JLT Match 3 Sydney Swans v St Kilda @ Lavington Sports Ground

[Danzar]

Buddy just mentioned injury concerns in his on-field interview, think he's seen something we haven't?

[Mug Punter]

Very enjoyable pre-season match and I think both sides will take a bit out of that:

Random comments and observations

* Buddy mercurial and his field kicking is very very good, he looks set for a career best year
* Tippo looked good and took some good contested marks, likewise I like young Darcy Cameron and whilst he is not quite ready yet I think he will be a very good player once he has a full season under his belt with us
* Melican started well but faded and looked tired at the end, reckon if AA gets through the NEAFL game he is a lock for R1 though
* Jones looked the best mid by a mile out there, sign him up guys, his value will only go up this year
* Haywood - looks slick and there's something exciting about that kid but he is a fair way off senior selection atm but could see him playing back half
* Florent has done enough to be selected R1 for mine
* Marsh is unfashionable but gets the job done, he needs to just keep things simple, will go close to a R1 gig
* Towers - not enough for mine to warrant R1 and even though it was a pre season match my heart still skipped a beat when he had the ball with 28 secs left on the clock; gets caught too often with the footy
* Equally unconvinced re Robinson but he did himself no harm tonight with that effort
* Good to see Parker fire up and he'll be in tip top shape R1

Finally, some of the 15m interpretations tonight by those three blind mice were terrible, I'd make it 25m anyway but surely it cannot be that hard

We're ready to rumble, bring on season 2017

[ugg]

So the Swans runner went down just after the warmups and just before first bounce. Had plenty of concerned medical staff attending to him He later came out on crutches with left knee strapped
Shaw became the runner for the day

[Nico]

Agree on Towers Mug. He is no better and made some fundamental errors. That holding the ball when he bounced it was poor play. He opted to keep running when he should have made the handball over the top. Way too many mistakes. And that horrible miss from dead in front in the last quarter.

I think Robinson was the one who put his hand up. I too haven't be convinced on him but he was ok. 26 possessions was pretty good. Certainly an outside player.
I know I am not a fan of Cunningham and he showed nothing tonight that convinced me anything different. In the first quarter he should have put his body in front of Riewolt but feigned a "lost sight of the ball movement", hung off the back of packs when it was his turn to have a go and dead set kacked himself in the last quarter when on the defensive goal line. Had a big look at the St Kilda player instead of holding his ground to take the mark. Lacks heart.
George Hewett just doesn't do enough.
Foote may get a game but he seems to not go that last yard to put on real pressure. I doubt Fox will get a look in and Hayward is not ready. Last place may go to Florent.
Melican showed he is right up there for a game.
We were well down on all contested footy stats. Failed to stick a number of tackles.

[ugg]

Judging by time on ground it is clear Cameron and Foote are the two on the outer.

[MattW]

Very enjoyable pre-season match and I think both sides will take a bit out of that:

Random comments and observations

* Buddy mercurial and his field kicking is very very good, he looks set for a career best year
* Tippo looked good and took some good contested marks, likewise I like young Darcy Cameron and whilst he is not quite ready yet I think he will be a very good player once he has a full season under his belt with us
* Melican started well but faded and looked tired at the end, reckon if AA gets through the NEAFL game he is a lock for R1 though
* Jones looked the best mid by a mile out there, sign him up guys, his value will only go up this year
* Haywood - looks slick and there's something exciting about that kid but he is a fair way off senior selection atm but could see him playing back half
* Florent has done enough to be selected R1 for mine
* Marsh is unfashionable but gets the job done, he needs to just keep things simple, will go close to a R1 gig
* Towers - not enough for mine to warrant R1 and even though it was a pre season match my heart still skipped a beat when he had the ball with 28 secs left on the clock; gets caught too often with the footy
* Equally unconvinced re Robinson but he did himself no harm tonight with that effort
* Good to see Parker fire up and he'll be in tip top shape R1

Finally, some of the 15m interpretations tonight by those three blind mice were terrible, I'd make it 25m anyway but surely it cannot be that hard

We're ready to rumble, bring on season 2017

Agree with most of that.

Florent has done more than enough. Very classy, excellent decision-maker.

Don't see Hayward playing down back.

Jones' improvement in 12 months is staggering. He's always had the run and hardness, but his decision-making has improved markedly.

Spare us Towers, please.

[Mug Punter]

Agree with most of that.

Florent has done more than enough. Very classy, excellent decision-maker.

Don't see Hayward playing down back.

Jones' improvement in 12 months is staggering. He's always had the run and hardness, but his decision-making has improved markedly.

Spare us Towers, please.

Some of the candy selling by Jones whilst running at full tilt was just poetry in motion, I can see him becoming elite fast as he is tough, quick and his foot skills are precise. And the thing I like about him most is that his decision making is instinctive, sound and reliable.

Jones really is a case study of how we like to develop our players, notwithstanding we have had a couple of talents in Heeney and Mills who slotted straight in. Got a taste of 4 games in his first season and then really took until the second half of his third to cement his spot before breaking out in year 4. Young Ollie may get a bit more than that as I think he is a bit more developed for his age but the other three in Jack, Darcy and Will I can see following a similar path. I can see them all getting a good taste of senior footy this year but not a lot more.

Fox got found out tonight but he'll be so much better for the run and he now has to go back and work his socks off. From this JLT series the only two players on our list who are not injured that really didn't get much time were BJ, Leonardis and Talia (who we could see as being below Melican now in the defensive pecking order). I would say even now that they are pushing it uphill to stay on the list for next year.

[MattW]

Some of the candy selling by Jones whilst running at full tilt was just poetry in motion, I can see him becoming elite fast as he is tough, quick and his foot skills are precise. And the thing I like about him most is that his decision making is instinctive, sound and reliable.

Jones really is a case study of how we like to develop our players, notwithstanding we have had a couple of talents in Heeney and Mills who slotted straight in. Got a taste of 4 games in his first season and then really took until the second half of his third to cement his spot before breaking out in year 4. Young Ollie may get a bit more than that as I think he is a bit more developed for his age but the other three in Jack, Darcy and Will I can see following a similar path. I can see them all getting a good taste of senior footy this year but not a lot more.

Fox got found out tonight but he'll be so much better for the run and he now has to go back and work his socks off. From this JLT series the only two players on our list who are not injured that really didn't get much time were BJ, Leonardis and Talia (who we could see as being below Melican now in the defensive pecking order). I would say even now that they are pushing it uphill to stay on the list for next year.

Jones' decision-making has really improved. For a time he'd handball into trouble a lot. Now, he seems always to be on the move and promoting the ball. Very impressed.

Agree, very hard to see those three making it.

[DeadlyAkkuret]

Zak has the toughness of his brother but with so much finesse. Will really add to our mids this year.


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[Joel Ridge]

Couple of thoughts:

- Jones looked outstanding. Great pressure, great pace and endurance, good direct kicking and brilliant avasive skills. It's a good thing that Tom Mitchell moved on. Jones is a superior footballer who will get Tom's midfield time from last year. 20 possessions from Jones would be far more effective than 30 possessions from Mitchell.

- Melican looked good on occasion. Despite possessing great pace he still was beaten to the ball too many times.

- Buddy, Kennedy, Hannas, Tippett, Parker, Rampe and Grundy performed at their expected level.

- I didn't see the first two games but Florent did not look great tonight.

- Robinson got high possession numbers but importantly played a strong role on Nick Reiwalt. Maybe he will be our tall defensive midfielder to play on the likes of Reiwalt, Godard, Blicavs, Fyfe and Bonrempelli.

[ugg]

I stood close enough to the Swans bench to hear a lot of the coaching instructions

Hayward did many things "wrong". Positioning not right, leading to the wrong spots, even told not to come off for an interchange at the wrong time. However also earnt a lot of praise for his chasing. Plus he was electric with that sprint down the wing down the last. However I'm not sure we can play both him and Florent in round 1. Fox who despite a quiet night had the advantage with the more mature body

Marsh getting a lot of plaudits for his efforts in defence. Seems to a personal favourite of Shaw in particular.

Mills started the second half but was the first Swan interchanges after 3 minutes. This would suggest it wasn't something completely planned

Implored Foote more than once to attack the ball instead of standing off the contest. Played more in the back half after Mills went off

Cameron spent a lot of time on the bench and when he did come on it was mostly as a forward. I don't think he will make R1

Parker and surprisingly Towers very vocal when standing on the sidelines. Keywords of the moment seems are "slide" and "press". Slide meaning knowing when to shift off your man and occupy space closing in on the all carrier

[aardvark]

That new bloke No.20 did OK. I hope we never lose Reg. We were woeful down back without him.

[graemed]

There were some moments when it was just possible to wonder who the Saints were playing last night.
Whilst I admire Sandy Roberts for his longevity and his personality I could not believe how often he had no idea who was who.
I lost count of the number of times he miscalled Melican as Rampe and even worse Lloyd as Rampe.
Thankfully Roos was able to balance the Melbourne-centric commentary but Brereton remains easily the single best reason for a mute button.
In respect of the game, I worry about our ability to play out games this early in the season. Irrespective of the opposition we have the cattle to be competitive across the paddock but match fitness looks a concern.
Mills is a case in point, he had a heavy bandage on his quad just before he came off and hopefully this was just a corked thigh but we can I'll afford to lose him.

[Nico]

I stood close enough to the Swans bench to hear a lot of the coaching instructions

Hayward did many things "wrong". Positioning not right, leading to the wrong spots, even told not to come off for an interchange at the wrong time. However also earnt a lot of praise for his chasing. Plus he was electric with that sprint down the wing down the last. However I'm not sure we can play both him and Florent in round 1. Fox who despite a quiet night had the advantage with the more mature body

Marsh getting a lot of plaudits for his efforts in defence. Seems to a personal favourite of Shaw in particular.

Mills started the second half but was the first Swan interchanges after 3 minutes. This would suggest it wasn't something completely planned

Implored Foote more than once to attack the ball instead of standing off the contest. Played more in the back half after Mills went off

Cameron spent a lot of time on the bench and when he did come on it was mostly as a forward. I don't think he will make R1

Parker and surprisingly Towers very vocal when standing on the sidelines. Keywords of the moment seems are "slide" and "press". Slide meaning knowing when to shift off your man and occupy space closing in on the all carrier

Confirms what I said about Foote. There was a time in the 3rd quarter when a St Kilda player was running in for goal, and Foote seemed to be running beside him instead of making a pressure effort to thwart his kick. It appeared he had plenty of time to tackle. He has the build and looks like he could be a really good player but I am waiting for him to top off his game.

[Hotpotato]

Brereton and Roosey spend a lot of air time theorising and pontificating , so they just miss calling electrifying passages of play such as the sidestepping of Jones at full pelt .
Jones is arguably better at it than Buddy and McVeigh now .