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The main change for the side was Blakey out with concussion. The team is now 4-0 with the last game next week in Launceston. Tasmania will be tough in their home town and despite the swans now winning the championship, it will be a challenge.
The game against the Lions was a bit of a disappointment, despite the win. It seems like the boys are now turning their minds to trying to make Allies which is making the play a little less team oriented. In terms of performances Bell and Hardman have shown a few flashes of brilliance over the carnival but on the whole have been underwhelming. Blakey is exceptional in ability and work rate. The overagers have been very strong, particularly Brown, Osborne and Maze. Clearly doing the entire pre-season with the senior swans via the NDS program has been key to the swans under 18 success. The overagers are physically bigger, which contributed strongly to the swans ability to over power the opposition especially in the midfield.
I think the players who have emerged out of the carnival are Mitch Rogers, Bailey Stewart, Sam Wicks and Luke Scrivenic. These are the guys that have consistently been in the best players along with Blakey and the over agers. Other than Mitch they have not tended to get much press due to the media's obsession with father sons.
Mitchell Rogers is a tall forward much in the mode of the McGovin brothers at Adelaide and West Coast. He has played in the backline for the vast majority of the carnival and showed exceptional judgement in the air and on the ground. I would expect Mitch to go into allies, and is actually firming as a draft prospect hitting a sweet spot as a tall backman.
Bailey Stewart is a 180cm mid utility from East Coast Eagles. Bailey is a strong player who has done very well at times.
Sam Wicks is a 180cm mid utility who has been used in the mids and wings for the entire carnival. He is fairly lightly built at this stage and will benefit from more pre-seasons. Sam has led the tackle count for the swans and laid 12 tackles in the GWS game, nullifying Spargo whenever he was in the middle. Sam also features highly in contested ball and goal assists and has been in the best players 3 games out of 4. Sam does much of the midfield gut running for the team, especially closing down the corridor and getting into the backlines.
Luke Scrivinic is around 182cm and plays mainly on half forward flank. Luke has improved during the carnival and had a purple patch on the weekend that got everyone's attention. He has a bit of an x factor about him and is an interesting player re draft.
After the Carnival finishes the boys will move to the Allies. As I understand it there will be a squad of 50 selected for the Allies with trial games to select the final team. If the swans take a clean sweep of the carnival I would expect they will be pushing to have 10-12 spots out of the 50. No doubt this is where the politics will go into over drive, and we will see if the swans success has actually dispelled the myth that only players from the Riverina are any good. If the swans get 10-12 spots then the players mentioned above will likely get a chance to play in the trial. Those that can on to play in the Allies will get exposure to be drafted.
The game against the Lions was a bit of a disappointment, despite the win. It seems like the boys are now turning their minds to trying to make Allies which is making the play a little less team oriented. In terms of performances Bell and Hardman have shown a few flashes of brilliance over the carnival but on the whole have been underwhelming. Blakey is exceptional in ability and work rate. The overagers have been very strong, particularly Brown, Osborne and Maze. Clearly doing the entire pre-season with the senior swans via the NDS program has been key to the swans under 18 success. The overagers are physically bigger, which contributed strongly to the swans ability to over power the opposition especially in the midfield.
I think the players who have emerged out of the carnival are Mitch Rogers, Bailey Stewart, Sam Wicks and Luke Scrivenic. These are the guys that have consistently been in the best players along with Blakey and the over agers. Other than Mitch they have not tended to get much press due to the media's obsession with father sons.
Mitchell Rogers is a tall forward much in the mode of the McGovin brothers at Adelaide and West Coast. He has played in the backline for the vast majority of the carnival and showed exceptional judgement in the air and on the ground. I would expect Mitch to go into allies, and is actually firming as a draft prospect hitting a sweet spot as a tall backman.
Bailey Stewart is a 180cm mid utility from East Coast Eagles. Bailey is a strong player who has done very well at times.
Sam Wicks is a 180cm mid utility who has been used in the mids and wings for the entire carnival. He is fairly lightly built at this stage and will benefit from more pre-seasons. Sam has led the tackle count for the swans and laid 12 tackles in the GWS game, nullifying Spargo whenever he was in the middle. Sam also features highly in contested ball and goal assists and has been in the best players 3 games out of 4. Sam does much of the midfield gut running for the team, especially closing down the corridor and getting into the backlines.
Luke Scrivinic is around 182cm and plays mainly on half forward flank. Luke has improved during the carnival and had a purple patch on the weekend that got everyone's attention. He has a bit of an x factor about him and is an interesting player re draft.
After the Carnival finishes the boys will move to the Allies. As I understand it there will be a squad of 50 selected for the Allies with trial games to select the final team. If the swans take a clean sweep of the carnival I would expect they will be pushing to have 10-12 spots out of the 50. No doubt this is where the politics will go into over drive, and we will see if the swans success has actually dispelled the myth that only players from the Riverina are any good. If the swans get 10-12 spots then the players mentioned above will likely get a chance to play in the trial. Those that can on to play in the Allies will get exposure to be drafted.
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