Changes for Round 11 v Carlton

[TheBloods]

If the selectors dont drop Blakey they need to take a good look at themselves and where they want to take this team. This kid has played 46 games and who can honestly say with a straight face how many of those 46 were actually good ? Anyone who says over 10 is absolutely lying. The writing's on the wall , if you are nearly 50 games into your career and about two thirds of them have been no good , then you're no good ! Take off the rose coloured glasses and imagine he was from an opposition team , we would be thanking heavens that we dodged a bullet not taking him in the draft because he's a bust !

Hes signed til 2024 . Big mistake imho but its done now . Keep him on the list , let him try and improve and hope he can overcome very obvious odds that suggest he'll be a bust. Until then keep him as FAR AWAY as possible from our AFL side ! He is NOT AFL standard right now ! He is barely reserves standard !!

[Ruck'n'Roll]

McLean did go into the ruck against Darcy at one stage but failed to get a hitout.

I was beginning to think he had a note from his mum.
Not surprising he was unsuccessful against Darcy, but maybe he could take on relieving rucks?

Agree about Scottee's comment on BigMac's current lack of a ground game, but hopefully that can be worked on. Less confident on redressing the lack of speed and agility.

[Bangalore Swans]

I'd be dropping Blakey back to the academy.

What is it with Blakey that is upsetting so many Swans fans? When your at the SCG you can feel the lack of crowd love towards Blakey.

He seems like the perfect player that a Swans crowd would love:

- Great potential
- Great mullet
- Went to Waverley College
- Played his junior AFL in the Eastern Suburbs
- His father was a longtime coach at the club
- Is fast with magic skills

Help my understand the negativity towards this player?

I was critical of Blakey in an earlier post but my post was attempting to be constructive.

[TheBloods]

What is it with Blakey that is upsetting so many Swans fans? When your at the SCG you can feel the lack of crowd love towards Blakey.

He seems like the perfect player that a Swans crowd would love:

- Great potential
- Great mullet
- Went to Waverley College
- Played his junior AFL in the Eastern Suburbs
- His father was a longtime coach at the club
- Is fast with magic skills

Help my understand the negativity towards this player?

I was critical of Blakey in an earlier post but my post was attempting to be constructive.

Mate have you been to the scg ? We dont give a stuff about his mullet or where he played junior or went to high school ! That is the elitist @@@@ you'd expect from the Demons supporters sipping their chardonnays ! TRUE bloods fans have always admired the hard workers and the team lifters ! We dont wanna see a bloke running around out there like a peacock thinking hes the number 1 pick then stuffing it up ! If you are gonna carry on on the field you gotta be able to back it up with pure talent - Jmac, Chad these boys always get the SCG going with their energy and huge plays at crucial moments. We love THEM ! We cheer Blakey on and want him to succeed just as much as them but unfortunately he gives us more facepalms than reasons to cheer !

[Bangalore Swans]

Mate have you been to the scg ? We dont give a stuff about his mullet or where he played junior or went to high school ! That is the elitist @@@@ you'd expect from the Demons supporters sipping their chardonnays ! TRUE bloods fans have always admired the hard workers and the team lifters ! We dont wanna see a bloke running around out there like a peacock thinking hes the number 1 pick then stuffing it up ! If you are gonna carry on on the field you gotta be able to back it up with pure talent - Jmac, Chad these boys always get the SCG going with their energy and huge plays at crucial moments. We love THEM ! We cheer Blakey on and want him to succeed just as much as them but unfortunately he gives us more facepalms than reasons to cheer !

Yes I have been to the SCG on a few occasions. When they introduce the players on the scoreboard Blakey gets the softest acknowledgement. Wherever I sit there is always seems to be someone sitting close by who is critical of Blakey.

I have been accused of being elitist sometimes and that’s ok.

I was saying that Blakey is as local a product as you can find. He probably grew up playing, schooling and living within 15 minutes drive of the SCG. His father worked in the building.

That should mean something to Swans fans, just like it means something to Man U fans when the kid from the suburbs of Manchester plays for Man U.

Do you have evidence that Blakey is running around the field with arrogance like he’s the number one pick?

I see Blakey as a player who is giving effort. He gets in to make his tackles. He seems (in my opinion) to be trying to impress and do too much. I think he just needs to calm down and see an easy option.

Most people like a good Mullet I would say.

[Bexl]

What is it with Blakey that is upsetting so many Swans fans? When your at the SCG you can feel the lack of crowd love towards Blakey.

He seems like the perfect player that a Swans crowd would love:

- Great potential
- Great mullet
- Went to Waverley College
- Played his junior AFL in the Eastern Suburbs
- His father was a longtime coach at the club
- Is fast with magic skills

Help my understand the negativity towards this player?

I was critical of Blakey in an earlier post but my post was attempting to be constructive.

For the odd person with Blakey it's personal but for 99% of fellow swannies people I think it's just he's not living up to his potential and while he does have ability doesn't seem to have a very good football intelligence and decision making is not great so he needs to really improved and get consistent otherwise it's quite possibly he won't have a future at Sydney. hope he improves because he could be very good but he is just not showing it.

[chalbilto]

The coaching staff would be well aware of how Blakey is performing and I am sure that they implement a plan to rectify his current form. Obviously he has a lot of talent and has shown glimpses of ability which has unfortunately has not been consistent, and I for one am not throwing him on the scrap heap. Lately he seems to be trying too hard for the perfect play, perfect pass, perfect kick etc instead of probably playing the percentages. That is why I believe the coaching staff will work with him to get to the standard that we think or hope that he will achieve.

[NeonBible]

Mate have you been to the scg ? We dont give a stuff about his mullet or where he played junior or went to high school ! That is the elitist @@@@ you'd expect from the Demons supporters sipping their chardonnays ! TRUE bloods fans have always admired the hard workers and the team lifters ! We dont wanna see a bloke running around out there like a peacock thinking hes the number 1 pick then stuffing it up ! If you are gonna carry on on the field you gotta be able to back it up with pure talent - Jmac, Chad these boys always get the SCG going with their energy and huge plays at crucial moments. We love THEM ! We cheer Blakey on and want him to succeed just as much as them but unfortunately he gives us more facepalms than reasons to cheer !

'Cult of personality' its an interesting thing isnt it? Those players you mentioned certainly have it. Its something we haven't always had a lot of! Many years we often had humble honest players surrounding one marquee player (Capper, Plugger, Hall, Goodes, Buddy) But with the next generation it appears there's been an injection of character into the lineup! Chad plays with such dare and ballsiness! Nothing in his path can stop him once he decides to take it on!! McInerney has the flair of a 200 gamer! And a great sense of theatre! His celebrations are wild and full of swagger!! He is not afraid to make the moment about himself and I bet the crowd do love that! Tommy Papley is the ultimate celebrator and villain that opposition teams love to hate! Even little Errol Gulden has a bit of mongrel in him! I pity the fool who underestimates him because of his size! I reckon hes got a bit of bite to his bark!!

It is one thing i reckon your nemesis Jimmy Rowbottom could work on to improve his game. He needs to play with a bit more ego!! I know James' family quite well and have met him on a number of occasions now. Hes a very kind and understated young man. Wouldnt hurt a fly and doesnt chase attention. I wonder if this modesty has crept into his game on the field ?? Maybe he needs to get a little 'meaner'? He is certainly hard as nails, even you wouldnt argue with that, TB. But he is a bit too "nice" for a young player who wants to play as a midfielder and a leader! You made a good point, a rare one that i agree with, that he is selfless, he does give the ball off to a teammate more often than not and leaves the ball for a teammate to win. Its not the same "see ball get ball" hunger that you see in Chad. He needs to back himself in more! He is in the team for a reason! He was taken at pick 26 for a reason!!

Even when he kicked that great goal on the weekend, he did one fist pump, high-fived about three players and then straightened himself up and ran back to the centre. No Paddlebum!! Take that moment to fire yourself and your teammates up!! Get the supporters in the crowd to fire up!! Make it a team lifting moment!! He did the exact same thing a few weeks ago when he kicked a very important goal against Geelong late in the game.. treated it like it was back to business when we needed the team to lift and build! (Luckily they did through Paps' matchwinner!!) He just doesnt appear to have that arrogance in his game thats needed to make a talented player become a special player .. if he can find it .. then i reckon he could prove you wrong, TB.

[111431]

'Cult of personality' its an interesting thing isnt it? Those players you mentioned certainly have it. Its something we haven't always had a lot of! Many years we often had humble honest players surrounding one marquee player (Capper, Plugger, Hall, Goodes, Buddy) But with the next generation it appears there's been an injection of character into the lineup! Chad plays with such dare and ballsiness! Nothing in his path can stop him once he decides to take it on!! McInerney has the flair of a 200 gamer! And a great sense of theatre! His celebrations are wild and full of swagger!! He is not afraid to make the moment about himself and I bet the crowd do love that! Tommy Papley is the ultimate celebrator and villain that opposition teams love to hate! Even little Errol Gulden has a bit of mongrel in him! I pity the fool who underestimates him because of his size! I reckon hes got a bit of bite to his bark!!

It is one thing i reckon your nemesis Jimmy Rowbottom could work on to improve his game. He needs to play with a bit more ego!! I know James' family quite well and have met him on a number of occasions now. Hes a very kind and understated young man. Wouldnt hurt a fly and doesnt chase attention. I wonder if this modesty has crept into his game on the field ?? Maybe he needs to get a little 'meaner'? He is certainly hard as nails, even you wouldnt argue with that, TB. But he is a bit too "nice" for a young player who wants to play as a midfielder and a leader! You made a good point, a rare one that i agree with, that he is selfless, he does give the ball off to a teammate more often than not and leaves the ball for a teammate to win. Its not the same "see ball get ball" hunger that you see in Chad. He needs to back himself in more! He is in the team for a reason! He was taken at pick 26 for a reason!!

Even when he kicked that great goal on the weekend, he did one fist pump, high-fived about three players and then straightened himself up and ran back to the centre. No Paddlebum!! Take that moment to fire yourself and your teammates up!! Get the supporters in the crowd to fire up!! Make it a team lifting moment!! He did the exact same thing a few weeks ago when he kicked a very important goal against Geelong late in the game.. treated it like it was back to business when we needed the team to lift and build! (Luckily they did through Paps' matchwinner!!) He just doesnt appear to have that arrogance in his game thats needed to make a talented player become a special player .. if he can find it .. then i reckon he could prove you wrong, TB.

a nice observation! Go get 'em James

[Blood Fever]

Yes I have been to the SCG on a few occasions. When they introduce the players on the scoreboard Blakey gets the softest acknowledgement. Wherever I sit there is always seems to be someone sitting close by who is critical of Blakey.

I have been accused of being elitist sometimes and that’s ok.

I was saying that Blakey is as local a product as you can find. He probably grew up playing, schooling and living within 15 minutes drive of the SCG. His father worked in the building.

That should mean something to Swans fans, just like it means something to Man U fans when the kid from the suburbs of Manchester plays for Man U.

Do you have evidence that Blakey is running around the field with arrogance like he’s the number one pick?

I see Blakey as a player who is giving effort. He gets in to make his tackles. He seems (in my opinion) to be trying to impress and do too much. I think he just needs to calm down and see an easy option.

Most people like a good Mullet I would say.

Are TB and BS two characters from the one play?

[stevoswan]

Mate have you been to the scg ? We dont give a stuff about his mullet or where he played junior or went to high school ! That is the elitist @@@@ you'd expect from the Demons supporters sipping their chardonnays ! TRUE bloods fans have always admired the hard workers and the team lifters ! We dont wanna see a bloke running around out there like a peacock thinking hes the number 1 pick then stuffing it up ! If you are gonna carry on on the field you gotta be able to back it up with pure talent - Jmac, Chad these boys always get the SCG going with their energy and huge plays at crucial moments. We love THEM ! We cheer Blakey on and want him to succeed just as much as them but unfortunately he gives us more facepalms than reasons to cheer !

I agree 100% with this post! NB: Not one mention of RB might have something to do with it.

Blakey is frustrating to Swans fans who are rightly getting impatient with his showpony antics that waste his undoubted skill and lead to a total lack of influence on any game he plays.....after being anointed the clubs great hope. Disappointing career path so far and the really frustrating thing is that, at this point, it seems unchangeable.

Yes I have been to the SCG on a few occasions. When they introduce the players on the scoreboard Blakey gets the softest acknowledgement. Wherever I sit there is always seems to be someone sitting close by who is critical of Blakey.

Read the above.....and I'll add that if he doesn't change his ways, he'll end up labouring away at Norf with his Dad.....and frustrating their fans no end. Even at this early stage of his career, he is at a crossroad.

[stevoswan]

The coaching staff would be well aware of how Blakey is performing and I am sure that they implement a plan to rectify his current form. Obviously he has a lot of talent and has shown glimpses of ability which has unfortunately has not been consistent, and I for one am not throwing him on the scrap heap. Lately he seems to be trying too hard for the perfect play, perfect pass, perfect kick etc instead of probably playing the percentages. That is why I believe the coaching staff will work with him to get to the standard that we think or hope that he will achieve.

In the reserves......for an extended period.

[Ludwig]

What is it with Blakey that is upsetting so many Swans fans? When your at the SCG you can feel the lack of crowd love towards Blakey.

He seems like the perfect player that a Swans crowd would love:

- Great potential
- Great mullet
- Went to Waverley College
- Played his junior AFL in the Eastern Suburbs
- His father was a longtime coach at the club
- Is fast with magic skills

Help my understand the negativity towards this player?

I was critical of Blakey in an earlier post but my post was attempting to be constructive.

It's certainly true that the negativity toward Blakey has been growing by leaps and bounds in recent weeks.

To the club's credit, they have been trying everything to flip the switch that will light up the Lizard and turn him into the Swans' lumenati that once seemed a certainty.

The club nutritionist added glow worm extract to his diet.
They left him plugged in overnight at a Tesla recharging station.
They flew him the Ukraine so he could spend a night inside the Chernobyl sarcophagus.

But none of this seems to have worked, so they went a step further and fronted him up to the camera last week with a video interview and called it a press conference. He actually said some very interesting things, which of course had to be edited out so all that remained was mindless drivel. By that time we were down to only 57 seconds of video. Not worried that this might deflate the poor kid, the Swans' media department posted the video on their website anyway.

Bereft of ideas, the club did what they usually do when they feel jammed in like minced pork in a Chipolata: Call Ludwig. Okay. It's only been a few hours since I've been off the phone with Tom Harley, but I've already rolled up the sleeves on my tank top and am now on the case.

I went back to the October 2019 Blakey review video ( 2019 REVIEW: Nick Blakey - YouTube ) for clues about what went wrong and what needs to be done. There was a lot of hope and anticipation back then, and everyone thought that Blakey was a done deal and he was well on his way to stardom, so they turned their attention to offloading our best key defender, Aliir Aliir.

I guess you're wondering what my initial thoughts are about how to turn things around for the Lizard. It's sad to say, but I think he's going to need a Makeover.

This is what we have to work with:



and this



and this



I know what you're thinking. It's hopeless. He's gone past the point of no return. What can we do with him?

I've come up with a prototype of the finished post-makeover product and it looks something like this:



Blakey needs to shave the mullet, get a few tatts and maybe an earring as well. He needs to look into the mirror and see someone who could be the talking point of a Q-Anon rally.



Then maybe we will have a real football player.

[mcs]

'Cult of personality' its an interesting thing isnt it? Those players you mentioned certainly have it. Its something we haven't always had a lot of! Many years we often had humble honest players surrounding one marquee player (Capper, Plugger, Hall, Goodes, Buddy) But with the next generation it appears there's been an injection of character into the lineup! Chad plays with such dare and ballsiness! Nothing in his path can stop him once he decides to take it on!! McInerney has the flair of a 200 gamer! And a great sense of theatre! His celebrations are wild and full of swagger!! He is not afraid to make the moment about himself and I bet the crowd do love that! Tommy Papley is the ultimate celebrator and villain that opposition teams love to hate! Even little Errol Gulden has a bit of mongrel in him! I pity the fool who underestimates him because of his size! I reckon hes got a bit of bite to his bark!!

It is one thing i reckon your nemesis Jimmy Rowbottom could work on to improve his game. He needs to play with a bit more ego!! I know James' family quite well and have met him on a number of occasions now. Hes a very kind and understated young man. Wouldnt hurt a fly and doesnt chase attention. I wonder if this modesty has crept into his game on the field ?? Maybe he needs to get a little 'meaner'? He is certainly hard as nails, even you wouldnt argue with that, TB. But he is a bit too "nice" for a young player who wants to play as a midfielder and a leader! You made a good point, a rare one that i agree with, that he is selfless, he does give the ball off to a teammate more often than not and leaves the ball for a teammate to win. Its not the same "see ball get ball" hunger that you see in Chad. He needs to back himself in more! He is in the team for a reason! He was taken at pick 26 for a reason!!

Even when he kicked that great goal on the weekend, he did one fist pump, high-fived about three players and then straightened himself up and ran back to the centre. No Paddlebum!! Take that moment to fire yourself and your teammates up!! Get the supporters in the crowd to fire up!! Make it a team lifting moment!! He did the exact same thing a few weeks ago when he kicked a very important goal against Geelong late in the game.. treated it like it was back to business when we needed the team to lift and build! (Luckily they did through Paps' matchwinner!!) He just doesnt appear to have that arrogance in his game thats needed to make a talented player become a special player .. if he can find it .. then i reckon he could prove you wrong, TB.

Interesting through Neon.

I guess my thoughts is not every player is cut out to be a 'chad' or a Papley or the like in terms of having that extreme level of self-confidence/natural leadership (in terms of geeing up and lifting a team etc) - and that is perfectly fine, because I don't think every player needs to be like that either - I don't subscribe to a theory that you need it become a 'special' player either, although undoubtedly it can help in taking that final step.

I just think its a broader reflection that people mature as 'people' in different ways and at different speeds - and for some that sort of role will never be natural, for some it will develop later as they build confidence in their ability to match it at the top level, and for some it is there from day dot. No different to any cross-sectional group from any part of the community - and the beauty of any team game is you need a mix of players with different strengths to be able to become a champion team. I don't subscribe to any concept that there some form of 'model player' everyone must aspire to be, or that a team must have 'x of this, y of that, z of something else' to succeed either.

Are TB and BS two characters from the one play?

I've been assured not, but the thought does still make me giggle a little....

[Ruck'n'Roll]

Still flying Ludwig