Changes for Adelaide

[Gary]

[QUOTE=mcs;677620]In: Franklin, Richards
Out: Richards, Pyke

I'd be surprised to see Rohan this week - I think even if he is up to playing, they may want to stick him in Ressies for a week (to make sure he is ok - last thing we want is an early reoccurrence and be down a man).

Harsh on XR as he did some really nice stuff yesterday, including a number of critical 1%ers. His time will come, and I'm feeling much more comfortable about replacing Teddy after XR put in such a good game yesterday.

We have to bite the bullet on Pyke. I've in general been an ardent defender of him, but he is giving us absolutely nothing at the moment, either in the ruck or around the ground.

Leave him out, let Nankervis do his best to break even in the ruck, and give him some help around the ground/rest from Reid mainly. Can't be any worse than what we got from Pyke yesterday - and will allow us to rebalance the team a bit.

"Love Pyke, but cannot argue that he play at the moment ... I think he has earned enough respect for the club to be open about his situation ... surely he is carrying major injury of some sort? Cautious about Nankervis ... his enthusiasm is obvious ... but his ball handling is poor, his handpass skills are woeful & he has to learn that in a clearance situation you can't impede the line of a midfielder as he did yesterday. We are in an increasingly vulnerable situation ... hardly the time to be teach him on the run. Hope the coaches are active on this ... wish I were more confident they even notice!

On another point, Lloyd seems to have lost that lovely awareness and touch that he had in year one. Currently a mistake machine ... but not alone."

[chalbilto]

When is Naismith due to return. Could do with him and resting Pyke.

[aguy]

IN: Franklin Richards
OUT: Pyke Richards

Sub - jones.

[bloodspirit]

I'm glad to see that people have picked up on the fact that Pyke is playing injured and that is effecting his output. It seems unfair to Pyke to write him off just because he is being asked to play injured and giving it his best. Conversely I think it is fair enough to question the decision to play him when he is giving us relatively little at the moment. I am not sure it is good enough to ask Nank to ruck with a little bit of support from Reid - who we need elsewhere anyway. So the question is what are the alternatives: Tippett? Injured. Naismith? Injured. Derickx? Offers less than Pyke, out of form and returning from injury. Right now I think this is why they continue to play Pyke. I hope for Pyke's sake that he is dropped and sent off for repairs but I guess we need a viable alternative to go to and we don't have one. It is such a pity that Naismith has been injured these past several weeks - this was the opportunity he needed to gain exposure and experience at AFL level.

Once again I lament that Derickx is signed for next year and I still think we need to sign another ruck over the off season regardless. I have suggested as possibilities Zac Smith, Leuenberger or one of the GWS rucks that is not going to see much air time at AFL level. These might be achievable with current trading restrictions. I'm sure there are others.

[rb4x]

Not sure that Derickx while definitely not AFL standard would offer less than Pyke at present. Pyke needs a decent break and Derickx is all we have that could make a contest against Jacobs. Derickx at least made the best player list in Darwin on Saturday which was depressing as the two players ahead of him are both rookies and not eligible to play AFL without being elevated. We should have one position available from mid season without a long term injury providing our salary cap situation allows for it. Alternative would be Reid but if Franklin is not available then he will be needed as key forward shocking kicking included.

[MattW]

18 touches, 7 marks and 5 tackles isn't too bad. 0.4 isn't great, but we've got much bigger worries than Reid

I see Reid of symptomatic of our problems: failure to make clutch plays, bad decisions under pressure, flaky disposal, not hard at it. He's performing well short of his potential given his natural athleticism. I find him pretty frustrating.

[bloodspirit]

Not sure that Derickx while definitely not AFL standard would offer less than Pyke at present. Pyke needs a decent break and Derickx is all we have that could make a contest against Jacobs. Derickx at least made the best player list in Darwin on Saturday which was depressing as the two players ahead of him are both rookies and not eligible to play AFL without being elevated. We should have one position available from mid season without a long term injury providing our salary cap situation allows for it. Alternative would be Reid but if Franklin is not available then he will be needed as key forward shocking kicking included.

Yes, hadn't seen Derickx' relative good form in the NEAFL on the weekend when I posted. I agree Pyke needs a spell and if Derickx is ready to step in then he may be the best option to work with Nank. Although I do still think we would be better off if we could replace Derickx with a different ruck for next season.

[Ludwig]

Yes, hadn't seen Derickx' relative good form in the NEAFL on the weekend when I posted. I agree Pyke needs a spell and if Derickx is ready to step in then he may be the best option to work with Nank. Although I do still think we would be better off if we could replace Derickx with a different ruck for next season.

Everyone is wanting to have a team with better skills and I don't think that somehow adding Derickx to the side is going to help that situation. He has the poorest skills of anyone on the Swans' list. I don't know how he got into the 'bests' except that he dominated the hitouts by a large margin, but it made little difference to flow of the game. He made loads of clumsy errors. We also had half a team of top ups, so more than half our players got into the bests anyway.

In general, we need to keep a least one eye toward the future with our selections for the remaining games of this season. In a way we are fortunate to have had this falloff in a year when it would seem a fluke if Hawthorn didn't take the title. It allows us to be a bit more realistic of our chances this year and take the opportunity to begin setting up our side for the years ahead.

[AnnieH]

I'll be playing this week.

[gumby_bolts]

Ugg has reported your form has been patchy at best in the 2s.

I'll be playing this week.

[AnnieH]

Come on. I'm the best towel carrier they've got.

[CureTheSane]

Frequently everyone here is shocked by what type of player we draft.
We get Tippett and then when everyone wants more backmen, we get Franklin.
If we could have traded last year, most would say we needed backmen, but the ruck was always an area we needed to look at with Mummy off.
Re-signing Derickx was likely done out of lack of options, and I guess when the Swans did that we could have called that they weren't going to challenge the AFL's unfairness.

And we're kind of stuffed again this year, particularly if we pick up both Mills and Dunkley.
If we do, and we also want to bring in other players to fill gaps, we're going to have to trade out players for picks.
Or pick up a ruckman who isn't considered to be a first ruck at another team any time soon (we've done that before) within the AFL imposed trading rules.

Pyke will likely stay on our list, and should, but it was always a risk this year with one main ruckman.
Tippett has been a great 2nd, but will he be kept there?

[Mr Magoo]

Niasmith would have come on this year if not injured. He is ahead of Nankervis. I think they thought that one of Nakervis or Naismith would be almost ready when Pyke retired and with Tippett as a second ruckman they were covered.

[0918330512]

Or pick up a ruckman who isn't considered to be a first ruck at another team any time soon (we've done that before) within the AFL imposed trading rules.

In the 2000s, ruckmen from other AFL clubs:-

Wins: Ball, Jolly, Mumford
Losses: Chambers, Derickx (harsh as he's playing his role when asked)
Questionable successes?: Seaby (unlucky with injury), Peter Everitt (serviceable & past his best when he arrived), Tippett (more forward than ruck), Playfair (much more forward than ruck)
Drafted: Fitzgerald (bust due to injury), Mott (bust due to ability), Doyle (bust due to injury & ability), Stafford (success finishing with us in the 2000s), Goodes (success but injury stopped his ruckwork), Meiklejohn (bust, ability), LRT (fill in ruck at best), Sam Reid (fill in ruck at best), White (never realised his potential as a ruck, forward, winger or any other position).

[Nico]

Surely Cunningham must go after his very weak effort last week. Brandon Jack was far better and was prepared to have a real go and put his body on the line. Cunningham hasn't had to wash his shorts all season. We have a tail of soft footballers who cannot and will not keep us in the top 4. Play blokes who have some heart instead of recycling the same duds.