Round 6 pre-match thread - vs Hawthorn, Monday 25 April, University of Tasmania Oval

[707]

Well thought out post O'Reilly Boy. MC know what they've tasked players with doing each match, if players are retained despite pressure from the two's, it means they've done what's been asked of them.

Not every player has to get 30 possessions a game, and some of those that do in other teams have high clanger rates leading to dangerous turnovers.

[Ludwig]

Or have we regained COR? Shown as TBC in the latest injury update.

I read in the updated injury report article on the Swans' website that COR had recovered from his eye injury and was cleared to play this week.

[rb4x]

I read in the updated injury report article on the Swans' website that COR had recovered from his eye injury and was cleared to play this week.

Confusing as I read that yesterday as well but the updated AFL website injury list as of yesterday 19/4/22 at 6:30pm has him TBC. Left hand does not know what right hand has written!

[Mark26]

Your post is a cracker O'Reilly. I've read it a couple of times to process some of your analysis. I rate what you have to say about Wicks, Bell, Ronke and Stephens. We have to be patient with these lads as they are trying to build confidence and consistency. Ronke alone has had a horror run with injuries.

I'm also interested in Lloyd and think that he provides plenty of value when we are rebounding out of defense over purely defending. He is a great link up player and will often initiate the transition from defense to offence. I don't think he has a booming kick and looks to hit a target who is not all the way up the ground, nor is he a great tackling machine. But he gets plenty of the ball, and is usually smart with it.

I haven't quite finished watching the replay from the weekend, but between Campbell, Blakey and Lloyd, we have some wonderful and unpredictable ways of attacking from the halfback line.

He's out of contract at the end of the year and should be retained as long as the price is reasonable.

[i'm-uninformed2]

Apparently Mitch Lewis out for Hawks with a hammy.

[joeykanga]

On form Ben Ronke has to play. What Wicks provides as a defensive forward Ben has that, and moves around a lot more and gets his own footy. His tackling and pressure last week were excellent. When you have a player like him being very lively it adds another dimension to the forward line and a headache to opponents. WCE players couldn't keep up with him. His gather and delivery to Heeney was high class and his vision to pick up Heeney was very early in his possession.

I totally agree..Ronke is on a different level to Bell and Wicks. He reminds me more of a Papley style of player.
Ronke must have spent a lot of time on core work in his rehab for the back issues and also an incredible time on the mental side of his makeup getting through that.
I feel like he's come back with a resolute confidence and he plays like Papley in that he stays on his feet and taps the ball on the ground to his advantage sometimes rolling it on or sideways till he's free of his opponent often changing direction whilst tapping it along the ground and then he scoops it up and is a great snap on goal shooter..
To me even though Bell might make one less tackle a game than Wicks , he doesn't gibe away late tackle free kicks like Wicks does from time to time and I feel like he puts more pressure than Wicks does.
So Ronke , Bell and Wicks in that order at the moment.

[Ludwig]

Confusing as I read that yesterday as well but the updated AFL website injury list as of yesterday 19/4/22 at 6:30pm has him TBC. Left hand does not know what right hand has written!

Yes. The club is suffering from some kind of communicative dyskinesia.

[Roadrunner]

I totally agree..Ronke is on a different level to Bell and Wicks. He reminds me more of a Papley style of player.
Ronke must have spent a lot of time on core work in his rehab for the back issues and also an incredible time on the mental side of his makeup getting through that.
I feel like he's come back with a resolute confidence and he plays like Papley in that he stays on his feet and taps the ball on the ground to his advantage sometimes rolling it on or sideways till he's free of his opponent often changing direction whilst tapping it along the ground and then he scoops it up and is a great snap on goal shooter..
To me even though Bell might make one less tackle a game than Wicks , he doesn't gibe away late tackle free kicks like Wicks does from time to time and I feel like he puts more pressure than Wicks does.
So Ronke , Bell and Wicks in that order at the moment.

Spot on joeykanga. I had given up on Ronke but Horse and co obviously saw something there and persevered. Had a terrible run with injuries and his last 2 games have earned him a spot. Bell and Wicks play similar roles but as you say Ronke plays it better and is showing tons of energy, which rubs off on his teammates.

When Paps returns next week it will be fun to watch these 2 buzzing around. So Bell and Wicks will have to earn their spots if they are to get back in the team.

[graemed]

If Papley is not fit, Bell stays in as a defensive forward to get on top of CJ. Their midfield is not going as well as the first 2 rounds. If we get the run in the middle, we would be able to smash them just like Eagles.

The strength of Hawthorn in their wins has been their drive off the HB line with their intercepting and run. Bell is a good mark (review some of the games late in the year 2021), he tackles well, he has real pace and links well, he has a defensive mind-set and will rigorously play a role. His kicking for goal and ,ore generally needs attention but this is only going to improve through exposure to the pressure of senior footy.

I am a huge Josh Kennedy fan but I am unclear where his best position is anymore. Certainly against Hawthorn I'd like to see him have a run with role against either Mitchell or O'Meara. In which case I suppose the med swap with Bell is reasonable.

[Mountain Man]

Haywood has been the usual go-to for the opposition interceptor, probably because of his matching ability in the air. I would expect he will spend much of his day marking Sicily

[NeonBible]

Hi all,

Heading down for this one. Quite excited! I believe we will do well - historically we're pretty convincing at putting young up and coming teams in their place! It is the battlers we struggle with. Wasn't it nice to get one over one of them last Friday??

As far as changes go, I wouldn't be surprised to see Joey come in for Bell. I love Bell's effort but he didn't show much poise. In an easy game to show poise in, considering we were about 60 points up before half time!! Then the question that would remain would be how badly JL wants Sammy Wicks back in the seniors??

[i'm-uninformed2]

Bud, Stephens and Wicks named in extended squad

[joeykanga]

The strength of Hawthorn in their wins has been their drive off the HB line with their intercepting and run. Bell is a good mark (review some of the games late in the year 2021), he tackles well, he has real pace and links well, he has a defensive mind-set and will rigorously play a role. His kicking for goal and ,ore generally needs attention but this is only going to improve through exposure to the pressure of senior footy.

I am a huge Josh Kennedy fan but I am unclear where his best position is anymore. Certainly against Hawthorn I'd like to see him have a run with role against either Mitchell or O'Meara. In which case I suppose the med swap with Bell is reasonable.

I love this post ...someone who appreciates what Bell brings and how he can continue to develop ...I know some people think that Bell has slow reactions as to what to do when he has the ball but there's two examples in last week's game that show that he knew exactly what he should do ...one was that kick off the ground for the goal and the other was when he didn't have anyone to pass it to he actually passed it in front of a player who was marked and placed it in front of him into space to run back to away from the goals ..that player whose name skips moved into the space where the ball had been passed into by Bell and proceeded to kick to someone else for a goal ..to me they were classy moments by Bell .sorry about my verbose description

[Aprilbr]

A very strong looking squad named for the big clash against the Dawks. Great to see the Budmeister named!

[Aaron]

Buddy will be the starting 18. The extended bench has [16] Braeden Campbell, [25] Ben Ronke, [21] Errol Gulden, [32] James Bell, [12] Josh P. Kennedy, [15] Sam Wicks, [20] Sam Reid and [3] Dylan Stephens.
Which 3 will not play at all and who will be the medical sub? Probably Reid can be the Sub with Logan also listed as starting 18. Kennedy won't be the sub 2 rounds in a row.