JLT1 Swans v GWS @ Blacktown Saturday 2nd March

[wolftone57]

I don’t think anyone is worried about the result , or even necessarily the game plan at this point . For me it’s just that I normally watch these pre season games to get a look at who looks good in terms of mature aged recruits , draftees and returning players ( or players coming back after below par seasons ) and there wasn’t much in any of those categories to be excited about it ( which is unusual for us in a preseason game , there’s normally something to get excited about like blakeys kicking last week in the intro club ).


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes indeed. The result was not important but for me it is the way the players go about it. How the play transitions. Organisation on the field. Game plan tweeking. Trying new moves.

But what was presented was disappointing and as you say nobody stood out. Although I would have loved to get a really good look at McInnerney and Rowbottom. That was disappointing. But what was most disappointing was the total lack of organisation and terrible ball use.

As I have always stated the result is neither here nor there. But trying new things, effort, good disposal and organised structures are important. I know Roos used the Pre season games as a tool to blood youngsters. Longmire doesn't go the the same extent as Roos did. He always has a majority experienced players. So therefore maintaining structure should not be that hard. But on the weekend it was a shambles.

That worries me and I sincerely hope that does not follow us into the season proper. If it does it is going to be e very long year. The other problem I found was there wasn't much in the way of innovation. Last week we saw an entirely different game plan. Move the ball quickly, create space, set up the play. This week that disappeared and we reverted back to the old defensive plan. They had our measure from the first bounce. Knew every move we would make if they put enough forward pressure on us. Sure enough Longmire went totally defensive with the flood. So predictable. So last century.

Sent from my ANE-LX2J using Tapatalk

[wolftone57]

We may revisit this extremely negative post later in the season.....possibly accompanied by some 'humble pie'.....served by Horse.

Listen Stevo the fact is that while I don't gibe a @@@@e whether we won or lost this crap it is stuff that we build a season on. We try things here. They did not work. Full stop. I'm not saying we will be bottom and all gloom and doom. But we do have to lose bad habits like old flooding tactics from last century, bad disposal and disorganised structures. Both the forward and back lines were totally disorganised. There were more free players than there were in Grace Brothers.

These are pretty basic things and while some of them come from trying new stuff, some like the flood, need to get lost forever. I liked the set ups last week. They worked very well and could have again. The ball movement was good, disposal great and our forward and back halves were very well organised. Compare that to this week and it is a total difference. I realise they only had a very Neafl line up but so did we.

Sent from my ANE-LX2J using Tapatalk

[Swanny40519]

Agree Wolf 100%

I saw both games and it was chalk and cheese. The intra game we looked very positive in our ball movement and we were able to penetrate their defence easily. Our kicking and handball was very good.

This week was the complete opposite. We were very slow moving the ball, we handballed to the opposition, our kicking was deplorable and we just let their forwards take easy marks with no defensive pressure.

If we cannot the some of the basics right in a trial game then how are we going to get it right in a real pressure game. Perhaps our coaching team was trying a lot of different things and they did not work. I hope that was the case and we get back to some serious effort next week.

[liz]

If posters are going to contrast the two games, why assume that one is a better indicator of what to expect than the other.

FWIW, the first quarters were mirror images of each other in the sense that, in each, one team took the ball in constructively while the other was disorganised. I imagine Cameron would have been disappointed with the way his side started last week and would have asked them not to let that happen again. Conversely, the Swans' effort was poor in the first quarter this week.

I realise the personnel were slightly different but both teams were still far enough away from full strength to make it hard to draw definitive conclusions from either game (other than the fact the Giants still have a very deep, skilful list, and have topped up their midfield again in the offseason with a couple of highly talented young players, notwithstanding that they've lost Shiel and Setterfield).

[Rod_]

Too early to be critical of the 2019 Swans.

However, if we have 5 game plans for the year, we didn’t share any trade secrets at this game against the Giants.

Tap ruckmen that can hit a target will be very handy with the new rules. Clearance specialists that deliver quality ball into the forward line, will also be handy.

Hope we can get some cohesion by round 6 and be better than 3 wins and 3 losses. Can’t have a poor start and be finals contenders.

[Nico]

My worry is for Kennedy. He looked slow in the midfield and I fear that the modern game has changed sufficiently that his style is no longer helpful to us. He is mostly very good at getting the ball from a stoppage and then dump kicking it Forward quickly without looking for a target so hopefully another stoppage ensues and the same happens again. Contrast that to Mitchell at the hawks ( admittedly not this year). But Mitchell extracts the ball elitetely. Then he handballs to an outside player who has time to hit up a target forward.

This is not a comment that we should have kept Mitchell at all costs but more that our style is not effective anymore and sadly our Kennedy is made for our old ineffective style.

I’ve actually wondered if we need to start swapping Parker and Kennedy. Play Kennedy more forward and play Parker more midfield instead of the other way around. I know Parker currently plays midfield but he does spend a decent amount of time in the forward half. I think he was starting there last night but maybe that was just to give the new guys some experience in the centre. Kennedy across half forward has been quite good in the past and it could be good for him as he gets older

On Kennedy; he gets held at centre bounces continually and doesn't get a chance to clear cleanly. Rarely is his holding opponent penalised.

[Markwebbos]

1) Kennedy always look poor in the preseason comp. And looks like a different player in the season proper. If others were doing the same that would make a huge difference.

2) It’s been traditional for other coaches to act as senior coach in the preseason comp. Was Horse even coaching?

3) It’s also anticipated that teams won’t reveal major tactical changes until the competition starts.

We may still be underwhelming and disorganised then, but I think no one should panic based on the JLT performance.

[Hotpotato]

I’d like to see the Swans play more like the Giants, it’s clean , it’s supportive, it catches the opposition out of positions, it scores goals, it’s exciting and it works .
The Swans game plan of stop, think, look , kick breaks down again and again .
I’m sure we will see some of it later on .

We can do it.

[chammond]

We won the clearances and contested possessions by a decent margin, and outscored GWS after the first qtr. Take out those three lucky GWS goals in the first qtr and we might have won. Looks like the game plan is working nicely yet again. We seem to be well ahead of where we normally are at this stage of the season. I'm glad I got my money on early this year.

[Mark26]

Also, FWIW, a couple of 2018 JLT results:

GWS 96 - Collingwood 36
Fremantle 101 - WCE 39

I also don't recall us winning one under Paul Roos. Could be wrong, but they don't mean much to me. Most teams will be trying to get their stars ready for round one.

[liz]

I see Nick Blakely has been offered a $2k fine by the MRP for striking Matt Buntine during the second quarter of Saturday's game.

Big Roo offered one-match penalty for rough contact - AFL.com.au

Does anyone recall the incident? I remember him getting frustrated twice after he gave away free kicks in marking contests that he clearly didn't think were warranted. I think one of those involved Buntine. Is that the incident he's been fined for? If so, it seems a little harsh. I think he was genuinely trying to spoil the ball and contact was incidental. A free kick was warranted but it didn't strike me at the time as a reportable offence.

[dejavoodoo44]

I also don't recall us winning one under Paul Roos. Could be wrong, but they don't mean much to me. Most teams will be trying to get their stars ready for round one.

If I remember rightly, he jagged a NAB Cup game, in his final season with us. Which makes his Swans coaching record; one premiership win, nine winns in finals, 107 regular season wins and one NAB Cup game.

[waswan]

Its March who cares, only 1 Stat is off interest in these games and that is the Injury Stat.

Have a run around blow some cobwebs out and don't get hurt, we played Buddy and Co. 3 Pre-season games last year all for nothing.

Come out without injuries, the rest is irrelevant

[chammond]

Come out without injuries, the rest is irrelevant

Pretty much.

But its also nice to get a look at the newbies:

Thurlow was often in the play, and kicked accurately - looks likely to make the 22;

Clarke got to a lot of contests but his disposal was execrable - borderline;

McInerney certainly has plenty of skill but he looks about 12yo - put him away til next year before someone snaps him in two;

Blakey's obviously a keeper, but I hope they don't put too much pressure on him;

Mills and Mellican looked as good as ever, but Reid has a lot of work to do. Just a relief to see them get thru unscathed.

Very pleasing to see O'Riordan and Fox show some solid form this early - I think we will definitely need them once the injuries start coming.

[rb4x]

Reid has a lot of work to do. Seemed to be on limited minutes.
Aliir looked lost. Where was he playing. 2nd ruck at times, back forward and ineffective.
Rampe was not working very hard.