JLT Game 1: Sydney Swans v North Melbourne Kangaroos @ Coffs Harbour

[Nico]

Florent played a more mature game than I expected. When the play came to our wing he didn't stop after one effort, he kept involved until the ball moved away.
Foote was another who played a lot better than I expected. May not be the most talented but put in plenty of effort.
Cunningham is one I am not sure about. In pre seasons past he has stood out (in the Coffs camp) but then not been able to translate it to the regular season. A spot on the wing could be the solution. He got plenty of the ball and got into the contests but there is just something that he hasn't worked out yet. His best season, for mine, was as a forward pocket. I still think he could make it there but there quite a few already wanting that position


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Whats' missing with Cunningham is any semblance of hardness. Again he looks dashing when he handball receives in the clear, but so often fluffs the kick. Not up to it.

[Doctor]

Interesting to see Parker names. I thought he was a,fair way off playing.

Based on how he went today I think your pre-game assessment was accurate. He is clearly behind the others at the moment, but that's ok, he started behind them too.

[Auntie.Gerald]

Mills certainly looks like a development via the backs again

Yes it is still challenging for him still at HBF but we have seen the likes of Burgoyne or hodge floating thru HBF and midfield rotation with great effectiveness so why not persist with a classy young player in the role also

I thought mills did better in the 3rd and 4th when more involved with the kick outs ie he did a stack of kick outs especially last qtr but the key was he then continued pushing forward hard to create numbers forward

Newman didn't do this in qtr 1 and qtr 2 after kicking out and really negated our ability to create extra numbers pushing ahead via hit running thru the centre off HBF

I have an obvious agenda in my review of the Sydney swans and that is we need to be much better at our backline transitions

We have up front buddy, Reid, Rohan, Tippett etc let's give them more opportunity then we did in the GF

We need create better numbers flooding thru from our defensive 50m and select players capable

Some players are on my radar in not being able to help the flexibility and capability we need from the backline

[Doctor]

I agree with most of what's been said on here, but I note that noone has mentioned Robbie Fox, so I'll throw him in as someone else who did some good things.

Zac Jones was clearly our most influential player on the day.

[707]

Now watched the game in detail.

Jones & Mills our best players, Jones need to be in midfield all year, gives us something different. Mills more wing than HBF please.

Heeney was quite good as well, expec t moistly midfield time for him this year.

Of the others, Marsh was ok, Cameron looks a winner, 70s porn star Fox did some nice things and shapes as a role player, Edwards ok too. Generally the fringe players failed to put their hand up for R1 selection and as we need 3-4, I'm a bit worried.

[RogueSwan]

I agree with most of what's been said on here, but I note that noone has mentioned Robbie Fox, so I'll throw him in as someone else who did some good things.
....

Ahem...

....
The other I have noticed was Fox. He has been moving well and looking comfortable.

I was somewhat surprised that Nico saw Marsh as our best back. From where I was sitting I thought he looked outplayed and seemed the play nervously. A few other Swans fans I was sitting with also made similar comments.

[Ludwig]

Ahem...

I was somewhat surprised that Nico saw Marsh as our best back. From where I was sitting I thought he looked outplayed and seemed the play nervously. A few other Swans fans I was sitting with also made similar comments.

Marsh made 2 critical errors that led to goals. He dropped a sitter from the kick-in in the first half and he got caught holding the ball right in front of goal in the second.

[Melbournehammer]

Marsh made 2 critical errors that led to goals. He dropped a sitter from the kick-in in the first half and he got caught holding the ball right in front of goal in the second.

I dont blame him too much for the second. at least from the tv he seemed to have no options to dispose the ball towards once he couldnt go with the first option. he might have gone with the hack kick out of defence but players often get criticised for that as well. he wasnt the first player to get caught holding the ball its just that in defence when there were two players back and 5 north players around it looked like they just worked harder

its pre season

[bloodspirit]

Thanks to all for posting about the game. I haven't seen it yet. I have let my afl.com.au subscription lapse due to lack of devices to watch it on. Special mentions, as always, to ugg and to liz.

ugg, super effort to travel up for the game and give timely updates about what was going on. I'm curious to know what you meant by "North ran one more active player on the bench"? How many players did each side have on the bench - was it 8? And did we simply not use one of ours? If so, who missed out? Any theories on why Lloyd, Leonardis and Ronke were the players excluded? I'm assuming not injury. Obviously some players have to miss out and may get their turn in one of the coming rounds but I would also think they don't sound like necessarily the three least deserving (especially Lloyd who is not just a best 22 player but finished 7th in the B&F).

I'm glad to hear that Hewett and Jones went well. I have been hoping to see Jones switch to midfield, even more so than Mills who can develop his skills back a little longer while his body continues to mature. And I have been very optimistic that Hewett would take it to another level this year, especially if he gets opportunities to play on ball. I know he was quiet during the finals but he got so many games in his debut season that that is understandable and I fully expect him to step it up this year with the benefit of last year's experience and the time off to freshen up.

Not sure what to make about the mixed comments re Newman. More of them here seem to be negative here, but Ben Higgins wrote for the Hun & fox sports: "After tearing up the NEAFL, Nic Newman firmed for a Round 1 debut after 19 disposals". I'm more inclined to trust you guys. Sorry to hear he didn't shine but I echo Ludwig's thoughts on Newman - deserved promotion and yet to prove himself at AFL level. Perhaps O'Riordan will jump ahead of Newman in the queue. Would love that because COR is a hard and fast excitement machine. Still he is so new to the game I would understand if he needs another season of development, with hopefully at least a couple of opportunities at AFL level this season. On the other hand it is comparing different players, Newman's thing is his great kicking. How was COR's ball use?

One player that has received not one single mention is Kennedy. I assume he actually played? And I presume he just had a low key role, quiet by his standards, perhaps more focusing on his captaincy and bringing all the new guys into the game? He wasn't rested, was he? (Apologies, I feel I should know this.)

ugg, will you be posting the players stats and best players etc? I hope so. Also, if anyone learns of the game being posted online somewhere, please share the details. Thanks.

[ugg]

Both teams are allowed a maximum of 8 on the bench, but it doesn't mean that all players have to come on. It's probably simpler for rotation management if less players are 'active'. By this I mean that a few players were sitting on the bench but weren't part of rotations. In North's case they had 2 players (Wagner and Mountford IIRC) who didn't play the first half while we had 3 (Jack, Fisher and Murray). Fisher came on late in the 2nd quarter, Jack started the 2nd half (swap for Smith who only played the 1st half) and Murray only got into the game in the last quarter.

Lloyd was originally selected but he was a late withdrawal and Murray was the emergency selected to replace him.

Kennedy started forward and didn't play as much midfield as he would normally do.

Injury wise I think Melican was injured late in the 3rd and didn't attend the 3 quarter time huddle due to getting treatment. I'm not sure if he went back out there in the last.

Stats are on the afl site

Sydney Swans Vs North Melbourne - Match Centre - AFL.com.au

[RogueSwan]

...
One player that has received not one single mention is Kennedy. I assume he actually played? And I presume he just had a low key role, quiet by his standards, perhaps more focusing on his captaincy and bringing all the new guys into the game? ...

He was out there but just seemed to be cruising along. He was in the centre square a couple of times but mainly left that to Hewett, Jones, Heeney and Foote (on a few occasions).

[mattybloods]

A good first hit out for the boys. Interesting to see Mills with no tackles and Jones with 11. Zac will add a lot to the midfield this year, such a hard nut but still has good leg speed to help transition into attack. Hope he starts in the midfield over Mills and even Heeney

[56-14]

A good first hit out for the boys. Interesting to see Mills with no tackles and Jones with 11. Zac will add a lot to the midfield this year, such a hard nut but still has good leg speed to help transition into attack. Hope he starts in the midfield over Mills and even Heeney

Couldn't agree more.

[crackedactor]

(Did not see the game but,I see Newman has 19 disposals, which sounds not too bad for a defender, yet many want to bag him on this site? Don't forget he has never played at AFL level and will take a few games to adjust to the pace. I thought Allir Allir looked like a duck out of water for his first two games, but he soon adjusted and now he looking very promising.

[bloodspirit]

Thanks ugg.

Bits that stick out from the stats:

* Darcy Cameron did very well according to Fantasy Footy (that's who measures those points isn't it?). How much time did he spend in the ruck? I see Tippo had more hitouts and Preuss (who??), for North, had as many as the two of them combined.
* Foote appears to have marginally outperformed Robinson although neither covered themselves in glory, and Fox marginally outperformed them both (as far as those stats reveal). Can anybody who saw the action (even if not live) comment further on this since they could potentially be competing for the same spot? What roles were they playing? Were Fox and Foote playing more on the ball than Robbo? Did any of them perform better or worse than the stats suggest. I did see couple of comments about Fox doing pretty well albeit not being super polished.
* Trent Dumont had 12 tackles! Nice work.