Rnd 15 Pre-Match Thread, vs St Kilda

[Ruck'n'Roll]

Looks like RWO may be ready to start a branch of BuddyAnonymous - A support group for those in recovery from Buddy addiction.

Brave Ludwig has gotten the ball rolling, who will be next to say: "Hi, I'm _______, and I'm a Buddyholic."

Conversely, are their still RWOers who will respond by screaming "Heresy"/"Burn Him"/He's "Not a True Fan"?

[KTigers]

Reid and Buddy are injury prone. McDonald still has a year or two before he becomes more consistent. Hickey & Ladhams are ruckmen
ie enough said. Amartey, the jury is still out on. If this is the extent of our tall contingent then I think we'll be needing all of them next year

[waswan]

(Head shakes)
Buddy kicked 5 against Richmond 2 games ago and won us the game

How they could question whether he has another year in him is laughable. Its one thing to talk about how good Hawkins is playing, he is playing alongside Cameron, Curnow/Mckay, Lynch/Reiwolt

Reid has jumped Amartey on form alone, he was a last minute back up signing like Sinks and has taken the opportunity with both hands.
I would play him in defence, we arent tall back there.

I think we can play tall, with 2 rucks as long as we dont play our only stay at home fwd that is Mclean

[Nico]

There are 8 rounds to go. If Buddy's form falls off a cliff for the rest of the season he may very well reconsider his desire to continue in 2023. A player can go "over the hill" very quickly.

[KTigers]

Buddy will play another year. That seems obvious. We're all (not just Swans fans) going to miss him when he retires so let's
not wish him away too soon. Reid is still a very capable, versatile and experienced footballer. He can play at either end at the
drop of a hat and can fill in in the ruck. And he can hold a mark in a way most can't. We all thought he was going to turn into
a superstar years ago when he was starting out (and he's always been judged on that) but instead he has turned out to be a
pretty good "ordinary footballer" as the saying goes.

[snajik]

Buddy has played 11 games this year. In seven of those games he's kicked either one or two goals, in three games four or more. Doesn't seem to be kicking bags with regularity at present. Still, 2-3 a game is more than handy. I have concerns for his flexibility these days. He seems unable to bend down to collect a loose ball (I'm reminded of a dipping bird) and dispose of it without getting tackled or pressured. Almost as though he needs to kick it off the ground instead (which led to a goal on the weekend) or hope for a kind bounce. Like to see another year though.

[snajik]

Gould is starting to remind me of Casey, a character from Harold Pinter's play Betrayal. Regularly spoken about, but he never appears.

[KTigers]

Gould is starting to remind me of Casey, a character from Harold Pinter's play Betrayal. Regularly spoken about, but he never appears.

Or Matt80.

[111431]

Buddy has played 11 games this year. In seven of those games he's kicked either one or two goals, in three games four or more. Doesn't seem to be kicking bags with regularity at present. Still, 2-3 a game is more than handy. I have concerns for his flexibility these days. He seems unable to bend down to collect a loose ball (I'm reminded of a dipping bird) and dispose of it without getting tackled or pressured. Almost as though he needs to kick it off the ground instead (which led to a goal on the weekend) or hope for a kind bounce. Like to see another year though.

that is very true about his inability to bend down. There was one instance early in the game out near the wing where it was very clear he didn't want to bend low for the ball

[Mark26]

Gould is starting to remind me of Casey, a character from Harold Pinter's play Betrayal. Regularly spoken about, but he never appears.

I was thinking of the absurdist play Waiting for Godot.

[SwanSand]

I think you are right. Maybe having Cunningham cover the opposition's best rebounding defender is good role for both Harry and the team. He can take Wicks' spot. We can then look to reshuffle some other players, like making Florent the #1 lockdown small defender.

I am little bit unsure of Cunningham in the forward half. Wicks and Bell both cover a lot of ground and not sure if Cunningham has it in him after the injury to cover as much ground. Also I would be worried about his kicks in the forward half. He is not great with his kicks and tends to usually kick to a contest or a dump kick on most occasions. Not saying that Wicks or Bell are doing any better but Cunningham would be a much more liability at present. I would rather have Campbell or Matt Roberts doing this. Campbell with his stint in defence should have the tactical nous to defend a halfback in the forward half and his kick is better than most.

[Blood Fever]

There are 8 rounds to go. If Buddy's form falls off a cliff for the rest of the season he may very well reconsider his desire to continue in 2023. A player can go "over the hill" very quickly.

Won us the game in the previous round

[Ludwig]

Reid and Buddy are injury prone. McDonald still has a year or two before he becomes more consistent. Hickey & Ladhams are ruckmen
ie enough said. Amartey, the jury is still out on. If this is the extent of our tall contingent then I think we'll be needing all of them next year

We can add McLean to the list, although he's looking more a depth player at this point, but not a bad depth player. Otherwise, I agree with you and am happy to keep them all. I would also be looking to add at least 1 KPP from this year's draft.

My point is that I don't think we should go into 2023 led by a 36 year old forward, however great his career has been. We are a young side than needs to concentrate our talent in this youth demographic as we enter a period where we hope to seriously compete for a premiership.

True that the jury is still out on Amartey, but the jury should come in on Amartey. He's playing well and the time is right to see if he is indeed a key part of our best side going forward. I would like know by the end of this season if McDonald and Amartey are the ones for the next decade, or we need to continue to look for another combo. Buddy and Reid won't be around forever, so this issue needs settling sooner rather than later.

Buddy is game winner, for sure, but do we want to enter next season banking on Buddy to win us a premiership?

[Markwebbos]

Two words:

Taylor Walker

[SwanSand]

Does Buddy play poorly ? (I think he plays alright at present) or is it that the others in the forward half play poorly when he is around ? Is this the effect of having Buddy in forward line and the focus is solely on him ? or is this the effect of others not being able to adjust with regards to positioning?

I reckon it is lack of positioning across the forward half and I think this is probably due to the way he always gravitates towards the ball or the ball gravitates towards him. This has to be coaching related. It is upto the coaches to get the positioning and the structure right. The way we want to function is a mobile forward group. Amartey is probably better suited for this. I reckon we will probably let go McLean in the next year or two. Callum Sinclair may go at the end of the year too.
Amartey, Reid, Logan, Buddy, Ladhams and Hickey would be a good group of players next year if Hayden Mclean decides to go.