Swans vs Giants Solitary Pre-season Match

[Ralph Dawg]

Good hitout. Joey lifted and got the team into it in the third. Parker a threat up forward. They still need more help.

Blakey just a tease, Hayward did nothing, Rowbottom overtaken by Warner, Melican needs a GPS

Hewett didn't offer much but will be better for the run. So will Heeney. Rampe made a dogs dinner out of every possession he had. Expected. First game since August of last year.

3 recent draftees all excellent.

I don't think Warner playing excludes RB. There is room for both, especially with Parker playing forward and all of the youngsters able to play multiple roles, either on the outside or up forward.

[Bexl]

I don't think there are alternatives for his role. Who else would you play at full forward?

I dont think he is a full forward and for most of his career has not played as one. last year in an attempt for him to gain form be played in the back half and looked alright. As for playing out of full forward you could rotate Heeney Reid and Parker down there as they are all decent marks and with less rotations and a perceived improved mid field depth mids like Parker can do this

[NeonBible]

Rowbottom 17 disposals 6 tackles 3 clearances

Warner 19 disposals 3 tackles 4 clearances


BOTH had good games. Oh yeah Rowbottom also kicked 2 goals

You remind me of a trump supporter just looking for reasons that defy logic.

Why do we bother taking the bait ? Its just silly. There is no way Rowbottom is dropped after his game today. Period.

[Blood Fever]

ooo that's interesting, really creatures pressure on the best 22

He also mentioned how they're looking to use Hewett down back..Coach loves George!

[mcs]

+1 Do you think he believes what he posts or is just trying to get a reaction from everyone else?

Its like everything old is new again....Matt80 come on down

It really does feel like there is a back story in there somewhere..... he could have a Mitchell 57 posession game and I still feel like there would be complaints heading his way for this, that or something else.

I look forward to reading your concessions when Rowbottom is named in the round 1 team. No way he doesn't play after this afternoon. You are eager to pit young players against each other. Why can't Warner have a good game without Rowbottom somehow being punished for it? I trust that our coach will find a way to fit BOTH young guns in the team for round 1.

I don't see it necessarily as a direct competition between the two at all - at least not in the medium term. I think they'll both be named for Rd 1 - I wanted to see Warner back up what he did last week and he definitely did that today. Rowbottom showed good improvement over a bit of a sluggish performance at times last week. Again, I get a feeling he is one that may have that ability to 'turn it on' come the real footy, and today was a good step up from last week.

While we may well go in with '1 midfielder too many' compared to traditional wisdom, I would not be suprised if we aren't the only ones to do it across the league, as everyone fully nails down the implications during the early rounds of longer quarters then last year combined with lower interchange.

Great to see Wicks have a good game today - love his effort and commitment, and definitely what we need in the forward line. And McDonald showed on a couple of occasions exactly why he has a huge potential future in front of him. I'm not convinced they will pick him for Rd 1, though on pre-season, one could mount an argument that Reid should be under serious pressure for his place in the 22.

Some really interesting selection conundrums to come, and looking forward to seeing what team we put out for Rd 1 - and even better, looking forward to being at the Gabba to watch us play (Not that I expect us to win, but can't wait to see the first steps in the next stage of our development).

[Ludwig]

Longmire's post match interview reflects my feelings and what I said in my previous comment, that we have some things to work through and it's going to take some time testing out various options and see what works best.

I don't like Hayward playing full forward. He's done his best work up the ground and is better suited to play a high HF running on the wing. It wasn't too bright of us to bomb the ball long deep in our forward line when we were clearly outsized. If we want to replace Hayward, Sam Wicks would be my choice. For round 1 we might try a forward line of Reid, McDonald, Heeney, Papley, Gulden and Wicks.

I think it's worth exploring playing Kennedy and Parker more in the forward line, and Heeney more in the midfield. Florent looked good on-ball; RB and Warner can also play big minutes at the stoppages. It's a different look than the past, but I'm liking the development of our on-ball brigade.

We did miss Mills down back today, but I wouldn't consider shifting him out of the midfield. We need to find the player to do that role. With Aliir gone, it was even more evident that we need that intercept marker who reads the play well. We tried Hewett; it might work. Dawson can develop more in that role as well. I'm hoping though that it will come from Gould or COR.

I'd love to get a report on the reserves game. I wonder how McLean and Amartey went. They sound like they're improving and hope it's good enough where they can take on a KPP role at either end of the ground.

[mcs]

Longmire's post match interview reflects my feelings and what I said in my previous comment, that we have some things to work through and it's going to take some time testing out various options and see what works best.

I don't like Hayward playing full forward. He's done his best work up the ground and is better suited to play a high HF running on the wing. It wasn't too bright of us to bomb the ball long deep in our forward line when we were clearly outsized. If we want to replace Hayward, Sam Wicks would be my choice. For round 1 we might try a forward line of Reid, McDonald, Heeney, Papley, Gulden and Wicks.

I think it's worth exploring playing Kennedy and Parker more in the forward line, and Heeney more in the midfield. Florent looked good on-ball; RB and Warner can also play big minutes at the stoppages. It's a different look than the past, but I'm liking the development of our on-ball brigade.

We did miss Mills down back today, but I wouldn't consider shifting him out of the midfield. We need to find the player to do that role. With Aliir gone, it was even more evident that we need that intercept marker who reads the play well. We tried Hewett; it might work. Dawson can develop more in that role as well. I'm hoping though that it will come from Gould or COR.

I'd love to get a report on the reserves game. I wonder how McLean and Amartey went. They sound like they're improving and hope it's good enough where they can take on a KPP role at either end of the ground.

Will have to catch the press conference when I get a chance - sounds like he had some interesting things to say.

I was told off by some on here as almost 'writing off' JPK by suggesting that he might need an extra string in his bow in coming years - I tend to agree with your suggestion, but expect it will be Parker that spends more time in the forward line then Kennedy. But definitely feel like we will see a bit of that move with one of them, both being senior players that can play high % of game minutes, and still be effective when resting up forward etc.

[Nico]

Thought RB was impressive. Tough competition for spots though and with Joey, Parker, Mills and Florent ahead of him on the inside, Blakey, McInerney and Stephens ahead of him on the outside, there's only one midfield opening left. That spot was up for grabs today and I thought Warner the better of the two. This is the whole premise of having depth, to have decent players who find themselves stiff to miss out on spots. Richmond have this problem every week every year.

Florent is an outside mid. Not strong enough to be inside.

[mariachi]

I wonder if Reid might eventually become the modern LRT, drifting around the play providing a chop out in the ruck, a marking option down the line or popping up at either end to take a grab or spoil an attacker.

[Nico]

I'm more optimistic on Hayward than most others on this site. He had a really tough match up today, in a role he's learning.
I think we should wait til round 5-6 to really judge him. He deserves some time in the role with a few other talls around him.

Melican on the other hand.. I think it's just a mix of hoping he comes good, and not having great alternatives

I heard similar comments on Hayward last year. He has trouble stringing together one game let alone several.

[Syd76]

Runner Agree with a lot of what you said apart from the following:

Hewett: IS a good user of the ball. He will take a few more games to get in
Mills: will take a long time to adjust to the new role. Maybe the Swans have burned him as a midfielder. Looked slow - he looks a lot better when he has an opportunity to read the play rather than make the play.
Ling: Needs to show more to get into the team. I think that Campbell will have him covered for a spot.
Hickey: I am a sceptic, but did ok today THOUGH he wasn't up against much. If he played like he did today against a Nic Nat/Grundy/Gawn/Goldstein then I will eat my words. An improvement on last year sure... but just about any ruckman would be on what we had last year. Still don't think the trading of AA was a smart move (but am over it).
Cunningham: He does burn it but has elite speed, so not sure if he will be in our next premiership side. You may be right.

Furthermore on what I have seen, Bell, Clarke and Melican will struggle to be in on the list next year

[Nico]

I dont think he is a full forward and for most of his career has not played as one. last year in an attempt for him to gain form be played in the back half and looked alright. As for playing out of full forward you could rotate Heeney Reid and Parker down there as they are all decent marks and with less rotations and a perceived improved mid field depth mids like Parker can do this

The reason he played ok down back last year is because he couldn't avoid the footy.

[Ludwig]

I was told off by some on here as almost 'writing off' JPK by suggesting that he might need an extra string in his bow in coming years - I tend to agree with your suggestion, but expect it will be Parker that spends more time in the forward line then Kennedy. But definitely feel like we will see a bit of that move with one of them, both being senior players that can play high % of game minutes, and still be effective when resting up forward etc.

I think Kennedy played FF as a junior. He and Parker are both difficult matchups when playing forward, and both are good kicks for goal. I'm looking for some options that will allow Heeney and Hayward to spend more time through the midfield.

[i'm-uninformed2]

One thing today showed is how much we miss Mills' smarts down back. We got leaky at key stages.

Now don't get me wrong. This is simply a compliment to his brains and courage as a footballer. I want him in the middle. But we'll need to work out how to match his direction and intercept play down there.

It's also a sign of how is list is developing. The idea in 2023-24 we'll have a mix through the arcs comprising Mills, Blakey, Warner, Rowbottom, Stephens, McInerney, Heeney, Gulden, Campbell, Florent, Dawson and whatever else emerges is fantastic.

But we're still a bit light on for spine, and need someone like Gould to kick in as a third/fourth tall.

[Captain]

Pretty impressed with that hit out.

Our young players give me a lot of excitement. Warner, Campbell, Gulden, Rowbottom, Florent, Wicks, McDonald all showing a bit.

Not sure on some posters hate of Cunningham. Totally not deserved and complete BS. Next they will be hating Rampe who played a shocker.

As for the more experienced players. Parker needs to play more forward this year. Heeney needs to lift and become the superstar we are desperate for. Same with Mills. Hickey is a journeyman and was destroyed by some kids. JPK is looking old.