VFL Round 17: Sydney Swans Reserves v Brisbane Lions Reserves @ SCG

[ugg]

NEAFL 2015 Round 17

Sydney Swans Reserves v Brisbane Lions Reserves

Saturday 1st August 2015
12.55pm
Sydney Cricket Ground

Note: Match being streamed live on neafl.com.au

A win against the Lions Reserves would guarantee the Swans qualify for the finals for the 6th consecutive year. The Lions have been plagued with injuries all year and have struggled to field competitive lineups for most of the season.

The Swans will be boosted by the return of big ruckman Sam Naismith from a groin injury.

The Swans have won both matchups this season including a 30 point victory away in Brisbane just 3 rounds ago.


NEAFL Ladder
Recent Form
Reserves
Brisbane Lions Reserves
Past Meetings
2015
Round 14 @ Coorparoo
Round 8 @ Newcastle


2014
Round 1
Round 5
Round 8
Team List
Listed players
Changes
In: Jones, Robinson, Hewett, Naismith
Out: Ben McGLYNN (seniors), Jordan FOOTE (?)

Naismith's inclusion gives the Swans more firepower in the forward line with one of the 2 ruckmen being able to rest there and provide a focal point for out forward 50 entries. Jones could see midfield time alongside Robinson, Hewett and Perris. Towers spent most of the second half last week on the half back flank.

Academy Players/Topups
In: Baron-Hay, Behagg, Cooper, Hebron, Prescott, Veale
Out: Jack CAMPBELL, Nick FOSTER, Zac FYFFE, Jackson KELLY, Spencer KROCHMAL, Lachlan MAPLES, Will TAYLOR, Jarrod WACHMAN, Sam WILSON

Statistics

Disposals
Kicks
Handballs
Marks
Tackles
Hitouts
Clearances
Inside 50s
Rebound 50s
Goals
Coaches Votes
NEAFL MVP Votes
Brisbane Lions Reserves (listed players in BOLD)
In: Staker, Adkins, Corvo, Milford, Stevenson, Watson
Out: Rohan BEWICK, Jono FREEMAN, Soul CORMICK, Leigh HARDING, Bill PENDLEBURY, Tom ROLLS


The Lions have named a team severely lacking in inside midfielders. Besides Zac O'Brien, who is having an excellent season, they will have to rely on pinch-hitting efforts from players more accustomed to playing on the flanks such as Mitch Golby, Billy Evans and Tom Cutler.

They do have some height in the forward line with Hammelmann, Staker, McGuane and the resting ruckman in Smith/West having the ability to stretch our defence who look a little short with Xavier's absence for the second week in a row.

[707]

Big Sam, come on down - could be needed in the seniors the way we are going!

Thanks Ugg for your usual quality and insightful preview.

BTW folks, I think our recent game against NT Thunder is on NITV this week, Tues or Wed from memory.

[ugg]

Derickx out.

[707]

Derickx out.

I hope not to play seniors because Tippett is out .......

[ugg]

Given he wasn't emergency I doubt it.

[wolftone57]

Is xavier Richards first emergency fro the Seniors Ugg? If not I would have thought he would have played. Davis & Aliir can play on the talls but we will be one short unless one of the toppies is a big lad. I like what I've heard of Baron-Hay, kicked three last game he played. I like the idea of Perris running off HB with Newman. They both use the ball so well. Funny saying that about a Swans player haha.

Derrickx has had a soft tissue injury for some time and I didn't think after coming off the week before that he would play last week but he did. He is pretty awkward so gets a bit knocked around. It's funny you know but if he got a few things right in his game, his leap, his hands and his speed he wouldn't ba a bad player. His timing is @@@@e at centre bounces. But he has a really good marking leap and I can't see why he can't use that at centre bounces and throw ins. This is natural leap not assisted. A bit sad really because if he treated rucking like going for a mark but taping the ball down he'd be a very good ruckman.

Great to see Big Sammy & young Georgie Boy out there and look forward to seeing them play. I agree we need to keep Big Sammy fit, the way it is going Pykie looks baked due to persistent injury. Happens to big blokes.

I thought Big Abe was pretty good last week. He won some hard battles. Just read the NEAFL Preview on the swans site and Xav Richards is playing according to that. So might not be one down with Abe there as well.

[Primmy]

A ressie game. Goodie (I think). I woke this morning thinking the sky would be black and rain pelting down, but it must be a good day upstairs......see you there.

[rojo]

Swans dominated the first quarter - kicked 8 points - but also thankfully 4 goals. 32 points to 2. I have been impressed by No 9 Abe Davis. Gosh, Perris is small!!! but very good.

[707]

Gosh, Perris is small!!! but very good.

Boomer Harvey is small too!

Don't care how short he is, he can find the ball obviously, always could, all I really want to know about Perris is - can he hit a target by foot? If he can, then get him in the seniors!

[rb4x]

Full time swans reserves 10.26 (86) brisbane lions reserves 5.11 (41) Goals: Towers 2 Perris 2 Davis Jones Hiscox Robinson Baron-Hay Wilson

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SYDNEY SWANS
Goal Kickers: L. Perris 2, D. Towers 2, D. Robinson , S. Wilson , D. Baron-Hay , A. Davis , J. Hiscox , Z. Jones
Best Players: , D. Robinson , Z. Jones , A. Aliir , L. Perris , S. McLaren , H. Marsh

[Simo]

Can Abe be a Tom Luych, has he got a motor, not as big, but he clunks marks.

[ugg]

Davis has been playing mostly in the midfield and chipping in here and there where needed. Sometimes in the ruck when Derickx went down, a couple of spells as a key forward and in the second half today was a key defender

[Mug Punter]

Davis has been playing mostly in the midfield and chipping in here and there where needed. Sometimes in the ruck when Derickx went down, a couple of spells as a key forward and in the second half today was a key defender

I like the way that, with the exception of talents like Heeney, we make players serve an apprenticeship so they really earn their senior call up.

Nankervis has done his and he is a banker for the ones now in my book, love the way he throws his weight around and his workrate.

I suspect Davis has his papers stamped in the NEAFL this year, and rightly so, but I could see him being one to watch in 2016

[ugg]

A very comfortable victory for the ressies this afternoon, and if it wasn't for a gobsmackingly inaccurate conversion rate the margin should have been closer to triple digits than the eventual 45 points. While it was quite windy in the first quarter it had settled down enough in the 2nd quarter for it not to be a factor but the Swans kicked an atrocious 1.9 and the Lions weren't much better with 3 behinds. Many of the culprits were listed players whose skills and experience should have served them better as we moved the ball forward. Perhaps not having a decent tall target to aim for caused much of the wastefulness in front of goal. And while I don't like badmouthing the opposition, some of the Lions' skill errors today would have drive their coach Shane Woewodin up the wall - kicking straight to the opposition, kicking to the man on the mark, handballs to the feet of teammates etc.

The Lions had roughly as many disposals as the Swans in the first half and finished the game 19 ahead of us but trailed badly in the Inside 50 count. Their propensity to attempt switches of play in their defensive half was their own undoing with their poor kicking skills, the windy conditions combined with some excellent Swans pressure creating plenty of turnovers and subsequently plenty of scoring shots (which we didn't fully capitalise on). The Lions were a improved side in the 2nd half and were competitive enough to only lose the half by 3 points, with both sides kicking 5 goals apiece. Some strong forward play by experienced AFL players Brent Staker and Luke McGuane against an inexperienced defence created many of their scoring opportunities.

James Rose had quite low numbers today with only 11 disposals 2 marks and a solitary tackle but he played a lot better than the numbers would seem to suggest. His evasive work in traffic is a highlight and there were a couple of nearly marks where he just failed to hang onto some contested marks at a second or third grab. Defensively he works hard as well and caused many of the Brisbane defensive turnovers.

Abe Davis spent the majority of the first half as a inside midfielder providing a big body in the middle to support the smaller frames of Lloyd Perris, Dan Robinson and George Hewett. He had plenty of the ball in the first quarter including kicking a long goal, as well as shepherding Baron-Hay's solitary goal in the 2nd quarter. In the second half he was moved to defence where he played a key position role against McGuane and Staker. This was done to allow Aliir Aliir a few runs in the ruck as a chop out to the returning Sam Naismith who only entered the game at half time but immediately made his presence felt not only with his taps going directly down the throats of our midfielders but also throwing his big frame around when competing for the disputed ball.

This was the first time I've seen Allir in the ruck and his leaps at the centre bounces were very impressive with his spring and hang time, dare I say it, Nic Nat-esque. I wasn't so enamoured with some of his defensive work, I still think he plays too loose when marking a key forward and at times picks the wrong moments to peel/zone off , not impacting the play and allowing his man an easy mark. Sean McLaren was used as the primary ruckman in the first half

Perris was amazing in the first quarter with his enthusiastic defensive work around our half forward area very encouraging to the rest of his teammates. I don't remember seeing him in the last quarter so he may have been rested then. Robinson and Hewett were our two workhorses in the middle with their quick hands shoveling the ball out of the middle critical to our success. The difference between the two however is that Robinson also presented himself as an outside option whilst Hewett's work seemed to be done once he had performed his inside midfield duties. This versatility will hold young Robinson in good stead in the coaches' opinions.

Dean Towers looked lively across half forward getting plenty of the football and taking some nice marks when allowed to run and jump at the incoming ball. However he was very wasteful with his kicking and decision making and finished with a very inaccurate 2 goals 6 behinds. I am of the firm belief his kicking is very ordinary, unable to generate much power or penetration with the conventional drop punt and has to resort to strange around the body kicks or up and unders with the result that his shot at goals are often offline or his delivery into the forward line haphazard at times and not to the advantage of his forwards. Jack Hiscox was also similarly frustrating with a haul of 1 goal 3 behinds, Hiscox often looks exciting breaking away into space but the end product, especially with his kicking requires a lot of practice and development.

In defence, Nic Newman often found himself as the loose man in defence when the Lions dropped one back themselves. He definitely prefers the use of his trusty left boot over his hands, with 19 of his 21 disposals today being kicks but today wasn't as accurate in the past few weeks. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and blame the gusty breeze. However, I'm not sure he is the long term successor to Rhyce Shaw as some have been promulgating in recent weeks - not because I don't think he will make it (I think he will) but he isn't the run and carry type that Shaw has been performing for us since his arrival in Sydney.

Harrison Marsh played as a key back in Xavier Richards' absence and wasn't really troubled by any of the Lions forwards, did some good work as the third man in as well.

We have the bye next week before playing the Suns Reserves as the curtain raiser to the Collingwood game.

Swans 4.8 5.17 8.20 10.26 (86)
Lions 0.2 0.5 2.9 5.11 (41)

Goal Kickers: L. Perris 2, D. Towers 2, D. Robinson , S. Wilson , D. Baron-Hay , A. Davis , J. Hiscox , Z. Jones
Best Players: , D. Robinson , Z. Jones , A. Aliir , L. Perris , S. McLaren , H. Marsh