Eagles and Swans

[IrishSwanPerth]

I went to see the Eagles On Sunday against the Hawks, I came home very annoyed for two reasons, 1 they won cause I hate them and 2 how good their young players are developing.
They played a lot of young guys last year and to see how much they have developed in 12 months really upset me.
My partner has two season tickets and I go when nothing else to do on a Saturday or Sunday in Perth and thats quiet often .
I see our kids and most of them are not moving forward at the rate Paul Roos has expected. Is this coaching or bad drafting??
Its hard to believe they have won a grand final since we have, my taught walking home was the eagles will win a flag again before us and living in Perth thats a heart breaker. The guys that fly over and know me, know what I mean.
I would write of the rest of the season and play young kids, MOL Im sorry but playing u for the rest of the season doesnt benefit us going forward. Plus you are not playing well. Ablett, Crouch, Leo and MOL should have one last game (and maybe more) so we can say goodbye and thanks for great memorys. It hurts to see legends like Leo and MOL hanging up the boots.
But make way for new legends.

[giant]

And yet I've watched games this year and wondered where the heck Ebert, Rosa, Brown, Selwood, etc were at - with youngsters you don't know what you'll get on a week to week basis and I'm certainly not convinced about the Eagles squad of youngsters especially since their veterans are contributing significantly less than ours.

Which is not to say of course that we shouldn't be giving our youngsters more of a chance...

[Doctor J.]

Settle down ISP.

You need to look at the game in its context.

The conditions were dreadful thus nullifying the total impact of The Buddy & Roughy show, although they did kick 8 or 9 between them, but that was basically done in 2 quarters when the Dawks had the wind. Had conditions been normal, the output from these 2 clowns may well have been more to get them over the line.

The Dawks are shizenhousen! They are not a good team at the moment, and beating them should be seen in the same light as beating, dare I say it, Sydney.

Things aren't that rosy in Eagle land although the drug lord worshippers obviously think so with the arrival of the new messiah Nick Natinui.

[10Totti10]

Geez mate, I wouldn't go that far. Last year they played a heap of kids and if u didn't notice but they weren't that good last year. Most of their younger players couldn't even kick straight (just look at the Geelong game, and Hawthorn game). This year they have matured and are a bit better but still not great. As said above Ebert, Selwood, etc still don't perform consistently. U can't expect immediate results from our younger guys. Just look at the guys that we played last year. Jack, Bird, Veszpa (except for last game) have all improved in some way or another so I think we r on the right track. We will win a premiership before the eagles.

[AnnieH]

Nic Naitanui is going to be a legend (mark my words) ... sure wish he was playing for us.

[snajik]

Nic Naitanui is going to be a legend (mark my words) ... sure wish he was playing for us.

Comfortable now with the knowledge that our chances of making the finals are quite remote I feel myself becoming less tense and being able to relax with a frosty and appreciate a good game of footy for its own sake. (Of course if the Bloods surprise me and make a late charge for the finals I will re-assess my new emotional state).

It's easy to forget sometimes why I (why we) love this great game. I detest the Eagles as much as the next mammal but for half a quarter of footy on Saturday night I was able to put this ingrained aversion to one side and marvel at the skills of an outstanding athlete. His career could go anywhere. Still a teenager, at least 6 foot 6, can run like a hare, deceptive, lightning quick decision making processes, natural anticipation, knows where the goals are etc etc. What is he going to be like when he puts on some weight. No doubt Jack Watts will find his way over time, but I really can't see him reaching the heights of NN. He'd be a huge cult figure with any team but the Eagles won't be letting this chap go.

[shaun..]

You'd have to take in to account the fact they've received a number of high draft picks in the past couple of years and that the Swans have remained in finals contention. They've probably benefitted from the Judd-trade in a way, receiving Josh Kennedy, pick 3 (Masten) and pick 20 (Notte) - to go along with their pick 13 (Ebert) and pick 22 (Selwood). And last season they received pick 2 (Naitanui), priority pick 18 (Shuey), and pick 20 (Swift) as they tanked or were really that bad.

You could also note that they prefer picking a lot of kids from the draft, compared to our trading and drafting rookies scheme.

[IrishSwanPerth]

Their kicking, passing and awarness of where other players were was good.

I feel in three to four years they wont be a bad outfit. Minus Kerr, Wirraponda and a couple of more it will be interesting.

I just reckon they have a plan and moving forward where we are struggling with players like Ablett, LRT, Grundy, Buchanon and more lately Bevan and Teddy. These guys are our future, dont know about ye guys but it doesnt read good. Some of our young players have ?? of there heads.
Where every week the above players mentioned, they are constantly making bad decisions when on the footy, slow to make decisions and i feel nervous every time there at the back trying to play keep footy.

On a good note I'm very happy with the way Jack is moving forward.

[sWAns63]

Yeah Jacks a little gun is a good accurate kick from what I've seen.
He'll start picking up plenty of possessions in the future if he continues to improve the way he has over the last couple of seasons.

[Triple B]

Last weekend was the first decent game I've seen Masten play.

McVeigh has showed that you just can't rate top 10 picks as 'yes' or 'no' for at least 5 years, but from what I've seen, which is probably at least half the games he has played, he has looked anything but a Pick 3.

Time will tell.

[BSA5]

Our kids are progressing just fine. The reason they aren't racking up huge numbers is because, quite simply, our best team doesn't rely on them. Bird and Jack, after almost full seasons last year, are coming along beautifully. They aren't dominating games because they aren't getting the game time and roles to be in that position, and the reason for that is our best midfielders are Kirk, Goodes, Bolton, McVeigh and O'Keefe. So, the kids are relegated to bit-part roles, allowing them to pick up the pace of the game and get used to the intensity, while our midfield still performs at its peak.

I can tell you that if Judd and Cousins had not left WC, and Fletcher had not dropped out of form, WC would be in exactly the same position as the Swans. As it is, their midfield consists of Kerr, Priddis, and a bunch of youngsters, and because of the inconsistent nature of young players, sometimes they'll be able to get up and play fantastic footy together, and the team will perform well, and sometimes they'll do badly, and the team will perform badly. We see the good patches of footy and think "why aren't the Swans youngsters doing that?", but the fact is that they can't when they're getting 55% game time on the wing or in the forward pocket. That doesn't mean they're not developing; as soon as room is made in the midfield, you can bet that these guys will step up. We saw hints of it against the Crows: with McVeigh out, Bird, Jack and Brabazon all got a fair chunk of game time in the middle, and all had important touches, and Barlow stepped up and took some marks across half forward and inside 50. They started leading the way. Once their roles become permanent, they get major game time in their preferred position, you'll see them put to use what they're currently learning, just like the WC youngsters are doing now.

[DeadlyAkkuret]

Are you kidding? Their kids look average on a regular basis, even our side easily accounted for the Hawks.

Masten is dreadful most of the time, Spangher is their version of Saddington, Priddis is probably their best mid this year and that's saying something. Just calm down will you.