Practice Match: Sydney Swans Reserves v Sydney University

[Auntie.Gerald]

thanks UGG

that is 14 very good young players featuring for the Swans after a whole pre season for most

Im a little disappointed that a few of the lads didnt light up the park

Swampy, Jones, BJ how did these guys go ?

[dimelb]

Thanks ugg, good work.

[aguy]

thanks UGG

that is 14 very good young players featuring for the Swans after a whole pre season for most

Im a little disappointed that a few of the lads didnt light up the park

Swampy, Jones, BJ how did these guys go ?

Yes thanks ugg. I too am disappointed our lads didn't do better than that. Sounds like they struggled with skills a lot

[liz]

It was a very ragged performance from the reserves team today. It looked a little like the senior team's first outing against the Lions in the NAB Challenge, where many players seemed incapable of executing basic skills. Uni ran harder, were stronger in the air and less fumbly in possession, and actually looked like they had a structure. They also exerted great pressure on the ball carrier every time the Swans took possession. Players were too easily chopped down, or pushed wide to the boundary line, giving them no time or space to execute their skills well.

The delivery into the forward line was very ordinary, allowing Uni to pick off many forays forward with ease. It is hard to know whether the lack of a coherent forward structure caused the poor delivery or vice versa.

Most of our guys did a few things that made you think "oh, he can play football a bit" but that's kinda expected at this level. Most were very patchy.

Jones looked to me the most likely to be able to slot into the senior team. Playing in midfield, he attracted a reasonable amount of the ball, was cleaner than most, and was reasonable in traffic. He didn't produce anything that made me go "wow" but he was solid, and would probably find it easier playing in a better structured team.

BJ and Hiscox both suffered from trying to take on more than they could deliver. In their moderate defence, often they took possession and had nowhere obvious to go, but other times there was a better option on offer than simply trying to run around (or through) a handful of opponents.

I am not really sure what kind of forwards Davis and Rose are. I don't think I saw Rose touch the ball at all (though the viewing angles at Bus Loop aren't the best for getting a clear view of the entire ground). Davis seemed to want to drift into pockets and hope the ball was vaguely kicked in his direction, rather than present on the lead or hold his ground in a one on one contest. He doesn't have fantastic speed so will need to learn to be a much smarter player if he is to become effective, even at NEAFL level.

[dimelb]

Thanks Liz, that fills the picture out quite a bit.

If there are problems with the structures I'm sure Coach Crouch can sort them, but it sounds as if it might take some time, which is a bit surprising after the terrific effort from the seconds last season. I'm particularly pleased to hear of Jones' progress, especially playing in the midfield; if he can step up another rung or two he strikes me as the kind of person a coach could instruct to play on a Sam Mitchell, something we sadly lacked when it was needed.

But it also sounds as if SU played well, applied more pressure and made much better use of their talent, so credit where it's due.

[ugg]

Ragged is too kind a description. At times it felt like these were a bunch of guys who had only met each other an hour before first bounce such was the disjointedness in the play. Uni were great in their forward half pressure, making sure to push the Swans defenders to kick to the boundary backwards

Uni seemed to have the time and space to continually hit men on the lead. It felt like the Swans expended plenty of energy chasing the Uni players around

Things I liked:
McLaren's athleticism and competitiveness. Judging by some of the comments by nearby coach, it took some of them by surprise too
Hiscox's ability to accelerate away from packs as well as his ability to switch directions quickly. Needs to work on his kicking as well as his decision making having wasted a few opportunities forward by indiscriminately shooting at goal

Things I didn't like:
Hewett was disappointing today. With the absence of Mitchell and Robinson from last year's team, he was probably expected to be the senior midfielder today to step up. I though his ball use was poor, granted the options were few and far between but he seemed to favour high floating kicks that didn't give our tall forwards much of a chance
Aliir far too loose, especially when he was on their danger man Barrett (#7). Likes peeling off to help out but mistimed a few and allowed some easy goals
Like Liz, didn't see much of Rose and took a while for me to notice he was off injured and hadn't played in a while
Marsh looked slow and ponderous out there. Being his third year at the club, he should be one of the leading players out there but was quite the peripheral player across half back and the midfield.

Other thoughts:
Derickx was frustratingly close a couple of times to grabbing some much needed marks up forward but would invariably juggle and drop them
Nankervis better on the lead then in the one on one wrestling contests.
Davis played a lot more in the midfield in the second half, firstly off a wing then competed in a number of centre bounces. Liked his kicking but didn't seem to know how to play as a tall.

Another practice match next week against UWS to sort out the cobwebs before Round 1. The team will get a few reinforcements if guys like Tippett McVeigh and McGlynn play in the seniors

[aguy]

Really is disappointing to hear the likes of Hewitt and marsh were below expectations. There were so many good reports last year about hewitts silky skills last year which is something I think we are sometimes not so good at. Hope they can improve a lot during the season

[DamY]

Sounds like Marsh is done

[Ludwig]

Sounds like Marsh is done

I think he started the year at the back of the queue which already has a very strong list of midfielders, so it always seemed a long road ahead for him. Somewhat surprised by his lack of progress, as he had a good highlight reel and I was really pleased that we picked him up in the draft. Hard to say why he never quite developed; a bit like Jordan Lockyer, who also looked to be a good choice at the time.

It also sounds like the whole squad was very rusty, so we would expect some across the board improvement.

[Auntie.Gerald]

Ragged is too kind a description.
Marsh looked slow and ponderous out there. Being his third year at the club, he should be one of the leading players out there but was quite the peripheral player across half back and the midfield.

thanks Ugg

who did look good in the backline ?