Changes round III

[Swanny40519]

I am a bit surprised also with a couple of the selections. Melican is a bit stiff as we don't have 2 talls in our defence now unless Reid goes back - he was very quiet last week.

Who will give Sinkers a spell - Dawson maybe.

I am also not very confident with this game as we are struggling to kick enough goals to put ourselves in a winning position, and our defence is not locking down the opposition.

[MattW]

Looking at the changes there are 2 like-for-like moves:

Thurlow for O'Riordan in defence and Dawson for Clarke as a winger/half-forward (Clarke spent a lot of time up forward in the last quarter).
The other changes, McCartin for Melican will require a reshuffle and there are 2 main possibilities.

The first one and the simpler of the two would be for McCartin to replace Reid as a key forward and Reid to shift to key defence. However I think this is unlikely as I don't recall Reid ever starting a match as a key defender, he's only been thrown in there due to circumstances (mainly because of injury) and even then it's as rare as hen's teeth. Mills was mentioned last week by Longmire as playing as a tall defender (on Lynch IIRC) and I expect him to continue with this role most likely on McGovern who is not as big as Carlton's other key forwards Casboult or McKay.

The second option would be for McCartin to go into attack, form a tall trio with Franklin and Reid, and push Blakey to the wing. Zak Jones would then shift from the midfield to defence where he could offer much needed run and carry on a more permanent basis. Blakey's already shown some smarts with some of his delivery into the forward line in the first 2 rounds. Therefore I feel he has more value in further up the ground rather than as a deep lying forward where his underdeveloped physique cannot at this stage match it with key experienced AFL defenders.

My team breakdown

Backs: Rampe Aliir Mills Lloyd McVeigh Thurlow Jones
Mids: Sinclair Kennedy Parker Hewett Papley Florent Blakey Cunningham
Forwards: Franklin Reid McCartin Heeney Hayward Ronke Dawson

Heeney and Dawson can rotate through the midfield to swap with the likes of Parker and Papley.

Reckon you're spot on with option 2.

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I'm a bit surprised at the number of changes. Usually, the Swans make minimal changes unless forced to by injury. Maybe Horse is experimenting a bit as the form in general has been patchy in the last 2 weeks.

A bit surprised they dropped Melican and I thought COR deserved another week. I'm happy with the ins though.

I go into this game with low expectations based on what I've seen in Rounds 1 and 2. Unless the basic skill levels rise I can see the defence being under seige again.

I share your low expectations. We've got a handful of elite players, a band of reasonably reliable solid players, and a bulk of unproven players.

I see this year as working out who we can rely on going forward.

[caj23]

Reckon you're spot on with option 2.

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I share your low expectations. We've got a handful of elite players, a band of reasonably reliable solid players, and a bulk of unproven players.

I see this year as working out who we can rely on going forward.

And a coach who doesn't seem to utilise them to the best of their abilities

[Ludwig]

I miss D.Towers. Was a terrier.

He's got a new career now.

[Ludwig]

My thoughts exactly. I thought we went in too tall in defence in round 1, with Melican, Reg, Aliir and Rampe also able to play tall. We now seem to have gone the other way, with both Melican and Reg out of the side. Presumably they're banking on Thurlow being able to play tall. As with others on here, I'd rather pick him to play medium to release Mills.

And now up forward we have Reid, McCartin and Buddy, plus Blakey. I know Longmire hinted at Blakey playing up the ground, but he's still tall. And Dawson can play tall in a forward role too.

But mostly I share the frustration at seeing COR and Dawson in and out of the side, a continuation of what we saw at the tail end of last season too. Get them in - one at a time if necessary - give them time to settle in the team, and if they are deficient in some way after a decent period, send them back to the NEAFL for a block of time with specific things to focus on.

I agree with this, also sharing the frustration of COR and Dawson shuffling in and out of the lineup.

Saying that, I'm happy with the inclusions and someone has to be dropped. I probably would have dropped Blakey and kept COR, simply because it's more critical for COR to establish himself this year. Blakey will be a champ, but has time to develop.

Where to play Reid is a puzzler. It's probably easier for Reid to make the shift than the other candidates. Those 3rd year players like Hayward and Ronke really need to step up and fill the void in our forward line.

There's now way getting around the fact that we will have a lot of players still well into the development stages of their careers and we simply have to wait it out.

[Blood Relative]

Most of us on here all thought Melican and COR would stay in. It seems that this thread evolves over the first 6 rounds of each season.

We all start out picking who we think will be selected. Gradually we all end up selecting who we thing the club will select.

If, like me, you all rely on the sage advise of Ludwig, Ugg, Mel, Liz, the wolf etc. to gauge who is playing well in the neafl. From that we have a bit of a guess who might come in. Thurlow was the one we all got right.

I know we rarely make late changes but perhaps Melican returns because Casboult is in.


Not sure who said it but: "if nothing changes, nothing changes"

More tackles please Swans?

[Auntie.Gerald]

I suspect that Thurlow comes in with the flexibility to play on different forwards

COR misses out unfortunately despite being ok. Macca still gets the nod for now despite him struggling to pick up his opponents / yet being calm under pressure in attack and direction is important

I suspect COR won’t level out / he will keep improving and for me could become a Nick smith replacement

Dawson gets another chance due to Clarke struggling and Heeney playing more in middle this week which means Dawson gets 50% game time upfront and 50% in the mids ?

[dejavoodoo44]

Our umpires are Donlan, Mollison and Power. I'm fairly sure that Donlan has persecuted us in the past. Whereas Mollison is erratic, but possibly his howlers balance themselves out. I haven't heard of Power.
Interestingly, the trio that made last week's game such an infuriating experience, Fleer, Meredith and Findlay, are doing the Collingwood vs West Coast game. God help them, if they dish up to the Collingwood fans, the rubbish that they served to us.

[giant]

Good changes on Clarke and Mellican - both have been dreadful in rounds 1 and 2 and there needed to be ramifications. Clarke is looking Chambers-like at this point in his Swans career.

Thurlow and McMartin good ins - Dawson needs to improve many times over from his extremely soft round 1 effort.

[giant]

Looking at the changes there are 2 like-for-like moves:

Thurlow for O'Riordan in defence and Dawson for Clarke as a winger/half-forward (Clarke spent a lot of time up forward in the last quarter).
The other changes, McCartin for Melican will require a reshuffle and there are 2 main possibilities.

The first one and the simpler of the two would be for McCartin to replace Reid as a key forward and Reid to shift to key defence. However I think this is unlikely as I don't recall Reid ever starting a match as a key defender, he's only been thrown in there due to circumstances (mainly because of injury) and even then it's as rare as hen's teeth. Mills was mentioned last week by Longmire as playing as a tall defender (on Lynch IIRC) and I expect him to continue with this role most likely on McGovern who is not as big as Carlton's other key forwards Casboult or McKay.

The second option would be for McCartin to go into attack, form a tall trio with Franklin and Reid, and push Blakey to the wing. Zak Jones would then shift from the midfield to defence where he could offer much needed run and carry on a more permanent basis. Blakey's already shown some smarts with some of his delivery into the forward line in the first 2 rounds. Therefore I feel he has more value in further up the ground rather than as a deep lying forward where his underdeveloped physique cannot at this stage match it with key experienced AFL defenders.

My team breakdown

Backs: Rampe Aliir Mills Lloyd McVeigh Thurlow Jones
Mids: Sinclair Kennedy Parker Hewett Papley Florent Blakey Cunningham
Forwards: Franklin Reid McCartin Heeney Hayward Ronke Dawson

Heeney and Dawson can rotate through the midfield to swap with the likes of Parker and Papley.

Spot on ugg - the 3 changes I was screaming for were Clarke, Mellican and Blakey - all were well short of what's required from their respective positions in both rounds 1 and 2. Blakey survives, but only by way of changing his role.

[AnsweredPrayers]

I think Melican is just underdone. COR is a worry. Third or fourth year? Needs to find his feet soon else it will be hasta la vista. I was more surprised by Clark. He's looked useful but for last week so I would have persisted with him. Happy with the ins.

[707]

Young players need to be brought into the side and given a role they play in the NEAFL and can focus on. Having them play bit roles that they don't play at NEAFL level does them or the team no favours. Dawson is not a back up ruckman, don't use him as one if that's what's intended this week. Back him in to do at senior level what he does so outstandingly at NEAFL level.

COR is stiff to get dropped, Thurlow really needs to play to a good level to justify the selection.

Still think the side looks unbalanced but maybe they intend to use this week to settle on what they want in 2019. I think Blakey has to play up the ground where he can use his athleticism, footy smarts and skills, he not suited to deep forward, not strong enough.

[troyjones2525]

Dawson in, COR out. Can we please leave them both in the side for a run of games whilst nobody is knocking down the door to get in.

The changes look a little odd to me.

Absolutely agree with this!!!

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[wolftone57]

Our umpires are Donlan, Mollison and Power. I'm fairly sure that Donlan has persecuted us in the past. Whereas Mollison is erratic, but possibly his howlers balance themselves out. I haven't heard of Power.
Interestingly, the trio that made last week's game such an infuriating experience, Fleer, Meredith and Findlay, are doing the Collingwood vs West Coast game. God help them, if they dish up to the Collingwood fans, the rubbish that they served to us.

Power is from WA so I can't see him crucify Ing us. It seems to be a select few that do that. It is as though the AFL has a word with certain umpires and we get crucified.

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[wolftone57]

Our umpires are Donlan, Mollison and Power. I'm fairly sure that Donlan has persecuted us in the past. Whereas Mollison is erratic, but possibly his howlers balance themselves out. I haven't heard of Power.
Interestingly, the trio that made last week's game such an infuriating experience, Fleer, Meredith and Findlay, are doing the Collingwood vs West Coast game. God help them, if they dish up to the Collingwood fans, the rubbish that they served to us.

They won't. Pies get good umpire service. See GF.

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