Round 7 prematch thread - vs Brisbane at the SCG, Sunday 4.40 PM

[i'm-uninformed2]

I’d like to see Gould play, and play on McStay.

I hope I don’t regret this come Sunday night as every player can have a good day out, but: McStay is an important player structurally for them as he leads hard up the ground, often takes marks between wing and half forward, creates space for Daniher, and has a few other ok attributes. But he’s not A grade, he’s not super tall and his numbers aren’t that special. Will might struggle a bit to match his running power, but otherwise, if he’s going to debut, it’d be a reasonable first match up of third defender on third forward.

I know they play a bit differently, but put it this way, would you be comfortable having Will debut by marking Hayward? I would, and yet the latter has better stats than McStay.

[dejavoodoo44]

I’d like to see Gould play, and play on McStay.

I hope I don’t regret this come Sunday night as every player can have a good day out, but: McStay is an important player structurally for them as he leads hard up the ground, often takes marks between wing and half forward, creates space for Daniher, and has a few other ok attributes. But he’s not A grade, he’s not super tall and his numbers aren’t that special. Will might struggle a bit to match his running power, but otherwise, if he’s going to debut, it’d be a reasonable first match up of third defender on third forward.

I know they play a bit differently, but put it this way, would you be comfortable having Will debut by marking Hayward? I would, and yet the latter has better stats than McStay.

Yes, I'd like to see that, and I think that it would be almost cruel, to name Gould in the extended side, with a key defender out with concussion, and then not name him.

On who's going to mark Brisbane's resting ruckmen, I'd be tempted to go with Blakey. He's been defending pretty well lately and he's our tallest defender. He might get outmuscled at a couple of contests, but on the other hand, he'd more often beat them to the ball, and then run away with it once he gets it.

[Roadrunner]

Yes, I'd like to see that, and I think that it would be almost cruel, to name Gould in the extended side, with a key defender out with concussion, and then not name him.

On who's going to mark Brisbane's resting ruckmen, I'd be tempted to go with Blakey. He's been defending pretty well lately and he's our tallest defender. He might get outmuscled at a couple of contests, but on the other hand, he'd more often beat them to the ball, and then run away with it once he gets it.

Good thinking deja but on reflection it has to be Sammy. He plays ruck himself and so can anticipate what’s coming and is a good mark himself. Tom will need a big day too! Will be interesting to see what Horse and co decide on. In any case we will need flexibility as the game progresses to curb their scoring options.

[Roadrunner]

Cmon., you defend the worst culprit for this every time . Cant have it both ways

Not the worst TB- just one of several!
As our young players gain experience, they will have that extra fraction of a second for better disposals, and the bombing to our forward line will be kept to a minimum. Have faith!

[TheBloods]

Not the worst TB- just one of several!
As our young players gain experience, they will have that extra fraction of a second for better disposals, and the bombing to our forward line will be kept to a minimum. Have faith!

We have a great young group of kicks and decision makers so im not worried

[Aprilbr]

Kingy was speaking on SEN this morning about our game. He felt it was important for the Swans to demonstrate this week that we are right up with the better teams like Brisbane. He expressed some concern whether our current midfield is "tough enough"? He did not elaborate as to why he said this. Kane Cornes expressed surprise at this remark.

My guess is that our average numbers for contested possessions and clearances across the season and the way the Bulldogs' midfield killed ours in the first half of that game, have placed this doubt in his mind. This conclusion is based on previous comments he has made about us.

Putting Joey back in the middle will rectify this criticism but as we know, his lack of speed may be an issue? Let's prove him wrong on Sunday!

[i'm-uninformed2]

Kingy was speaking on SEN this morning about our game. He felt it was important for the Swans to demonstrate this week that we are right up with the better teams like Brisbane. He expressed some concern whether our current midfield is "tough enough"? He did not elaborate as to why he said this. Kane Cornes expressed surprise at this remark.

My guess is that our average numbers for contested possessions and clearances across the season and the way the Bulldogs' midfield killed ours in the first half of that game, have placed this doubt in his mind. This conclusion is based on previous comments he has made about us.

Putting Joey back in the middle will rectify this criticism but as we know, his lack of speed may be an issue? Let's prove him wrong on Sunday!

I 'assume' what he means is that we are fair-to-middling at the contest.

The coaches themselves identified over the offseason we need to be better at contested ball (and to some degrees, clearance work), as it is still the most fundamental element of the game and one the best teams excel at. I think I saw something in the context of what our coaches said that over the course of the season, the top 4 contested ball teams ended up being the four teams playing in the prelim finals.

There are people who point to Richmond as being weak at it during their premiership run. True, to a degree. But I think in 2020 (and I can't remember the exact stat) they went into the finals with something like a -15 differential on contested, but then through the finals halved or won the contested stats from there. It matters in big games.

Mills is obviously a total beast in there, but so far this year, others have been irregular contributors. That's ok, some like Chad or JMac when he goes in or Rowbottom or Gulden will get stronger and better at it. And Parker showed signs last week of getting back to fuller fitness. But we ain't yet got four or five bulls like Melbourne does that do it consistently.

[liz]

I think the "are they tough enough?" question in part refers to the ability to concentrate for a full four quarters against the good teams. Mental, as much as physical. And understandable for a team with a fair sprinkling of young and inexperienced players.

I think we are a long way off the level we can play at, in terms of consistency within a game, and certain elements of the game (contested ball, cohesive backline, forwardline delivery). But that's a good thing, since we're 5-1 and playing nowhere near the level I think this team is currently capable of. Whether the team can improve sufficiently during 2022 to match it with the likes of Brisbane, Geelong, St Kilda, Freo at the end of the season when it matters, and to come close to Melbourne, is something we'll find out as the season unfolds.

[AB Swannie]

Gonna be some surprised ppl on here tomorrow

Stop talking in cryptic puzzles. You imply that you are in the know. Spit it out or leave it be.

[graemed]

I think that the questions around Rampe, Lloyd and Cunningham are interesting and worth asking, although it is maybe too soon to be ringing the alarm bells. I would like to see Gould get a run, just so that we can see what he is about, but I'm also thinking that this week might not be the right week for a debut. Then again, I gather he plays a similar intercept game to McCartin, so I could live with him coming in instead of Reid. We can cover the Reid rotation through the forward line with Parker and even Kennedy.

I seldom look to target individuals and would rather take a positive view of our squad but it does intrigue me that without the disposals from full back returns, I wonder what disposals Lloyd obtains. Moreover, how many of those disposals result in scoring opportunities.
I am not advocating his demise but rather feel that balance is a key to our match day strategies. Right now we have the almost perfect blend of experience and youthful enthusiasm. We have a team dedicated to winning every contest, not always successfully but certainly with a will. We have outside pace and inside grunt. We have leaders on every line.
I would like to see Gould play myself but I still need to be convinced that he is better option than any we have out there and I like Reid ahead of him.
Harry Cunningham and Dane Rampe seemed to be exposed early but not because they were outclassed but rather because the ball was coming out of the stoppages at breakneck speed.
I think Ludwig makes an interesting and well considered point about how best to utilize JK as he goes forward.
That said I think Stephens, Sinclair, Gould and Bell will miss out.

[AB Swannie]

I seldom look to target individuals and would rather take a positive view of our squad but it does intrigue me that without the disposals from full back returns, I wonder what disposals Lloyd obtains. Moreover, how many of those disposals result in scoring opportunities.
I am not advocating his demise but rather feel that balance is a key to our match day strategies. Right now we have the almost perfect blend of experience and youthful enthusiasm. We have a team dedicated to winning every contest, not always successfully but certainly with a will. We have outside pace and inside grunt. We have leaders on every line.
I would like to see Gould play myself but I still need to be convinced that he is better option than any we have out there and I like Reid ahead of him.
Harry Cunningham and Dane Rampe seemed to be exposed early but not because they were outclassed but rather because the ball was coming out of the stoppages at breakneck speed.
I think Ludwig makes an interesting and well considered point about how best to utilize JK as he goes forward.
That said I think Stephens, Sinclair, Gould and Bell will miss out.

FWIW, Lloyd took 6 kick-ins last week and played on from all. Therefore, he had 16 disposals in general play (22 in total).

[Ludwig]

Kingy was speaking on SEN this morning about our game. He felt it was important for the Swans to demonstrate this week that we are right up with the better teams like Brisbane. He expressed some concern whether our current midfield is "tough enough"? He did not elaborate as to why he said this. Kane Cornes expressed surprise at this remark.

My guess is that our average numbers for contested possessions and clearances across the season and the way the Bulldogs' midfield killed ours in the first half of that game, have placed this doubt in his mind. This conclusion is based on previous comments he has made about us.

Putting Joey back in the middle will rectify this criticism but as we know, his lack of speed may be an issue? Let's prove him wrong on Sunday!

We certainly do have something to prove this week, or sometime this year. We haven't really gelled like we should. It's not for lack of talent or toughness. It's just learning to work better as a unit and playing smarter, as Liz has pointed out.

The defensive side of our centre bounces has improved a bit without JPK, but we still seem to be missing too many defensive assignments at stoppages, and the opposition are breaking clear from stoppages too often.

Our midfielders are also not covering the right spots in our zone defence. We are giving up too many goals from chaos balls. The longer the ball stays in our defensive zone, the more ragged we look. Lack of experience is probably the reason for this, and it's probably why we are not up to a tightly knit unit like Melbourne.

And then there's the forward 50 entry. This has to be not following the coach's instructions. I can't imagine Longmire telling players to just bomb it in there.

All fixable stuff. Only time will tell how quickly we can do it.

[Nico]

I think it might be more the delivery into the forward line and forward defensive work rather than just the defence. 13,10,9,12,9,10 goals against in the first 6 rounds tells me we are ok defensively. 4 out of the 6 games we have been outscored in the first quarter then after that we tighten up in the defensive area. If we can get away to better starts that will improve our overall game, and given we are finishing games strongly will give the team more confidence to go onto bigger wins.

Then again we are 5/1 so we are travelling ok. It will be interesting how we go up forward with Papley back.

[graemed]

There is a confusing message on the Swans match day hub that I feel needs to be clarified:

VFL match starts at 1.05
VFL Gates open at 12.45

AFL match starts at 4.40 pm
Main Gates open at 2.40 pm

After spending some time listening to music designed to make people hang up on the SCG trust phone line, I discovered that in fact there is no difference between the messages and that all gates will be open from 12.45pm

[bloodspirit]

Just in a sign that our youth are starting to well and truly mature, this round Olly Florent will play his 100th game. Will Hayward is just 4 games behind him. Blakey and Rowbottom have both now reached 50 games. Over the next couple of years we will see many more of our talented young players start to crack milestones and hopefully take us to the promised land!