Round 1 Match Day Thread. Sydney V Collingwood SCG.

[Levii3]

To eddie: chins up.

To swans fans: Are we a better team without mcveigh?

Next year maybe this year no he adds more than Robbo

[Mug Punter]

Still trying to digest last night but have been watching the game again after being there live which gives you a different perspective.

Sure the Pies were terrible but there were many positives for me:

* Lloyd playing his best game in red and white, big engine and good delivery, this kid will improve and improve.
* Of our three debutants I was actually most impressed with George. Mills was exactly what I expected and he'll play better than that too but George looked every bit a senior AFL player and I'd be very surprised if doesn't see the Ressies again. Papley was great but I'll reserved full judgement on him for another 6-8 rounds.
* Sinclair adds so much to our structure over Pyke
* Heeney has bulked up a bit and I liked his greater awareness, no "heart on the mouth" moments with his crazy courage, perhaps the coaching staff have been addressing that.
* Jones made a few mistakes but I think he is worth sticking with, you need a hard nut like him
* Towers I thought was quiet at the ground but watching on TV I really liked his game, lots of inside work for him. a bit of ruck work as the third man up (he has a great vertical leap) and he just seemed to do all the little things well. He'll appear to have better games than that but he contributed well.
* Talia I had doubts about but I feel there is a good chance he may be the third tall we have been seeking since LRT retired
* Laidler and Rampe both solid down back
Suddenly our depth, which we all seemed to think was an issue (me included) seems less of a problem. On top of the 22 last night you have Reid, McVeigh, Rohan, McGlynn and Ted as well as BJ. You'd hope we can get two more to step up this season for a squad of 30 genuine first teamers - Sam is one and the other I'd hope comes on is Abe Davis but we'll see on that.

In terms of ins and outs, you'd think McVeigh, Sam and Ted are certain ins but who for? Robbo for sure, maybe Harry but not sure who else. Could Sam Reid come back through the twos.

[Beerman]

I don't think we should change the team for next week; reward for effort. We were quick, fearless, got numbers to the ball and hunted in packs. The pressure (both perceived and real) undid Collingwood. I'm really impressed by the poise the youngsters played with and the licence to play across the park.

I can't think of anyone who went missing (a couple of Rampe kicks did, but I can't fault his attack). Ben and Ted should bide their time in the seconds.

No. It's a great result, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. Richards for Talia and McVeigh for Robinson (assuming fitness) seems like a no-brainer to me.

BOG was Jack for me. He brought it out of the clearances with the kind of class we have been severely lacking. Hope he keeps it up against the better teams.

Agree that Lloyd was good, but he has started seasons well before. He needs to keep it up all year. (I think this might be his year).

As for Sinclair - back to the ressies for a week. He wasn't that bad but when you have the best forward in the game bursting past you towards goal - for the love of God, pass it to him! [emoji3]

[Mug Punter]

No. It's a great result, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. Richards for Talia and McVeigh for Robinson (assuming fitness) seems like a no-brainer to me.

BOG was Jack for me. He brought it out of the clearances with the kind of class we have been severely lacking. Hope he keeps it up against the better teams.

Agree that Lloyd was good, but he has started seasons well before. He needs to keep it up all year. (I think this might be his year).

As for Sinclair - back to the ressies for a week. He wasn't that bad but when you have the best forward in the game bursting past you towards goal - for the love of God, pass it to him! [emoji3]

I think that Ted may well be the only one back next week so Horse may have to wait a week to make the hard calls, to be fair it is rare you don't have an injury or two.

I'd like Talia to have another week so for mine Robbo would probably make way. We need that third tall and I guess the way we match up may well decide his fate some weeks but he vastly exceeded my expectations of him last night

[Beerman]

Oh I laughed, that's great! Yes the new draft system allowing clubs to trade future years picks is going to lead to some regrets with hindsight.

True, although I did hear a great comeback to this - "the guy we traded our first round pick for was the only player who actually showed up, so it's hard to have regrets"

[Cressakel2]

Parker was BOG by a mile! There's something about Georgey Hewitt that screams out "future star" to me.

Tommy Mitchell played a cracker, just gets better and better! Don't care if he lacks pace, so did Diesel Williams. Both know how to find the footy and kick goals. Although Diesel was a freak, whereas Tommy is just a very very very good footballer....

[Mug Punter]

True, although I did hear a great comeback to this - "the guy we traded our first round pick for was the only player who actually showed up, so it's hard to have regrets"

Treloar should be a very good recruit but they certainly paid top "dollar" for him with two first round picks.

It's a high risk strategy and if they miss the finals, and if they get pumped by Richmond on Friday I think their season could go pear-shaped very quickly, then they could well regret their decision. It could really backfire, we can only hope

Looking at this year's draft Gold Coast have two first round picks and four second rounders, and that could swell if their young guns like O'Meara request a trade so they'll be dining heavily at the draft table. GWS have three first rounders and two second rounders which presumably will be used on selecting their various academy players that have never really pulled on a GWS jumper and who have done their last two years on a Melbourne college football scholarship

[Mug Punter]

Parker was BOG by a mile! There's something about Georgey Hewitt that screams out "future star" to me.

Tommy Mitchell played a cracker, just gets better and better! Don't care if he lacks pace, so did Diesel Williams. Both know how to find the footy and kick goals. Although Diesel was a freak, whereas Tommy is just a very very very good footballer....

George is just a vert good all-round footballer isn't he? Just looks the full package, he has a good mark, can tackle and has good skills. He has a good engine and a big body that he is growing into. What I really liked was that he just looked very very settled as an AFL footballer on his debut, very very composed.

I can see him becoming a very good player for us. and he looks like a really good kid

[Number 43]

It looked as though Robbo was running with Pendlebury for a while there. Maybe that's a new role for him that might keep him in the team.

[wolftone57]

I enjoyed that match more than any match we have played in a year! Next best was probably v Adelaide at the SCG last year (and that includes beating Hawthorn).

Neilfws, think you're on to something pointing out the possible influence of Kirky on Papley especially. Papley was simply wonderful and an answer to my/our prayers for a small crumbing forward to go with our strong KPF stocks. Hewett was brilliant, even if he faded slightly towards the end. Was simply so exciting to have such a wonderful and satisfying result against dastardly Pies. Even more so given that we had such a young side.

I have shared Ludwig's faith and hope for our younger generation and so not totally surprised. That said, it was only one round and the Pies didn't cover themselves in glory. I think it was not just that we were great (which we were) but they also let themselves down and we can't expect it to go like that every week. I am not locking us in top 4 just yet.

Parker magnificent. Possibly Lloyd's best game yet. Mitchell excellent. Jack very solid.

Glad people saw positive's in Talia's performance. I didn't watch him closely and was worried that maybe he didn't do enough so am happy to hear that people watching more closely than I saw stuff to be pleased about.

Robbo, I think, will be first omitted from this team, sadly for him.

On another note: how many players did we have playing who were originally rookies? With Robbo and Papley in there, it might have been even more than usual.

Grundy, Rampe, Lloydy, Harry, Kizza, Robbo all came from the rookie list.

[wolftone57]

I get the feeling that someone called Nick Dsavis has been teaching Psapley and Mitchell tricks. Have a look at both their drop and snap goals. Wonderful, right out of the Davis handbook. same kick he did in the final against Geelong to seal the deal in both cases. Very clever little buggers.

I agree that Kirk's flavour is all over the forward pressure. But the difference in the forward line for me has been the leading and set plays. The mids are looking for a lead every time and they are getting them. Towers, Bud, Tip, Papley, Georgie Boy, Mitch, Parks Hannas all leading up or getting into space. I love that the leading players are sometimes leaving huge space for one or two players to run into. just beautiful. As I said in the lead up to this game I had a feeling from the NAB Challenge that there were some very different moves being tried. I think they came off in Saturday's match. The run and carry was super and we were confident enough to pass the ball. You have to love that. Thank you Horse and the boys.

[Ludwig]

Yes, Meg, and apparently the Collingwood army was somewhat shellshocked this morning, when they started on their long journey back to Melbourne.

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Nice work deja.

I've been off my game for a while and it's good to see someone picking up the slack. If the Swans keep playing like they did on Saturday I might fall into deep analysis mode.

[sharp9]

Didn't Robinson tag Pendlebury for much of the night? That's why we hardly saw him (or Pendlebury)....thought Robbo was nowhere near strong enough to be a Kirky tackler...but from 78% TOG he had 17 possessions at 94% (!!!!), 2 clearances and 4 tackles and 63 fantasy points (13th for the Swans)....so keeping an Absolute Champion with 89% TOG to 25 disposals at 76%, 2 clearances, 3 tackles, 1 behind and 84 fantasy points = THE BOY PLAYS NEXT WEEK!!!!!!!

- - - Updated - - -

How about Josh Kennedy off the LEFT foot over the shoulder at the back of a centre clearance for a fifty metre bullet pass to (from memory) Buddy's chest and a goal. Play.of.the.Day

[Cosmic Wizard]

Sorry to rain on the love parade, but are we really that good and Collingwood that bad??

Some teams this round have put in shockers, notably Freo, really surprise on how bad they went.

Let wait until we play the Hawkes, our nemesis in round 9 to see if we are really good.

Good signs though, great rookies, but we need to keep playing them and not some of the age hacks we have in our squad.

On present reading, Beeny and Richards should not be allowed back: they are the past, not the future.

[CureTheSane]

Without trying to 'start something', McVeigh worried me most of last year.
We seemed quite fast in the first game, and a noticeable absence was McVeigh turning, propping, thinking and then passing.

Jack, for me, had one of his best games

McGlynn will find it hard to break in if we keep on going like this, which we won't.

Robinson was the only easy out for me for next week.
However I suspect there will be some tempering of the use of new guys.
Also, I wonder how much time went into match ups against the magpies and we may find that due to different line ups, other players come in.