Rnd.3 V Richmond.

[dejavoodoo44]

And it turns out his mum is a hairdresser and she cuts his hair. ????

Which I suppose is a good excuse. Though I'm not sure if I'd call it rock star hair? Perhaps 1980s new romantic band hair; but not the pretty boys who got to sing and play guitar, more the drummer or bassist at the back of the stage. Or maybe a member of a boy band, who was known as, the one with the personality.

But anyway, football wise, he's looking like a genuine star, and I've been really surprised just how dynamic and creative he's been with the ball.

[stevoswan]

Blakey

Yep, I agree.

[TheBloods]

You are an enigma TB. You have little to no faith in some kids (one in particular) yet astounding levels of faith in others

Im not sure i would change a winning formula. I would like to see Stephens get senior games though, and think he could be handy on the expanse of the G. But i think you are getting ahead of yourself if you think young Dylan will be the difference between us winning and losing this week. Its going to be a tough game. Cant wait.

There is nothing enigmatic about it. Stephens is best 22, get our best team out there and id back em in against anyone

[MattW]

Melbourne members could buy tickets as an away member. The club sent me an email with my barcode which I used. Your barcode would not have been recognised by Ticketek. As a Sydney based member you would have needed to buy after midday as general public.

Away Melbourne members were the last category to buy before the general public, hence we were shunted to the forward pocket as usual.

Of course Covid is the excuse why we didn't get seasons tickets this year. when really it is cost cutting at club level and money making for the AFL and Ticketek. You can't even stand at the footy any more. So many complaints on SEN last week and this week with people losing interest in going for heaps of reasons. This might just back fire on the AFL.

I've got Vic Gold, despite living in Canberra, as it's the cheapest way to access Premiership Club given I can only get up to Sydney for 3 days a year.

Anyway, I won't be at the game on Saturday so happy to share my barcode. PM me, if interested.

[RogueSwan]

She should be fired

Luckily some of the worst heads of hair have made for some of the greatest players. Doull comes to mind. ...

Bont, Dusty in recent times . Heres hoping Chad

Fyfe...


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[SwanSand]

Last time we played Richmond, leaving aside the wet nature of the game, we were relatively slow in the midfield - Sam Gray and Ryan Clarke played the game. This year we are certainly fast and can cover and create well. I am hoping we can use the width of the MCG to create some run on the outside and switch plays with our pin point kicking. It’s hard to believe but Campbell in his third game and Dawson from Halfback are going to be the most important. I reckon they will try to neutralise Dawson by making him accountable. If somehow we can maintain our shape going forward and keep the link between our back half and middle, we are in with a chance. The difference between us and the top teams is not much.

[Aprilbr]

I expect that Richmond will look to place a lot of physical pressure on our young guys using their well developed bodies and experience. The Swans youngsters will be given little time and space to utilise their good kicking skills. McDonald will cop a lot of body work and wacks when he goes for marks. So the challenge for us will be to persist with our game plan of run and quick movement. They will be trying to wear us down over the game. We have shown a tendency to start and finish games badly. Richmond will try to exploit those types of lapses. I think that its great we are playing them now as we will learn a lot from the game regardless of how it goes. Nobody expects us to win (look at the betting odds) so we can play without the weight of expectation.

[Aaron]

Just re-watched the Tigers-Swans Game last year (Round 6). The Team Lists were:

Tigers
[35] Nathan Broad, [2] Dylan Grimes, [21] Noah Balta
[15] Jayden Short, [1] Nick Vlastuin, [7] Liam Baker
[33] Kamdyn McIntosh, [29] Shai Bolton, [22] Josh Caddy
[39] Jake Aarts, [17] Daniel Rioli, [11] Jason Castagna
[4] Dustin Martin, [19] Tom J. Lynch, [8] Jack Riewoldt

[20] Ivan Soldo, [50] Marlion Pickett, [23] Kane Lambert

[13] Jack Higgins, [34] Jack Graham, [41] Mabior Chol, [43] Derek Eggmolesse-Smith
--
Swans
[14] Callum Mills, [24] Dane Rampe, [42] Robbie Fox
[44] Jake Lloyd, [34] Jordan Dawson, [4] Ryan Clarke
[7] Harry Cunningham, [26] Luke Parker, [29] George Hewett
[1] Chad Warner, [5] Isaac Heeney, [9] Will Hayward
[3] Dylan Stephens, [22] Nick Blakey, [11] Tom Papley

[41] Hayden McLean, [12] Josh P. Kennedy, [8] James Rowbottom

[13] Oliver Florent, [15] Sam Gray, [33] Ryley Stoddart, [38] Colin O'Riordan

The result was close with Tigers 4.10.34 beating Swans 3.8.26.

Swans played unexpectedly well to contain the Tigers given Kennedy was injured early and played only 9% of time , Heenly hurt his ankle later and Allir was surprisingly omitted. The Swans will have at least 7 or even up to 9 changes this year with lots of better players, particularly attacking weapons coming in. However, the one I would miss is Fox who played bravely and well. Interestingly, it was actually the debut game of both Stephens and Warner. Stephens was competitive with quite a few disposals. I don't mind selecting Stephens for this week again and surely he will improve a lot. We did not play a hard tag on Dusty but kept our system team defence. Anyway he was not playing as good as the first 2 rounds this year.

I think it is a good time to test ourselves with the best. Our young players can learn fast and continue to improve and our coaches can refine our game plans for the long season. I definitely think that Buddy should play IF he is fit although there is only a 5 day break before the next game. Swans always play to win and should always pick the best team possible. If Buddy would become too tired for the Bombers, then rest him by then but not now.

Expecting a good fight and there is a good chance tha we can WIN.

[Thunder Shaker]

Posted in another thread:

There was an interesting segment on AFL360 this evening, highlighting the Richmond team-defence method. The gist of it was that when the opposition has the ball in the back half of the ground, Richmond allows them to have a free player, usually wide, that they can execute a simple short kick to. And then another. As a result, the stats say that they concede a lot of uncontested marks. But while they are allowing the opposition to slowly zigzag the ball up the ground with those short, uncontested kick and marks, the team is moving back and creating an almost impenetrable web in its defensive third of the ground. As soon as the opposition approaches its forward zone, it finds the free targets have dried up, and launches a long kick to a contest that Richmond's web gobbles up, and then, whoosh, they rush the ball down the other end and invariably score.

The panel (largely David King) was daring the Swans to ignore the easy get out kicks that the Tigers will offer up, and to take the risks that we've been taking thus far, moving the ball quickly even if it sometimes comes unstuck.

Long kicking may be a potent weapon against Richmond. A long kick to a contest inside 50 may turn out to be a better option than a short uncontested kick. If Richmond wins the contest, a lot of Swans will still be downfield, and if Sydney wins the contest, it's a shot at goal.

Some statistics that I found interesting:

Inside 50s, round 1:
* Richmond 75 for 15:15 (20% inside 50s resulted in goals) (30 scores, 40% inside 50s resulted in a score), Carlton 41 for 11:14 (27%) (25 scores, 61%).
* Brisbane 57 for 14:10 (25%) (25 scores, 44%), Sydney 59 for 19:11 (32%) (30 scores, 51%).

Inside 50s, round 2:
* Sydney 61 for 18:13 (30%) (31 scores, 51%), Adelaide 55 for 11:22 (20%) (33 scores, 60%).
* Hawthorn 45 for 7:7 (16%) (14 scores, 31%), Richmond 58 for 11:12 (19%) (23 scores, 40%).

Richmond won both games with a lot of inside 50s despite a low conversion rate of inside 50s to scores (40% in both games) and goals (20% and 19%).
Sydney won both games with good accuracy in front of goal and a higher conversion rate of inside 50s to goals than the opposition (32% and 30%).

Richmond will be wanting to decrease Sydney's scoring by decreasing Sydney's inside 50s and conversion accuracy. Sydney will want to reduce Richmond's scoring by reducing Richmond's opportunities. It should be a fascinating game regardless of the result. If we can stifle Richmond's rebound play, we should be in with a chance.

Last time the sides met: Richmond 4:10 (34) defeated Sydney 3.8 (26). This was Richmond's lowest score since round 19, 2016 when they were flogged by GWS, 17.9 (111) to 3.5 (23).

[aardvark]

Article in the Age today where Jake Lloyd says Buddy will play against Richmond.

[Swansongster]

I expect that Richmond will look to place a lot of physical pressure on our young guys using their well developed bodies and experience. The Swans youngsters will be given little time and space to utilise their good kicking skills. McDonald will cop a lot of body work and wacks when he goes for marks. So the challenge for us will be to persist with our game plan of run and quick movement. They will be trying to wear us down over the game. We have shown a tendency to start and finish games badly. Richmond will try to exploit those types of lapses. I think that its great we are playing them now as we will learn a lot from the game regardless of how it goes. Nobody expects us to win (look at the betting odds) so we can play without the weight of expectation.

I will be taking a nibble at the odds. Richmond are a seriously good side but the price being offered at the moment ($4.75) is way overs. There is usually a flurry of money (and therefore odds changes) after teams are announced. So the big question for me is whether the odds will drift or firm?
Disclaimer: Only bet what you can afford to lose.

[jono2707]

SMH now reporting that Buddy's out.

[aardvark]

Why Don Pyke and the Swans is the “perfect marriage”

[liz]

SMH now reporting that Buddy's out.

Same "news" on the AFL site.

Buddy blow: Franklin out of Swans' clash with Richmond

[neilfws]

Article in the Age today where Jake Lloyd says Buddy will play against Richmond.

Bit confused by that article:

There had been mixed reports out of the Swans camp on Thursday morning over the four-time Coleman Medallist’s availability but the mystery is over.

All Lloyd is quoted as saying is "We’re looking forward to running out alongside him again." Nowhere does he say "on Saturday". Trying to make something out of nothing there, I think.