Changes for Rd. 3 vs North Melbourne

[graemed]

Before they got Lynch, Richmond did very well with just Riewoldt as a tall forward, and he's mostly a lead up forward anyway.

Without a strong contested marking forward line, we have to depend on skill and speed to beat the pressure. We're probably not going too far this year because we don't have the experience, polish and skill to beat that pressure. We usually break down somewhere in attack with a poor disposal, or let the opposition break tackles too easily.

The question is whether we have the players who can grow into a side that has the skill and teamwork to move the ball with more fluency down the field, while playing solid defence as well.

I've had a lot of faith in KB and his approach to the draft. I think we've done very well building a list of quality young players. But only time will tell if this is really the case.

Another difference between Richmond and Swans is that coming out of defence, their players tend to run the ball at the opposition draw players and handpass forward. Either that or use Martin and Houli to hit players short then go into their running game. We do have some success with this model, Harry did it on occassions as did Florent, the difference was the finishing skills of Florent tended to mess up the next phase. Consequently, the ball receiver was either turned around and out of position or under pressure and forced to make a poor decision, i.e. kick long.

Personally, I don't think we'll see too much of Franklin nor Reid this year. As a result we need to develop a strategy like Richmond but be better at executing it. I would stick with this group until Naismith, Melican and Mclean become available then revisit the whole talls argument.

I know Gray had a shocker but so did a number of others. It can happen, lets see if they can lift against quality opposition in Melbourne. I like Fox in the team,he's not a tall but he's tough. He can give Papley support in stirring the muck. Need to get more from Blakey, McCartin, Heeney and Hayward. Dawson needs to have been nursing a footy all week and get back to the form that saw him making headlines last year.

Once again relying on Parker, Hewitt, Papley, Kennedy and Rampe will not win us games merely make us competitive. They must have 17 other blokes working for each other as well.

[Melbourne_Blood]

Gould and melican didn't show much in scratch match. I think there are players struggling across the team. heeney, hayward, blakey, gray, etc. The goal would be to stabilize the team and look for improved performances across the board. Making wholesale changes or throwing in debutants is high risk. Fox is fit, steady, reasonably quick whilst not a superstar. I can see why he is a solid choice. Melican is too slow for North Melbourne and Gould is actually a bit similar.

Ok, you’re the second person on here recently who has said Melican is slow, which is confusing as I recall him being pretty quick and having really good closing speed on the lead. I’m sure it’s a known strength of his.

But It’s been a while since I’ve seen him play so I was starting to question my sanity. Anyway I did some googling, and I found an article from last year. The three highest speed records for swans last year were Franklin ( 35.23 km/ h - not bad for an old boy ! ) Blakey ( 33.98) and, drum roll, my boy Lewis Melican ( 33.7)

He’s quick ! He might look slow sometimes, but the boy can run!


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[longmile]

Ok, you’re the second person on here recently who has said Melican is slow, which is confusing as I recall him being pretty quick and having really good closing speed on the lead. I’m sure it’s a known strength of his.

But It’s been a while since I’ve seen him play so I was starting to question my sanity. Anyway I did some googling, and I found an article from last year. The three highest speed records for swans last year were Franklin ( 35.23 km/ h - not bad for an old boy ! ) Blakey ( 33.98) and, drum roll, my boy Lewis Melican ( 33.7)

He’s quick ! He might look slow sometimes, but the boy can run!


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I don't know if he's slow or not, but he does seem to get burnt on the lead a lot. Not sure if this is situational awareness, pace or something else, but it is an issue I have noticed.

[MattW]

Ok, you’re the second person on here recently who has said Melican is slow, which is confusing as I recall him being pretty quick and having really good closing speed on the lead. I’m sure it’s a known strength of his.

But It’s been a while since I’ve seen him play so I was starting to question my sanity. Anyway I did some googling, and I found an article from last year. The three highest speed records for swans last year were Franklin ( 35.23 km/ h - not bad for an old boy ! ) Blakey ( 33.98) and, drum roll, my boy Lewis Melican ( 33.7)

He’s quick ! He might look slow sometimes, but the boy can run!


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Agreed, my memory is Melican is quick, particularly closing speed, when fit.

[Mel_C]

I like that Hardwick took some ownership for the poor performance.

It was also interesting to see the Hawks bounce back after Clarko sharply criticised them after last week's result.

I didn't like how Clarkson said that Geelong weren't that good. He doesn't give credit to the other team when the Hawks lose. He said the same thing about us a couple of years ago when we beat them. Plus there is the coffee date with Gill!

Anyway back on topic... it's going to be a very wet day tomorrow so it's good that we'll be under the roof.

[MattW]

Disappointing to see a weaker team out on the park this week. Here's hoping Fox plays a blinder but it's disappointing to see him as the player selected and that somehow Melican has not done enough. Still, I don't think Melican should have been rewarded if he hasn't done enough. I guess Fox is a steady hand, who knows how we play and the match committee decided that was the most important thing this week.

I'm not really sure where to post this but it was refreshing to read this morning Dimma's candid comment after their loss (which I didn't see):

"our expectation and the club expectation is our players who pull on the jumper play a hell of a lot better than they did tonight. We've got to coach them better as well."

I like that Hardwick took some ownership for the poor performance.

It was also interesting to see the Hawks bounce back after Clarko sharply criticised them after last week's result.

Sometimes it would be good to see Horse show a bit more of that ruthlessness and also the candour and the responsibility. A different personality I suppose. He likes to keep his cards closer to his chest.

Interesting post.

My predominant reaction to Fox's selection has been the same. But to give it the benefit of the doubt, I think it's designed to give us a bit more pop running it out of defence. Only really Cunningham showed line-breaking speed from there last week. I think Melican is quicker than some do, but he doesn't have Fox's bounce off the mark. Longmire also mentioned Fox has versatility, so we might see him as a marking target in the forward 50 (which has so far worked once: 'the flying fox').

The selection I'm bummed about is McLean. I like McLean - he's hard and can take a contested mark. I think he would have taken the pressure off the other young undersized marking forwards and as a result offered more than Gray. He's obviously on their minds, I just wished they'd made the call.

Agree on Longmire. I found the Q&A exchange about Shaw coaching the number 1 pressure team at this week's presser interesting. John's under a bit of pressure to demonstrate he can still improve players and, in particular, consistently induce them to play intense pressure footy over 4 quarters (and then in consecutive weeks). He talks about the need for that after every loss. It's on him at the end of the day.

- - - Updated - - -

Anyway, go Swans.

[Captain]

I think Fox taking the 2nd or 3rd tall forward might actually be the making of him.

[ernie koala]

I think Fox taking the 2nd or 3rd tall forward might actually be the making of him.

I suspect he'll be playing backup ruckman, which is a role he has played in the past.

Thus leaving Aliir in defence.

[rb4x]

Fox 186cm vs Goldstein 201cm. I don't think that we can expect silver service from that match up.

[aguy]

Maclean in Macinerny out.

Maybe that is a better matchup for the north Melbourne talls

[ugg]

McLean to help Sinkers against Goldstein. Will require some positional reshuffling with McLean having to spend a lot of time forward. Possibly Heeney to the middle but my guess is Blakey to the wing where hopefully he will be a better kick inside fifty than most of the team last week.

[MattW]

I'll try again:

Two late changes for #AFLNorthSwans

NM
Aiden Bonar in for Ben Cunnington

Sydney
Hayden McLean in for Justin McInerney

[SeanM]

I am glad Mclean gets a chance. He looked good last season. Aggressive, fairly mobile, ok skills and can take a mark above his head.

Also I don't think it was sustainable for McCartin to have to be the only tall forward every week.

[longmile]

Good in but a bit harsh on McInerney, thought he was better than a lot of our players last week

[Mel_C]

The selection I'm bummed about is McLean. I like McLean - he's hard and can take a contested mark. I think he would have taken the pressure off the other young undersized marking forwards and as a result offered more than Gray. He's obviously on their minds, I just wished they'd made the call.

The selectors listened to you!