Changes for Round 11 v Carlton

[aardvark]

Lewie Taylor has been playing well enough to get a go.

The week we have to scrape Tubby Taylor of the bottom of the barrel is the week our season is over.

[stevoswan]

Blakey and Rowbottom need to swap brains!! Rowbottom could do with letting his natural game show more he just needs the confidence to do it while Blakey i think has a little bit too much confidence in his ability and needs to get back to the basics!!

Fair comment!

[Roadrunner]

Dermott Brereton also commented once when Blakey was one on one in the forward 50 and Buddy was kicking the ball to him that Blakey just did not understand the limitations of the kicker. Blakey was expecting a kick over the head of the defender but that needed to be a 70 - 80 m kick which would be nearly impossible for most kickers and as a forward he needed to understand this and move forwards which he did not.
So obviously that tells me he has a problem with decision making and taking the right option. If that is a concern, He needs a pep talk that maybe what he expects himself to do with what he has been told at the junior level may not be achievable and he is likely to not reach the heights that were expected. A bitter pill to swallow for a player who has been hyped up. But again, if the pep talk happens now, he may settle down now into a very narrow role and grow from there.

Spot on Swansand. I think it is a confidence issue as when you’re down, your decision making drops off and you make silly mistakes which then compound the situation. He needs to be given a set role, like a forward flank, and look at his games in his first year. He has regressed (like Ronke) and the coaches job is to help him overcome this and restore confidence. The right mentality is crucial and it is sad to see a player with obvious natural ability unable to perform.
Let’s hope for his sake and the team’s that he can recapture his early form.

Another player who needs to improve is Wilbur. Heaps of ability but inconsistent. Another challenge for the coaches.

That 3rd quarter against Freo was a shocker by the whole team, though this is typical for a young team. Until this is rectified we can’t expect finals success. So let’s give all the youngsters a proper go and build for 22/23 and beyond.

A top team doesn’t have any passengers and we have a few in the games we lose. Freo were much more even and the scoreboard flattered us a bit-let’s face it, Buddy kept us in the game, together with a handful like Dawson and Mills.

[barry]

It was an extremely poor game. He needed to bring the ball to the ground (if not mark it) but simply couldn't provide a contest.

He must have got a knock to play that badly.

[AnsweredPrayers]

Maybe we should just pass on the national draft and go straight to the rookie draft where we can find confident and competent players like Rampe, Papley and Lloyd.

BTW, Carruthers made a few mistakes in the VFL, but showed plenty of promise with both his skills and athleticism. I think he will be another 1st round rookie pick that makes his mark at the Swans.

I agree. Carruthers looks very composed under pressure, and highly skilled. Be interesting to see if he can earn a call up later in the year.

[Aprilbr]

There are a couple on our list who we need to see play seniors soon to gauge their potential. Gould and Armetey come to mind. Cameron sat on our list with little opportunity (one game from memory) left for the Pies and now is performing well for them. Will either of those two players end up playing well elsewhere?

[SwanSand]

There are a couple on our list who we need to see play seniors soon to gauge their potential. Gould and Armetey come to mind. Cameron sat on our list with little opportunity (one game from memory) left for the Pies and now is performing well for them. Will either of those two players end up playing well elsewhere?

Seems we are missing that extra tall intercepting defender with athletic ability - Aliir especially this week.
Most of the others we have let go over the last few years have been replaceable except may be Aliir, Mumford and somewhat Rohan.

[Kumarangk]

Dermott Brereton also commented once when Blakey was one on one in the forward 50 and Buddy was kicking the ball to him that Blakey just did not understand the limitations of the kicker. Blakey was expecting a kick over the head of the defender but that needed to be a 70 - 80 m kick which would be nearly impossible for most kickers and as a forward he needed to understand this and move forwards which he did not.
So obviously that tells me he has a problem with decision making and taking the right option. If that is a concern, He needs a pep talk that maybe what he expects himself to do with what he has been told at the junior level may not be achievable and he is likely to not reach the heights that were expected. A bitter pill to swallow for a player who has been hyped up. But again, if the pep talk happens now, he may settle down now into a very narrow role and grow from there.

I think that Blakey has grown up with people saying how "brilliant " he is and he is believing the hype. Agree with all , that he needs to focus on one thing at a time and consider being the high effort conservative team player rather than the chosen one. One thing that would really help is when his shoulders pop and he muscles up . If he always remains a lizard and doesn't morph into a T rex then his career is really in jeopardy.

[Aprilbr]

I don't think Blakey has a "big head". He is just lacking confidence in his kicking, often seems to be in two minds with what to do and he tries to do too much at times. He should just keep it simple!

I think his best position is as a running half forward or winger who can use his height, marking skills and pace to effect. At present I feel he is not going for enough marks.

[Meg]

There are a couple on our list who we need to see play seniors soon to gauge their potential. Gould and Armetey come to mind. Cameron sat on our list with little opportunity (one game from memory) left for the Pies and now is performing well for them. Will either of those two players end up playing well elsewhere?

Cameron would have had a run of games in the second half of his last season with us as our other ruckmen were out injured. But unfortunately Cameron himself also got injured. Longmire said as much at the time.

[NeonBible]

I have no doubt our coaching staff would be encouraging Blakey to keep trying to play his natural aggressive and athletic game!! Lots of running, leaping, twisting, turning! These are why we drafted him and why he is in the team! But could it be time to scrap all of those things for now and just simplify things for Nick?? Go back to the basics? Pass it off to the nearest teammate instead of trying to do fancy things himself? Give him a job of tackling players at a stoppage rather than trying to dazzle everyone like he is the second coming of Goodes!!! Could this be best way to just give Nick simple basic roles that can help the team and give him some encouragement as he wont be able to stuff up as much?? At the minute he is trying to do too much and every time he ends up making a mistake he seems to start trying even harder! Its a bit of a cycle!!

[Captain]

Have had a good think about it and there is a good case for both minimal (forced) changes and also a fair few.

Forced changes:

Fox for McInerney. Potentially leaves us short down back, Dawson would have to take the 3rd tall.

Numerous changes:

In: McDonald, McInerney, Sinclair, Brand
Out: McLean, Blakey, Fox, Wicks

I feel McDonald needs to get a run and some games under his belt. McInerney is a no brainer. Sinclair to play forward/2nd ruck (unless Reid is ready) and Brand to replace Fox. Harsh on McLean after his great game against the Pies, but he had an absolute shocker on Saturday. Wicks has been out of touch for a while and we all know where Blakey is at (or isn't at).

[Markwebbos]

I have no doubt our coaching staff would be encouraging Blakey to keep trying to play his natural aggressive and athletic game!! Lots of running, leaping, twisting, turning! These are why we drafted him and why he is in the team! But could it be time to scrap all of those things for now and just simplify things for Nick?? Go back to the basics? Pass it off to the nearest teammate instead of trying to do fancy things himself? Give him a job of tackling players at a stoppage rather than trying to dazzle everyone like he is the second coming of Goodes!!! Could this be best way to just give Nick simple basic roles that can help the team and give him some encouragement as he wont be able to stuff up as much?? At the minute he is trying to do too much and every time he ends up making a mistake he seems to start trying even harder! Its a bit of a cycle!!

I think that's pretty spot on.

[i'm-uninformed2]

I have no doubt our coaching staff would be encouraging Blakey to keep trying to play his natural aggressive and athletic game!! Lots of running, leaping, twisting, turning! These are why we drafted him and why he is in the team! But could it be time to scrap all of those things for now and just simplify things for Nick?? Go back to the basics? Pass it off to the nearest teammate instead of trying to do fancy things himself? Give him a job of tackling players at a stoppage rather than trying to dazzle everyone like he is the second coming of Goodes!!! Could this be best way to just give Nick simple basic roles that can help the team and give him some encouragement as he wont be able to stuff up as much?? At the minute he is trying to do too much and every time he ends up making a mistake he seems to start trying even harder! Its a bit of a cycle!!

This is a highly relevant thread for the select few on here who want to dismiss Blakey for good, as opposed to understand he's going through a bad trot.

Adam Goodes had one really good season (Rising Star) in his first four to five. He was seen as an inconsistent talent for much of it. Legend has it the one time Richard Colless intervened in a selection decision was to stop him being dropped in 2002. Soon after, Eade left and Goodes flourished.

I'm not saying that to bag Longmire, though think Blakey would benefit from being settled into a role for a while to help him get back to basics. I'm simply making the point sometimes players with all the talent in the world take a bit of time to get it all right at AFL level.

[i'm-uninformed2]

Listening to Horse's press conference: McInerney will be back in; Fox is out due to the eye and Melican sounds like he's back in.