Changes for Round 5 v Tigers

[liz]

Yes. And he will probably take a fair few games in their to find his best as he hasn’t played midfield for a few years.


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He led the onball division in the practice game against GWS (the first one, not the official JLT game) in the absence of the AFLXing Kennedy and Parker, and looked like he'd been playing there all his life, notwithstanding that the GWS midfield wasn't at its best that game. I agree with you that we can't expect him to emulate Cripps from day one, but the sooner he starts, the sooner he can find his feet.

I can understand why Longmire is loathe to move Heeney full time into the midfield because he is so effective up forward. And I'm not convinced he's a natural onballer either, though he can certainly take his turn in there. With Mills, I'm curious whether they think he's too valuable down back to move, or if they have reservations about his midfield capabilities, based on what he's done at training. I suspect it's the former. But while he is usually very reliable and courageous overhead in defence (forgetting about yesterday for a minute), I'd have thought they can find someone else who can perform that role nearly as well. It's not as if Mills has breakaway speed that he uses to rebound from defence. And his overhead marking strength will be just as valuable further up the ground, ideally creating turnovers (in our favour) before the ball gets in the defensive 50.

[Ralph Dawg]

He led the onball division in the practice game against GWS (the first one, not the official JLT game) in the absence of the AFLXing Kennedy and Parker, and looked like he'd been playing there all his life, notwithstanding that the GWS midfield wasn't at its best that game. I agree with you that we can't expect him to emulate Cripps from day one, but the sooner he starts, the sooner he can find his feet.

I can understand why Longmire is loathe to move Heeney full time into the midfield because he is so effective up forward. And I'm not convinced he's a natural onballer either, though he can certainly take his turn in there. With Mills, I'm curious whether they think he's too valuable down back to move, or if they have reservations about his midfield capabilities, based on what he's done at training. I suspect it's the former. But while he is usually very reliable and courageous overhead in defence (forgetting about yesterday for a minute), I'd have thought they can find someone else who can perform that role nearly as well. It's not as if Mills has breakaway speed that he uses to rebound from defence. And his overhead marking strength will be just as valuable further up the ground, ideally creating turnovers (in our favour) before the ball gets in the defensive 50.

Jordan Dawson. Height, solid, strong overhead and penetrating boot. Agree he gets lost at times but maybe at AFL level, has not found his best position yet?

[liz]

Jordan Dawson. Height, solid, strong overhead and penetrating boot. Agree he gets lost at times but maybe at AFL level, has not found his best position yet?

Possibly. I think the most important attribute for a defender is confidence, and the mental ability to move on immediately after a mistake. Mistakes often lead directly to goals conceded, meaning they bite more than mistakes delivering the ball forward. They shouldn't, since a mistake moving the ball forward can cost a goal scored, which has the same net impact. But I think psychologically they are different.

Mills seems naturally confident and strong minded. I'm not convinced it comes as naturally to Dawson - he seems to be quite introverted, and we introverts tend to brood.

In any case, I think Dawson has the ability to be the second best field kick* in the Swans' side if and when he finally starts to believe he belongs. He's certainly a more penetrating kick than Mills. While that can be valuable in the backline, it is even more valuable across half-forward so long as the player can find enough of the ball. It's a harder position to play because you have to know where to position yourself to become dangerous, while in defence you can often be lead to the right place by the forward you're defending against. But I think Dawson's most valuable position is across half-forward if he can get used to the reduced time and space at senior level.

* Possibly 3rd best - depending on how long Blakey takes to develop into a player who can find more of the ball. It's too small a sample yet, but he has given us fleeting indications that he might be a superb field kick.

[Auntie.Gerald]

My assessment of the midfield Mills fiasco is that we can’t play him much in the midfield with Parker and kennedy at the minute because we are already vulnerable to fast exits from the centre clearance

Kennedy, Parker and Mills makes us too heavy inside players without a dominant ruckman

If we had a dominant ruckman and less injuries in the backline it could change the options available

with no smith, macca, Grundy etc we need every bit of cohesion and regular voice/leadership down back

I have always seen Mills as a Luke Hodge style player ie 50/50 midfield HBF

Ps the games where nsw played qld and Heeney was in yr 12 and Mills was in yr11 was the game that a lot of us supporters thought wow check out mills as he dominated the game and was BOG as an inside hunting mid

[Cosmic Wizard]

We are being too negative.

The reason we started to lose in the second half was that Gawn effortlessly pass the ball to his midfield.

Once that started we were always going to be toast!

Find a ruck who doesn't get thrashed by Gawn or Grundy: doesn't have to break even but maybe just lose 40/60.

Our rucks are very ordinary, and i don't think Naismith will ever be good; a bit like Reid, always giving us glimpses but never actually a full game!

[rb4x]

We lost the hit outs 73-13. Preuss their number 2 ruckman had 13 hit outs which was the same as Sinclair and Reid combined. He looked very athletic for his size and his two Q1 Goals were excellent. Naismith will never show that agility. Grundy beat English 58-6 last night and English is probably one of the most promising developing ruckmen around. Just needs a couple more years. Gawn and Grundy are so far ahead of the pack it is not funny. Sinclair had a bad night and needs help. With Naismith still a long way off and Reid too fragile we need to bring in Cameron and give him a run. I know his debut last year was poor but he is all we have so let us use him before Sinclair is broken.

[707]

Ok, everyone settled down yet after Thursday night? I still haven't watched the game yet but the stats tell an obvious story, Blakey is struggling and McInerney shouldn't have been picked. We were basically two down with the numbers produced there.

COR was the obvious inclusion for Macca IMO and must come in this week if he looks good in the NEAFL. Rowbottoms numbers last week were impressive as were the reports on him, should come in for Blakey. Ronke is the other that he could replace.

But they'll probably bring in Clarke :-(

[MattW]

I'm not sure why we're making it difficult for ourselves by playing two specialist tall defenders. It's forcing us to play Heeney and Reid back to stem the tide. It's also constricting Rampe. Melican should play. Blakey needs a break. McCartin play forward.

Sinclair looked a bit injured on Thursday. Certainly gassed. Perhaps it's time to consider playing Cameron, particularly against ruckmen. May not be necessary against Richmond.

Finally, clearly McInerney won't play. Happy for whoever plays better tomorrow out of Rowbottom and Rose to come in.

[Markwebbos]

My assessment of the midfield Mills fiasco is that we can’t play him much in the midfield with Parker and kennedy at the minute because we are already vulnerable to fast exits from the centre clearance

Kennedy, Parker and Mills makes us too heavy inside players without a dominant ruckman

If we had a dominant ruckman and less injuries in the backline it could change the options available

with no smith, macca, Grundy etc we need every bit of cohesion and regular voice/leadership down back

I have always seen Mills as a Luke Hodge style player ie 50/50 midfield HBF

Ps the games where nsw played qld and Heeney was in yr 12 and Mills was in yr11 was the game that a lot of us supporters thought wow check out mills as he dominated the game and was BOG as an inside hunting mid

You might be right about that

[MattW]

I'm not sure why we're making it difficult for ourselves by playing two specialist tall defenders. It's forcing us to play Heeney and Reid back to stem the tide. It's also constricting Rampe. Melican should play. Blakey needs a break. McCartin play forward.

Sinclair looked a bit injured on Thursday. Certainly gassed. Perhaps it's time to consider playing Cameron, particularly against ruckmen. May not be necessary against Richmond.

Finally, clearly McInerney won't play. Happy for whoever plays better tomorrow out of Rowbottom and Rose to come in.

* decent ruckmen

[Merdo5555]

Im happy to take any players that are willing to work their butts off for 4 full quarters. I can put up with the clangers and poor kicking if the effort is consistent over 4 quarters.

[ernie koala]

OUT : Blakey, Mc Inerney, Ronke, Thurlow

IN : Rose, O'riordan, Rowbottom, Cameron

We are an ordinary team, we need to sift through the list to find out what we have.

From the evidence presented, Thurlow and Clarke are right up there with Scotty Russell and Nick Gaffy....

Desperate unnecessary trades, simply because nothing else was on offer to us....We should of kept our powder dry...

Easy in hindsight I know, but hey, we have full time recruiters who should be able to sift through the chaff.

[The Big Cat]

OUT : Nick Gaffy

Even more forgettable than Nick Daffy!

[Nico]

They moved Mills back because of our backline injuries to plug a hole. In the coaches eyes he has the form back there ahead of others.

[Nico]

OUT : Blakey, Mc Inerney, Ronke, Thurlow

IN : Rose, O'riordan, Rowbottom, Cameron

We are an ordinary team, we need to sift through the list to find out what we have.

From the evidence presented, Thurlow and Clarke are right up there with Scotty Russell and Nick Gaffy....

Desperate unnecessary trades, simply because nothing else was on offer to us....We should of kept our powder dry...

Easy in hindsight I know, but hey, we have full time recruiters who should be able to sift through the chaff.

Yep, gone back to the Eade era of recruiting stop gaps. Menzel looks to be the Nick Daffy of this era. Will he play a game is the big question. Probably should have drafted a few more kids.