R18 Sydney Derby XXI - GWS V Swans @ Gold Coast 6:10pm

[i'm-uninformed2]

Did people pick up how much hard running that J-Mac gets done. There were literally for or five occasions when the Giants had an overlap and J-Mac’s speed closed it down. That rundown tackle in the last quarter was outstanding.

His running forward was equally as important as it delivered two goals and a key pass to Parker.

Does anyone think he will develop into the next Peter Materia? Athletically he looks as strong as Materia, however I think Materia was better overhead and a slightly more penetrating kick.

What are peoples views? I’m looking forward to TheBloods giving an assessment on J-Mac v Materia.

This raises a good point about how and why we're playing so well. Much of the focus has been on the speed and foot skills of our players on offence, and how it lets us slice apart opposition defences.

There hasn't been as much attention on how we're using our speed in defence. It both allows us to rush at the opposition and close down space when they have the ball, are trying to get free from congestion and diminish their time for decision-making and execution. It's what players like Wicks and Gulden and Heeney do so well. And we saw it against the Dogs.

But we're also able to cover serious ground and quickly when the opposition gets into space. I first noticed it against Richmond, when they had an out number down the ground on the outer wing a few times. You saw blokes like Campbell and JMac and Lloyd and Cunningham and even Dawson hare across the ground from 50m or 70m to close in on the bloke with the ball and race back to gradually cover the outnumber. Which is exactly what JMac did in that play you mentioned.

I reckon it's one of the things that dropped off in some of our losses, and I get it's hard to maintain every week. But when we do it McCartin and Rampe must breathe easier.

[Bangalore Swans]

This raises a good point about how and why we're playing so well. Much of the focus has been on the speed and foot skills of our players on offence, and how it lets us slice apart opposition defences.

There hasn't been as much attention on how we're using our speed in defence. It both allows us to rush at the opposition and close down space when they have the ball, are trying to get free from congestion and diminish their time for decision-making and execution. It's what players like Wicks and Gulden and Heeney do so well. And we saw it against the Dogs.

But we're also able to cover serious ground and quickly when the opposition gets into space. I first noticed it against Richmond, when they had an out number down the ground on the outer wing a few times. You saw blokes like Campbell and JMac and Lloyd and Cunningham and even Dawson hare across the ground from 50m or 70m to close in on the bloke with the ball and race back to gradually cover the outnumber. Which is exactly what JMac did in that play you mentioned.

I reckon it's one of the things that dropped off in some of our losses, and I get it's hard to maintain every week. But when we do it McCartin and Rampe must breathe easier.

Does anyone have any data on J-Mac’s running distance, average speed or top speed.

The Swans have had talented ball users off half back in the past (McVeigh, Malceski, Lloyd) but none who could run (speed and endurance) life J-Mac and Blakey. Those guys could run through the half back line with real speed as well as deliver good ball. It makes them so dangers as the opposition needs to defend the running lanes in front of them as well as the passing options. With a MvVeigh you could defend the little kicks within a 40 metre radius. With J-Mac if he has a meter of running room you suddenly defending a 80 meter radius. The game just opens up when you have guys like that. The danger with J-Mac is that he won’t stop linking up until he has that shot at goal. He it breaks down he will then he speeding back towards goal to defend.

What a player.

[mcs]

Does anyone have any data on J-Mac’s running distance, average speed or top speed.

The Swans have had talented ball users off half back in the past (McVeigh, Malceski, Lloyd) but none who could run (speed and endurance) life J-Mac and Blakey. Those guys could run through the half back line with real speed as well as deliver good ball. It makes them so dangers as the opposition needs to defend the running lanes in front of them as well as the passing options. With a MvVeigh you could defend the little kicks within a 40 metre radius. With J-Mac if he has a meter of running room you suddenly defending a 80 meter radius. The game just opens up when you have guys like that. The danger with J-Mac is that he won’t stop linking up until he has that shot at goal. He it breaks down he will then he speeding back towards goal to defend.

What a player.

We've had plenty of talented ball users off the half back line over the years, well beyond just those three named......

I absolutely count myself as one of these. I have lived in Sydney more or less or all my life, have no significant connection to Melbourne, and didn't start following footy until the 90s. Despite this, I really value, promote and defend our South Melbourne heritage. I want to educate others about it (Swans fans and others alike). I want to honour the contributions of past players and supporters, to "remember" the past glories and lean years and great characters and events (even though I never witnessed them myself).

The history enriches my fan experience - it connects me to a richer and more complex tapestry and helps me to engage, and banter with, supporters of other clubs. (I'm always happy to explain to Carlton fans that one of the reasons they rate as my equal least favourite club is the way they way were so eager to see us go down the gurgler and dance on our grave before we relocated.) I also care a lot that old South supporters feel included and part of our club and I don't want you to feel you got left behind and replaced. We were SMFC and SMFC remains a huge and important part of our heritage. It's almost 'one team, two cities' - except I don't want to disenfranchise all the terrific supporters we have around Australia and around the world.

I also love the South jumper and am all in favour of connecting with our 'South' fanbase by wearing it for our away matches, especially in Victoria.

There is certainly a balance to be struck. As vitally important our history as SMFC is - it is important to recognise it is now not 'recent history' as well (indeed 40 years ago next year!) I don't mean that at all in a negative way, but we need to balance the want to 'celebrate the past' and also recognise that its now almost 4 decades ago that we were 'South', and we are now firmly entrenched as the Sydney Swans, with a good flavour of a proper nod to our past as South Melbourne thrown in.

While I love the old South jumper, if its going to be a permanent fixture, it should be limited to away games in Victoria at the most. One thing the club has done astoundingly well since moving to Sydney is building itself as a 'national' brand (i.e. what is reflected in the Roy Morgan polls consistently) - it sounds gimmicky and silly, but we do risk undermining that if we try and transform into a hybrid Sydney/South Melbourne model - perception can be everything (as silly as that sounds).

We don't want to become 'two cities two teams' - i.e. seen as the South Melbourne Swans when playing outside of Sydney and the Sydney Swans when playing in Sydney. It almost sounds trivial, but in a competitive sporting market like we operate in now, you have to strike a balance between recognising and celebrating our past and history, and placing the club as well as we can to meet the challenges of the future too. I think the balance is pretty good as it is now - but would be happy to see the old South jumper a bit more regularly when playing out of Melbourne.

[KSAS]

I absolutely count myself as one of these. I have lived in Sydney more or less or all my life, have no significant connection to Melbourne, and didn't start following footy until the 90s. Despite this, I really value, promote and defend our South Melbourne heritage. I want to educate others about it (Swans fans and others alike). I want to honour the contributions of past players and supporters, to "remember" the past glories and lean years and great characters and events (even though I never witnessed them myself).

The history enriches my fan experience - it connects me to a richer and more complex tapestry and helps me to engage, and banter with, supporters of other clubs. (I'm always happy to explain to Carlton fans that one of the reasons they rate as my equal least favourite club is the way they way were so eager to see us go down the gurgler and dance on our grave before we relocated.) I also care a lot that old South supporters feel included and part of our club and I don't want you to feel you got left behind and replaced. We were SMFC and SMFC remains a huge and important part of our heritage. It's almost 'one team, two cities' - except I don't want to disenfranchise all the terrific supporters we have around Australia and around the world.

I also love the South jumper and am all in favour of connecting with our 'South' fanbase by wearing it for our away matches, especially in Victoria.

Bless you Bloodspirit. Your post brought a tear in my eye. Love this club more than ever!

[bloodspirit]

Bless you Bloodspirit. Your post brought a tear in my eye. Love this club more than ever!

Very pleased to hear it KSAS. Glad you didn't give up on the club.

Also, I need to correct an error from my earlier post: it wasn't before we relocated that Carlton tried to stick the knife into us - it was when we were on the verge of folding late 1992 and CFC voted for our demise out of self-interested greed greedily so they could start playing their away games in Sydney for $$$ PLUS they were hoping to get our three best players after we folded. Long may CFC languish!

[Swanny40519]

I loved seeing all the players and staff after the game in the circle singing the song. It showed that the win was a TEAM effort.

I thought that was fantastic as well. The footy TV shows last night had some coverage in the Swans rooms before and after the game and it was brilliant to see how much the whole group mean to each other and how they support each other. So impressed by what the team are achieving this year. This year will make this group so strong for maybe finals glory this year and some years to come.

[Swanny40519]

I am stoked how Sydney based supporters are embracing the South jumper and its history, as I for a long time thought (understandably) it was just us old Melbourne based supporters who had this passion. I tip my lid to you all for doing so. To me the passion for our club runs deep Nationally (not just in Melbourne & Sydney) judging by the crowd support in our relocated games of late.

I think the South jumper looks even more striking in the modern Lycra material. So much so, Andy Mahr (SEN - Carlton tragic) has bought one. A caller rang yesterday to say to it's easily the best looking footy jumper in the AFL (didn't say if he was a Swans supporter).

Such has been the reaction, I think the club may seriously look at it being our permanent away jumper, particularly here in Melbourne as some have suggested (including my non Swans friends). I think even the seasoned VFL/AFL supporters have been given a reminder how magnificent that red V jumper looks. (Same with the original maroon Fitzroy jumper, which I only recall Brisbane playing in it once a while back).

Agree 100% KSAS.

I really love the South jumper even though I am a Sydney based fanatic. It looks fantastic and I hope they use it in all away games next year.

[111431]

Bless you Bloodspirit. Your post brought a tear in my eye. Love this club more than ever!

you can make that 2. well said. my childhood was spent watching the Bloods at the Lake oval and rarely winning a game. To support them was a labour of love. As for my three daughters, they have known nothing but success as our mighty Swannies have enjoyed a golden era - let's hope 2021 is the beginning of something exciting

[Blood Fever]

you can make that 2. well said. my childhood was spent watching the Bloods at the Lake oval and rarely winning a game. To support them was a labour of love. As for my three daughters, they have known nothing but success as our mighty Swannies have enjoyed a golden era - let's hope 2021 is the beginning of something exciting

+1. Had the same experience as you at Lake Oval. In comparison, the last 20 odd years has been like living in the land of milk and honey.

[stevoswan]

All the good stuff from Sunday's game from Riles Macca (formerly Riles):

All 15 Swans Goals - Swans vs GWS Highlights | R18, 2021 - YouTube

[mcs]

Very pleased to hear it KSAS. Glad you didn't give up on the club.

Also, I need to correct an error from my earlier post: it wasn't before we relocated that Carlton tried to stick the knife into us - it was when we were on the verge of folding late 1992 and CFC voted for our demise out of self-interested greed greedily so they could start playing their away games in Sydney for $$$ PLUS they were hoping to get our three best players after we folded. Long may CFC languish!

Amen to that BS - may carlton long be a pathetic meddling middle ground nothing club.

[barry]

I am stoked how Sydney based supporters are embracing the South jumper and its history, as I for a long time thought (understandably) it was just us old Melbourne based supporters who had this passion. I tip my lid to you all for doing so. To me the passion for our club runs deep Nationally (not just in Melbourne & Sydney) judging by the crowd support in our relocated games of late.

I think the South jumper looks even more striking in the modern Lycra material. So much so, Andy Mahr (SEN - Carlton tragic) has bought one. A caller rang yesterday to say to it's easily the best looking footy jumper in the AFL (didn't say if he was a Swans supporter).

Such has been the reaction, I think the club may seriously look at it being our permanent away jumper, particularly here in Melbourne as some have suggested (including my non Swans friends). I think even the seasoned VFL/AFL supporters have been given a reminder how magnificent that red V jumper looks. (Same with the original maroon Fitzroy jumper, which I only recall Brisbane playing in it once a while back).

its a delicate balancing act, and I think we have the balance about right (prior to this year) because we can leverage support in both cities without the determent of our primary city (Sydney, which pays all the bills). And use south jumpers while hubbing in melbourne make sense too.

GWS has tried to leverage the created in sydney, not relocated angle. But without much penetration yet. As they get older and more part of the fabric of Sydney, expect that to increase. And our balancing act to adjust accordingly.

[mcs]

its a delicate balancing act, and I think we have the balance about right (prior to this year) because we can leverage support in both cities without the determent of our primary city (Sydney, which pays all the bills). And use south jumpers while hubbing in melbourne make sense too.

GWS has tried to leverage the created in sydney, not relocated angle. But without much penetration yet. As they get older and more part of the fabric of Sydney, expect that to increase. And our balancing act to adjust accordingly.

Yep its a good point you make about the plastics Barry and their strategy. Its probably a generation (or a couple of premierships) before its a serious consideration, but definitely something we need to be thinking about long term as a club too.

[mcs]

At best he could be Matera . Dont count out his hardness. When he puts some size on he could win plenty of his own ball and has already shown more of an aptitude for the contest than some of our inside mids ! If he can then Andrew Mcleod might be a more appropriate benchmark for Jmac - strong in the contest and a competitor , then a running machine off half back .

I will offer another name who reminds me most of Jmac : Nigel Lappin . A player not as great as Matera but who was a sensational player in a number of positions - half back flanker, wingman, inside mid, half forward flanker . I see this all-rounder potential in Jmac and with him it is like watching Lappin all those years ago

I said months back that in Chad and Jmac i see the potential to be the next Voss and Lappin . They are the two players who they have the potential to be like and they worked well together as an inside outside combo . I get the mickey taken out of me for believing in these two , but i really reckon with these 2 and Errol gulden , we are looking at 3 young swans who really could be THAT good ! Every superstar of the game was once a young player who supporters didn't wanna get ahead of themselves with ! I watched a young Plugger at st kilda and remember thinking gee this young fella reminds me of Quinlan and Wade , but he'll never be at their level . Then he went on to greater heights than either of those two champions !

If they work hard and want it bad enough then there is no limit to what those 3 could become and i dont know why its such a crime to believe so !

I haven't seen anyone take the mickey out of you for having great confidence and belief in particular players. Rather, it is the relatively excessive level of criticism of every little action for a few players in the crosshairs that some have found frustrating at times. Very different things.

Jmac lines up very nicely with Mcleod statistically at the same age:

Andrew McLeod and Justin McInerney AFL Stats Comparison

The other pondering thought to throw in more broadly - I still think Campbell has the potential to be the best of them. We haven't seen so much of him this year, but there is a reason he was rated so highly and bid on so early. Its great to have such a good core, with several other youngsters that can become very good players too coming through together.

[Sandridge]

you can make that 2. well said. my childhood was spent watching the Bloods at the Lake oval and rarely winning a game. To support them was a labour of love. As for my three daughters, they have known nothing but success as our mighty Swannies have enjoyed a golden era - let's hope 2021 is the beginning of something exciting

Add me to the list! We didn't have many successful Saturday afternoons at the Lake Oval but that didn't diminish the love of our club for my family. Never, in my wildest dreams, did i think that my South Melbourne would become the club it is now. Heaven!