Match Thread. Round 9 v St Kilda.

[MattW]

I agree with you on both counts.

With Bell, I liked his game last week but not so much last night. One of his worst disposals was when he was in the second half, he had the ball in the middle of the ground, had an age to dispose of it, didn't look like he had a clue, and then bunted it 25 metres directly to an opponent. That was depressing.

Conversely, Ling had a mediocre game, made numerous mistakes including being easily beaten in a one on one marking contest with a similarly sized opponent close to goal, but still left me with the impression that there's a fair bit to work with and that his mistakes are fixable. In particular he looked relatively composed when he had the ball, often under a lot of pressure.

I think the mistakes of Bell and Ling to which you refer are both explicable rookie errors they'll learn from.

I think Ling might have expected the free for grabbing in the marking contest; he'll know better what to expect next time.

[stellation]

I think the mistakes of Bell and Ling to which you refer are both explicable rookie errors they'll learn from.

I think Ling might have expected the free for grabbing in the marking contest; he'll know better what to expect next time.

Agreed, they'll both be better for the run.

In the marking contest that Matt lost leading to the Gresham goal it was two relatively young players, but it was also a 2nd gamer up against a guy playing his 89th. No shame there, just keep learning.

[waswan]

From memory Rowy is the only kid put in a midfield role and allowed to stay and develop and surprise surprise it works a treat.

No need to rest anyone this year, put them where they need to be and let them develop.

From ETs old coach, he is a midfielder, sometimes when players look awkward about going or not going for a ball it because they are normally let go to chase it.
We have a few caught between doing a role and actually just getting the bloody ball.

Re Jones, 2nd round pick is always way under for an established player thats why any talk of trading guys out is always silly. The top 5 is where you can guarentee a instant impact player that should play round 1.
However I am happy we got ET with that Jones pick, could have easily been a nothing pick that late.

Whatever anyone thinks about Jones in the mids (i believe he was going anyway), Horse has to have had a thought about how good his clearance game was.

The other thread is all about our trading and draftimg etc, its all null and void if you dont put blokes where they should be.
Jones has left for a payrise and a midfield role, Mills and a few others could easily do the same.
Lastly, after watching Dusty the other night, we need to model Heeneys game on his, start in the middle and go forward as required.

[Blood Fever]

From memory Rowy is the only kid put in a midfield role and allowed to stay and develop and surprise surprise it works a treat.

No need to rest anyone this year, put them where they need to be and let them develop.

From ETs old coach, he is a midfielder, sometimes when players look awkward about going or not going for a ball it because they are normally let go to chase it.
We have a few caught between doing a role and actually just getting the bloody ball.

Re Jones, 2nd round pick is always way under for an established player thats why any talk of trading guys out is always silly. The top 5 is where you can guarentee a instant impact player that should play round 1.
However I am happy we got ET with that Jones pick, could have easily been a nothing pick that late.

Whatever anyone thinks about Jones in the mids (i believe he was going anyway), Horse has to have had a thought about how good his clearance game was.

The other thread is all about our trading and draftimg etc, its all null and void if you dont put blokes where they should be.
Jones has left for a payrise and a midfield role, Mills and a few others could easily do the same.
Lastly, after watching Dusty the other night, we need to model Heeneys game on his, start in the middle and go forward as required.

ET highlight reel at WA junior level was full of brilliant forward line play including goals from all angles. Goes alright there I reckon- just needs time to adapt to pace of the game.And a few more kilos. Agree about role for Heeney. What bothers me about him is that he is too brave for his own good and gets knocked about too much. Maybe play him as Goodes was played at one stage in his career- on a wing with a roaming commission.

[Legs Akimbo]

Play and develop players in their position. That's it John. Develop a team with clear roles and a playing style. I can survive a few years at the bottom of we do that relentlessly. Btw a 'utility player' is a role.

[waswan]

Play and develop players in their position. That's it John. Develop a team with clear roles and a playing style. I can survive a few years at the bottom of we do that relentlessly. Btw a 'utility player' is a role.

Rowy and Floreant are 2 that have always been in their roles and are developing the best.

Blakey isnt a CHF, put him and leave him on the wing, he is better getting exposed from 2 way run then getting embarrassed as a Key forward

Put Wilbur and Paps on the ball, in spurts.

[lwjoyner]

agree with comments re commentators, especially king. things he is the expert on all things. why have 2 of them on tv leave one as specialist and dont talk all the time. Also agree on comments re Lewis Taylor and Gray why o why did we recruit them. Give more kids a go Gould, wicks and leave stephens in team, No real mention of the inexperience and age v saints.
by commentators. Not sure sainmts are that great.

[Blood Fever]

agree with comments re commentators, especially king. things he is the expert on all things. why have 2 of them on tv leave one as specialist and dont talk all the time. Also agree on comments re Lewis Taylor and Gray why o why did we recruit them. Give more kids a go Gould, wicks and leave stephens in team, No real mention of the inexperience and age v saints.
by commentators. Not sure sainmts are that great.

Commentators are becoming redundant for me more and more. Watching game without them much better. Healy is mainly kind to the Swans but thinks he is a guru these days as well.

[royboy42]

Commentators are becoming redundant for me more and more. Watching game without them much better. Healy is mainly kind to the Swans but thinks he is a guru these days as well.

I've reverted to something I did with cricket years ago.
Go to AFL live and select ABC radio commentary.
Spend a few seconds adjusting Fox pic to the ABC sound.
Listen to a reasonably unbiased, knowledgeable call, bereft of 'Back in my day" nonsense.
You even get analysis, why things are done, why they work or don't work'
It's such a relief.

[111431]

I want to like Clarke, but I just can't see what his obvious role in the team is, because he can get it, but is next to useless using it. We aren't at a stage we could have a truly in and under midfielder whose only job literally is to extract and hand it off. Gray simply doesn't seem to get enough of the pill at all.

i'm no great fan of Clarke, particularly when he tries to kick, but he did a good job on Hill who has been carving up other teams with his ability to break the game open

[Markwebbos]

Rowy and Floreant are 2 that have always been in their roles and are developing the best.

Blakey isnt a CHF, put him and leave him on the wing, he is better getting exposed from 2 way run then getting embarrassed as a Key forward

Put Wilbur and Paps on the ball, in spurts.

Florent spent most of 3 years on a wing and is only playing inside recently, which is the path Stephens is on.

Rowbottom is an outlier for the Swans. I really hope they are inspired to try it with a few others.

I don’t know why Hayward got moved forward as I really like him as a rebounder? Or was his man kicking goals and causing Horse to have a meltdown?

[Ludwig]

I've reverted to something I did with cricket years ago.
Go to AFL live and select ABC radio commentary.
Spend a few seconds adjusting Fox pic to the ABC sound.
Listen to a reasonably unbiased, knowledgeable call, bereft of 'Back in my day" nonsense.
You even get analysis, why things are done, why they work or don't work'
It's such a relief.

I once knew an ascetic Buddhist monk who denied himself the pleasure of a night out with Brian Taylor. He never even heard of Australian Football. But I never heard such a story of self-denial coming from a real Aussie.

[MattW]

The questions asked in John's post game presser were particularly uninspired and thus unhelpful: third quarter, playing kids, Papley backing up after death of friend. Questions which beget shallow reporting. No demonstrated insight about the game or team.

With the opportunity to ask an AFL coach about his team after a 50 point loss, they used up 3.5 mins. What's the point?

[TheBloods]

I concur with most of the thoughts posted by others on here. It was a frustrating evening of footy, with such little reward for enormous effort, and then a perhaps cruel punishment in the 4th quarter.

Rampe was sensational. McCartin as a strong presence deep forward makes such a difference. Lloyd was excellent, save for his dinky handball that led to a direct goal.

Rowbottom is a rare find. Inside mid who is as silky as he is tough. His clearance work and tackling pressure were important for us. But he continues to tease. He can only do so much with 16 possessions. Florent lifted at crucial moments. He is digging his heels in when the game is to be won, much like his skipper Parks.

Not sure where Blakey's head is at, or what the purpose of ET is right now when our forward entries are so awful.

[mcs]

I concur with most of the thoughts posted by others on here. It was a frustrating evening of footy, with such little reward for enormous effort, and then a perhaps cruel punishment in the 4th quarter.

Rampe was sensational. McCartin as a strong presence deep forward makes such a difference. Lloyd was excellent, save for his dinky handball that led to a direct goal.

Rowbottom is a rare find. Inside mid who is as silky as he is tough. His clearance work and tackling pressure were important for us. But he continues to tease. He can only do so much with 16 possessions. Florent lifted at crucial moments. He is digging his heels in when the game is to be won, much like his skipper Parks.

Not sure where Blakey's head is at, or what the purpose of ET is right now when our forward entries are so awful.

I don't get how 'Rowbottom' is 'teasing' - or really what that means? Yes he drops in and out of the match in terms of how influential he is - but he has just ~20 AFL games under his belt at this stage. The kid is doing sensationally well - people are setting exceptionally high expectations if they think he will do that consistently through a match at this time of his career. Only an absolute elite few have been able to do it from the get go - i.e. the once in a generation players.

The way to think about it is think where Florent was at 20 games in, or even Joey Kennedy if you want to go back further. Having brief moments here and there, but having nowhere near the influence Rowbottom is already having. And just look at how Florent has developed from there, to becoming an increasingly important part of our midfield around 50 games later.

Rowbottom is getting better experience in the guts then Florent was, so should develop quicker. I think he is doing outstandingly well in a bog average team at the moment, given where he is in his career - and his stats are more than comparable at the some stage to some of the great midfielders of the modern era.

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i'm no great fan of Clarke, particularly when he tries to kick, but he did a good job on Hill who has been carving up other teams with his ability to break the game open

Fair call - and without Hewett in the team, we are short of players that can genuinely tag an opponent out. But Clarke really feels like a short term square peg in a round hole, as I can't see fundmentally how he will be part of our best 22 in say 12 months time even.