Rd 19 vs Adelaide Crows @ SCG

[stevoswan]

Credit to Adelaide for their relentless pressure and work rate. I always say that if you bring the pressure, you're always in the game, because you force the opposition to match it.

Healy had big raps for RB after the game, but didn't even mention his possession numbers. Talked about his work rate.

Great games from Blakey, Fox, Paps and Hayward. Stephens had his best game as a Swan. Another solid performance from Clarke.

Yes, I think we are settling on our best 22. Depending on fitness, Hickey and Ladhams may swap occasionally but the rest seem solid.

[troyjones2525]

Good win, did what we had to do.....but some things to work on. Always good to have 'learnings' in a win.

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ABC boys think he's fine.....seen high fiving team mates just before the final siren.

He may be high fiving but I reckon he's gonna limp through the rest of the year. It looks like all those knee injuries have finally caught up with him and he's playing more due to us needing him than him being fully fit. He's gonna be important going forward and if we can rest him I think we should.

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[stevoswan]

Go Bombers tomorrow!

[troyjones2525]

He still did some horrible things but Stephens growing in confidence and other players more prepared to give him the ball.

The Flying Lizard was pretty huge at key moments today. Flying Fox another solid game

I do believe James cracked the 25 today too, (I see a few others best me to it)

Crows made it hard for us and we ground out a 6 goal win.

I think the thing that impressed me the most with Stephens game was his defence. He got back and flew in front of a few packs and really helped out well. I wasn't sure he had it in him but I'm happy to see that he has. He's building which is a relief as it would have been really unfortunate to waste such a high draft pick.

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[AB Swannie]

He may be high fiving but I reckon he's gonna limp through the rest of the year. It looks like all those knee injuries have finally caught up with him and he's playing more due to us needing him than him being fully fit. He's gonna be important going forward and if we can rest him I think we should.

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Agreed. He's looked injured for weeks. Reid is competing more in the ruck than Hickey. Telling that Amartey attended centre bounces too. Sinclair is getting beaten comfortably every week in the VFL so it is our biggest area of concern.

[stellation]

My key takeaways;
* Dylan Stephens really has some Energiser Bunny about him, wonderful seeing someone grow in confidence before our eyes.
* Happy to hear some discussion regarding Justin's haircut in the telecast. Important issue, needs more focus- I'm not a fan (of the haircut, absolutely cuckoo for Justin).

[Faunac8]

Yes, I think we are settling on our best 22. Depending on fitness, Hickey and Ladhams may swap occasionally but the rest seem solid.

Josh looking fit and picking up a lazy 37 possessions in the VFL probably warrants consideration for a place coming into the finals. Handy option to have up our sleeves.

[The Big Cat]

Yes, I think we are settling on our best 22. Depending on fitness, Hickey and Ladhams may swap occasionally but the rest seem solid.

McDonald for Amartey and Campbell for Clarke. Kennedy the sub. (Clarke has done an OK job but nothing Campbell couldn’t do with more polish.)

[AB Swannie]

McDonald for Amartey and Campbell for Clarke. Kennedy the sub. (Clarke has done an OK job but nothing Campbell couldn’t do with more polish.)

No way Campbell can lock down like Clarke has. If you replace Clarke with Campbell you are designing a completely different gameplan.

[Foreign Legion]

No way Campbell can lock down like Clarke has. If you replace Clarke with Campbell you are designing a completely different gameplan.

Agreed.

Campbell is a good player but not sure he would do a good job as a lockdown player.

I reckon Kennedy in for McInerney. Justin is good but just needs to lift to hold his spot.

[Ludwig]

We got crushed in the hitouts, but only lost the centre clearances 17-12. A fair margin that needs correcting, but it seemed worse watching live.

Our defence was leaky, We let too many players get out the back. Adelaide kicked some very tough goals that you wouldn't think were more than 50-50. Nonetheless, we yielded a whopping 58 I50s. Maybe we need to play a goaltender. Stephens could be an asset here once he settles in, because of his ability to cover so much ground. We need more mids to get back in coverage on turnovers. Our defenders crept up the ground a lot today, leaving so much space behind. It helped run up the score, which luckily fell in our favour.

I mentioned in another thread that I reviewed some old highlight vids for Stephens and clearly saw why we took him at pick 5. He's very talented, but just ran into a form slump in the VFL. He kicking seems back on song now. He will improve his game sense with experience and should make a big contribution for us down the track. Very much needed, given the loss of Dawson.

[troyjones2525]

McDonald for Amartey and Campbell for Clarke. Kennedy the sub. (Clarke has done an OK job but nothing Campbell couldn’t do with more polish.)

I wouldn't want to change a winning formula at the moment myself. Those 2 will play if their form warrants it in the future.

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[SwanSand]

Agreed.

Campbell is a good player but not sure he would do a good job as a lockdown player.

I reckon Kennedy in for McInerney. Justin is good but just needs to lift to hold his spot.

I think we are closing on the list. The only change should be related to injury. Unfortunately Kennedy may miss and so will Campbell and McDonald.
Can Ladhams and Hickey together against some oppositions give us more benefit? That is the only question I have.

We needed the Adelaide pressure to keep us sharp. And we did well I guess. Not pretty but good enough. Last three quarters we lost by lots of inside 50 but only by 2 goals. So well done to our defence but the midfield contest needs more fixing.

[troyjones2525]

We got crushed in the hitouts, but only lost the centre clearances 17-12. A fair margin that needs correcting, but it seemed worse watching live.

Our defence was leaky, We let too many players get out the back. Adelaide kicked some very tough goals that you wouldn't think were more than 50-50. Nonetheless, we yielded a whopping 58 I50s. Maybe we need to play a goaltender. Stephens could be an asset here once he settles in, because of his ability to cover so much ground. We need more mids to get back in coverage on turnovers. Our defenders crept up the ground a lot today, leaving so much space behind. It helped run up the score, which luckily fell in our favour.

I mentioned in another thread that I reviewed some old highlight vids for Stephens and clearly saw why we took him at pick 5. He's very talented, but just ran into a form slump in the VFL. He kicking seems back on song now. He will improve his game sense with experience and should make a big contribution for us down the track. Very much needed, given the loss of Dawson.

Agreed. He's no Dawson, but if he could become 2/3 of the player he is I'd be happy.

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[Blood Fever]

Agreed.

Campbell is a good player but not sure he would do a good job as a lockdown player.

I reckon Kennedy in for McInerney. Justin is good but just needs to lift to hold his spot.

No chance McInerney is dropped. His run and tank are crucial to us, especially in 4th quarters. Can't see Josh getting into the 22 at the moment unless there is an injury to one of our inside mids.