ben mathews

[redunderthebed]

no mentions yet? a top performance with 21 very good possessions and really looked good in a poor back line but very productive in the middle.I have always believed some have been too harsh on Bennie because, i believe, HE does have some natural skills and is hard at the ball.He sometimes has a brain explosion and kicks backwards but this is usually because there have been no forward options.

[NMWBloods]

I thought he played a pretty reasonable game last night, mainly because of the lack of brain explosions. It was nice to see.

[Roscoe]

A good game last night by Ben

we really need him sweeping up across half-back, thus allowing
Maxi to run out of the centre

I always rated Matthews as a very good goal kicker from a set shot

[swansrock4eva]

I think my first comment about him for the evening was "OMG He kicked FORWARDS!"

Keep it up ben! Stop fooling us into believing you forgot how to play! :p We want to see more of the good stuff that we know you have!

[Dpw]

Iam not a Mathews fan, but it was his best game for the season to date so my hats off to him I just wish that was his standard every week.

[thommoone]

I thought he played OK last night, but still needs to improve a bit and be consistent, week in, week out to keep his spot in the side.

[redunderthebed]

and name another swan that doesn't 'need to improve a bit and be consistent'.
Certainly Ben aoulb be the first back to be picked after Craig Bolton on form this year.

[Nico]

Originally posted by redunderthebed
no mentions yet? a top performance with 21 very good possessions and really looked good in a poor back line but very productive in the middle.I have always believed some have been too harsh on Bennie because, i believe, HE does have some natural skills and is hard at the ball.He sometimes has a brain explosion and kicks backwards but this is usually because there have been no forward options.

Sorry, can't agree that he is "hard at it". Watch where he gets his kicks. It is usually on his own running off half back. This is a good thing however, his disposal has always been poor and because he is such a poor kick (no penetration) he limits his options. I just wonder sometimes if he even looks where he is kicking.

Then he doesn't get back to man up anywhere near quickly enough, but he is not alone in this area.

Rarely gets the shorts dirty so he is hardly an in and under player, which again he is not the only one, which highlights another real weakness in that we do not win many of those tough 50/50 contests. More like 25/75 are the Swans at stoppages and hard contests.

Having said the above though, Mathews has racked up good possessions this season which is more than can be said for some of the other backmen.

Which is why the much mailigned Brad Seymour needs to get back there. Now he is hard at it, and is good at holding the ball in at the packs inside 50. Might throw in the clangers, but so do Barry and Mathews, and they are no where near the hardness of Seymour.

While on Leo, I recall him only hitting the target once on Friday and that was with his right foot, which is his wrong foot. Perhaps he should try that option a bit more often.

[thommoone]

I guess i expect more of him cause he gets a heck of a lot of the ball but than stuffs up with his disgraceful disposals. If he could kick then he'd be worth keeping!

[redunderthebed]

i was thinking that i would get angry on the response but really the comments have been very fair except that i do think that mathews has a great kick and usually accurate. He has always gone hard in my view as well but is sometimes a lone puppie in the backs.

[Grant]

Originally posted by Nico


While on Leo, I recall him only hitting the target once on Friday and that was with his right foot, which is his wrong foot. Perhaps he should try that option a bit more often. [/B]

Probably because he didn't get put off by his own shadow this time:D

[Craig]

You must be kidding about Ben Mathews. Half the bloody team had 20 touches. This would be the first game all year that he hasn't stuffed up everytime he touches the ball. Did you fail to see the game v the Hawks??? If Mathews wins the hard balls then I'm the tooth fairy.