Round 1: Brisbane v Swans @ the Gabba

[mcs]

No passengers. Everyone seemed to play their role.

Sam Reid had his obligatory shank.
Tom Papley was quiet in the first half but exploded in the 3rd quarter to lead the charge. His burst speed opened up the forward line. Looked like he was moved onto the ball.
Warner was my surprise packet.
When we dominated we won most of the centre clearances and those that Brisbane got we largely negated in the 3rd quarter.
Was surprised by Hewett's work across half back and he got better as the game went on. Maybe they now see him as too slow to play midfield given the pace we have injected into the side.
Yes the new boys were impressive but boy doesn't a fit Heeney give us something big up forward. Heeney, McDonald, Wicks, Gulden and Papley make for a very dangerous forward line. Options a plenty.

Just having Heeney back in the team more generally makes us so much more challenging to mark up on. Love watching his "harrier jump jet' impressions - he really does have amazing spring in those legs of his. Great to see him seemingly fully over what was a pretty bad injury by all reports.

[TheBloods]

No passengers. Everyone seemed to play their role.

Sam Reid had his obligatory shank.
Tom Papley was quiet in the first half but exploded in the 3rd quarter to lead the charge. His burst speed opened up the forward line. Looked like he was moved onto the ball.
Warner was my surprise packet.
When we dominated we won most of the centre clearances and those that Brisbane got we largely negated in the 3rd quarter.
Was surprised by Hewett's work across half back and he got better as the game went on. Maybe they now see him as too slow to play midfield given the pace we have injected into the side.
Yes the new boys were impressive but boy doesn't a fit Heeney give us something big up forward. Heeney, McDonald, Wicks, Gulden and Papley make for a very dangerous forward line. Options a plenty.

Its a very hard working forward group. Add Warner who worked his butt off. 1 disposal wasnt enough he would run on to get the second and sometimes the third. Quick enough to burst away. Looked genuinely too explosive for the Brions mids who have been there done that but couldnt handle him.

Work rate is everything

Papley is such a pocket rocket. I said preseason he was our only elite player. If Heeney and mills play like that they will be right with him

[graemed]

Maybe they were worried about the "go home" factor. Seriously though, 8 out of the 22 last night were NSW products.
That is just awesome.

OK Is this the 8?

Gulden, Campbell, Wicks, Heeney, Blackey, Mills (All Academy), Rampe (Sydney local), Cunning (Riverina via Giants)

[liz]

Just having Heeney back in the team more generally makes us so much more challenging to mark up on. Love watching his "harrier jump jet' impressions - he really does have amazing spring in those legs of his. Great to see him seemingly fully over what was a pretty bad injury by all reports.

I love watching him leap too, but I love watching him land even more. He's like a cat. And I especially love it when his landing and next movement become part of the same action, something we were granted the pleasure of a couple of times against the Lions.

[KTigers]

OK Is this the 8?

Gulden, Campbell, Wicks, Heeney, Blakey, Mills (All Academy), Rampe (Sydney local), Cunningham (Riverina via Giants)

Yes.

[graemed]

Everyone has already said much of what needs to be said about this game and the outstanding effort that each player made.
It is easier to set yourself for one game than it is to sustain that same effort and determination over a season.
Kennedy, Parker, Rampe, Cunningham, Hewitt, Reid, Papley, Heeney and Mills have all been there and done that. They understand that to play in finals each game must be won that day.
The youth and vitality on display were invigorating but without the experience of the leaders of this team that 3 goal burst at the start of the match might have exploded into an unattainable lead very quickly.
We have been blessed with great leaders at this club and while it is fantastic to imagine what this new crop may be capable of, it is worth reflecting on how we were able to turn the game on its head, stop the rot and get moving forward. You might recall Kennedy started the game on the bench.

[Roadrunner]

Shane Fell was afflicted with the 5 goals on debut curse...like Ryan Fitzgerald.

Thanks FL- I thought I knew all our players from that era (and before, as I started following South from ‘59) but couldn’t for the the life of me remember him!
On another note, everyone is entitled to an opinion TB, for what it’s worth if you don’t think RB is good enough, kindly keep it to yourself from here on- we’ve heard it often enough!

[Blood Fever]

Thanks FL- I thought I knew all our players from that era (and before, as I started following South from ‘59) but couldn’t for the the life of me remember him!
On another note, everyone is entitled to an opinion TB, for what it’s worth if you don’t think RB is good enough, kindly keep it to yourself from here on- we’ve heard it often enough!

+1 re TB. Also followed South/Swans for the same length of time. Very vague recollections of him - probably linked to how ordinary we were at the time!

[Thunder Shaker]

Thanks FL- I thought I knew all our players from that era (and before, as I started following South from ‘59) but couldn’t for the the life of me remember him!

You're doing very well if you can remember most of the players who have played for the club since 1959. Over 600 players have played for the club in that time (plus a couple of hundred more who were on the list but never got a game).

Shane Fell played only 15 games in the 1990 season. We had seven players who only played games in the 1990 season. The others were Michael Kennedy (15 games), Matthew Ryan (10), Brett Page (1), David Wittey (1), Paul Starbuck (1) and Darren Denneman (3).

[Bangalore Swans]

Watching the game style on Saturday it looked similar to the game style of the 2013-2015 Hawks dynasty.

Good delivery by foot, holding possession of the ball and penetrating left foot kickers streaming through every line.

Great model of football to emulate as holding possession of the ball and moving it quickly (when space is open) allows less contested boundary line football and preserves the health and energy of players.

[barry]

Watching the game style on Saturday it looked similar to the game style of the 2013-2015 Hawks dynasty.

Good delivery by foot, holding possession of the ball and penetrating left foot kickers streaming through every line.

Great model of football to emulate as holding possession of the ball and moving it quickly (when space is open) allows less contested boundary line football and preserves the health and energy of players.

It could be the first time in forever, that an AFL rule change works in our favour.

[stevoswan]

You're doing very well if you can remember most of the players who have played for the club since 1959. Over 600 players have played for the club in that time (plus a couple of hundred more who were on the list but never got a game).

Shane Fell played only 15 games in the 1990 season. We had seven players who only played games in the 1990 season. The others were Michael Kennedy (15 games), Matthew Ryan (10), Brett Page (1), David Wittey (1), Paul Starbuck (1) and Darren Denneman (3).

Paul Starbuck was a fellow local who played for Chewton in the MCDFL (Maryborough/Castlemaine). I played for Maldon, then a powerhouse in the league. I played on him in one game.....and I believe I beat him on the day. He was good (and up himself) but I didn't think he was AFL standard.....which proved to be correct.

[mcs]

Watching the game style on Saturday it looked similar to the game style of the 2013-2015 Hawks dynasty.

Good delivery by foot, holding possession of the ball and penetrating left foot kickers streaming through every line.

Great model of football to emulate as holding possession of the ball and moving it quickly (when space is open) allows less contested boundary line football and preserves the health and energy of players.

While I hate those wees and poos with a vengeance (always will after the disgraceful behaviour of their 'fans' on GF day 2014), I thought exactly the same thing on Saturday night at the game. If we continue to develop on the path we are, we will eventually rip teams apart in a way that the opposition will feel like they haven't touched the ball in the process.

Massive credit has to go to Longmire for the evolution of our approach too - many of us (myself included) have been critical of him at times in recent years, but he is showing an old dog can have new tricks, and you can see in his press conferences etc recently how much of a 'spring' he is starting to get from working with a young group that is 'finding its way' but showing all the signs of becoming a top quality football team sooner rather than later.

I do wonder as others have postulated on here at times, just how much of a bargain we have got with getting Don Pyke into the footy club as an assistant too.

[dimelb]

Massive credit has to go to Longmire for the evolution of our approach too - many of us (myself included) have been critical of him at times in recent years, but he is showing an old dog can have new tricks, and you can see in his press conferences etc recently how much of a 'spring' he is starting to get from working with a young group that is 'finding its way' but showing all the signs of becoming a top quality football team sooner rather than later.

The old dog has a pretty decent bunch of pups!

[KTigers]

Paul Starbuck was a fellow local who played for Chewton in the MCDFL (Maryborough/Castlemaine). I played for Maldon, then a powerhouse in the league. I played on him in one game.....and I believe I beat him on the day. He was good (and up himself) but I didn't think he was AFL standard.....which proved to be correct.

Don't be like that Stevo. I looked him up, he got 11 touches in his one and only game. Legend has it he moved to the US
after his "footy career" finished and apparently has done quite well for himself in the coffee business.