Swans v Port.

[MattW]

Bell is an interesting one. My critique of him is not his endeavour, as he certainly cracks in - from his willingness to run to his tackling.

It’s that he’s not quite there positionally.

Compare him to Wicks as a small forward, who’s shown a superb defensive game and real potential with the ball. Bell doesn’t have that one stellar quality as a small forward.

Or compare him to even say a Hewett as a midfielder. He has both clear ball winning and clearance ability, as well as his capacity to tag. Again, Bell lacks a clear point of difference.

None of this is to knock the bloke. I suspect he gives everything he has. I’m just not clear what his obvious extra attribute and position are.

Bell doesn't have the skill and poise to win the ball under pressure. Picture the contests he was in yesterday: dropped marks, fumbles, slips, pushed off it.

I just checked: *zero* contested possessions yesterday. I don't think that's a courage thing; it's an ability thing.

He had a couple of good moments in the fourth yesterday, but it was after he found space for an uncontested mark.

I am not optimistic about this changing.

[Blood Fever]

Yes, we're still too thin.

Changes which would improve us:
- Melican for Brand
- Reid for Amartey
- Warner for Bell.

But we also need key first-teamers to play better, particularly Florent, Heeney and McCartin.

Florent had no possessions in the last quarter - must be more consistent.

I think Heeney's output is affected by his goalkicking. When he starts missing set shots, as he has recently, he starts going quiet.

I think the decisive stat again yesterday was efficiency inside 50.

Port 28 shots from 47 inside 50s (60%)
Sydney 20 shots from 51 inside 50s (39%)

The former figure is above average; the latter figure is below average.

We're not going to go far with such a leaky defence.

I think he might need to flick Rampe back to their best forward, give McCartin a break.

Parker is a runaway leader in the Bob Skilton.

Mills neck and neck with him

[dejavoodoo44]

Mills neck and neck with him

I'd have Mills in front. And despite the fact that some people still treat him as a bit of a whipping boy, I'd also have two time winner, Jake Lloyd, as a fairly close third.

[Roadrunner]

Bell doesn't have the skill and poise to win the ball under pressure. Picture the contests he was in yesterday: dropped marks, fumbles, slips, pushed off it.

I just checked: *zero* contested possessions yesterday. I don't think that's a courage thing; it's an ability thing.

He had a couple of good moments in the fourth yesterday, but it was after he found space for an uncontested mark.

I am not optimistic about this changing.

Maybe 1 more game to see if he can contribute more, but agreed with your assessment:

[Roadrunner]

The post analysis would be very different if we had snuck an extra two goals. Let’s look at some positives:

Franklin - brilliant again. Superb last quarter tackle. Buddy 2023 looks a formality with Franklin continuing to gain fitness. His speed is really coming back.

J-Mac - great engine and really good delivery. Smart footballer as well. The early season prediction of TheBloods on Chad and J-Mac being the best of the Swans young players is proving astute.

I’ve given Papley some criticism in past weeks but his play today was very good. Chased with intensity, tackled hard and was rewarded with some good goals.

Parker was as good as ever. Great 3rd quarter mark and goal.


Cunningham and Lloyd played really well as small defenders.

Mills was very good.

Negatives:

McCartin and Rampe. Probably there worst games of the year. Rampe gave up a goal in the 1st quarter that changed momentum. Just needed to let himself be tackled out of bounds. Fox and Brand were not much better.

We can’t do much wrong in giving Gould a go. Melican is more valuable on the list than many give him credit for.

Heeney - I’m not what is going on. Started whining at team mates as time went on. He possesses an Academy grade drop punt. Use that weapon when kicking for goal (stop flirting with that around the corner kick at goal). Maybe a run off half back may help. Brad Hill was moved to half back and now has regained form.

Bell - in the words of Supermode “Tell me why”. Chases and tackles but doesn’t offer other qualities.

Rowbottom - fumbled the ball at key moments. Effort was good but lacking confidence.

Amartey - in the words of Eminem “back to reality”. Contributed well in previous two games. Swap with McLean.

I think the Chad factor cannot be underestimated. We are 0-2 with Chad out of the team. Chad would have broken some lines at key points during this game.

I hope for the rest of the season that we focus on young players like Gulden, Campbell, Chad, Gould, Logan, Stephens and Blakey. Give them all a good crack at it and get some corridor football going again.

Missed the first half but then what I saw was a big improvement compared with our game against the Dawks.

The boys matched it with a top team and almost won and I I think they did us proud. The defence is a problem- McCartin is badly out of form- not sure how to fix this. What about moving him to full forward for a few games if Pelican comes back and Ramps to CHB? We can’t have a key defender so out of touch as it puts too much pressure on the other lads.

We can’t keep leaking goals and expect to win, as our own goal scoring is not that elite. Our coaches priority should be to improve the defence- surely as a collective they can figure this out. I don’t understand how they can leave a player so down on form in a key position! I don’t want to knock MCartin as this can happen to any player but …………

[TheBloods]

McCartin has been shocking this year , had high hopes for him and thought he could be an elite tall but is showing nothing . Has he taken one intercept mark all year ? Cant recall one

For 2 of our "rising stars" him and Rowbottom have been disasters this year and Florent's not far behind . Throw in Blakey we have some seriously overrated youth . We are further off than people think

[MattW]

I'd have Mills in front. And despite the fact that some people still treat him as a bit of a whipping boy, I'd also have two time winner, Jake Lloyd, as a fairly close third.

Mills has been great, but his semi-regular mental errors would knock a few votes off.

[Roadrunner]

McCartin has been shocking this year , had high hopes for him and thought he could be an elite tall but is showing nothing . Has he taken one intercept mark all year ? Cant recall one

For 2 of our "rising stars" him and Rowbottom have been disasters this year and Florent's not far behind . Throw in Blakey we have some seriously overrated youth . We are further off than people think

Agreed on McCarin TB, but in fairness you can’t say RB has been a disaster- though he has underwhelmed. He is worth persevering with as he does have potential. Ollie should be contributing more, though he has had some very good games this year. I’m a Blakey fan, but his output in the games he played this year has been poor. Let’s try him in the back line for a few games. Every team has some players down on form in any given game. Often the difference between winning and losing is down to the “passengers “ in the team. With a young side you tend to get more.

[Nico]

Bell ran 14.6 kms to be the highest in the game, but only had 8 possessions. So he ran around a lot and did not much. MCCartin looks completely lost at FB and he gives away too many frees. Move back to CHF and time to bring in Gould as he cannot be any worse.

I've said this about Bell also. Runs around the outside of the contest waiting for the easy ball to come. There were a number of times yesterday when he didn't get amongst it a ground level and assist in the contest.

[Agent 86]

Bell doesn't have the skill and poise to win the ball under pressure. Picture the contests he was in yesterday: dropped marks, fumbles, slips, pushed off it.

I just checked: *zero* contested possessions yesterday. I don't think that's a courage thing; it's an ability thing.

He had a couple of good moments in the fourth yesterday, but it was after he found space for an uncontested mark.

I am not optimistic about this changing.

I just can’t be too down on a kid who’s played maybe half a dozen full games. I would like to see him attack the ball a bit harder at times, get a bit of body harness going there & could be useful. The effort and run is there - just missing the confidence to take the game on more.

The hard body is where we’re struggling with many younger players. It takes time, but how long do you give a player to reach a level they may never obtain?

I’ve been in awe of Warner & JMc could be something special, but many of our younger players are getting beat up (perhaps expecting too much from a few?)

It takes time of course, & as the season goes on, the softness is likely going to see us lose more than we win. There are no easy games.

The problem I see is the players we’ve been relying on for the hard slog don’t have many years left to wait for kids to develop (assuming they do).

[crackedactor 01]

McCartin has been shocking this year , had high hopes for him and thought he could be an elite tall but is showing nothing . Has he taken one intercept mark all year ? Cant recall one

For 2 of our "rising stars" him and Rowbottom have been disasters this year and Florent's not far behind . Throw in Blakey we have some seriously overrated youth . We are further off than people think

What is really sad is that we have not improved from our 15th place last year. We caught the opposition of guard with our first 4 wins and using the centre corridor, but since then we have been a 15th placed side with a bit of Buddy's brilliance in between. We have the worse backline in the comp and I cannot see how we are going to win another game this year?

[111431]

Bell waste of time
Doesnt even look a footballer

fully agree

[111431]

He's certainly got some ticker and a massive engine. And to think, could even make his schools 1st team.

I'm an old boy from the school. They were a pretty good school team - 3 flags in a row

[111431]

The stats won't show it, but Port were a lot better at the physical side of the game and seemed to come out the better more often when the ball was rolling around.

Our composure was really poor. We played some incredibly dumb football after the rains came.

I don't think there was bias in the umpiring, but 51 free kicks is way too much for a footy game, and in reality, plenty more could have been paid.

After the Hawthorn game I have a post about making some radical changes in out defence. After this game, radical was not a strong enough word.

• The best for us were McInerney and Dawson. Mills and Parker were good as well.
• Brand and McCartin were dreadful. McCartin has lost it. It doesn't matter how bad their replacement might be, but we have to do something different.
• It was probably the worst I've seen Lloyd play and Rampe wasn't far behind.
• Gulden looked good in the first qtr, but faded out after that.
• Florent went totally missing, and the few times he did find the ball, nothing good happened.
• A poor effort from Amartey, who picked up a corkie, I think, because I noticed his thigh bandaged in the 2nd half. He also went missing after that.

It would have been nice to win, especially after hitting the lead so close to the end. But it really doesn't matter. We're playing for draft position more than a premiership right now.

It is a worry that we are getting worse as the season moves on.

Covid will take another toll on the finances of the league and the club. It's not a good time for footy.

excellent analysis Ludwig. I would also add Bell to the list of not up to it. Our established players went missing - even Joey struggled.

[TheBloods]

Agreed on McCarin TB, but in fairness you can’t say RB has been a disaster- though he has underwhelmed. He is worth persevering with as he does have potential. Ollie should be contributing more, though he has had some very good games this year. I’m a Blakey fan, but his output in the games he played this year has been poor. Let’s try him in the back line for a few games. Every team has some players down on form in any given game. Often the difference between winning and losing is down to the “passengers “ in the team. With a young side you tend to get more.

But these players never have great games . I reckon Florent's had maybe 2 or 3 across his career , hes played 70+ games

McCartin the same

Rowbottom and Blakey have had none

I know kids take time to develop but they will still tease you with a few games here and there that are great and signs of what they will do in the future. Not seeing that from any of these kids , hate to be the bearer of bad news but the writing is on the wall , sooner we accept that the sooner we can cut our losses and change our trade and draft strategy

I dont wanna be pinning all my hopes on 3 kids Chad Jmac and Gulden but the kids around them arent leaving me with much choice are they