Changes for Round 5 versus Fremantle

[Gezball]

Let the fun begin...


Out: O'Keefe (can't believe I just wrote that...), Shaw

In: Bird, Lloyd (yes I know he's rookie-listed so he'd have to be promoted)

[Ludwig]

Out: ROK, Derickx, Shaw, LRT, Mitchell
IN:
Bird
Nankervis - Won't have a good day, but at least he can improve and can learn from going up against the Freo big ruckman and defenders. Derickx has already peaked at a very modest level.
Biggs - Played some good footy in a few games late last year. Does the kickins for the ressies and is pretty accurate. Good pace as well.
Membrey - Can definitely kick a goal. Has a mature body. Give him a go.
Lloyd - Has been consistently our best performer over the past 2 seasons. Is a clever footballer with good skills, vision and leadership. I put him a tad ahead of Robinson, who has also played well.

We can elevate the 2 rookies because both Walsh and AJ are LTIs.

[Hartijon]

To make changes based on form would lead to 1/2 the team being axed.That has never been the Swans way.However the fact remains that we are carrying a number of players who are well below form and need a spell in the reserves.I am no expert on the reserves but there must be better players than Shaw in his current form.Run or no run you are pretty much guaranteed a turn over whenever he gets possession.Towner is a name I keep hearing.

We need forwards! Someone who can lead to a space and kick a goal.Leave Buddy in the Buddy zone!The name I keep hearing is Membray. ROK has lost it unfortunately.Against Freo his lack of pace will be exploited.I think the Swans would never make more than 2 changes so thats the 2 I would do first.

The other change needed is the defence coach. I also have played Amateur footy where something like the unmanned opposition defence clearing every ball would never be tolerated even by a B grade coach.Here at AFL level ,in front of football savvy public ,the coach does not respond to a situation which is losing the game for us???That's scary!

[O'Reilly Boy]

Two wins from the last nine starts, with basically the same 22. Not good enough.
Out: ROK, LRT, Shaw, Hannebery, Mitchell, Derrickz
In: Bird, Towers, Membery, Biggs, Nankervis, Aliir

[Ampersand]

With all due respect, you're all basically talking about rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

The fundamental problem is with the tactic that Longmire chose in Round 1 and has not altered one iota since. That is, flood back, force a turnover and fast end-to-end slingshot football. The problem is that opposition teams are wise to this and it's easy to defend against by keeping an extra man behind play, particularly when you have an undisciplined and unskilled forward line.

[Ampersand]

Players look out of form because they've basically been given the instruction "Use it or lose it" and with our terrible forward set up most of the time players are losing it, rather than taking their time, gathering some composure and looking for the short or even tangential option.

Honestly, I'd rather we went backwards than kick it to a two (or even three!) on one.

[Ampersand]

This all goes back to the "drill" we witnessed a month ago where the Swans were moving it quickly from one end of the ground to the other without opposition. That is honestly how Longmire thinks things will actually end up working "once it clicks".

Unfortunately we're playing against actual smart, thinking footballers and coaches rather than invisible incompetents.

Sorry, rant over.

[O'Reilly Boy]

This all goes back to the "drill" we witnessed a month ago where the Swans were moving it quickly from one end of the ground to the other without opposition. That is honestly how Longmire thinks things will actually end up working "once it clicks".

Unfortunately we're playing against actual smart, thinking footballers and coaches rather than invisible incompetents.

Sorry, rant over.

Fair enough, Ampersand.
It was disappointing to look up when we got a turnover to see no forward structure. I thought Buddy didn't stop trying all day, but was positioning himself in the pockets, leaving an empty goal square. That will work better when there is a Tippett front and centre. But yesterday it meant an open 50, with no-one there. The slingshot is not in effect as they were playing one or two extras behind the ball. We needed someone in front of goal. Too often it was RLT having just run 80 metres to get there. Buddy is getting held all day, and the umps need to start having a closer look, but at least he makes a contest; but then there were no smalls for the crumbs . . . Mitchell and Parker were playing like mids, McGlynn was otherwise (excellently) occupied. The ball usage from HB was as bad as I've seen in 16 seasons of watching, and although we had 66 i50s, not many were to anyone's advantage other than a Roos defender, and we couldn't force the stoppages we needed once we got it in there, so no pressure. They went up the line too easily on rebound, and killed us on our defensive turnovers.
So I think you are right?there are huge coaching/tactical/structure issues. At the very least the extras everyone is flooding back on us need to be made accountable. But there are also huge skills issues that are being exposed by the poor weather, and it is hard not to see a certain lack of intensity. Plenty of arm-waving, though. The saddest thing was seeing Rohan late in the fourth quarter, trudging back through the centre square after another goal, looking for all the world like a whipped dog, flat-footed stomping the mud like my six year old after a(nother) Saturday morning loss.

[O'Reilly Boy]

and I guess you can't play slingshot if you want to play key forwards: Tippett and Buddy are not the kinds of players who will suit a slingshot-based attack, as they are basically always going to want to be in front of the ball, rather than dragging defenders up the ground to make the space?particularly Tippett. Anyway, slingshot has had its day, surely?as you say, Ampersand, it's too easy to defend against. Then again, Wells seemed to get the hang of it yesterday against our defensive trundlers.

[dimelb]

We seem to be trying to play like Hawthorn without the skills to bring it off. North are much further down that track.
The question at the moment is do we tinker or are we officially rebuilding? I think we should still tinker for a bit; I can't believe that (say) Hannebery is beyond recovery.
So for Freo: OUT O'Keefe, Shaw IN Membrey, Biggs.
One other possible change depends on how we think Derickx is going. Is he filling the role he has apparently been given, i.e. giving Pyke a break from the middle and providing a target down front? Modest aims, and practical, but has he done it? If the answers to these questions is yes, then: OUT Derickx, IN Nankervis. If he is another victim of our woeful forward delivery, give him a bit more time.

[ScottH]

I might just pop over to the Carlton board and see if there are any blood splatters there.

[707]

Two wins in the last nine games is a damning statistic so we have to change something including revoking Gold Passes given for great service. I think ROK has to go (too slow) and maybe Shaw (poor disposal). We can't carry Derickx and LRT, we get exposed for lack of pace and it's not like these two are clunking marks either. Only one is need as a back up ruckman.

Bring in Biggs for Shaw I say, he looked quite good in his few senior games, got some pace and can HIT A TARGET! Membrey must be given a go in place of tha extra tall we are carrying, just to do something different up forward, he's in form.

If Lloyd is the form midfielder in the ressies, bring him in too, looked ok in the pre season comp.

That drops a couple of slow players and the not neded extra non performing tall and brings in more pace and better disposal. So this week at selection we'll see - no change :-(

Maybe it's time to actually CHANGE something because I don't think ROK, Shaw and Derickx are the future!

[Matt80]

Out - Shaw, ROK, Mitchell, Tom D
In - Towers, Toby N, Bird, B. Jack

Roles:

- LRT to play as a defensive forward on Michael Johnson. Don't give him any offensive space and drag him out of the play.
- Rohan to tag Nat Fyfe. Rohan is physically well suited to Fyfe,and needs to follow good players around. It's time we stop focussing on his leg, and tell him he is a supreme athlete, with a big roll to play.
- BJ in Subs Vest to provide impact.
- Toby N can't do any worse than Tom D and will value the experience. Make sure he is always opposed to Zack Clarke and not Sandilands.
- We are playing all speedy players on our list, so there tackling pressure needs to be huge.

[Doctor]

I haven't seen any ressies games this year so I can't comment on who's going well. I know fans on this board are passionate but just plucking names out of the air and advocating change for the sake of it. Having said that, what we need in considering changes is looking at whether or not anyone is playing so well that they're demanding selection, or whether anyone in the first team is playing so poorly that they have to go. The other thing we should consider is structure. It seems to me that we are not using Franklin in a role that suits him best. Without KT, Reid or Goodes, I'd have thought that a key forward was a must. Membrey kicking 8, albeit against weak opposition, yesterday is encouraging. I'm not sure how Bird went yesterday but he is a reliable player and does a job, so he'd have to be considered.

[lwjoyner]

Out Bo D, O'Keefe (I hate saying that, but) and maybe LRT.
In Membrey if KT or SR not available (we need someone on the forward line, to at least be there and to help out Buddy who cant do it by himself) .Nankervis to replace Bo D, and Birdy to replace Ryan.Both Cunningham (who appears to be weak over the ball (at least TM gets down and dirty) and Rohan are close to be dropped but I would make wholesale changes. Longmire and coaching panel need to reassess THEMSELVES, kicking the ball long against both Pies and North, I could play on the backline with the way we are bombing it in. Leaving players alone in the backline stinks as a tactic.