Practice Match: UWS Giants v Sydney Swans Reserves

[dimelb]

Thank you, Liz, for that considered report. It's particularly disappointing to hear that people who were banging on the firsts door last season appear to have gone backwards - I'm thinking especially Membrey and Brandon Jack. Perhaps Xav too, although Boyd is the kind and size of player he needs to cut his teeth on, while we can cut some slack for Biggs under his circumstances.
It sounds as if Crouch has his work cut out.

[BillyRayCypress]

Jeez Liz! Too big a realty check for me.

How is it possible to start in the morning thinking that your team has so much depth that it will hard to retain all your stars, to the evening where it's hard to see us finishing above the Saints.

You're positive. The season is finished, the world is ending and Buddy has head lice in his beard.

[ugg]

I missed the first 8 minutes of the game due to Gate A attendants not having their mobile ticket scanners and they forced me to walk back to Gate D and then another half lap of the stadium to get to my designated seat, which them seemed really intent on policing even though there were only a few hundred people in the ground. Anyway I digress, the score at that point was Swans leading 2 goals to 1 and were apparently playing pretty well which was frustrating to me from what I saw from that point onwards they were poor. We have to note that GWS had a really strong team out there, I don't think they had many top ups (if at all?) which we had at least 5.

The height in their team is just amazing and I think caused us to mess around our structures. There were numerous occasions when a Swans runner would have the ball in the midfield, only to look up and see nothing but space in front of him. Unsure whether this was due to bad positioning by the forwards or an actual ploy by the coaches, but the Swans actually managed to kick 2 of their 6 goals by kicking into the space. One by Robinson bounced through and the other Marsh won the race (he's another speedy Harry) to soccer it home.

Even though we had 3 ruckmen on the field most of the time in Derickx, Nankervis and Naismith (plus Patty Mitchell when he appeared later on), one of them would have to follow one of their resting ruckman into our back half just to give a contest. I was interested in how the Swans would utilise the 3 rucks, and from my vantage point it appeared Derickx played more as a forward with short spells in the ruck, probably in an effort to simulate the role he would get in the team with Pyke available. He didn't impress that much in that position, but to be fair he didn't have quality ball coming his way and the young Giants talls in Jaksch, Corr and McCarthy mopped up well. He was involved in a heavy collision with Whiley that left him on the ground for a few moments. He did eventually get to his feet and managed to walk to the bench but took no further part in the game. Nankervis moves well for a tall lad and contributed around the ground. Naismith seems to grow a few centimetres taller every time I see him, he's also quite mobile but can appear clumsy with some of his physical work. Felt like the Giants' ruck division of Downie, Phillips and Lobb were the better unit on the day.

Towers being the other senior emergency was the other player I was hoping would impress but he was also very quiet playing up forward. I didn't even notice him until the end of the first quarter. The one time that Towers did manage to get on a lead and mark inside 50 he missed the subsequent set shot. He was taken off at half time to protect him for the seniors required. The other player with senior claims BJ was also quiet although I note in liz's post that he was lively early. In last year's reserves game, if he wasn't contributing directly on the scoreboard, he would have been active in the goal assists column but had no impact on either front yesterday.

Membrey was comprehensively beaten by Plowman yesterday. He started with a roaming role pushing out from the forward 50, but Plowman's superior fitness and skills saw him win the majority of their contests which hurt us on the rebound too. Later on in the game Membrey was stationed close to goal but found no joy there either. The one positive for Membrey was his strong mark on the lead and accurate conversion in the 3rd quarter.

Lloyd was probably expected to lead our midfield but he couldn't impose himself on the game. He did have the company of last year's #2 pick for most of the day. Robinson, as liz said, was the best of the onballers - wasn't a star but at least his endeavour and tackling were constants throughout the game. Marsh doesn't look like he has the skill set to succeed as a midfielder, at least not yet. He may be quick on his feet, but doesn't look to be quick in the (footy) mind when it comes to congestion in close. Perris assumed a more outside role today and had probably his quietest reserves outing, in his first official game as a listed Swans player.

The one real positive for me was Aliir. He took no chances, preferring to punch when in doubt (always a good idea in my book) and also showed some unexpected composure with the ball in hand. It possibly could have been due to Aliir being unaware of the incoming danger, but I prefer to give him the benefit of the doubt. Really looking forward to his improvement during the upcoming NEAFL season.

Richards stuck with Boyd for most of the day (except for a strange period where topup #60 went to Boyd and Xav when to Liam Sumner who is all of 5 foot nothing) and wasn't disgraced. Lockyer coped well on the unending rotation of UWS tall forwards such as Tomlinson, Stewart and Downie/Phillips.

Final Swans mention of the day goes to Patty Mitchell (possibly playing his first ever game of AFL?). He came onto the ground, picked up the nearest tall who happened to be Tomlinson. Quickly arranged a swap and went forward where old pro Stevie Gilham wasn't very welcoming to our newest overseas recruit. He got to a few contests late, which is to be expected given his newness to the game, and also took a few ruck contests after Derickx had gone off. In this role, he found himself rucking against Boyd when there were throw-ups in the Giants forward line, a match-up I'm sure neither player would have been expecting 12 months ago. I'm sure a lot of comparisons will be made to Pyke given their North American backgrounds but whereas Pyke was thrown straight into the ruck when he first arrived at the Swans, Mitchell won't be given the same role given the 3 other ruckmen ahead of him.

I'm sure some here will be keen to hear on how young Lamb went. He was playing as a half-forward, probably emulating the Giants' desired role for him in their seniors. Biggs kept him quiet for the first half and Lamb had no impact on the scoreboard. Biggs was taken off some time in the 2nd half (a pre-planned move I'm sure) and Lamb started influencing the game more. In the 3rd quarter, he was marked by regular toppie Stephen Wray and he took two great contested marks inside 50, one sticking his posterior out to neutralise Wray's reach and protecting the fall of the ball; and the second a strong grab from behind. He missed with one of those set shots and passed off the other to Nathan Wilson (who missed). He also played on after marking inside 50 with no Swan around him and hit the post from about 35m out.

The last quarter saw him matched up against Jones and it was a great contest with both players having their moments. Lamb outmanoeuvred Jones a few times with his trademark pivot and swivel but when he beat Jones a second time, Zak came back with a tremendous second effort to tackle Lamb before he had disposed of the ball. Lamb finally got on the scoreboard when he positioned himself at the right spot while the big men flew for the mark (a desperate Mitchell spoil from the side clashing with Nankervis who had dropped back into the whole), scooped the loose ball and stabbed it home from a tight angle.

UWS 4.5 8.6 10.7 12.12 (84)
Swans 3.1 3.8 4.8 6.10 (46)

UWS Goals: Boyd 4 Hoskin-Elliott 2, Lamb, Wilson, Buntine, Stewart, Barrett, Downie
Swans Goals: #53 2 Membrey Robinson Marsh Lloyd

[dimelb]

Thanks ugg, well done.

[liz]

Swans Goals: Membrey Robinson Marsh Lloyd #53 and I missed one.

The other goal was also by #53. He kicked the Swans' first two.

[ugg]

Thanks liz, updated.

[Xie Shan]

Interesting reports guys. I suspect the advantage that GWS have had with all those draft picks is starting to tell. Their midfield was very good in the seniors, and it sounds like they still have plenty of depth in the reserves.

[Gezball]

Thanks Ugg, thanks Liz.

[707]

The GWS juggernaught is rolling and will be a force for at least a decade given the massive draft concessions they have enjoyed. Good to see they probably won't have another number 1 draft pick this year!

Thanks for the ressies match reports, looks as good as the seniors report card :-(

[jono2707]

At least our Ressies will be getting some exposure to AFL standard opponents this year......

[Scottee]

I missed the first 8 minutes of the game due to Gate A attendants not having their mobile ticket scanners and they forced me to walk back to Gate D and then another half lap of the stadium to get to my designated seat, which them seemed really intent on policing even though there were only a few hundred people in the ground. Anyway I digress, the score at that point was Swans leading 2 goals to 1 and were apparently playing pretty well which was frustrating to me from what I saw from that point onwards they were poor. We have to note that GWS had a really strong team out there, I don't think they had many top ups (if at all?) which we had at least 5.

The height in their team is just amazing and I think caused us to mess around our structures. There were numerous occasions when a Swans runner would have the ball in the midfield, only to look up and see nothing but space in front of him. Unsure whether this was due to bad positioning by the forwards or an actual ploy by the coaches, but the Swans actually managed to kick 2 of their 6 goals by kicking into the space. One by Robinson bounced through and the other Marsh won the race (he's another speedy Harry) to soccer it home.

Even though we had 3 ruckmen on the field most of the time in Derickx, Nankervis and Naismith (plus Patty Mitchell when he appeared later on), one of them would have to follow one of their resting ruckman into our back half just to give a contest. I was interested in how the Swans would utilise the 3 rucks, and from my vantage point it appeared Derickx played more as a forward with short spells in the ruck, probably in an effort to simulate the role he would get in the team with Pyke available. He didn't impress that much in that position, but to be fair he didn't have quality ball coming his way and the young Giants talls in Jaksch, Corr and McCarthy mopped up well. He was involved in a heavy collision with Whiley that left him on the ground for a few moments. He did eventually get to his feet and managed to walk to the bench but took no further part in the game. Nankervis moves well for a tall lad and contributed around the ground. Naismith seems to grow a few centimetres taller every time I see him, he's also quite mobile but can appear clumsy with some of his physical work. Felt like the Giants' ruck division of Downie, Phillips and Lobb were the better unit on the day.

Towers being the other senior emergency was the other player I was hoping would impress but he was also very quiet playing up forward. I didn't even notice him until the end of the first quarter. The one time that Towers did manage to get on a lead and mark inside 50 he missed the subsequent set shot. He was taken off at half time to protect him for the seniors required. The other player with senior claims BJ was also quiet although I note in liz's post that he was lively early. In last year's reserves game, if he wasn't contributing directly on the scoreboard, he would have been active in the goal assists column but had no impact on either front yesterday.

Membrey was comprehensively beaten by Plowman yesterday. He started with a roaming role pushing out from the forward 50, but Plowman's superior fitness and skills saw him win the majority of their contests which hurt us on the rebound too. Later on in the game Membrey was stationed close to goal but found no joy there either. The one positive for Membrey was his strong mark on the lead and accurate conversion in the 3rd quarter.

Lloyd was probably expected to lead our midfield but he couldn't impose himself on the game. He did have the company of last year's #2 pick for most of the day. Robinson, as liz said, was the best of the onballers - wasn't a star but at least his endeavour and tackling were constants throughout the game. Marsh doesn't look like he has the skill set to succeed as a midfielder, at least not yet. He may be quick on his feet, but doesn't look to be quick in the (footy) mind when it comes to congestion in close. Perris assumed a more outside role today and had probably his quietest reserves outing, in his first official game as a listed Swans player.

The one real positive for me was Aliir. He took no chances, preferring to punch when in doubt (always a good idea in my book) and also showed some unexpected composure with the ball in hand. It possibly could have been due to Aliir being unaware of the incoming danger, but I prefer to give him the benefit of the doubt. Really looking forward to his improvement during the upcoming NEAFL season.

Richards stuck with Boyd for most of the day (except for a strange period where topup #60 went to Boyd and Xav when to Liam Sumner who is all of 5 foot nothing) and wasn't disgraced. Lockyer coped well on the unending rotation of UWS tall forwards such as Tomlinson, Stewart and Downie/Phillips.

Final Swans mention of the day goes to Patty Mitchell (possibly playing his first ever game of AFL?). He came onto the ground, picked up the nearest tall who happened to be Tomlinson. Quickly arranged a swap and went forward where old pro Stevie Gilham wasn't very welcoming to our newest overseas recruit. He got to a few contests late, which is to be expected given his newness to the game, and also took a few ruck contests after Derickx had gone off. In this role, he found himself rucking against Boyd when there were throw-ups in the Giants forward line, a match-up I'm sure neither player would have been expecting 12 months ago. I'm sure a lot of comparisons will be made to Pyke given their North American backgrounds but whereas Pyke was thrown straight into the ruck when he first arrived at the Swans, Mitchell won't be given the same role given the 3 other ruckmen ahead of him.

I'm sure some here will be keen to hear on how young Lamb went. He was playing as a half-forward, probably emulating the Giants' desired role for him in their seniors. Biggs kept him quiet for the first half and Lamb had no impact on the scoreboard. Biggs was taken off some time in the 2nd half (a pre-planned move I'm sure) and Lamb started influencing the game more. In the 3rd quarter, he was marked by regular toppie Stephen Wray and he took two great contested marks inside 50, one sticking his posterior out to neutralise Wray's reach and protecting the fall of the ball; and the second a strong grab from behind. He missed with one of those set shots and passed off the other to Nathan Wilson (who missed). He also played on after marking inside 50 with no Swan around him and hit the post from about 35m out.

The last quarter saw him matched up against Jones and it was a great contest with both players having their moments. Lamb outmanoeuvred Jones a few times with his trademark pivot and swivel but when he beat Jones a second time, Zak came back with a tremendous second effort to tackle Lamb before he had disposed of the ball. Lamb finally got on the scoreboard when he positioned himself at the right spot while the big men flew for the mark (a desperate Mitchell spoil from the side clashing with Nankervis who had dropped back into the whole), scooped the loose ball and stabbed it home from a tight angle.

UWS 4.5 8.6 10.7 12.12 (84)
Swans 3.1 3.8 4.8 6.10 (46)

UWS Goals: Boyd 4 Hoskin-Elliott 2, Lamb, Wilson, Buntine, Stewart, Barrett, Downie
Swans Goals: #53 2 Membrey Robinson Marsh Lloyd

Wonderful, so the struggling senior side that didn't have enough depth last year has even less depth this year due to a team of reserves players that are either not ready for senior football or are not good enough at all.

Its a real stretch to think that we were going to overcome the loss of eight (mostly talented) senior players (Mumford, Everitt, Bolton, Mattner, Morton,Armstrong, White,Lamb) with the return from injury of last years long term injured Reid, Goodes,Shaw, Johnson) a marquis recruit and a cast off being the only additional players with real senior experience (Derikx 2 games doesn't really count for much). Effectively its 10 players because its starting to look like Goodes won't be returning nor will Johnson.

I'll just be off to slash the wrists!