2021 pre-season training

[The Runner]

Regarding Rowbottom playing on the "weaker" side.. it's fair to assume there were 3 starting on ball spots in the red and they went to Parker, Kennedy, Mills. Which is reasonable. He's not ahead of them just yet, but may be in the near future

[Nico]

It was a scratch match for goodness sake. The first "match" if you can call it that. Most players are rusty at this stage. It doesn't mean they are unfit.

More concerning that McInenerney didn't play. But then again we tend to introduce some players at different stages of preseason.

[The Runner]

McInerney had a stress fracture in his back to end the season - likely he'll be introduced late in the pre season or during the year off a longer run up

[Mark26]

My prediction is that after all this hoo-ha, Rowbottom (who is an avid reader of RWO) will take out the Brownlow.

[Captain]

So bloody exciting that it looks like Mills will (finally) be played mostly in the midfield.

Will be interesting to see who takes his backline spot. I'm thinking with McCartin and Melican taking the two talls, it could free up Rampe to take the third tall and play that sweeping/intercepting (some might say quarterback ) role.

[Ludwig]

So bloody exciting that it looks like Mills will (finally) be played mostly in the midfield.

Will be interesting to see who takes his backline spot. I'm thinking with McCartin and Melican taking the two talls, it could free up Rampe to take the third tall and play that sweeping/intercepting (some might say quarterback ) role.

I think the Red team from the Saturday practice hitout is the most probable starting back six. Fox is the preferred choice for the last spot over COR, Gould and several others, but there's a lot of competition for that spot. Dawson is also a possibilty.

In a recent interview on SEN, Jake Lloyd described his role as the player with the job of getting free and moving the ball out of the backline, a role some have labeled the quarterback. Rampe likes to play the goalie (he's even willing to climb the goalpost if necessary) if he can drop off his man, which he should be able to do if Melican and McCartin take the 2 top oppo KPDs.

[TheBloods]

Regarding Rowbottom playing on the "weaker" side.. it's fair to assume there were 3 starting on ball spots in the red and they went to Parker, Kennedy, Mills. Which is reasonable. He's not ahead of them just yet, but may be in the near future

That much is true. Rowbottom is a best 22 player but he is not cemented enough that he can afford a slow start to the year, especially with a lengthy queue of young Swans all competing for spots. Although many fans including myself might see Rowbottom as ahead of Stephens , Bell, Warner, Gulden these players, if they perform better in the pre-season then they will steal his spot. I'm not putting a line through his season by any means but he has just squandered one chance to further solidify his place in the team while others have strengthened their claims. So its reasonable to say RB might be on notice over the next couple of weeks

[dejavoodoo44]

I think the Red team from the Saturday practice hitout is the most probable starting back six. Fox is the preferred choice for the last spot over COR, Gould and several others, but there's a lot of competition for that spot. Dawson is also a possibilty.

In a recent interview on SEN, Jake Lloyd described his role as the player with the job of getting free and moving the ball out of the backline, a role some have labeled the quarterback. Rampe likes to play the goalie (he's even willing to climb the goalpost if necessary) if he can drop off his man, which he should be able to do if Melican and McCartin take the 2 top oppo KPDs.

I found it vaguely interesting that Fox was playing in Lewis Taylor's number of 28. At the moment, Taylor seems to be performing the role, that in the past, has been performed by Ronke, Pink and by a few others whose names I can't recall. Which is; the 'does he actually exist' role. Not in any injury reports. Not sighted in any training footage. Doesn't feature in any puff pieces. Certainly not playing any games. Then when you've almost entirely forgotten about them, up they pop in a seconds game, and you go, "Oh, there's whats his name, he does exist!"

Actually, I'm beginning to wonder, if when we got rid of Elijah Taylor, did we inadvertently get rid of Lewis Taylor, as well?

[Markwebbos]

That much is true. Rowbottom is a best 22 player but he is not cemented enough that he can afford a slow start to the year, especially with a lengthy queue of young Swans all competing for spots. Although many fans including myself might see Rowbottom as ahead of Stephens , Bell, Warner, Gulden these players, if they perform better in the pre-season then they will steal his spot. I'm not putting a line through his season by any means but he has just squandered one chance to further solidify his place in the team while others have strengthened their claims. So its reasonable to say RB might be on notice over the next couple of weeks

Yes it’s reasonable that he might be on notice, but just as reasonable that he might not. The proof of the RB will be in the playing. He’s best 22 for mine.

[graemed]

Although RB didn't appear my best 22 from the Match Sim, I was basing that selection on the best 22 from that match. I thought he was behind others in that role on the day.
I still have utmost faith in him, there was too much to like about what he did last year to not forgive a misstep along the way.
On the other hand, I stand by my concerns over fitness: he was second to many contests trailing Kennedy and Parker to the ball, not bursting into contests and missing tackles. His second efforts were a feature of his play but I watched him struggling to get into defensive positions at clearances and did not figure in any attacking moves I witnessed.
If he does not have fitness concerns then I cannot explain why his performance was so lackluster.

[Nico]

Although RB didn't appear my best 22 from the Match Sim, I was basing that selection on the best 22 from that match. I thought he was behind others in that role on the day.
I still have utmost faith in him, there was too much to like about what he did last year to not forgive a misstep along the way.
On the other hand, I stand by my concerns over fitness: he was second to many contests trailing Kennedy and Parker to the ball, not bursting into contests and missing tackles. His second efforts were a feature of his play but I watched him struggling to get into defensive positions at clearances and did not figure in any attacking moves I witnessed.
If he does not have fitness concerns then I cannot explain why his performance was so lackluster.

Scratch match. Hasn't found his touch yet.

How many years have people been saying "Kennedy is struggling this year", only to find his mojo at about Round 3.

[wolftone57]

It was a scratch match for goodness sake. The first "match" if you can call it that. Most players are rusty at this stage. It doesn't mean they are unfit.

More concerning that McInenerney didn't play. But then again we tend to introduce some players at different stages of preseason.

He had some back soreness over the break. They have him on a manage the damage program.

Sent from my JAT-L29 using Tapatalk

[707]

Is that Paddy McCartin taking a high mark in the latest training pics?

[liz]

Is that Paddy McCartin taking a high mark in the latest training pics?

I suspect you're talking about the photos posted a couple of days ago, rather than the ones that have appeared this afternoon. Paddy Mac was captured in a couple of those photos (confirmed by the accompanying captions).

Whoever took today's pictures (or at least, whoever selected the photos for the website) seems to have a bit of a Buddy obsession. I reckon around half of them are of Buddy, and half of the rest are of Heeney grinning.

[707]

I suspect you're talking about the photos posted a couple of days ago, rather than the ones that have appeared this afternoon. Paddy Mac was captured in a couple of those photos (confirmed by the accompanying captions).

Whoever took today's pictures (or at least, whoever selected the photos for the website) seems to have a bit of a Buddy obsession. I reckon around half of them are of Buddy, and half of the rest are of Heeney grinning.

Correct Liz, I'm well behind in looking at stuff! Agree today's pics are a lot of rubbish :-)