Round 1 v Giants

[Swanny40519]

Agree 100% MM.

Hickey never stopped trying all day. He was in defence and then in the forwards and did the majority of ruck work. In the second half when we started getting the ball out of the centre, it was his strong ruck work that started a lot of the forward drives.

Great effort. I just hope he can last the season.

[longmile]

Just so happy for Paddy.....his joy to be back, in this interview, is palpable.

Paddy McCartin - post-game interview, Round 1

This is so good! Good onya Paddy! Made my morning

Seems much more eloquent than his brother haha

[liz]

I wish the bickering would stop - or could be stopped.

I'm trying.

Rules of play - please read

[Roadrunner]

Yes, big shout for Tom Hickey. At it all day and unbelievable work rate and willingness to be involved in the contest.
Thought our whole team improved as the game progressed, but our skill levels were below those of the Giants in the first half.

Don’t know where to play Joey. He was lost for most of the game- I think he has slowed even more from last year. Maybe forward pocket? Defo too slow for the back line. Such a shame to see a champion straggling!

[liz]

Don’t know where to play Joey. He was lost for most of the game- I think he has slowed even more from last year. Maybe forward pocket? Defo too slow for the back line. Such a shame to see a champion straggling!

Longmire did make the point in his press conference that it was Kennedy's first ever game as a defender, so it was to be expected he would take some time.

I'm in the not-convinced group. There is an obvious position/role for a large-bodied, not quick player. Onball. Especially if that player has a smidgeon of contested ball winning ability.

I understand that the coaches are trying to free up onball spots - and especially centre bounce spots - for younger, quicker players. And on a handful of occasions last night we saw the benefit of that. But overall we didn't do well at centre bounces so I don't think they've found the winning formula yet.

[Ludwig]

Don’t know where to play Joey. He was lost for most of the game- I think he has slowed even more from last year. Maybe forward pocket? Defo too slow for the back line. Such a shame to see a champion straggling!

No disrespect for Kennedy, who along with AG, has perhaps been the best Swan of this century, but as I've suggested, I think he should be the medical sub, unless Mills or Parker are not playing; and I'm not even sure about this last reservation given how well Florent played in the middle and Warner adding to the midfield mix next week. Our playing style has changed and Kennedy no longer fits the new style. We also need the spot for developing players. Even if Kennedy could contribute more than Stephens right now, for example, I would rather play Stephens to keep his development on track.

On another point, I thought Sheldrick has a similar kind of game, atm, as Wicks, and we might consider keeping Sheldrick in the team and drop Wicks to make room for Warner.

[i'm-uninformed2]

I think my curiosity about JPK at half back is two fold.

One, we did well around the ground at stoppages and contested possessions, but as Liz said, not centre bounces. First possession matters and that’s where he thrives.

But the other thing is how the role fits his skills set. Other outstanding mids who have done it have certain attributes that made it work. Zeibell is a strong mark and a booming, clearing kick. Pendlebury has the smarts and mid range kicking precision to open the game up. That’s what made McVeigh so good at it. Even Sam Mitchell, when he did it for a year, used his footy IQ and ability to put teammates into space to succeed.

I’m not sure that JPKs attributes work back there.

Maybe it’ll reveal itself after a few games and I’m not going to hang one of the legends of this club on one game, when it’s essentially a coaching decision anyway.

[AB Swannie]

No disrespect for Kennedy, who along with AG, has perhaps been the best Swan of this century, but as I've suggested, I think he should be the medical sub, unless Mills or Parker are not playing; and I'm not even sure about this last reservation given how well Florent played in the middle and Warner adding to the midfield mix next week. Our playing style has changed and Kennedy no longer fits the new style. We also need the spot for developing players. Even if Kennedy could contribute more than Stephens right now, for example, I would rather play Stephens to keep his development on track.

On another point, I thought Sheldrick has a similar kind of game, atm, as Wicks, and we might consider keeping Sheldrick in the team and drop Wicks to make room for Warner.

It's going to be an interesting selection for next week as Wicks, Kennedy and McDonald were probably our three least effective players. I'd think that McDonald keeps his place. I really loved Sheldrick as a junior and nothing from yesterday has put me off. I think he will take a lot of confidence from that game and rise again. It was mentioned in a post-game presser that he only found out late in the week that he'd be playing so I assume that he wasn't originally going to play but got called up as a COVID replacement. That may mean that he is first back out. Who knows. It's a good problem to have.

[neilfws]

It was good to be back at the footy. Even if I did find myself in quite hostile Giants territory at the "big scoreboard end", and I'd forgotten how the stand completely obscures the view down the wing at that place.

Anyway, the hostile locals went pretty quiet when their team was suddenly 4 goals down in the last. I thought it was a really enjoyable game, close for much of the time, no panic when GWS edged ahead and a decisive response when required. Good to see early in the season, when teams often tire and flail in the last quarter.

I thought the defence started well, then had a shaky patch, but recovered. Not sure who was moved on to Himmelberg, who was a whole heap of trouble in the first, but he went quiet after that. Like others I'm not convinced by the "Kennedy back" experiment but first time out, so we'll see.

Parker was great of course, I really liked Florent's game too, and good contributions from most of last year's young players. Just a good gutsy Swans-like win and I hope it's a sign of things to come this season.

(and thanks for the clean-up Liz)

[MattW]

It's going to be an interesting selection for next week as Wicks, Kennedy and McDonald were probably our three least effective players. I'd think that McDonald keeps his place. I really loved Sheldrick as a junior and nothing from yesterday has put me off. I think he will take a lot of confidence from that game and rise again. It was mentioned in a post-game presser that he only found out late in the week that he'd be playing so I assume that he wasn't originally going to play but got called up as a COVID replacement. That may mean that he is first back out. Who knows. It's a good problem to have.

Which presser was that? I don't remember John mentioning it in his.

[MattW]

No disrespect for Kennedy, who along with AG, has perhaps been the best Swan of this century, but as I've suggested, I think he should be the medical sub, unless Mills or Parker are not playing; and I'm not even sure about this last reservation given how well Florent played in the middle and Warner adding to the midfield mix next week. Our playing style has changed and Kennedy no longer fits the new style. We also need the spot for developing players. Even if Kennedy could contribute more than Stephens right now, for example, I would rather play Stephens to keep his development on track.

On another point, I thought Sheldrick has a similar kind of game, atm, as Wicks, and we might consider keeping Sheldrick in the team and drop Wicks to make room for Warner.

Kennedy looked frustrated last night, and I thought he was a bit prickly when asked about the moved to defence on AFL360 a little while ago. This might be an O'Keefe-like situation and they're trying defence as a way to keep him in the team. It's worth a shot, but you may end up being right.

Agree re Sheldrick; Wicks needs to start showing development to stay in the team, and didn't show any last night. The missed snap in the third with Buddy free on the lead in the pocket an example.

[AB Swannie]

Which presser was that? I don't remember John mentioning it in his.

I can’t remember exactly but I think it might’ve been Parker’s.

[111431]

Finally claimed back the grand old lady as our own. I suspect a lot of games v giants will be held here now.
The backline took a while to gell, but looked really well balanced in the second half. So good signs there. Paddy looks so much like reg Grundy from a distance. Seems about the same pace too.
Top game by Hickey.

Agree with your comments re Paddy and Hickey - both were very important . Not so sure about the grand old lady!

[Blood Relative]

Struth the Hawks and Roos get a crowd of 38K for a snore-fest, and our game gets 25K. Doubt the afl needs to schedule any more games out there. Can anyone who's been there shed some light, to those from interstate, on why it is such a bad venue?

[Auntie.Gerald]

For me it is not the responsibility of our amazingly selfless Mods

It's about blocking and not responding ????

No downside at all !!!!!

.........

Anyway...

I so loved the grit by our lads to never let the game get away from them.

Loved the coaching adjustment to have two of our best mids sitting either end of the field ripping the ball off the deck ... well more so in the forwards with Parker and Heeney just revelling in the scrap and executing with a touch of class.

Very very clever coaching. There was no significant upside to be leading into the zone defences of both teams. It wasn't a buddy magic game. Bud moved a key defender away from the middle selflessly on many occasions to ensure a ground ball fight could be had.

Davis laying all over Bud I must say wasn't umpired atkeast 4 or 5 times.....yet we adjusted by kick ing to the old pile of players.....bring it down and rip it out with our best of our best piggys snouting truffles was the trick and it worked.

So much so it was truffle fettuccine at its finest.

Al dente ????????????????