Pre-season 2018

[707]

Only reading good things about McCartin, I'm really hoping he's a drafting coup! Remember he has only just turned 18. From the website -

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2018-01-29/star-swan-may-lead-from-the-back-in-aflx

AFLX has been widely tipped to favour the smaller players, but draftee Tom McCartin was one of the young Swans to show some exciting signs playing as a key forward, with the Victorian's ability in the air and at ground level particularly impressive.

Rampe has spent time opposed to McCartin over summer and he's quickly become a fan of the tall target.

"I really like the way Tommy has gone about it," he said.

"I don't know if it's the benefits of growing up with older brothers but he looks ready made.

"That's probably a little bit too much pressure to put on him but he looks comfortable with the physicality of it, and I think that's a big tick for someone coming in so young.

"Obviously it's going to be a pretty hard team to break into but we've really liked what we've seen so far."

[bloodspirit]

Only reading good things about McCartin, I'm really hoping he's a drafting coup! Remember he has only just turned 18. From the website -

AFLX has been widely tipped to favour the smaller players, but draftee Tom McCartin was one of the young Swans to show some exciting signs playing as a key forward, with the Victorian's ability in the air and at ground level particularly impressive.

Rampe has spent time opposed to McCartin over summer and he's quickly become a fan of the tall target.

"I really like the way Tommy has gone about it," he said.

"I don't know if it's the benefits of growing up with older brothers but he looks ready made.

"That's probably a little bit too much pressure to put on him but he looks comfortable with the physicality of it, and I think that's a big tick for someone coming in so young.

"Obviously it's going to be a pretty hard team to break into but we've really liked what we've seen so far."

I was just about to post this exact material! While still in its infancy, the hype continues to build! Exciting for Swans fans. Still a long way to go. And he still needs to work on his goal kicking. But, if it all comes together.....

[707]

I was just about to post this exact material! While still in its infancy, the hype continues to build! Exciting for Swans fans. Still a long way to go. And he still needs to work on his goal kicking. But, if it all comes together.....

I reckon a bloke who formerly wore number 4 can fix up any goal kicking woes :-)

[Auntie.Gerald]

Gallery: AFLX headlines Monday's training - sydneyswans.com.au

Swampy and Newman are looking like triathletes

Very lean

[dejavoodoo44]

Gallery: AFLX headlines Monday's training - sydneyswans.com.au

Swampy and Newman are looking like triathletes

Very lean

And so is Toby Pink. It will be interesting to see how he develops this year. Originally taken as a very speculative pick, late in the rookie draft, but showed enough to be kept on: good hands, attitude and some sort of ability in the ruck. So, if he now has more pace and endurance, he could turn out to be another rookie list bargain.

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I reckon a bloke who formerly wore number 4 can fix up any goal kicking woes :-)

Ben Matthews?

[liz]

Just picking up on the discussion around Cunningham (most of which is in the Best 22 thread) -

I stopped by and watched about ten minutes of training this morning. It looked to be an all defenders affair, though all the assistant coaches (ie Cox, Kirk and Johnson as well as Laidler and Shaw- didn't see Kennelly) were there. Maybe there were staggering training and training in groups.

In addition to almost everyone you'd expect to see in the defenders group, Cunningham and Foote were involved. On the other hand, neither McVeigh nor Mills were. It could be that the latter two were injured, or just having a day off, but there was a small group of defenders doing just hands work, so if they were just injured, you'd expect they would have been there.

That might signal that Cunningham will be trialled in the McVeigh role, maybe will McVeigh playing half-forward (a position he played to good effect early in his career). McVeigh's loss of speed will be less exposed further up the ground. His footy smarts can make up for being a little slower. On the other hand, while Cunningham is a good enough kick and has good pace, he's shown nothing of the footy smarts of McVeigh yet in his career.

[bloodspirit]

Does this mean they are training every day now? I thought they mostly trained Monday/Wednesday/Friday in the off-season and mostly either Mon/Wed or Tues/Thurs during the season depending on when they are fixtured to play.

On the topic of Macca, and I'm not sure where to post this, I was walking through Westfield Bondi Juction and saw a series of photos of Macca posing with a model wearing lingerie. Is that his wife? Has anyone else seen this? Very glamorous campaign for Macca to be a part of. They both look great.

I'm having too much trouble trying to attach an image but here's one I found online: https://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/...f330?width=650.

[liz]

I was under the impression they did some form of training every day (or weekday, at least) during the off-season. It's not as if they have matches to recover from, and there's a limited time to build up endurance and work on skills.

[Blood Fever]

Just picking up on the discussion around Cunningham (most of which is in the Best 22 thread) -

I stopped by and watched about ten minutes of training this morning. It looked to be an all defenders affair, though all the assistant coaches (ie Cox, Kirk and Johnson as well as Laidler and Shaw- didn't see Kennelly) were there. Maybe there were staggering training and training in groups.

In addition to almost everyone you'd expect to see in the defenders group, Cunningham and Foote were involved. On the other hand, neither McVeigh nor Mills were. It could be that the latter two were injured, or just having a day off, but there was a small group of defenders doing just hands work, so if they were just injured, you'd expect they would have been there.

That might signal that Cunningham will be trialled in the McVeigh role, maybe will McVeigh playing half-forward (a position he played to good effect early in his career). McVeigh's loss of speed will be less exposed further up the ground. His footy smarts can make up for being a little slower. On the other hand, while Cunningham is a good enough kick and has good pace, he's shown nothing of the footy smarts of McVeigh yet in his career.

Have always felt relaxed with the ball in McVeigh's hands. He is good up forward and provides the smarts and direction. Can't get rid of a nagging feeling that he is playing on for one year too long. Hope he proves me wrong!

[Mel_C]

On the topic of Macca, and I'm not sure where to post this, I was walking through Westfield Bondi Juction and saw a series of photos of Macca posing with a model wearing lingerie. Is that his wife? Has anyone else seen this? Very glamorous campaign for Macca to be a part of. They both look great.

Yes I saw it and yes it is his wife. I didn't realise she was a model. If I recall she only gave birth in September! She said that McVeigh needs to stick to football ????.

[Auntie.Gerald]

When u can pass by hand both sides equally and send it 25m with ease it is a massive advantage as the opposition players just hang off u

But greater then that is what happens when a player like macca receives the ball

Any time in basketball, afl or soccer a player who is a gifted distributor of the ball has it in their hands watch how many players put the effort to get into space

Macca is a trigger for all Swans players near by to break from their player they are marking because u know macca will find u if ur the best option and put it into space for u which is even better

It is massive in transitions

No one in afl likes to break 20m from their opposition player if they are not going to get the ball because they will probably have to run 40m back to find their match up if there is a turnover

[Velour&Ruffles]

Have always felt relaxed with the ball in McVeigh's hands. He is good up forward and provides the smarts and direction. Can't get rid of a nagging feeling that he is playing on for one year too long. Hope he proves me wrong!

I thought that last season, but he proved me (and many others) wrong in the most comprehensive fashion possible. There is no reason to be anything other than optimistic about his 2018 - in much the same fashion as Roger Federer, after a significant break to let the body heal the cliff looks to have receded rather than got closer.

[liz]

We'll find out whether or not McVeigh has gone on too long over the next nine months or so. Either way, I'm confident that Longmire won't gift him a spot in the 22 if his form doesn't warrant it. He showed with O'Keefe and Richards that he's capable of putting aside any sentiment towards long-standing servants of the club if he thinks it's best for the team, and I suspect there were robust discussions at the end of last season, when they were deciding whether or not he'd go on, around the possibility of not being an automatic selection.

That said, I believe Longmire highly rates McVeigh's leadership and nous and he (and the rest of the coaches) may well keep picking him for those qualities so long as the physical aspects of his game don't drop off too far, even when (some) fans are calling for his demotion.

[Meg]

Yes I saw it and yes it is his wife. I didn't realise she was a model. If I recall she only gave birth in September! She said that McVeigh needs to stick to football [emoji6].

I have read that Clementine McVeigh has been modelling since she was 19. I assume the ads you saw were lingerie ads, some of which she posted on her Insta account just after they were photographed (with a little joke about having managed to get Macca to take part). The photos were taken in early November, two months after she gave birth!

[wolftone57]

And so is Toby Pink. It will be interesting to see how he develops this year. Originally taken as a very speculative pick, late in the rookie draft, but showed enough to be kept on: good hands, attitude and some sort of ability in the ruck. So, if he now has more pace and endurance, he could turn out to be another rookie list bargain.

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Ben Matthews?

Extra pace would make Toby very fast for a big guy. His pace was pretty good last season. His problem is sometimes timing and positioning. He gets under the ball a bit. The other problem he had at times was getting muscled out. But I think with more wrights conditioning to build strength he will change that. Plugger will help with timing and positioning as well as kicking. He gets the hard ones but has sometimes has trouble right in front.