2020 Round 8: Swans v Hawks

[Markwebbos]

Crows ahead of Hawks in their rebuild and expect to have a very strong hand in the draft.

[graemed]

I agree re Taylor - he's a smart player who generally uses the ball well. If we can build his tank he'll be a good value pick up

I’d like to start by saying that on the positive side, Taylor knows how to find the football. Always an important skill. On the other hand, his ability to make sound decisions when in possession worries me. He has a tendency to kick off one step when kicking short and the opposition are ready for him because it goes slow and they cut it off. Turnovers kill you and he has been responsible both by hand and foot a lot. That said he has been improving defensively.
Gray has been unable to find the form that he showed at Port but I have confidence that the Swans staff can find a way to get the best out of him. His best can be very good.
Like Fox off half back but am concerned about the sprain to his wrist that he had in the last quarter.
Rampe must be fit. He, Lloyd and Parker were dynamic. Their ability aside, they are the coolest heads currently in the team and that experience is the catalyst that allows the youngsters the freedom to express themselves.
Rampe’s ability to sum up a situation, take control and make the best choice is placing him the Pendlebury-Ablett league.
Parker is a leader with no fear and a relentless desire to win. Everyone around him walks taller and believes.
I was not a Lloyd fan. I felt he gets easy possessions and often creates pressure for others by his impulsive choices. Yesterday he was brave, disciplined and decisive.
The other senior player to really stand up was Papley. Nearly losing him has us realising how great a talent we had.
Life will not be easy without Kennedy, Franklin, Heeney, Naismith,etc... but from disaster comes opportunities. Rowbottom, E. Taylor, Bell and Ling all made significant steps in their careers.
Whilst Dawson and Blakey gave us glimpses of their potential after disappointing starts to the year and Mills, Cunningham and Allir looked to be slipping into their roles.
I could go on but with Hewitt, Melican and Hayward looking to come back soon, it might be a better year than I predicted.

[dejavoodoo44]

I agree with this and other assessments about Taylor playing okay, while Gray at considerably below the form he showed at PA.

Clarke has been okay, but his lack of pace and ordinary disposal will work against him in the long term when better options for selection are available.

I think Jake Lloyd's 34 disposals is the most for a game this year and his 198 for the season is leading the league. He's also 5th in metres gained. I have no hesitation now saying the Jake is an elite player and a star of the competition. I thought about a move for Jake to the midfield, but he works so well with Rampe in our backline, they really hold the defence together and get the ball moving quickly for the counterattack.

Clarko was amusing talking about how our experienced defence is so hard to score against. But it's really just Rampe and Lloyd. Cunningham played well in defence, but has not been a fixture there and usually plays more as a wingman. With Mills in the midfield there was just Aliir, Fox, Dawson and Ling. You wouldn't say they've played a whole lot together as a group.

Fox has now followed up on his games in defence late in 2019 and seems to have finally found a role that suits him. He's not only a versatile defender, but his skills have always been very good. Also noticed that Fox and ET have the same running style, for whatever it's worth. I can't describe it. You just have to look and see.

Overall, it's good to see the game style continuing to take shape and we can execute even without so many of our best players on the sidelines.

Agree with all that, except for the claim that Clarke lacks pace. According to the tracker, he ran more than any other player yesterday, and when he plays, he's usually in the top five for distance covered. Yesterday he was generally running with either Scully or Smith and probably had more influence than either. So he must have pace, as well as endurance. Although, I suspect that he doesn't see options quickly, which may be why he looks a bit ponderous with ball in hand.

I'm also really liking Lloyd this year. He seems to have added a bit more defensive grunt, to his usual game, of relentlessly getting to contests and providing an option. That providing an option, for an under pressure team mate, was something that all our defenders did well yesterday. Especially Cunningham and Rampe. And of course, Rampe was excellent all round. I'm also sweating on his injury. If he plays on, we've an outside chance of making the eight. If he's out for an extended period, with his hand in plaster; then it's high draft picks, here we come.

Pleased with the debut of Ling and the good form of Fox: as it should give Longmire more confidence to leave Mills in the middle. One thing that I liked about him there, was that the more the game went on, the better he and Rowbottom combined. If they keep playing together, it might be an extremely good combination by the end of the season.

[Ludwig]

Agree with all that, except for the claim that Clarke lacks pace. According to the tracker, he ran more than any other player yesterday, and when he plays, he's usually in the top five for distance covered. Yesterday he was generally running with either Scully or Smith and probably had more influence than either. So he must have pace, as well as endurance. Although, I suspect that he doesn't see options quickly, which may be why he looks a bit ponderous with ball in hand.

Clarke has always been known as a great aerobic runner. If not for that, he probably wouldn't have been drafted. But he is slow to get off the mark in all his movements, so he's always under pressure. He has some good qualities, but when list sizes get cut, it's going to be hard to find room for someone who is primarily a tagger.

[Blood Fever]

Good on Cornes for calling Clarko out, particularly given the serial free milkers and stagers in his own team.

Clarko is facing a long period in the wilderness with pundits unsure who has the worse list, Hawthorn or Adelaide! Will say anything in a presser to deflect from the reality facing him, no quick fixes any more for the Hawks, no longer a destination club, need to grind it out for a few years.

Cornes is annoying at times but he is not a paid up member of the Melbourne Boys Club and therefore rips into guys like Clarkson who has his bum kissed by the Melbourne footy media (and Gil of course)

[Beerman]

+1 to most of what has been said today, particularly about the kids.

I'll add that Blakey had his best game in a while. I think he really benefits from having another tall forward in Reid who competes strongly and takes a bit of the pressure off him. He'll be a great player, but he still only weighs about 80kg and needs time where he's not our main target up forward.

I think the media are onto Clarkson. We all saw how his last coffee with Gil turned out. And first Cornes, now Carey have come out and blasted his comments. I imagine that Horse will be giving him a call today as well in the vein of his conversation with Hardwick.

[Markwebbos]

See Burgoyne has been fined by the MRP for his dangerous tackle on Rbum. Did we even get a free kick at the time, I didn’t think so?

[TheBloods]

See Burgoyne has been fined by the MRP for his dangerous tackle on Rbum. Did we even get a free kick at the time, I didn’t think so?

First saw it and thought Rowbum might've had a concussion issue as he seemed to hit the ground pretty hard. If he did you'd think it would've been worse ramifications for Burgoyne. Although there seems to be one set of rules for Hawthorn and another for everyone else.

[dejavoodoo44]

Clarke has always been known as a great aerobic runner. If not for that, he probably wouldn't have been drafted. But he is slow to get off the mark in all his movements, so he's always under pressure. He has some good qualities, but when list sizes get cut, it's going to be hard to find room for someone who is primarily a tagger.

Mmmm. Once again I'll stick up for Clarke (as I don't think anyone else will). I agree that he's slow off the mark and a bit ungainly with ball in hand. But, he's quick off the mark, when it comes to throwing himself into a contested ball situation and he's quick to shut down an opponent, when they have possession. So, I don't think pace is an issue, it's more that he's not a great reader of the play offensively, and the little bit of thinking music that he needs, decreases the chance of his disposal being effective. I think that reading may improve slightly with consistent game time, which could lead to better disposal; though I don't expect him to become an offensive gun. But I'm happy enough with his gut running, nullifying of an opposition gun, his ability to stick a tackle, his hard ball gets and his occasionally hitting a target.

[Aaron]

See Burgoyne has been fined by the MRP for his dangerous tackle on Rbum. Did we even get a free kick at the time, I didn’t think so?

No. It was play on! Should send a "please Explain" to Clarko.

[Meg]

2020 Round 8: Swans v Hawks

No. It was play on! Should send a "please Explain" to Clarko.

But there was no MRO penalty for the tackle that gave Parker a free kick and goal, so presumably the MRO didn’t classify that tackle as dangerous. So I think we did ok. (As long as Rowbottom is fine.)

[Ralph Dawg]

+1 to most of what has been said today, particularly about the kids.

I'll add that Blakey had his best game in a while. I think he really benefits from having another tall forward in Reid who competes strongly and takes a bit of the pressure off him. He'll be a great player, but he still only weighs about 80kg and needs time where he's not our main target up forward.

I think the media are onto Clarkson. We all saw how his last coffee with Gil turned out. And first Cornes, now Carey have come out and blasted his comments. I imagine that Horse will be giving him a call today as well in the vein of his conversation with Hardwick.

Blakey is just not a key forward. Sure he has the height but does not have the bulk. I don't think he ever will given his bone structure. With his pace and skills, half forward flank and wing is where he should end up and hopefully become one of the elite players in the league.

[graemed]

Blakey is just not a key forward. Sure he has the height but does not have the bulk. I don't think he ever will given his bone structure. With his pace and skills, half forward flank and wing is where he should end up and hopefully become one of the elite players in the league.

I agree. There appears to be a lot of the Robbie Flower about him in terms of build and his assets although they couldn’t be less alike in temperament.

[neilfws]

I hope you made it to the ground, Neil; I've noticed you've watched a few losses live.

Oh I've sat through my share of SCG losses and wins too. But sadly wasn't there for this game.

There were a couple of recent articles in the news suggesting ways to improve TV coverage and I wonder if the networks have taken some of it on board. Because I felt like I was getting more out of the Hawks game on TV this weekend. Not the commentary so much, but I had the impression some of the shots were less tight, so you could see a little more of the general play.

[Mountain Man]

I agree that there were more 'wide' shots, and I prepared to watch (for example) how Mills would move as the clearance played out; but inevitably the shot tightened to a couple of wrestling ruckman, and the melee that developed.