

The handwringing is hysterical. 'Oh no we are doomed'. It's preseason. We were trying stuff. Look at our history. Who gives a crap.

[Meg]

NAB Challenge: Swans v Eagles @ BISP Thursday 27th Feb 2014

Just watched Longmire's post match interview. He was most unimpressed.

[Melbournehammer]

The handwringing is hysterical. 'Oh no we are doomed'. It's preseason. We were trying stuff. Look at our history. Who gives a crap.

I don't think anyone said we were doomed. We just couldn't get the ball out of our half. It was very very similar to the port game from last season when whether we had the wind or not we simply couldn't hit a target under pressure and resorted to bombing to outnumbered forwards and the ball came back. And it was like that ALL the game.

Longmire has inherited roos game plan and has tweaked it some but when we are bad it is always the same - an inability to generate any run from behind the ball, an inability to have time to hit a target and an inability to win the contested ball. As with many of these games our packed defence saved us but also created the conditions for our demise. If 16 players are in your defensive fifty unless you run it out by a series of hand balls you will inevitably be forced to just kick it long to the wing and hope like god someone marks it or halves a 2-1 contest.

[DA_Swan]

Given we played our best ruckmen last night against the West Coast second stringers and got smashed around the stoppages it will be interesting so see how our game changes to address an area that used to be one of our strengths

[Beerman]

Only managed to watch the third quarter and half the fourth, and I was pretty disappointed. I think we'll go fine in the regular season, (the best 22 players did pretty well) but none of the kid seems to show much. No great inside talent, and quite poor decision making generally. Hopefully this doesn't mean we are due for a slide.

Also, did Mitchell play in the second half? I hardly saw him.

[erica]

Was there any evidence that Franklin has improved his kicking-for-goal style?

[DeadlyAkkuret]

Jesus. Reading these forums I now remember why I told myself to avoid them after a loss.

One game in crappy conditions, missing the bulk of our midfield, and suddenly we have no depth.

Teams rarely hit their straps from round 1 and keep it up all season. We'll have all pistons firing when it counts.