Round 1 V Essendon

[aardvark]

You can still get good odds on the Bombers......

[chalbilto]

Doggies vs Bunnies is at 3pm on Fri at ANZ - they should get a good crowd there too....

Not good for the state of the ground come Saturday though - gee wouldn't it be good if sometime in the near future we didn't have to play there anymore???????

The ground is going to be really chopped up and total crap due to the rain that Sydney is having and expected to have on Saturday. It seems that the Swans are cursed with wet weather with home matches in Sydney at the start of the footy season.

[aguy]

I agree with the Bombers playing at full strength being a good thing for us.
Playing Port away in Round 2, we want a good hitout here.

Agreed. ( especially because I'm going to adelaide for the round 2 game. So excited)

[Ludwig]

I think the Essendon players probably took the drugs, but glad they got off. I don't think it was their fault and they have paid enough with 2 years of high anxiety.

I also agree that it's better for us as well. We shouldn't be complacent about this game, as might be the case if we were playing a backup side. Furthermore, Essendon play Hawthorn twice, including the following week, so it's better if they can present a stronger team as the season progresses.

I'm still not sure how we get both Towers and Heeney into the side unless we drop Shaw, which seems unlikely. I think Heeney will be the sub, but would be disappointed if Towers misses out.

[Wardy]

The bombers will come out firing on all cylinders to prove to everyone they mean business. The swans can't be complacent - we need to fire and put the bombers away. My superstitious mind tells me in 2006 we lost round 1 and the grand final - in 2014 we lost round 1 and again lost the grand final. I will feel much better if we win round .

[wolftone57]

Let's get on with it and slaughter these mongrels. Their footy club is the scum of the earth. Any organisation that treats theie employees this way is a disgrace

[Matt80]

Let's get on with it and slaughter these mongrels. Their footy club is the scum of the earth. Any organisation that treats theie employees this way is a disgrace

The Don's have been cleared by the AFL Ani-Doping Tribunal.

The Swans need to play their best available team. Here it is:

B Reid Richards Smith
HB Rohan Grundy Rampe
C Jetta K.Jack Hanners
HF McVeigh Franklin Heeney
F Goodes Tippett Cunninham
Foll Pyke Parker Kennedy
Inter Lloyd Bird Mitchell
Sub Towers

[Wazza]

My Choice

Im not convinced Tippet will play given we need Reid to help at the back and Tippet would have to ruck big ask? or we play 2 ruckmen Reid and Tippet probably not.
Selection will be interesting particularly Heeney and Towers who both deserve a chance, Shaw will start unless injured, I struggle with us playing Mitchell,Lloyd and Bird together and I question if Heeney or Towers is a better Selection than Cunningham. So IMHO I would like to see Towers for Cunningham and Heeney for Mitchell

Reid Richards Smith
Shaw Grundy Rampe
Jetta Jack Hanners
McVeigh Franklin Towers
Heeney Goodes Rohan

Pyke Parker Kennedy

Bird, Lloyd, Naismith, SUB Cunningham

[tasmania60]

Its disgusting we have to play these cheats,wheres sport gone , not for the pure athleticism any more! Athletes training ,striving to get the best from themselves . This is one of the greatest blights in AFL/VFL history .Really hope they wake up to what they have done to players there family's and most of all to their children. Not right ,not watching !

[RogueSwan]

I have not seen enough from Heeney to prove he gets a run with the Seniors just yet. Towers probably.
Along with Wazza, I don't think Tippo will get up this week.

Backs: Rampe, Richards, Smith, Shaw, Grundy, McVeigh, Jetta.

Mids: Kennedy, Parker, Hanners, Jack, Mitchell, Bird, Lloyd, Pyke

Wings/Fwd: Rohan, Towers, Cunningham, Reid, Franklin, Goodes,

Sub: Nankervis/Naismith

[MomentByMoment]

The NAB was the first time I have seen Naismith and I wasn't overly impressed.

I prefer Nankervis who seems to have a bit of Mummy Mongel which is arguably one thing we desperately need.

[Ampersand]

The Don's have been cleared by the AFL Ani-Doping Tribunal.

That's not true. The players have been cleared of knowingly taking a banned substance however the club itself was sanctioned and admitted wrongdoing over its supplements program, which is alleged to have included the administering of banned, borderline, experimental and highly dangerous substances.

To me this decision sets a horrible precedent where sportspeople can plausibly deny knowledge of what is injected into their bodies.

[i'm-uninformed2]

I feel sorry for the players and place no blame or insinuation on them.

I think the real issue is: no one actually knows what was put into them. Think about it. To me, that's scarier than knowing, and anyone involved in management at the club during this time (including Hird) should be gone.

[graemed]

The weather is going to bad to very bad. The ground is going to be terrible to unplayable. We cannot go into the game with too many talls and yet that seems to be the thinking again.
I'm in Wolfie's camp for selection these days we need to pick teams that will win matches on the day.
The ball is going to be spending 90% of the time on the deck and we need clean handlers:

B: Smith Richards Laidler
HB: Rampe Grundy McVeigh
C: Hannabery Mitchell Jetta
HF: Rohan Franklin Cunningham
F: Bird Goodes Heeney
Ruck: Pyke Parker Kennedy
Res: Jetta Reid Lloyd
Sub: Tippett

[Chilcott]

The weather is going to bad to very bad. The ground is going to be terrible to unplayable. We cannot go into the game with too many talls and yet that seems to be the thinking again.
I'm in Wolfie's camp for selection these days we need to pick teams that will win matches on the day.
The ball is going to be spending 90% of the time on the deck and we need clean handlers:

B: Smith Richards Laidler
HB: Rampe Grundy McVeigh
C: Hannabery Mitchell Jetta
HF: Rohan Franklin Cunningham
F: Bird Goodes Heeney
Ruck: Pyke Parker Kennedy
Res: Jetta Reid Lloyd
Sub: Tippett

The BOM forecast is a shower or two for Saturday, with the same forecast over the next few days. What makes you think the weather will be very bad and ground terrible?