Changes for Round 6 - CARLTON

[ugg]

Stamping his papers five games after giving him a two year extension wouldn't make much sense at all

[MattW]

I agree with liz that Aliir should return given his unique ability to bounce us out of defence, but probably won't. We are really struggling with rebounding at the moment without Rampe. However, Longmire's comments post game and On the Coach suggest they think he has more to do. Incidentally, I think he's demonstrated he has a long kick and reckon he's best suited to defence.

If he was to come back it'd be for Marsh and I agree with DynamoJim that Marsh was well beaten by each forward he marked on the weekend. No significant shame in that given who he was up against. He was one of our better players against West Coast. Reckon they'll give him another run.

I also agree with Ludwig that they likely want Cameron to play, but will probably determine he's not fit enough yet. Fair enough.

Foote has to drop down. He was ineffective tagging Scully and poor with it himself. I thought he was exposed as not being of AFL standard. I think that's a permanent state, but happy to be proven wrong.

Given Jack is out, that leaves two to come in.

Newman must be one. He's an elite kick and had poise at AFL level straight away. It was a mistake to drop him.

Rose, Florent and Dawson are the candidates for the other spot. Ultimately, Florent excites me most, but right now Dawson deserves a second shot. Rose has the advantage of being able to mark inside 50, but we don't need another 8-10 possession player.

[Billericay]

Think it was an error of selection to put Marsh on Cameron, even if I'm sure the coaches would have asked him if we was up to it. I still think he's OK as a medium defender just can't play on much bigger players like Rampe can.

My first two ins would be Newman and Aliir. KJ is out, my other would be Foote although the coaches may think he's worth sticking with as a tagger and may want to tag Murphy / Gibbs / Cripps on Saturday. If that means Jones and Mills need to spend more time in the midfield I think that's a positive.

If Hayward needs a spell, not sure who'd get the gig - Rose? Dawson?

[Billericay]

Looks unlikely Aliir will play this week according to Neil Cordy No Cookies | Herald Sun

One week in the reserves is probably not enough time for Aliir to gain the match fitness and form Longmire demands, especially when he failed to make a tackle in the NEAFL match. The Swans are also mindful Aliir has played only 16 senior games and is still a developing player despite his enormous success last season.

?There is a general feeling he?s off in a few areas,? Swans football manager Tom Harley said. ?He had some moments in those games, and against West Coast ? probably by his own admission ? wasn?t where he wanted to be. It is purely form based and he was omitted. ?I think the interrupted pre-season is a factor. He needs to go back to beating his man and building the offensive side of his game off a strong defensive base.?

[goswannies]

Generally a player kicks further than he can handball. We've seen AA handball around 30 metres or so, you can bet on his kick I'd think.

Barry Round could just about handball further than he could and he played over 300 games, represented Victoria & won a Brownlow

[Hartijon]

Miss match for Marsh. After an easy Cameron goal, seeing his body and height compared to Cameron made me feel sorry for him.Poor coaching I thought to allow this to go on and on but I guess there were few cattle left who could stop this guy? Maybe Reid was worth a try.

[ugg]

Uncharacteristically explicit from Longmire about team selection here

Longmire: Aliir Aliir is unlikely to come back in this week as we were very happy with how Lewis Melican played last weekend.

— Sydney Swans (@sydneyswans) April 26, 2017

Longmire: Nic Newman is a chance to come in and replace him because he has played some good senior football for us this year.

— Sydney Swans (@sydneyswans) April 26, 2017

Longmire: Newman, Brandon Jack and James Rose all played well in the reserves last week and are in the mix.

— Sydney Swans (@sydneyswans) April 26, 2017

[liz]

I am slightly surprised at the praise for Rose (from Longmire). He can do (and did do, on Saturday) some clever, skilful things. But he also failed to register an effective tackle, and he picked and chose when he even made a pretence of putting pressure on the opposition.

[ugg]

He also only had 7 disposals at 3 quarter time which I admit surprised me when I was checking the stats at the time because in my mind he seemed to have a greater impact but perhaps that just illustrates how eye-catching his disposals are.

He finished with 14 disposals

[SeanM]

I hope they don't drop/rest Hayward. I think he could be good on the MCG.

From Longmire's comments it looks like Newman could be in line to replace Jack. If he mentioned Jack and Rose, then he may want another pacy small forward. It might give us more run and energy on a bigger ground. But not sure who else would drop out.

[Billericay]

This business about Melican v Aliir that Horse referred to. We only have two tall defenders playing at the moment, one of whom is a second gamer. And we had to send Sam Reid back last week to cover a tall forward. It's not an either / or proposition surely, can't he play both?

- - - Updated - - -

I hope they don't drop/rest Hayward. I think he could be good on the MCG.

I guess that depends on whether he needs a rest or not? If he's buggered then surely it would be a mistake to play him on the bigger ground?

[bloodspirit]

I agree with liz that Aliir should return given his unique ability to bounce us out of defence, but probably won't. We are really struggling with rebounding at the moment without Rampe. However, Longmire's comments post game and On the Coach suggest they think he has more to do. Incidentally, I think he's demonstrated he has a long kick and reckon he's best suited to defence.

If he was to come back it'd be for Marsh and I agree with DynamoJim that Marsh was well beaten by each forward he marked on the weekend. No significant shame in that given who he was up against. He was one of our better players against West Coast. Reckon they'll give him another run.

I also agree with Ludwig that they likely want Cameron to play, but will probably determine he's not fit enough yet. Fair enough.

Foote has to drop down. He was ineffective tagging Scully and poor with it himself. I thought he was exposed as not being of AFL standard. I think that's a permanent state, but happy to be proven wrong.

Given Jack is out, that leaves two to come in.

Newman must be one. He's an elite kick and had poise at AFL level straight away. It was a mistake to drop him.

Rose, Florent and Dawson are the candidates for the other spot. Ultimately, Florent excites me most, but right now Dawson deserves a second shot. Rose has the advantage of being able to mark inside 50, but we don't need another 8-10 possession player.

Good post. Concise, incisive, relevant.

- - - Updated - - -

I am slightly surprised at the praise for Rose (from Longmire). He can do (and did do, on Saturday) some clever, skilful things. But he also failed to register an effective tackle, and he picked and chose when he even made a pretence of putting pressure on the opposition.

Strong words, liz! And I agree. I thought Rose had numerous defensive lapses on the weekend and so I haven't been calling for his return like others on the back of his classy goals etc.

[bloodspirit]

This business about Melican v Aliir that Horse referred to. We only have two tall defenders playing at the moment, one of whom is a second gamer. And we had to send Sam Reid back last week to cover a tall forward. It's not an either / or proposition surely, can't he play both?

I would like to see both play in the same team (together with Reg or another KPD) but it seems they are counting Marsh as a tall back too, when really he's only medium (as we saw on the weekend). However, I accept there reasons for not selecting AA for the time being and trust them to pick him at the right time.

[aardvark]

I am slightly surprised at the praise for Rose (from Longmire). He can do (and did do, on Saturday) some clever, skilful things. But he also failed to register an effective tackle, and he picked and chose when he even made a pretence of putting pressure on the opposition.

So is he lazy or just not capable? After 2-3 years on the list you'd reckon he'd got the message. I'd hate to see him selected if he just can't be bothered.

[SeanM]

Yeah I always saw Marsh as more of a attacking half back than an established defender. I think for the balance of the team we need another bigger natural defender. Otherwise it is just Grundy and Melican. And if Grundy gets hurt during the game we are really undersized. And even our half backs like Lloyd, Newman or Mills are not amazing defensive players.

Omitting Aliir is controversial but it seems like he has had a poor preparation for the season. Longmire probably feels it is better for him to find form in the reserves and come back when he is 100%. It is high pressure position for a young inexperienced player.

It seems like Talia needs to play a few good reserve games. Laidler must be close to selection. It might have been something to do with whether he is suited to the opposition. Maiburn is inexperienced and did not have as outstanding trial games as Melican.

Grundy, Rampe and Aliir would be our first choice defence when fit and in form. But I think we definitely need to get games into Melican and Maiburn throughout the season.