2023 Preseason

[ootf]

Some snaps from the practice game 18th Feb https://cartercapture.smugmug.com/Swans-Practice

[SeanM]

- Match started around 915am. There was 3 quarters. Though in the 3rd quarter, a few of the senior players were rested and the teams mixed up a bit. There were also quite a few VFL and academy players to add numbers.

- Guys like Franklins, Reid, Amartey and McLean played a little bit (less than a quarter).

- I tried to write the teams at the start of the game. Though players would swap teams occasionally during the game. (eg Rampe swapped to the red defence to give them some experience and organisation)

Blue
Lloyd Florent McCartin Gould Fox Cunningham Rampe
McAndrew Sheldrick Warner Warner Mcinerney Campbell Parker Mitchell
Hall-Kahan McLean Owens

Red
Rankin Edwards Vickery Francis McCartin
Ladhams Rowbottom Mills Roberts Stephens Gulden
Papley Hayward Heeney Logan Franklin Amartey Reid


I thought Hayward looked good. He used his movement and athleticism to take a few marks and pressure in the forward line. Gulden looked good too. He kicked a few goals. But generally looked quality whether it was his passing, cleanly taking contested marks and making tackles. Corey Warner played midfield for the first two quarters and I did not notice him too much. But in the 3rd quarter he was playing half forward and had a hot streak. Within a few minutes he kicked 2 goals from the boundary and then went for a nice run.

[MattW]

Thanks Sean - appreciate the effort writing that up. Great that Bud is fit enough for a run.

[wolftone57]

Some snaps from the practice game 18th Feb https://cartercapture.smugmug.com/Swans-Practice

Than you for the snaps they are wonderful

[707]

Thanks SeanM and ootf, great stuff, cheers

[Ludwig]

Great pics.

Good to see so many players fit and getting match practice at this time of year. It was particularly good to see Buddy, Reid and Amartey all playing, as there were some injury concerns with each of them. We should go into Round 1 in good shape with all our forwards up and about.

[SeanM]

Though those guys played only a tiny amount of game time. Some would have only been on there for half a quarter. Presumably just to give them a taste of match play.

[bloodspirit]

I'm always impressed at SeanM's observations - they are so much more organised and comprehensive than my own. My viewing often tends to be interrupted by chatting with various people and other stuff and so my observations are a bit more haphazard.

However, I can elaborate on some things:

* the match did in fact start at 9.15 and there were three periods but that was apparently just the first half (which concluded about 10.15). Then there was an extended break and some of the players (including relatively few of the senior players) returned and played another couple of periods. By the 5th period there were fewer players playing and they had moved in the boundaries on the wings a bit.

* The first team forward line played for Red and most of our first team defenders played for Blue (although they interesting included Gould and, in the first period, Harry C - for that matter Amartey was playing forward for the Red team in the first quarter).

* I agree that both Hayward and Gulden stood out and were excellent. Both covered a lot of ground. Hayward took some good marks and kicked goals. Gulden was everywhere, mostly playing on the wing and holding his width but at other times bobbing up all over the place. Another who impressed me was Fox. He was just composed, reliable and used the ball safely. I think he is cemented in for Round 1 barring injury. Francis, who was playing for the Blue team, also took a number of marks in D50 and seemed to have some impact.

* Gould had some nice moments - I particularly remember one well executed (but risky) kick across D50 in the first period that found its target and relieved some pressure. But overall he didn't make a massive impression. Gould seems to have been overtaken by first Paddy McCartin, and now Fox. Despite this, and the competition from Francis, I'm really optimistic he'll get his debut this year.

* the first score of the game came after Vickery very neatly executed a kick inside 50 that was marked by McDonald who then went on to kick a behind from his set shot.

* Chad looked lively in moments but overall I didn't especially note his impact. Rowbottom and Mills also didn't catch my eye. Nor did Roberts or Sheldrick. It's hard when you're an inside mid! Parker was tackling hard and applying significant pressure.

* Tom Harley was worrying about avoiding injuries and keeping everyone ready for the season proper.

* Ladhams played all 5 periods. Mostly he was competing with McAndrew in the ruck but late in the match Owen came in and tried to compete against him but Ladhams dominated.

* Speaking of Owen, he was played forward, back and in the ruck at different times. He didn't do anything amazing that I noticed but I still think he's really mobile for his size.

* Reid, Buddy and Amartey all got some minutes into them but Hickey didn't make the field. McLean was left doing some running on the sidelines. Heeney also played relatively few minutes early on - when I asked him he said he was fine and it was just a 'de-load' week for him and he'll be playing the full match next week against the Lions.

* They used AFL Umpires Mathew Nichols and Brett Rosebury amongst a bunch of other umps I didn't recognise (probably not AFL-level umpires).


Yes, I'm bloody grateful for the observations posted here by SeanM, liz, myself and others. Without these posts it'd be a bloody nightmare getting much insight into what's going on at the Swans!

[troyjones2525]

I'm always impressed at SeanM's observations - they are so much more organised and comprehensive than my own. My viewing often tends to be interrupted by chatting with various people and other stuff and so my observations are a bit more haphazard.

However, I can elaborate on some things:

* the match did in fact start at 9.15 and there were three periods but that was apparently just the first half (which concluded about 10.15). Then there was an extended break and some of the players (including relatively few of the senior players) returned and played another couple of periods. By the 5th period there were fewer players playing and they had moved in the boundaries on the wings a bit.

* The first team forward line played for Red and most of our first team defenders played for Blue (although they interesting included Gould and, in the first period, Harry C - for that matter Amartey was playing forward for the Red team in the first quarter).

* I agree that both Hayward and Gulden stood out and were excellent. Both covered a lot of ground. Hayward took some good marks and kicked goals. Gulden was everywhere, mostly playing on the wing and holding his width but at other times bobbing up all over the place. Another who impressed me was Fox. He was just composed, reliable and used the ball safely. I think he is cemented in for Round 1 barring injury. Francis, who was playing for the Blue team, also took a number of marks in D50 and seemed to have some impact.

* Gould had some nice moments - I particularly remember one well executed (but risky) kick across D50 in the first period that found its target and relieved some pressure. But overall he didn't make a massive impression. Gould seems to have been overtaken by first Paddy McCartin, and now Fox. Despite this, and the competition from Francis, I'm really optimistic he'll get his debut this year.

* the first score of the game came after Vickery very neatly executed a kick inside 50 that was marked by McDonald who then went on to kick a behind from his set shot.

* Chad looked lively in moments but overall I didn't especially note his impact. Rowbottom and Mills also didn't catch my eye. Nor did Roberts or Sheldrick. It's hard when you're an inside mid! Parker was tackling hard and applying significant pressure.

* Tom Harley was worrying about avoiding injuries and keeping everyone ready for the season proper.

* Ladhams played all 5 periods. Mostly he was competing with McAndrew in the ruck but late in the match Owen came in and tried to compete against him but Ladhams dominated.

* Speaking of Owen, he was played forward, back and in the ruck at different times. He didn't do anything amazing that I noticed but I still think he's really mobile for his size.

* Reid, Buddy and Amartey all got some minutes into them but Hickey didn't make the field. McLean was left doing some running on the sidelines. Heeney also played relatively few minutes early on - when I asked him he said he was fine and it was just a 'de-load' week for him and he'll be playing the full match next week against the Lions.

* They used AFL Umpires Mathew Nichols and Brett Rosebury amongst a bunch of other umps I didn't recognise (probably not AFL-level umpires).


Yes, I'm bloody grateful for the observations posted here by SeanM, liz, myself and others. Without these posts it'd be a bloody nightmare getting much insight into what's going on at the Swans!

Yes, thank you all for your insights! I know I probably sound like a broken record but it is really poor from the club and disrespectful to their die-hard supporters who live and breath football and the Swans and are excited to hear any news regarding them. It's even more disheartening when you see regular updates from every other club as well...

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[Mark26]

Those write ups and pics are awesome. Thanks a bunch for taking the time to go and then post. The wages for our media department needs to be rerouted to a few posters on here!

[Dow]

Yes, thank you all for your insights! I know I probably sound like a broken record but it is really poor from the club and disrespectful to their die-hard supporters who live and breath football and the Swans and are excited to hear any news regarding them. It's even more disheartening when you see regular updates from every other club as well...

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I have never thought the swans value their supporters as highly as some clubs, I consider my membership more a donation I think the club sees supporters as a necessary evil. I guess some clubs just do it better

Whinge over bring on 2023

[MattW]

I have never thought the swans value their supporters as highly as some clubs, I consider my membership more a donation I think the club sees supporters as a necessary evil. I guess some clubs just do it better

Whinge over bring on 2023

I also regard membership as a donation, particularly given the membership packages do not suit my circumstances (live 3.5 hours from Sydney; can attend max 3 home games; willing to pay a premium for premiership club). I end up paying for a bunch of Melbourne games I never attend, as a 'Vic Gold' member, as that's the cheapest option which permits a premiership club add-on. It's annoying.

I actually think the media coverage has dropped off the last year.

[Maltopia]

Than you for the snaps they are wonderful

+1

Great photos ootf!

Also echo the later comments that this is much more than the Swans’ own media Dept.

For those of you who are not aware, I will say that there has been occasional Swans pre season content on Twitter in the last couple of weeks.

Edit - the offical account has 15 posts from the last four days. About half regarding Pride, and about half about preseason training with a few new photos, quotes and a video of Blakey kicking a practice goal from outside 50 from the left 45.

[bloodspirit]

Some snaps from the practice game 18th Feb Swans Practice - Paul Carter

Am I right in thinking these are not your own photos ootf? Thanks anyway for the link. If they are your own, there are a lot of good ones. And any which way I'm grateful to you for sharing the link.

[bloodspirit]

I have never thought the swans value their supporters as highly as some clubs, I consider my membership more a donation I think the club sees supporters as a necessary evil. I guess some clubs just do it better

Whinge over bring on 2023

I actually was talking to Tom Harley at the practice match yesterday and he was saying that the club has a large number of fans but doesn't have a correpondingly high number of members. He's really keen to build the membership and to do this by ensuring that members get value for money so that there is a real benefit to becoming a member.

So it seems the club is choosing to value some supporters (members) over others (non-members), and if this is what you meant then I think Harley's comments validate what you're saying. If it's just a comment about the generally inadequate performance of the club's comms people, then I endorse that too.

However, I don't think it's true that the club doesn't care about it's members (or fans generally) and I can't account for why the media is so poor.