Round 10: Eastlake Demons v Sydney Swans Reserves

**mcs** · 12 June 2015, 11:50 PM

As always ug a great preview. Im heading out to manuka to watch tomorrow, looking forward to seeing the ressies go around.

**wolftone57** · 13 June 2015, 11:51 AM

Ugg are the minnows now allowed 23 players? I notice there are 5 interchange. Great Preview as usual. Can't wait for the Twos to play in Sydney, at Drumoyne or SCG.

**ugg** · 13 June 2015, 11:55 AM

They reintroduced the 23rd Man rule for non AFL reserve sides. I think there's some age restriction on who that player can be but I'm not sure of the exact specifics

**707** · 13 June 2015, 12:02 PM

Excellent work again Ugg, very professional, thanks.

Disappointed to see Rose missing as he was very impressive against the Suns last week.

Be interested to get your thoughts mcs, I always take the official bests with a grain of salt, often don't match the statistics by a long stretch. Keep an eye on my boy George, he looks a beauty.

**mcs** · 13 June 2015, 12:35 PM

Glorious day at manuka. Swans lead 2.4.16 to 0.3.3 at quarter time.

Jones good early, allir allir controlling the back 50 as loose man, Hewitt and bird with some nice touches. Birdy a nice snapped goal in traffic.

**mcs** · 13 June 2015, 01:09 PM

6.6.42 swans, 3.6.24 eastlake.

still a scrappy contest, but bird, hewitt, jones showing some class. B jack working hard but wasteful in front of goal with 1.2 in the quarter. Abe davis doing well playing up forward, kicked 2 goals in that quarter and took a couple of good grabs. Mclaren with the other goal in 2nd q

**wolftone57** · 13 June 2015, 01:10 PM

looks like we need to get a wriggle on. Haven't got a forward focus this year in the twos. We went for backmen in the Rookie Draft. I hope the mids are ready to kick a few with Toby and Rose out.

**mcs** · 13 June 2015, 02:01 PM

Much better 3rd quarter from the boys. 10.12.72 to 3.6.24. Fitness starting to dominate the game, with our midfield all ove them in that quarter.

2 goals to towers, bj and marsh one each in that quarter.

Hewett had a really good quarter, he is classy on the ball, and a couple of times did great under pressure to get the eyes up and spot men in the middle leading to attempts on goal.

**ugg** · 13 June 2015, 02:58 PM

@EastlakeDemons: FT @EastlakeDemons 5.6.36 defeated by @sydneyswans 14.17.101 @neaflofficial round 10 @ManukaOval

**mcs** · 13 June 2015, 03:16 PM

As outlined by Ugg, it ended up being a comfortable 65 point margin in the end.

Last quarter goals to McLaren, 2 from Bird (After great delivery from Hewitt and then Jones), and the final goal to Foote, after a fine pickup in traffic.

Jones could have had the goal of the day after a great contested pickup, evading of 4 guys, but missed from about 20 out on the run.

Davis missed a couple of very easy set shots from 25-30 out, after great delivery from the mids.

Other real moment of note in the last quarter was a monster 'pyke style' tackle from either McLaren or Newman (couldn't quite tell from where we had migrated to at stage).

Will write up some longer thoughts in a minute about the overall game.

**mcs** · 13 June 2015, 04:21 PM

Some longer comments from today's game.

It was a beautiful winter's day in Canberra, and very pleasant sitting in the sun (not so in the shade). It took the Swans reserves a long time to really dominate the game, with only the 3rd and 4th quarter really seeing one way traffic in the game. Some very average set shot kicking in front of goals stopped it being the 100+ margin it probably should be.

As you would expect given the score, the defence had a pretty quiet day of it. The two players I will mention from the defence are Allir Allir and Nic Newman.

Allir Allir spent most of the first half playing as a loose man in defence, which allowed his freedom to roam and help out the other defenders. He is surprisingly nimble below the knees, and took some good strong marks. One highlight from him was when he cleaned up a ball on the ground, then used his size and strength to evade a few players in close congestion, before a nice kick off to a team mate. I was pleasantly suprised by his progress since I last saw him play late last year, and whilst his stats from today won't be huge, he did some good things.

Nic Newman was relatively quiet in the first half, but got more involved in the 2nd half. His style reminds me a lot of Mattner, and on a few occasions in the second half, he was quickly able to turn defence into attack with some nice kicks. I can see why we've drafted him, and with a good run of games, he may push hard for consideration for the seniors.

The midfield in the first half struggled to really control the tempo of the game, but improved as it went on. The standouts across the day in my mind were unsurprisingly, Craig Bird, Zak Jones, George Hewett and at times Brandon Jack.

Craig Bird (or Braid Bird as the program said at the ground), as one would expect, looks well above NEAFL level. He seemed to have more time than most in close under pressure, and it wouldn't suprise me if the stats show quite a few clearances, and some impressive disposal stats. His goal kicking was very good as well - a very fine snap in the first quarter from the pocket, and a great set shot from the pocket in the 4th when he went forward a bit more. A classy display from a player far too good to be going around in NEAFL in my book.

George Hewett had a few moments in the first half, but was a bit quieter than I expected. But his second half was fantastic - several moments of classy composure in the second half, including a few times where he took a bit of extra time to get his eyes up, spot a target and hit them. I was very impressed with how he run out the game, and clearly to me he looks the next midfielder in line for a Senior debut.

Zak Jones was hard at it all day, including in a few fiesty confrontations with some Eastlake players that were trying to turn on the physical side of the game. His clearance work improved as the day went on, and he used the ball well when he got the chance. Spent a lot of the game in the middle of the park, and did well I thought. I hope he gets a good run of games without injury, as I think he would be a very useful addition to the top 22, probably in time as a replacement for Shaw.

Brandon Jack had his moments - did some good bits, kicked some goals, and even took a few marks in the forward line. He laid a couple of good tackles as well, but for mine he drifted in and out of the game a bit, and still to me isn't quite showing what I'd hope by this stage - but he needs further time I think, as it took Kieran a long time to make it too and a lot of patience from the club.

The ruck division was made up of Derricx, who handled most of the ruck, and McLaren, who spent time in there in the forward 50 ruck contests mainly. I'll be interested to see the stats in the end on the ruck, as we probably dominated it, but not really to advantage. Derricx was a bit better around the ground than I remember from last year when I last saw him play, but he still doesn't look AFL quality. McLaren had a few moments around the ground, including a couple of goals, but he dropped a few marks he should have taken, and struggled to pick the ball up from below his knees a few times. The raw potential is there, but a lot of work to do in my book.

Dean Towers impressed me today with a very good work rate, mixing time between the midfield and the half forward line in particular, and working very hard on a number of occasions to run hard to make space and get the ball on the lead. Kicked a couple of goals too, and had some nice deliveries into the forward line at times. I thought he had a good game, and I saw some of what the coaches have clearly seen in him that has had him playing senior football this year.

Up forward today the two main targets for the Swans were Mclaren and Davis. I've already commented on Mclaren, and Davis had an interesting day - he worked hard to lead well, took some good marks, but was often wasteful in front of goal, including a couple of very easy set shots in front of goal in the last quarter. I can see plenty of potential in him, and his marking at times was pretty good, but his kicking let him down today and he could have had 5 or 6 goals with accurate kicking, especially in the second half when there was some great delivery from the midfielders.

Out of the rest of the listed players:
- Xavier Richards didn't have a lot to do, but did pretty well taking the main forward for a fair part of the game.
-Jordan Foote got better as the game went on, kicking a really nice goal in the last quarter, and showing some promise. I was quite impressed.
-Harrison Marsh - to be honest I didn't really notice him a lot, he spent some time in the forward line and kicked a goal, but I can't say anything he did really stood out for me.

My best on ground would probably go to Hewett, who was influential in the second half and is a classy footballer - just in front of Bird, who had a great game as well, including hitting the scoreboard going forward. Jones and Towers would be next on my list.

**dejavoodoo44** · 13 June 2015, 04:36 PM

Thanks for that, mcs: certainly better than what the Swans website provides.

**ugg** · 13 June 2015, 05:15 PM

Thanks mcs!

**ugg** · 13 June 2015, 05:19 PM

EASTLAKE

Goal Kickers: S. Darcy , S. Jensen , S. Camp , D. Biermann , A. Bruce
Best Players: , B. Dowdell , T. Highmore , N. Pleming , A. Bruce , B. Halse , D. DeGois

SYDNEY SWANS

Goal Kickers: C. Bird 3, S. McLaren 2, B. Jack 2, A. Davis 2, D. Towers 2, J. Foote , H. Marsh , T. Derickx
Best Players: , D. Towers , J. Foote , H. Marsh , G. Hewett , C. Bird , X. Richards

Round 10: Eastlake Demons v Sydney Swans Reserves

VFL Round 10: Eastlake Demons v Sydney Swans Reserves

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