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I can't believe anyone thought that Franklin would get suspended. There was no contact to the head and he didn't extend his arm. Perfect technique and he didn't pick on a short guy. Tippett will be fine and there will be no change to the XXII.
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Today's a draft of your epitaph -
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund BurkeComment
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Pyke in for derickx. Lets be honest, Tom is a plodder. Hes filled in admirably, but our midfield are winning because they are roving to the opposition ruckman, not ours.
if tippet misses, id bring in membrey or towers.Comment
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Towers is injuredComment
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Our team is so well balanced at the moment you need to replace like for like. If Tippett is out I would bring in Pyke or Nankervis at FF. If Benny is rested due to concussion than another midfielder needs to come in and I think Robinsons hardness and form deserves to be rewarded.
As for Wingard, one a bit out of left field, how about Jetta goes to him. Makes Wingard accountable and drags him out of the forward line when Jetta is on the counter attack. I would like to see him running up and down the wing all game. I think Jetta can match him aerially as well. Something to debate anyway.Comment
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I agre with Pyke for Tippett its our best fit and although Trex cannot play at FF when resting, he can go to the pine when off the ball. As impressive as we have been the last month, our ruck division looked thin when he was resting and we relied on our mid-field for clearances to a losing ruckman.
An added bonus is that it frees up Sam to go head to head with Westoff, who is a real playmaker for them and a match winner against us the last time we played them.
Jetta on Wingard is interesting because although I have doubts about his concentration, Wingard is a burst player and that is Jetta's forte.
If Ben goes out I think they'll go with speed and that means B Jack or Rohan, one of whom will no doubt get the green vest.Comment
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Curiously enough,this system seems to be working better than when we win the hitout! Why change it? Put that together with an increasing prescence around the ground ,Derickx would be unlucky to be dropped.He continues to improve each game reminding me that big guys take longer to mature as playersComment
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i think Tom has a great advantage also this year as he is riding the wave of momentum in a very very good team
when you watch some players who have slow reaction speed or slow decision making you think they will never make it.......they appear to over think their options and too much time leads to confusion............BUT when you have a top4 team with a world class midfield that constantly communicate, well all you have to do is follow their instruction
when you watch closely most of Toms disposals are when a Swans player runs straight past him on an angled run and he simply offloads.........so far it is working !!
It has been invaluable to have him out there with Mike injured a lot this preseason / season and not available much - he has had a real dig"be tough, only when it gets tough"
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I think its a pretty fair reflection, although one can definitely not say he hasn't put in 110%. The guy is doing an admirable job, but he still has a lot to learn in relation to the actual ruck contests, and we were handsomely smashed in the ruck on Sunday. You can't argue he hasn't been putting in a fantastic effort, but once Pyke is fully fit, and assuming we play just one ruck, the decision is a no brainer to me as to who to pick.
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That's fair enough Hartijon, but its exceptionally hard to mount a solid argument that says Derickx is better around the ground than Pyke. Pyke holds on to a lot of marks, Derickx does not. I really like Derickx, I think he has done a lot of good in recent weeks, but his ruckwork is only ok at best, and whilst he works hard around the ground, so does a fit Pyke. He would be very unlucky to be dropped, but if Tippett is fit and Pyke is considered 100% fit, then its the decision I would make, without one hesitation."You get the feeling that like Monty Python's Black Knight, the Swans would regard amputation as merely a flesh wound."Comment
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It will be fascinating on the Pyke v Derickx decision. I think a lot on here are overrating Pyke's work for us on the basis of his last quarter in 2012. He was a very good contested mark in the forward line in the first half of 2013 but when a fit mummy came back it was obvious that mummy was far and away a better footballer, covered more ground had more impact on contests and was comprehensively the better ruckman.
Pyke has his skills but his ruckwork is highly predictable for both teams - he taps directly in front of the contest about 80% of the time and he clearly at least in my opinion, struggles to run out games as the number 1 ruck. As a resting ruck he is three times the player that derickx is forward of centre, but not much better behind the ball in the traditional ruckmans position as he gets to a reasonable number of contests but is simply not as good marking the ball in those circumstances.
He is a better tap ruckman than derickx who in my view plays the game like a poor man's mummy. all heart and body and crashing into people and trying to open up passages. But as someone who is there to negate and block and scrap and scrag I would choose derickx every time because he understands his role and doesnt try to do more than that.
And I suspect pyke would have been beaten at just as many centre bounces as day and mcintosh beat derickx - our centre square work really is never very good. it is around the ground where our rucks shine best and I lean towards Pyke but not by all that much at all.
I don't think it is at all clear that pyke fits our team better than derickx, although our team absent tippett he probably does. If tippett out he comes in. If tippett plays then i lean pyke but it wouldnt take much for me to have my mind swayed.Comment
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