Changes for Round 18 v GWS @ Metricon Stadium Gold Coast, Sun 18 July 6.10pm

[NeonBible]

Here's an interesting videos from AFL Exchange titled: Is Sydney a Sleeper in the premiership race?

You won't want to miss these 4 minutes and 19 seconds of incisive analysis about the Swans, as we usually don't get much coverage from this Vic centrist crew.

Is Sydney a sleeper in the premiership race?

LOL!!! Brilliant Ludwig

[Ludwig]

LOL!!! Brilliant Ludwig

Not so brilliant. I just went out and ordered a hearing aid.

[MattW]

I can see us going in with an unchanged side again and wouldn't be too upset. However, I do keep worrying about Bell long term and so would be happy for him to be replaced by any one of RB, McDonald, Stephens, Campbell, or Warner if they are fit. I know stats don't tell everything but 9 possessions and 27 metres gained is not a great game for JB even with the 1 goal.

As I said in some thread somewhere, I think we need to get Rowbottom in for his tackling at stoppages. I think he'll come in for Bell.

[Take 2; edit on the phone fail]

[dejavoodoo44]

Here's an interesting videos from AFL Exchange titled: Is Sydney a Sleeper in the premiership race?

You won't want to miss these 4 minutes and 19 seconds of incisive analysis about the Swans, as we usually don't get much coverage from this Vic centrist crew.

Is Sydney a sleeper in the premiership race?

Hello darkness my old friend,
I've walked into the wall again.

[longmile]

Here's an interesting videos from AFL Exchange titled: Is Sydney a Sleeper in the premiership race?

You won't want to miss these 4 minutes and 19 seconds of incisive analysis about the Swans, as we usually don't get much coverage from this Vic centrist crew.

Is Sydney a sleeper in the premiership race?

What is Vic bias lol

[Aprilbr]

GWS are so strong on the inside so we need to boost our stocks there, especially given our generally below par clearance work. Hence, it makes sense to bring in someone like Rowbottom or Clarke.

I grew up in Ballarat and played on the Mars Stadium ground on several occasions. Back then it was simply known as the North Ballarat home ground. The stadium is located in an area of Ballarat which is quite exposed so its very common to face strong winds there. Generally the wind does not blow straight down the ground but across it. This means there is a defensive side where there are a lot of boundary throw ins and an attacking side that teams tend to favour.

The forecast is for very cold weather and a very high chance of rain. If that is the case, then hopefully this will moderate the worst of the winds. High marking is likely to be very difficult so having strong bodies and running the ball forward will be the key to success. I think that inside bulls like Kennedy and Parker will be critical.

[joeykanga]

I can see us going in with an unchanged side again and wouldn't be too upset. However, I do keep worrying about Bell long term and so would be happy for him to be replaced by any one of RB, McDonald, Stephens, Campbell, or Warner if they are fit. I know stats don't tell everything but 9 possessions and 27 metres gained is not a great game for JB even with the 1 goal.

As you said stats don’t tell everything especially when you limit then to certain categories and if you’re only using possessions and metres gained ..
as well as the goal he had at least one assist , some very important, dominant and important tackles to keep the ball in the forward half and lots of perceived pressure that led to errors from the Dogs as well as covering so much ground in the defensive setup

[AB Swannie]

As you said stats don’t tell everything especially when you limit then to certain categories and if you’re only using possessions and metres gained ..
as well as the goal he had at least one assist , some very important, dominant and important tackles to keep the ball in the forward half and lots of perceived pressure that led to errors from the Dogs as well as covering so much ground in the defensive setup

What other stats do you want? He had 3 score involvements (only defenders Rampe, Cunningham and Fox had less with 2), he laid 2 tackles for the game, and had 13 pressure acts.

I actually really like the guy and won’t be upset if he retains his spot. He tries his guts out. However, I do think that there are more talented and effective players not in the team who could come in this week. If we were to lose and Bell was to have the same stats, people would be screaming for him to be dropped.

[707]

Bell is the weakest link, surely RB returns to on field action.

Campbell and Reid listed as "test" so may be nice additions to the VFL side, Chad Warner listed as 1 week so almost certain to return through the VFL. Three very good players to strengthen us in coming weeks.

[dejavoodoo44]

Bell is the weakest link, surely RB returns to on field action.

Campbell and Reid listed as "test" so may be nice additions to the VFL side, Chad Warner listed as 1 week so almost certain to return through the VFL. Three very good players to strengthen us in coming weeks.

Reid did play VFL on the weekend. So hopefully that's slightly outdated information on the AFL site; rather than a new injury or an aggravation of his previous problem. It will be nice to see Campbell again. Last time that he played VFL, he looked a class above.

[Captain]

Bell is the weakest link, surely RB returns to on field action.

Campbell and Reid listed as "test" so may be nice additions to the VFL side, Chad Warner listed as 1 week so almost certain to return through the VFL. Three very good players to strengthen us in coming weeks.

Agree with all this.

I also wouldn't mind seeing Logan McDonald come in for Bell with Heeney to play more midfield.

[NeonBible]

Hi all,

Pretty rare that we get the luxury of being able to go in unchanged after a great win! We've got the chance to be able to do it... TWICE! I say we keep the faith and see how far this team can roll on!

A telling factor in our team win last week was the performance of many of the star Bulldogs players. Caleb Daniel is their best distributor but he had 10 turnovers against us. The Bont is their prolific goalkicking midfielder and he didn't hit the scoreboard. Macrae was kept under 30 for the first time this year, and Libba was kept to under 20!! Bailey Smith was named their BOG, and that is a victory for us! Good young player but he's not damaging with the ball (except when he is kicking goals in the first 10 seconds heh...)

The beauty of all of the above is that none were heavily tagged! I appreciate Hewett's input into the midfield, but he was swapping between Libba and Macrae rather than just one hard tag.. it was more of a great team effort of 22 players working TOGETHER to limit the impact of a handful of frankly wonderful players! Very hard to see JL - who values TEAM efforts above all - making unnecessary changes to that formula!!

CHEER CHEER

[joeykanga]

What other stats do you want? He had 3 score involvements (only defenders Rampe, Cunningham and Fox had less with 2), he laid 2 tackles for the game, and had 13 pressure acts.

I actually really like the guy and won’t be upset if he retains his spot. He tries his guts out. However, I do think that there are more talented and effective players not in the team who could come in this week. If we were to lose and Bell was to have the same stats, people would be screaming for him to be dropped.

I understand where you’re coming from .. I just don’t see the value in dropping him this week after that performance albeit there are more effective and obviously more talented players such as Chad on the sidelines ..does bringing in players in unnecessarily affect the team balance we had and can Chad use another week …if we lose yes he probably would be the one everyone points the finger at ..although you don’t know that with consistency of ganes he’s not going to be all the better for it and do we need to make changes as Neón Bible quotes
It’s not like I don’t understand your stats it’s just that I think after that win it’s unnecessary to change and to the eye he didn’t let me down in what I saw

[The Runner]

Bell for RB is a no brainer. Ballarat isn't a great place to play footy - wind, freezing and good chance of rain. We need to tackling machine in to help at the coal face.
If you didn't watch the Suns Giants game on Sunday - the highest possession winners were inside players. Just a comparison of the that game and ours...
- Swans Dogs had 1 of the top 10 possession winners go at under 70% efficiency
- Giants Suns had 1 of the top 10 possession winners go at over 70% efficiency

This will be a game for the bulls. Would also consider CoR down back for his strength.

[i'm-uninformed2]

Based on this:

* Chad's still a couple of weeks away from even playing reserves
* Reid will keep building match fitness over a period
* Melican and Campbell now fit to start playing reserves.

Reid returns whilst Warner progresses