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

[Crusty]

Towers decision making was again poor. At 27 in May it's not going to get better.
BJ will be delisted at the end of the year.
A couple not mentioned:
Reid was pretty good - I nearly fell out of my chair when he kicked a goal from directly in front.
Lloyd was good and I think he will take Jones' place on the half back flank. He ran from the backline and disposed of the ball well.

[ugg]

Lloyd has been in our defence since middle of last year

[shaun..]

Bit of an overview after watching the replay:

Positives:
- Zak Jones has transformed my opinion of a run and dash HBF to our next out-an-out star of the midfield, finally adds a touch of speed and hardness that we lack in the guts and now has the polish/class to match
- Lloyd, not much of a fan as a believe he plays a soft brand especially 1 on 1 and always looks hesitant, but i am encouraged by his confidence to run and dash out of our backline
- Tippett at FF and Reid at CHF, lets Buddy roam more freely while still giving us a bit of structure. As such I would like Cameron to stick around for Rd 1 as he is also a decent forward
- Melican, looks a little awkward at times but we need another tall next to Grundy, we were exposed with expecting Laidler or Rampe as our 2nd tall - this must never happen so Melican in and would probably keep him in the team when AA gets back, allows AA to be 3rd roaming tall and Rampe play on a small and be more attacking. I would lock in for Rd 1
- Robinson, a tall mid/HF that finds space and releases when in traffic quite well. Lock Rd 1
- Ollie and Hayward, good for the run and showing like we have a couple of smart players that we lack

Uncertain:
- Hewett, not a HF or FP but can we give him a go in our midfield? Just don't think he adds much as a wing-HF-FP to this stage. We need more damaging players in our F50. With injuries he is still in for Rd 1
- Cunningham, I am still a fan but am starting to note his lack of hardness, if he had Zak's aggression he could be a star or a better role player as his speed and kicking can be useful. I would still have him for Rd 1
- Foote, I can't see a position and he hasn't done anything to suggest he would be a player we need

Negatives:
- Towers, purely the fact he has the speed and size we need but not the brains. Will probably get a Rd 1 gig by default
- Holding the ball is still a lottery, and Razor Ray is still a Muppet

[Ludwig]

I thought the Saints played at full tilt. They out tackled us and also won the contested ball. They should be a serious contendesr for the 8 this year.

We also played with intent and looked relatively sharp for this time of year, although missing a fair number of our best 22. Fox, Hayward and Cameron will certainly be coming out of the side of 22 and it would seem that Aliir will come in. I though Melican faded in the 4th quarter, perhaps due to falling hard on his back at the end of the 3rd. Otherwise, he looks sharp in both his defending and his disposal. I'm sure he will make his mistakes, but looks to be making the step up to senior level.

Naismith needs to step up his game, but given his slow start to the pre season, I would expect the will improve with more match play.
Hayward will be a good player by next year and a likely starter in 2018, but needs a year in the reserves to prepare. He's very quick and plays both ways.
Florent, on the other hand, looks ready now.
I'm not a big fan of Towers. His holding the ball incident was an unfortunate standout, plus he missed an easy set shot, although he usually is a good goal kicker. Otherwise, he was okay. We've just gotten used to remembering is every mistake. No one remembers a poor kick from JPK.
I thought Cunningham has been okay in the JLT series, but doesn't look to have improved and is still outside our best 22.
Robinson was solid and will certainly make the side for round 1.
Foote played okay, although doesn't look to be a defender and would need to improve in that regard. If KJ plays, I think he will make way was the side that played yesterday.
Marsh continues his steady improvement and it's a close call between him and Laidler for his sport. It may be Marsh's to lose at this point.

We still have a handful of players who were not included in the side, for one reason or another, that could come under consideration early in the season, including Edwards, COL, Rose and Dawson. Newman also apparently played well, but picked up a minor injury in the reserves. Sam Fisher, who I noted earlier as a perhaps the pick of our rookies this year, also played well.

Everyone wants a full list to choose from, but we have to get used to having injuries and playing guys like Towers from time to time. As for our first game against PA, they also have some key injuries and looked disorganised both forward and in defence. I think we will put up a team that will handle them well. The following 4 games will all be challenging.

[ugg]

I agree with most of your points Ludwig. The one that I have a disagreement with is the Marsh v Laidler. I think it's clear that Marsh is ahead in the pecking order. I assume that because both play similar positions - tallish flanker who can cover talls and smalls - it must be Marsh's speed that gives him the edge over Laidler at the moment.

[Aprilbr]

I was pretty happy with what I saw last night. The team is playing a pretty good brand of football for this time of the year. I remember being at the final pre-season game last season against Carlton and we looked really scratchy missing many passes and loads of mistakes. I went away thinking it could be a long season. As we know the team really stepped up after that. This season coming in we appear to be playing better. The likely inclusions of Alir and Jack for Round One will strengthen the team considerably. Overall we have a well balanced side with no major weaknesses. Fingers crossed for injuries.


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[giant]

I'm not a big fan of Towers. His holding the ball incident was an unfortunate standout, plus he missed an easy set shot, although he usually is a good goal kicker. Otherwise, he was okay. We've just gotten used to remembering is every mistake. No one remembers a poor kick from JPK.

Reasonable point - I thought Towers played quite well, he moved well and competed hard - what the team does need to realise is he isn't the man to have the ball in his hands in the dying minutes of a close game.

Thought that was a good hitout against a tough team looking to make a statement. Plenty of positives, particularly happy with Robbo, Marsh and Hewett from the youngsters and Buddy and Parker from "older" crew.

[Scottee]

Reasonable point - I thought Towers played quite well, he moved well and competed hard - what the team does need to realise is he isn't the man to have the ball in his hands in the dying minutes of a close game.

Thought that was a good hitout against a tough team looking to make a statement. Plenty of positives, particularly happy with Robbo, Marsh and Hewett from the youngsters and Buddy and Parker from "older" crew.

I don't want to be an apologist for Towers mistakes but it is worthwhile remembering that he came off a limited preapration after an appendectomy and that his mistakes were towards the end of the game. It may not be as bad as it looked.

[Ludwig]

I agree with most of your points Ludwig. The one that I have a disagreement with is the Marsh v Laidler. I think it's clear that Marsh is ahead in the pecking order. I assume that because both play similar positions - tallish flanker who can cover talls and smalls - it must be Marsh's speed that gives him the edge over Laidler at the moment.

Yes, I think this is the POD. I've also been impressed with Marsh's improvement in his decision making under pressure. I would only expect that to improve with experience. While Laidler has probably reached his peak. I have often called Laidler the perfect depth player as someone who won't find another club, won't have big financial demands, but can be solid cover in case of injury.

If we play 3 tall defenders plus Rampe, then that Marsh/Laidler spot may just evaporate, especially when Heeney and KJ come back into the side, and push Jones into defence. With Smith, Mills, Lloyd and Jones or defence is up to 8 players, so hard to see a place for Marsh.

[Auntie.Gerald]

I also suspect another layer of what the coaches are looking for is faster attack from the backs

At this stage marsh can do this compared to laids as well as marsh being able to play on most medium to small forwards and follow them up the ground when needed

Lastly when the game is pinned in our attacking 50 a player like a marsh can run the 100m back on a turnover with the small to medium forwards

Laids does struggle in this area

But I too like laids value to our squad and don't mind seeing him in the team when we need to cover

Ps I won't be surprised to see edwards rotate thru the backline later in the season if not earlier

[WauchopeAnalyst]

Marsh is a fast spoiler type backman.

Early in the North game and St Kilda game Marsh was a fumbling machine nearly for whole a quarter.

Seems to take time to settle. Great closing speed but a bit iffy with handballs in back 50.

Laidler is an old style backman. Reads the ball in air beautifully and really hard around the ball but a little slow and can't close down space quickly.

Marsh is in front because the game seems a little quicker or spreading more.

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[frankee]

Reid to Buddy... About 5 times. Wonderful.

[S.S. Bleeder]

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.

This might be simplistic of me but I would have preferred for us to go after Jack Steele and either delist Foote or trade him to the Saints. Very similar game style but an upgraded version. All the Saints gave up was this years second round pick which is likely to be in the early to mids 30's.

[Ludwig]

This might be simplistic of me but I would have preferred for us to go after Jack Steele and either delist Foote or trade him to the Saints. Very similar game style but an upgraded version. All the Saints gave up was this years second round pick which is likely to be in the early to mids 30's.

We could have gotten Steele as a NSW zone selection as an 18 yo, but passed on him, probably due to having an injury ridden year, but the talent was there to see. Great pick up by the Saints. I think Foote will be okay. He's still developing and has enough of the the basics to continue to improve.


I watched the replay of the game with the view of following a few specific players:

Melican- This kid can play. I think his time has come where he won't gain that much by playing in the NEAFL. He will make mistakes at AFL level, but all players, especially defenders, do in their first year at senior level. But he has all the tools, makes good decisions and can kick off both sides well. He seem to have integrated well into our defensive structure.

Marsh - I've been impressed with his quick handballing under pressure. He made one mistake in the 2nd qtr, but he has good quick and agile evasive movements that are important when under extreme pressure. He looks more than just a 7 gamer.

Lloyd - More than just a quiet achiever now. He is a very accomplished footballer. Calm under pressure, he now has added some good evasive moves to create more time and space to do his thing.

Cunningham - Played quite a good game in fact. Kicked a nice snap goal off his left. And set up a couple of others with precise kicking. Also created the Hayward goal with a good tackle in the forward fifty. Should move into 3rd in the Brownlow betting after Dangerfield and Fyfe.

Hewett - Rounding out his game nicely. Pops up all over the ground making nice plays. Has a relaxed style about him which makes you think he's not working hard, as compared to the frenetic Jones who draws attention with his aggressive style (and very effective it is). But what I've always liked about Hewett is that he has no weaknesses. Some say that he doesn't do enough. He will have to push a bit harder to take the next step in his game, especially if he is to remain primarily and outside player. We shouldn't forget that he is only 4 months older than Heeney, who has now played 38 senior games compared to Hewett's 24. We shouldn't expect Hewett to reach the level of a Heeney or a Mills, but he is 2 seasons behind Jake Lloyd, who has now played 69 games, and hope to see Hewett at that level with the additional 2 years of senior experience. I think he will do well enough this year and have a breakout season in 2018.

[Joel Ridge]

This might be simplistic of me but I would have preferred for us to go after Jack Steele and either delist Foote or trade him to the Saints. Very similar game style but an upgraded version. All the Saints gave up was this years second round pick which is likely to be in the early to mids 30's.

Ha Ha. Were you suggesting to trade Foote to the Saints because he grew up in a Saints jersey?

His junior club the Maroubra Saints wear the St Kilda colours.