Round 12: Swans v Giants in Perth

[SwanSand]

Even though the glass feels half full at the moment with that performance, the performance was also aided by very poor GWS side and very poor adjustment by Leon Cameron in the coaching box to Longmire’s plan.Forward half defense and good two way running wingman helped nullify their strengths.
I think we have recruited well with 2 way Fast runners over last 3 drafts.
But elite kickers with great vision are what we need to perform to high standards on a regular basis. Development this and next year followed by astute trading in 2022 will get us in contention.

[dejavoodoo44]

I think the game has opened up a whole new realm of possibilities for the swans. For example:

1. A hard running two way young midfield can burn off an older more fancied midfield
2. The old swans brand of tackle and turnover still has merit. Longmire commented that he felt they were starting to get a better balance.
3. Forward defensive pressure counts. For example, based on the swans own stats, wicks had the highest number of pressure acts and caused the most turnovers in the team. Yet he hardly touched the ball. Hayward did an amazing job on Haynes keeping him to 7 disposals. Having the genuine defensive forwards killed off GWS ability to rebound from the backline and nullified players like whitfield
4. The forwards don't need to score. The forwards had a low number of possessions and didn't score many goals. Rather they nullfied GWS defensive rebound, keeping the ball inside 50 and enabling the gut running mids; rowbottom, bell, stephens etc to blast through the corridor.

I don't know how this plan would hold up against teams that are not as lazy as GWS, but it is definitely a plan worth exploring!

Yes, Wicks does have excellent pressure skills, and his second and third efforts are impressive. Though the one that I've really been noticing is Bell. It seems to me, that if he's in the area, then it's very rare for the opposition to get a clean disposal away. He's lightning quick over the first 5 or 10 metres and he hits the ball carrier hard. Consequently, a lot their kicks and handballs don't go where they're supposed to. A few of our goals against the Giants, were a result of turnovers caused by Bell.

[RogueSwan]

These are the votes for the Brett Kirk Medal:

...
Vince Rugari, Sydney Morning Herald:

3 James Rowbottom
2 Nick Blakey
1 Luke Parker

The only one close to getting it right

[TheBloods]

The only one close to getting it right

You don't think Parker was BOG?

[RogueSwan]

You don't think Parker was BOG?

Parks was probably just ahead of Paddlebum IMO.
My point was more that this was the only journalist to include Rowbottom.

[TheBloods]

Parks was probably just ahead of Paddlebum IMO.
My point was more that this was the only journalist to include Rowbottom.

His first quarter was enormous. Faded somewhat after that. As expected the four quarter performances came from the mature heads: Parker, Rampe, Mills, Lloyd and, surprisingly, Melican.