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

[Bloods05]

Happy to , once i get a "You were right , sorry for not taking your views seriously"

In other words, you're not.

[Faunac8]

Nice memory from last year. I went to the Gabba with the feeling we could be competitive but to be honest was more hoping for a win than expecting it .
I mean we had three new players debuting for their first AFL game and a new ruckman who had seen more of Australia in his career than most grey nomads. Buddy was no where to be seen and Isaac was just coming back from an injury impacted 2020.
The only thing I was confident about was that Callum would have no issues moving into the midfield in a full time role and that the Swans would have a crack.
With the Lions scoring the first three goals we were looking like it wouldn’t be our day but then it turned and the full potential of the list was on display. At the end of the first quarter I was confident it would be our day and the hard running and attacking ball movement they were displaying was almost reminiscent of the Tigers who at that stage were favourites for the flag.
The second quarter started and that’s when Errol erupted I think we put together 7 goals in a row and while the Lions came back to the sheds at half time level on the scoreboard from the conversations around me even their supporters felt they were just holding back the Swans flood.
The final score flattered the Lions and I left the ground thinking I had seen the start of a potential dynasty and that potentially winning more flags wasn’t going to be that far away.
A great night and while this package doesn’t show just how good they were that night but it’s still a nice thing to look back on and think that was maybe where our next flag assault launched from.

Round 1 2021

[bloodspirit]

I can't see any reason why we can't get an accurate injury report on all our players, so I feel you have every right to question why we aren't getting one. Unless you are told some medical information you come upon through your conversations with the physio staff is not for public dissemination, then it should be expected that you might tell others what was discussed. I am glad you made him aware that that there are a fair number of fans that follow the Swans down to a level where injury information is important. Maybe it will help in getting better injury reports in the future.

I did also learn that the club deliberately doesn't necessarily publish all injury information and sometimes no update is provided for strategic reasons. I tried to find out who makes that decision e.g. Match Committee - but I was told only something like "a few key figures" had "input" to the decision. It wasn't the media guy, Andre Cupido, who decides and it didn't sound like it was just one person either.

That's why I hesitated about posting the bit about the meniscus because that had not been put into the public domain. But I don't really see how oppo can exploit that and it's not like Sheldrick is a key figure (or really even a fringe figure - despite his debut) in our 22 yet.

[waswan]

Probably missed it in this thread but didnt they say Paddy was ok and failed the Concussion test on some other basis ?

If so he should be right to play ?
Is it cut an dry about failing a twst and not being able to play or are there other factors ?

Logan, looked different.

[The Big Cat]

Probably missed it in this thread but didnt they say Paddy was ok and failed the Concussion test on some other basis ?

If so he should be right to play ?
Is it cut an dry about failing a twst and not being able to play or are there other factors ?

Logan, looked different.

I'm perplexed as well. The herald Sun is saying (behind its paywall) 'Coach discloses real reason Paddy McCartin failed concussion test.' Does anyone know what the hell that is about?

[waswan]

Rumour is he failed it as he was anxious, then subbed as a precaution.
Passed a follow up one 20 mins later, was not actually concussed.

Sydney may challenge it, they should win it, as it is a doc that clears him, cant argue with that surely.

[liz]

Rumour is he failed it as he was anxious, then subbed as a precaution.
Passed a follow up one 20 mins later, was not actually concussed.

Sydney may challenge it, they should win it, as it is a doc that clears him, cant argue with that surely.

I'd be very surprised if the AFL allowed that. Even if he wasn't actually concussed, it blurs the line for other players. And in McCartin's case, I'd be surprised if the club even went that route. His long term health is more important than us being down one defender in a football game.

Having watched the replay (and based on other games this year) I think the defensive coaching team need to work with McCartin on NOT going back with the flight of the ball. Or at least, not when he has to move back as far as he has on a few occasions this year. Not only does it put him (or any player) at risk, it usually isn't great football. On at least one occasion against Hawthorn, the result was he took out his brother, who had the forward covered and would likely have marked or spoiled, they both went to ground and the Hawks picked the ball off the ground and waltzed into goal.

Tom Hawkins was asked about going back with the flight on AFL360 yesterday and admitted it's not something he does. He doesn't think it's worth the risk to his health.

[Ralph Dawg]

I'd be very surprised if the AFL allowed that. Even if he wasn't actually concussed, it blurs the line for other players. And in McCartin's case, I'd be surprised if the club even went that route. His long term health is more important than us being down one defender in a football game.

Having watched the replay (and based on other games this year) I think the defensive coaching team need to work with McCartin on NOT going back with the flight of the ball. Or at least, not when he has to move back as far as he has on a few occasions this year. Not only does it put him (or any player) at risk, it usually isn't great football. On at least one occasion against Hawthorn, the result was he took out his brother, who had the forward covered and would likely have marked or spoiled, they both went to ground and the Hawks picked the ball off the ground and waltzed into goal.

Tom Hawkins was asked about going back with the flight on AFL360 yesterday and admitted it's not something he does. He doesn't think it's worth the risk to his health.

So Liz, did Paddy use to do this when he was a forward at the Saints and was that the reason he suffered heavy concussions frequently? Definitely agree with the Tomahawk that it's not worth it. You only have one brain in a lifetime.

[liz]

So Liz, did Paddy use to do this when he was a forward at the Saints and was that the reason he suffered heavy concussions frequently? Definitely agree with the Tomahawk that it's not worth it. You only have one brain in a lifetime.

Not sure. Didn't religiously watch the Saints, plus it was a long time ago. I suspect the answer is yes.

From a safety point of view, it probably rarely makes sense. From a football point of view it might make more sense as a forward than as a defender. The value of a contested mark for a forward is very high, even if you take out a team mate in the process. For a defender, taking out a team mate leaves the team vulnerable to conceding a goal.

The incident for which McCartin was taken off the ground wasn't one of those "going back with the flight" but rather an accidental connection of knee to head. Close to impossible to get rid of that kind of incident. Happily, it seems likely that he wasn't actually concussed from that.

[Ludwig]

On strategic omissions from the injury list: I can understand this, but most of the omissions have been for players not in the senior team or when the injury is already known, but not how long the player will be out. In the cases I recall this year, Fox had a hamstring injury, COR an eye injury,, McAndrew was injure, and Sheldrick had an knee injury. I can't see the strategic reason for not listing these players on the injury list. I can see not listing a key player who is carrying an injury or just listing the player as 'managed' or 'soreness' instead of being more specific. I think this has been done with Dangerfield a lot and probably with some of our key players as well.

Concussion: It sounds logical that if Paddy were in fact not concussed he should be able to play. I'm not sure what the AFL rules are about and we might well play it super cautious by resting Paddy this week even if he were allowed to play. I know this has been raised before, and most experts say wearing a helmet doesn't help, but this doesn't make sense to me. The physics don't make sense. The helmet absorbs some of the energy from the blow, so less energy is transferred to the skull. We know the law of conservation of energy, which would mean that a helmet should lessen the effects of a blow. I think this would be helpful with bone on bone knows, like the knee to the head that Paddy received. That would be painful even if it didn't cause concussion. In the end, I suppose it depends on how Paddy feels and what his doctors say. We need to be cautious about the long term consequences of concussion, but there are also consequences of having the things you love being taken away from you. It's not just a simple medical prognosis that outweighs everything else.

[Maltopia]

It is only round seven, but this looks like a must win game for us for the following reasons:

- first match against a genuine top four contender
- Dockers are without Taberner and their ruckman vs Geelong, at Geelong so are likely to lose
- If Port can beat St Kilda, along with Geelong beating Freo, we move into second on the ladder with a one game gap over Brisbane, Freo and St Kilda.

Melbourne have three players out due to COVID protocols as well, but they haven't said who, but should still be too strong for the Hawks. (Edit: another article now says Luke Jackson is one of the three players out)

A win would really help our top four prospects plus give us some confidence that we aren't just beating up the lesser teams.

[neilfws]

Lots of information in this article. Papley expected to return, Reid and Melican in the mix. No timeline for Hickey but is ahead of schedule. Gould won't be ready for a while.

Also some well-chosen words from Longmire on player privacy and medical speculation.

‘Jumping to conclusions’: Swans coach unhappy with ‘invasive’ McCartin vision

[Ludwig]

It is only round seven, but this looks like a must win game .

I agree that it's an important game for the reasons you mentioned, but it's not a must win game. Brisbane are a very good side with a good balance of height and ground level players. Quality everywhere. They are rightfully rated the 2nd best team in the comp. It look as though Melican will come in for Paddy. Melican tends not to play well his first few games back at AFL level. I hope this week is an exception, because all their tall forwards are going well. Even Darcy Fort is clunking goals.

It's a big test for us and we do have the home ground advantage, so we have to be a good chance of pulling it off.

Re: Sheldrick. Longmire said he had meniscus surgery and will be out a couple of months. So it was no minor tear. It's not a good thing for a player with a lot of football in front of him. He'll have to be careful not to cause more damage to that knee, but I don't think it's that easy to do in football where there a lots of situations when the knee gets twisted up. I wouldn't be surprised if he wears a brace of some sort for a long time.

A follow up on the Sheldrick injury. I've read that there is a more recent procedure to repair the torn meniscus rather than just removing the damaged parts, and this procedure has a better long term prognosis than a meniscectomy, especially for a young person. We will probably never know this level of detail on Sheldrick's surgery, but hopefully this option was available to him. I have very high hopes for him as a Swan.

[bloodspirit]

Glad to see Longmire going into bat for the players: Sydney Swans coach John Longmire unhappy with live vision of distressed Paddy McCartin (afl.com.au). Just one way the club keeps players and their families loyal - by genuinely looking after the players as much as we can.

[Ralph Dawg]

Glad to see Longmire going into bat for the players: Sydney Swans coach John Longmire unhappy with live vision of distressed Paddy McCartin (afl.com.au). Just one way the club keeps players and their families loyal - by genuinely looking after the players as much as we can.

Agree 100% with Horse.

Article also implies Melican for Paddy, Reid for McDonald and Papley will be picked (surely have to be for Bell). He mentions Reg took 5 years on our list to debut so we could be waiting a long time to see Gould at AFL level............