NAB Challenge Game 1: Sydney Swans v Port Adelaide Power @ BISP

[wolftone57]

Home sick so have watched twice. The difficulty with these games is 26 players, and a trial so players aren't necessarily drifting out, simply not out there

Port played with a lot of intensity, and they are harder to play against when Jasper Pittard isn't playing

Mills and Parker are freaks, playing off half back Mills was reminiscent of Dennis Carrol. Decision making and foots skills good

Our ruck division looked good, Sinclair looked really solid, definite forward option. nankervis played 2nd half also played some smart footy. So we look better this year than last. Later in the year Nankervis's aggression could be telling

At times our backline looked terrible, just awful. Our lack of run from there is a massive worry. We looked better when Cunningham was there. There is a sameness to Laidler Grundy Talia.

Talia was solid

I though both B Jack and towers looked good. B Jack brings far more intensity and tackling off the footy than Jetta. Towers looks fitter and stronger, damaging

Lloyd and Mitchell were very disappointing with ball use

Not sold on Hewett, he is just ok at everything. Dan Robininson also a little disappointing

Dawson was overhyped he is a booming kick. Leonardis could be a genuine line breaker, had reasonable intensity which Dawson lacked

I saw things far differently to you. Hewett was very good. Very composed. He doesn't need to get 30 odd disposals to be effective.

Dawson got the ball Reggi. Got his own ball. By the way his kicking is very good and at least he can hit a player or kick a goal and doesn't hesitate to do so. Both he and Leonardis got their own ball. They are different players and Dawson lacked nothing. Leonardis is a mid or winger. Dawson is a third tall at 190 or 6'3" in the old.

I wasn't overly impressed with Sinclair in the forward line. He dropped two sitters. If he is to bring his game up a notch he has to take them.


Yes both Mitch and Lloydy abused the ball.

I think you have to look further than the run the ball out of the backline and look to kick our way out of trouble. We over handball and in the backline that is dangerous. We will get flogged by good sides for that.

Nobody has mentioned our winning the clearances but misusing those wins with bad delivery.

What about the long bomb Reggi. That was again a huge part of the game. It is a waste of a kick. We wasted about 70% of our forward entries once again. Should have won by 10 goals with the amount of ball we had.

[wolftone57]

If you are looking for a succinct example of the potential of our young recruits other than Mills , the quick gather dodge and slick handball from Leonardis to Dawson in the final quarter for a goal in the deluge will warm the heart.

I agree it was bloody fantastic. leonardis got his own ball slick to Dawson and Dawson didn't even hesitate. I love how the kid used the wind to bring the ball back into the goal. bloody clever. just knew by instinct where to kick it. That is the difference between a real footballer and an athlete.

[ugg]

I don't agree re Marsh. He had no disposals to half time and only 4 for the match.

Marsh had 0 disposals in the first half because he didn't come on until late in the 2nd quarter. Leonardis and Dawson only saw action in the 2nd half as well.

[Mug Punter]

Jack, Hiscox and Robinson, to me, don't appear to have what it takes. They all kick poorly and Robinson goes to ground a lot and just seems to be missing something when he attacks the ball. Leonardis looked promising - he gets where the ball's at and Dawson has very clean skills, looks like the ideal footballer and looks like he plays like one.
Lloyd is a concern. He gets plenty of it and gets into space, but is slow to dispose of the footy, and when he is clear doesn't sprint to give himself that extra yard to steady and dispose. The opposition close on him quickly. If he plays like this his disposal must be a hell of a lot better. Doesn't create much.

I also thought BJ was disappointing and Hiscox' disposal is very very poor, IMO he could be a very good tagger due to his elite athletics background but his skills are poor.

I thought look Lloyd was quite busy and seemed to deliver the ball quite well and could be an improver, we all see the game differently....

Both Leonardis and Dawson are still a long way off but seem to have made a solid start to life in an AFL program, Dawson showed some nice glimpses and has a nice kick too

[Conor_Dillon]

Not going to bother with any sort of player by player analysis because it's fruitless from such a small sample sized...but my first impression of Leonardis was a good one...attacked the ball hard and seemed to have a real intensity about his game, something we know full well that outside runners can often lack.

[southsideswan]

Interesting how people see things. I thought Jake Lloyd had a good game. I then checked game stats (ok ok they are just a small part of the picture) and that picture is he had 31 disposals, no clangers but a low (for him) disposal efficiency (61%). I saw him get the ball out of the pack, run and kicked long for Cunningham who kicked the goal. The commentators were praising the kick and gave it to Kennedy.

The more Jake improves the better he is going to make others players look.

[Scottee]

Interesting how people see things. I thought Jake Lloyd had a good game. I then checked game stats (ok ok they are just a small part of the picture) and that picture is he had 31 disposals, no clangers but a low (for him) disposal efficiency (61%). I saw him get the ball out of the pack, run and kicked long for Cunningham who kicked the goal. The commentators were praising the kick and gave it to Kennedy.

The more Jake improves the better he is going to make others players look.

Fact is both Jake and Harry C are going to be very important players this year.

[wolftone57]

Fact is both Jake and Harry C are going to be very important players this year.

I agree with that. Most important. their run and carry will be needed, plus they both have that ability to find space in rush hour traffic.

[wolftone57]

Marsh had 0 disposals in the first half because he didn't come on until late in the 2nd quarter. Leonardis and Dawson only saw action in the 2nd half as well.

Marsh came on half way through the second and had 4 for the match against a Port seconds line up. He's 22 been on the list three years and is going nowhere. If he couldn't have a good game against this lot he won't against top quality opposition. He did a couple of good things but his man got a away far too often and he just didn't put himself in the right spots to get the ball. I'm sorry but I think it a pretty pitiful effort the same as Hiscox. He was terrible too. Leonardis and Dawson had more disposals then both and only came on just before (3mins to go) 3/4 time. What's more they used it better and seemed to fit into the team better. That is because they are both natural footballers. Footballers not athletes.

The skill level of the athletes we have had at the club has always let them down. That is why Hawks decided their main focus was to be skills, footy smarts and the ability to deliver great outcomes. Our disposal efficiency was 70.23. High for us really. In contrast Hawks had an average of 77.02. funnily enugh it was their young blokes that let them down Sissily 62,5, Wilsmore 60, O'Brien 57.1, Litherland 69.2 and two experienced players Bruest 61.5 (3 goals) & Schoenmakers 62.5.

for us it was a matter of too many under 70%; Parks 59.4, Mitchell 59.4, Lloyd 61.3 ( normally such a good kick), Joey 60, Hewett 66.7, Sinclair 66.7, Cunningham 60, Hiscox 20, Leonardis 50, Franklin 50 & Heeney 66.

See the difference though. Six under 70 compared to 11 under 70. What's more it is our most prolific ball getters that waste the ball. That will hurt us if we don't get better.

[Scottee]

Surely the last quarter deluge would have had a big impact on those figures.

[Mel_C]

Not sure what everyone else thought but I actually think our skills improved when the rain came.

[liz]

Not sure what everyone else thought but I actually think our skills improved when the rain came.

I thought the intensity lifted, and generally skills improve when the intensity lifts. It's probably a concentration thing, as much as anything else. By the final quarter, most of the senior players had been benched. I reckon the youngsters realised they were the ones who needed to get the team over the line, and couldn't leave it to the Kennedys and Franklins of the team. While it would have been nice for the more seasoned players to have played the whole game with a bit more intensity, it is pretty easy to understand why a Hannebery or Kennedy might just go through the motions a bit in the opening NAB Cup game. They don't really have anything they need to prove to the coaches this time of year.

[rojo]

Except it is a worry for fans if players like Hanners and particularly Kennedy who has been in the game for so long, are still not disposing the ball effectively much of the time. Does that mean that their elite skills are limited to hard running and getting the ball and they are never going to improve much in their ability to consistently pinpoint players up field, or is it a result of years of training where handballing to teammates close by or putting boot to ball and bombing it long or to the boundary line has been the style of play required?

[troyjones2525]

Fact is both Jake and Harry C are going to be very important players this year.

And unlike most of our players Cunningham consistently hits a target when he kicks the ball! If he could lift his rate and get it around 20 or so times a game he will be a very important player for us this year!

[liz]

Except it is a worry for fans if players like Hanners and particularly Kennedy who has been in the game for so long, are still not disposing the ball effectively much of the time. Does that mean that their elite skills are limited to hard running and getting the ball and they are never going to improve much in their ability to consistently pinpoint players up field, or is it a result of years of training where handballing to teammates close by or putting boot to ball and bombing it long or to the boundary line has been the style of play required?

Neither is likely to become elite kickers of the ball, but I don't think their disposal efficiency is that bad. Kennedy, in particular, is much better than when he first arrived. But I think a lot of it has to do with their concentration levels. Especially Hanners. So while his disposal was ordinary last week, even by his standards, I don't think that suggests he can't get somewhat better than what he showed then (or compared to a few of his games from last year). I just think he wasn't really concentrating last weekend. He barely got out of second gear.