List changes and trade bait

[Scottee]

agree with all of this. We need to look at the midfield. Some are suggesting KJ go back in there permanently, I don't know about that he was there on GF day and we still got slaughtered. Benny had been good all year but didn't have the strength to hold back the tide. all out lighter mids were in trouble as Lewis, Burgoine & Hodge etc bullied them out of it an Mitchell picked up the rewards. Parker, Mitchell (plays very bully like game), Hewett & Heeney are all stronger tall mids. I think for a slightly built kid Hewett is quite strong and holds position. Heeney is just an animal at the ball. If you are between him and the ball you are going to need health insurance. I like Zac Jones for the same reason. He plays like a dog who is seperated from his bone and the opposition just happen to be the people in between him and the bone. Be glad to have him at HB next season. Macca, Kizza, Hannas & Benny were totally bullied and bashed in the GF. We need to look at those players and make some hard decisions as to whether they are appropriate for this era as inside mids. I don't think they are and for a start none of them is a natural inside mid, they all started as outside players. We need the natural inside mids playing that possie.

I don't know whether you have a look at the NEAFL games but Hewett isn't slightly built any more.Six or more Kgs bigger than when he started I think.I like the fact that he is dual sided. Massive advantage in traffic.Still very young, hope we extend his contract ASAP.

[Auntie.Gerald]

hi Nico

I personally can divide the Bloods week to week performances vs their GF performance

The GF performance was bloody aweful........i wont say a disgrace........but it was numbing to say the least

The swans season was very very good though and GFs are hard to win .........the hawks lost it against us in 2012 with the worst kicking i have ever seen them display

-------------------------------------

So in saying that........ our week to week perfomances were on the whole very very good.....SO why do we still have this obvious clearance issue and is it a bi product of our 'deliberate set up in the midfield' and our preferred area to control the game is our back half of the field........ or........ is it that 5 to 7 teams in the comp minimum are better then us in the midfield re clearances because the stats would argue in their favour ?

I would suggest:

whether it is soccer or AFL both 360 degree games there are areas of the field that you feel that your team with the indvs you have can defend and defend very well and limit the impact of goals conceded

I would argue our midfield on its day is only second to the Hawks.......therefore I would argue that the Swans coaching dept set up our midfield and our defensive arc to ensure we trap the ball in and around our defensive arc for two main reasons:

1. Because we have a lethal one on one set up in the forwards with Bud, Goodes and Tip and Reid it is to our advantage to continually isolate them in one on ones ala Pagans paddock set up for Carey etc..........if we can play fast break football from our defensive arc we can play to an area of the field that is very very difficult for the opposition to defend against

2. Secondly all teams are built on sound defence.........therefore it is my view that we havent been playing Goodes, Reid, Tip and Bud upfront to simply apply pressure and try and trap the ball in our offensive arc........yes other teams have played a high press ie pies 2010, Freeo and St Kilda over the years and some games we do kick in 20 entries for a goal but it is not our go generally because of point 1 above........therefore if our forward line is what it is and lets be honest it is good and it was 2nd best to the Hawks then it aint bad.....

I would also suggest that structure and strategy is a moving feast and depending on your defensive mindset and your attacking positioning then your clearances can have vastly different stats

2012 - we played deep in our defensive but we played slingshot out

2013 - we tinkered with a variety of forward pressure and deep pressure as our personnel was vastly different pre tip and we had some significant injuries

2014 - we tended to play Carey / Pagans Paddock and it worked week to week........and yes that meant we conceded clearances by setting up defensive in the midfield........what we didnt do though is think thru the brilliance of Hawthorn to execute from the midfield in the heat of the battle

2015 - will se morph in some more uncontested like the Hawks ?

[111431]

Excellent analysis

[Auntie.Gerald]

Going Places: Christian Petracca - AFL.com.au

matt this one is for you


Mk 2 ?

Adelaide Crows - Ricciuto Testimonial - YouTube

[mcs]

Hey MCS, just wondering whether you could be specific if you were at the ground. I only get to see the Swans on TV and you don't get to see the dynamics with the poor editing and camera work. I was able to pick up how often the opposition mids were able to get the ball standing behind the centre, have also noted on occasions the mis-timing of taps , that is, clearly winning the tap but the mids being poorly positioned to take advantage such as starting their run too early and overshooting the ball or the reverse.I also wonder how much of the problem is due to having an overworked tiring ruckman who doesn't get a lot of rest.Also noted that the tackling, at least in the GF, was woeful and the aerial tapping of the Hawks players to each other was not something we seemed to have an answer to. I would make the comment that we were found out against Freo last year by this tactic with our shorter mids and we should be using bigger mids where we can. Goodes in the middle seemed to counter this. Maybe try Rampe there, Heeney and Hewett are a fraction taller as well? Would be interested in your views.

You make some really good poins scottee.

from my point of view at the ground, we broke about even in terms of the ruck, but that was where it stopped. Our setup meant that we as always, go bull like a red rag when the ball falls to a hawks player, with multiple players going hard at it. The wees and poos let us do that all day, knowing they could afford for a mid or two to sit behind the play and wait for the ball to get out. What I thought really killes us was the focus solely on 'there is the ball - everyone get it' meant those guys in the hawks midfield sitting off, if they did win it, hand lots of time and space to either dispose of it effectively upfield or else play 'rope a dope' and create space for others.

To make matters worse, our midfielders were flat as a tack, just couldn't win the bal, lay effective tackles at least force pressure on the ball carrier. I think quite a few people have hit the bail on the head talking about how we went into our shells on the back of aggression from the hawks, and our current midfielf group is clearly lacking some real mongrel, and dare I say kennedy aside an ability to really get the ball well inside.

against a lot of teams it doesnt matter as we can cover it elsewhere on the field. But against teams that use the ball well, we really struggle big time.

Hopefully mitchell and heeney might help

Just my thoughts on what I saw.

[Conor_Dillon]

Good write-up on Mills and Dunkley by the team at Mad Monday 2015 Draft Preview: Midfielders | Mad Monday Show

[Nico]

Auntie I take your points but this centre clearance problem is nothing new. Surely the strategy cannot be to let the opposition win the footy and rely on our superior defence to rebound it to our excellent forward line. In 2005 and 2006 our centre clearance strategy was force the game to a secondary ball up to get more players around the ball and it worked. Now if our players happen to get first hands on the footy it is either a hand pass or a scrappy kick. My idea of a centre clearance is the team that gets the first clean clearance that takes the ball forward. Not a handball backwards 20 metres. At the start of the 2nd quarter in the GF Hawthorn kicked 5 goals on the trot from clean centre clearances. Our mids couldn't get near it. Mitchell made a beeline to the footy while our blokes looked on. You have to have players in the middle who can read the ball, even keep their eyes on the pill and have quick reflexes. They just knew that they were going to win the ball and the forwards were moving as soon as the ball was bounced. When Pyke won the tap, Hawthorn read it.

[ScottH]

TAYLOR Hunt and former first-round draft pick Mitch Brown are among Geelong's latest set of delisted players.

Taylor Hunt among three more Cats delisted - AFL.com.au

[annew]

So list manager Christ Pelchen at St Kilda resigns - wonder if Membrey will still go there

[swansrob]

So list manager Christ Pelchen at St Kilda resigns - wonder if Membrey will still go there

I don't see why that would influence his decision

[Jimitron5000]

Mitch Brown of Geelong has been delisted. Ex first round draft pick and key defender - he could be a useful back up. Wonder if there is any interest from the Swans?

[churry]

I thought Mitch Brown was a forward? Joel Hamling who alo got delisted by Geelong and was playing as a key defender this year.

[Jimitron5000]

Is he? I thought he was a defender. Maybe I am getting my Mitch Brown's confused.

[dimelb]

So list manager Christ Pelchen at St Kilda resigns - wonder if Membrey will still go there

He's not the Messiah, he's just a naughty boy.

[churry]

Is he? I thought he was a defender. Maybe I am getting my Mitch Brown's confused.

The west coast mitch brown?