Round 18: Swans v Kangaroos

[i'm-uninformed2]

Parker - 13 possessions, 6 contested possessions, 6 tackles, 4 clearances and 2 goals in a quarter and a half of footy. Welcome back you champion.

Did a great job bashing their midfield into oblivion today. Grundy better, Rowie and Warner awesome, and Errol doing Errol things - even if his kicking was a bit variable. Also thought Jordon did nice work.

Great to see Logan playing such a strong game and though he missed a few goals, Hayden McLean was very good, as was Fox in that forward pressure role. Paps a massive first half.

McInerney looked pretty relaxed and moving well on the ground afterwards, so hopefully a minor one.

I’d love to know from those at the ground who had Sheezel in the middle as it wasn’t clear from the coverage, but he was nowhere to be found and had to be pushed into defence.

[Thunder Shaker]

That was our biggest win against North Melbourne since we flogged them by 107 points in round 18, 2001.

[bodgie]

Horse doesn't like to change a winning team. Heeney OUT next week! Well, he might scrape in as a McInerney replacement.

[KTigers]

It was good that we played as we are capable of playing and won very easily, but North are really bad. They have won a total
of 11 games in the last four seasons combined. We have won 14 games so far this year. What on earth is going on North?
There is a salary cap in footy, how did they get to be quite this bad? It's a weird one alright.

[mcs]

Amartey and McLean need goal kicking practice this week. Their misses are going to be costly in big games.

This worries me as well.

We wasted a lot of good chances today that were pretty gettable - you can't afford to do that in big finals.

[Meg]

Good win, though I share the concern about gettable misses.

Great to have Mills back.

But the emotional highlight was Luke Parker. I sit in the Brewongle just to the right and above the Swans bench. We could see Parker warming up and the excitement levels were rising. And when he ran on the roar brought tears to my eyes. And didn’t he reward us … it was as though he had never been out … and that intercept mark and second goal was the icing on the cake. As well as his leadership — he was doing a lot of organising out there.

After the match I went to the Swans HQ and joined the star gazers at the players entrance to the Pavilion as the players wandered back from the SCG in dribs and drabs. They all got heroes’ welcomes but the biggest was for Luke. It probably took him 20 minutes to get through the door there were so many requests for photos (particularly with kids) and signatures.

Longmire was glowing in his praise for Parker in his post match media appearance. So John — don’t you dare leave Parker off the starting line up from now on ……!


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[Mel_C]

Does anyone know who the tall older man is that was at the top of the player's race at the end of the game? He is always there after every home game. I'm sure he is an ex player. The players always go up to greet him.

[rojo]

It was so good to hear Luke being interviewed in the room after the game. He looks so fresh and relaxed, even younger! The team has been without him and Millsy on field for so long that we've forgotten just what a difference they will make looking ahead, especially in the maturity/leadership stakes.

When Heeney comes back in next week the team selection squeeze will be avoided by McInerney joining the injury list, hopefully not for long. Apart from him, Harry will be the only other one to put pressure on Campbell or Roberts or one of the older back-half boys! Or Adams?

[Matty10]

Round 18: Swans v Kangaroos

Longmire was glowing in his praise for Parker in his post match media appearance.

I just watched the video of the press conference as the selected quotes seemed a bit weird to me:

<i>“He did such a great body of work whilst he's been out suspended. He worked as hard as any player I've ever seen through that period and did it all off his own back,” Longmire said.

“He worked so hard and had great confidence to come back in and make an impact.

“He made the call that he wanted to get back in amongst it, and to his great credit he was super, fantastic.”</i>

Why would he need to do fitness work ‘off his own back’ and what does it mean that he ‘made the call that he wanted to come back in’?

I can’t make any sense of it. Surely his fitness was superior to that of Mills.

Also, the comments earlier in the week that Mills comes straight back in because he is an ‘A’ grade player seemed strange to say when Parker had been kept out.

Was Longmire surprised at what Parker would produce or that he just didn’t really rate him as an option anymore?

Are his ‘glowing’ comments an indication of Parker’s value moving forward or a comment on his (Parker’s) persistence with a seemingly lost cause?

I hope it is the former, but I am still worried it is the latter. What would the plan be with a fully fit squad?

I think Parker is a better option than Adams but he seems to have come in to replace him.

[MarshallG]

Does anyone know who the tall older man is that was at the top of the player's race at the end of the game? He is always there after every home game. I'm sure he is an ex player. The players always go up to greet him.

Good question.

Namely as I have asked myself that as well after the last few home games.

[Nico]

The big question for us coming out of this game is: will a certain forward need to wash his shorts this week. No scores, zilch out of 20.18 is puzzling. I suppose standing in space when the opposition is kicking out is a vital role.

[MattW]

I agree with Matty10 that the Longmire quotes re Parker were odd. His late selection yesterday was also not clearly explained. Whatever - he must stay in now, after showing his clear value to the team as a pressure leader and smart forward. He is *much* better than any alternative in the reserves. Next week, Heeney should come in for McInerney, with Adams the sub.

Comments on a couple of fringe players:
* Roberts showed why they persevered with him yesterday, with effective accumulation as a link-up player off half-back. 22 disposals at 86% efficiency with 9 marks.
* Campbell's flaws have long been his dump kicking under pressure and lack of chase and applied pressure off the ball. I thought he has better with both yesterday.

McLean and Amartey are playing well aside from their goalkicking. Both seem to have let ball drop issues creep in but have time to fix them. Conversely, great game from Logan yesterday, who showed the great results when he relies in his technique. Highest possessions and equal highest goals in a game this year.

I thought it was notable that Longmire agreed with a suggestion in the press conference effectively that the week of rest would be good for Heeney. Let's hope he's had a chance to shake that shoulder niggle.

Massive game next week against Brisbane, which I'm looking forward to.

- - - Updated - - -

ABC Radio votes from Alicia Eva. Gulden - 3. Papley - 2. McDonald - 1. With honourable mentions to Warner and Grundy.

Agreed!

[crackedactor 01]

I need to say something that no one on these posts has mentioned. I am excited about Luke Parker being in our forward line and Callum Mills being down back. Bring on September!

[Auntie.Gerald]

Mills coming back in immediately is a little easier from the perspective he can play inside mid, wing and HBF

That’s quite a mix in an easy game like North Melb to be able to get thru if he struggled in one position due to the game or match up

[Mountain Man]

Surely the issue with Parker is that he was neither injured nor recovering from the last game and preparing for the next.

So he would have done a great deal of conditioning on his own; I assume that was the reason for Longmire's comments.