Good Day Sunshine

NEAFL Round 12
Gold Coast Suns Reserves v Sydney Swans Reserves
Saturday 7th June 2013 3.00pm
Metricon Stadium

The young Swans face a Herculean task this weekend when they travel to Metricon stadium to take on the Suns Reserves. The Reserves' list, like their senior counterpart, has been whittle down slowly week by week due to injury and this week they also lose one more player due to traveling emergency duties. The Suns on the other hand, are on the ascendancy, and due to a combination of senior players returning from injury as well as a solid performing senior team which has left some bigger names languishing in the reserves. The Swans will have a big ask facing the might and experience of Nathan Bock, Jared Brennan, Greg Brouhgton and Karmichael Hunt as well as the highly hyped up youngster Jack Martin, who has been described as being better than Jaeger O'Meara at the same stage last year.

The Swans won the Round 3 clash in convincing fashion, when their excellent first quarter performance proved too much for the Suns to overcome.


Eastern Conference Ladder
TeamPlayedWinsLossesDrawsByesForAgainstPercentagePoints
Reserves981021224611200.33%32
Belconnen963021073862124.48%24
Ainslie105501956925103.35%20
Queanbeyan9540280687392.33%20
Eastlake9540274781891.32%20
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UWS9450292593898.61%16
Sydney Uni9360287093593.05%12
Hills Eagles9360282099182.74%12
Tuggeranong92702510104248.94%8

Northern Conference Ladder
TeamPlayedWinsLossesDrawsByesForAgainstPercentagePoints
Lions Reserves981011070646165.63%32
Southport97201915680134.56%28
Aspley96301971715135.80%24
Suns Reserves96301985796123.74%24
Morningside9540182484797.28%20
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NT Thunder84402934796117.3416
Redland84402841744113.04%16
Broadbeach9360179695083.79%12
Labrador91801617108456.92%4
Mt Gravatt9090153416445.88%0

Past Meetings
2013
R3 Reserves 15.20 (110) defeated Gold Coast Reserves 10.5 (65) @ Sydney Cricket Ground

A brilliant first half display by the Reserves set up a comfortable victory against the Suns reserves, whose lethargic start proved to be costly. Midfielders Lamb, Cunningham and Robinson set up the win with their contested ball, whose work was gleefully finished off by the forward duo of Morton and Membrey who finished with 7 goals between them.

Goals: Morton 4, Membrey 3, Cunningham 2, Brown, Sertbas, Mitchell, Robinson, Jack, Lamb
Best: Lamb, Cunningham, Robinson, Brown, White

2012
R2 Reserves 7.13 (55) defeated by Gold Coast 13.13 (91) @ Sydney Cricket GroundThe Reserves were hampered by the late withdrawals of Mark Seaby and Jesse White whilst their opponents the Suns had the ability to call on the full complement of 5 on their bench. The Reserves struggled to break down a resolute Suns defensive unit and lost it in the last quarter when Josh Fraser booted 4 of his 5 goals.

Goals: Walsh 2, Potter, McNeil, Lycakis, Jack, Gordon
Best: Heath, Walsh, Lycakis, Moore, Jack

R10 Reserves 16.13 (109) defeated Gold Coast 8.8 (56) @ Blacktown International Sports Park
In the wet and damp conditions out west, the talls Mark Seaby (in the ruck) and Matthew Spangher (at CHF) dominated for the Swans as they romped to a comfortable 9 goal win over the Suns. The physicality and pressure of the home team was too much for Gold Coast whose sloppiness proved costly as they could only manage 3 goals to 3 quarter time.

Goals: Spangher 4, Morton 3, Everitt 2, Seaby 2, Moody, Cunningham, Mitchell, White, Walsh
Best: Seaby, Spangher, Biggs, Everitt, Moore, Davis

R18 Gold Coast 15.10 (100) defeated by Reserves 20.11 (131) @ Metricon Stadium
A close fought game was blown apart in the last quarter when the Reserves unleashed an 8 goal display to easily triumph away at Metricon Stadium. Mitch Morton was the star forward, kicking 9 goals in a consistent all round display with Nathan Gordon and Matt Spangher's competitive displays leading the way for the Swans.

Goals: Morton 9, Spangher 3, Plug 2, Moore, Potter, McNeil, White, Everitt, Gordon
Best: Gordon, Spangher, Morton, Meredith, Plug, Cunningham

Recent Form
Reserves
RoundTeamVenueResultFA
R1BYE    
R2UWSAwayWIN107102
R3Gold CoastHomeWIN11065
R4TuggeranongAwayWIN23740
R5Hills EaglesHomeWIN14886
R6BYE    
R7BrisbaneHomeLOSS81104
R8UWSAwayWIN12778
R9QueanbeyanHomeWIN15138
R10AinslieAwayWIN12349
R11BelconnenHomeWIN14049

Suns Reserves
RoundTeamVenueResultFA
R1BYE    
R2Mt GravattHomeWIN15832
R3Swans ReservesAwayLOSS65110
R4Lions ReservesHomeLOSS70180
R5RedlandAwayWIN15185
R6Lions ReservesHomeLOSS79111
R7SouthportHomeWIN10677
R8BYE    
R9MorningsideAwayWIN11940
R10UWS GiantsAwayWIN12091
R11Lions ReservesAwayWIN11770

Last Round
Reserves20.20 (140) defeated Belconnen 6.13 (49)

Goals: White 5, Jack 3, Kilpatrick 3, Towers 2, Sands 2, Weir, Hadden, Pola-Smith, Membrey, Lamb
Best: Biggs, Jack, Lamb, Richards, Armstrong, White

Brisbane Lions Reserves 10.10 (70) defeated by Gold Coast Suns Reserves 17.15 (117) @ Giffin Park

Goals: Hall 5, Bock 4, Williams 2, Patrick 2, May, Gillbee, Weller, Hutchins
Best: Hall, Hutchins, Martin, Boston, Weller, Sexton

Team List
Listed players
#NameGamesGoalsVotesNotes
1Tim MEMBREY7153Morphed into a half-forward pushing up the ground, and he excelled in that role with some effective inside 50 kicks.
7Harry CUNNINGHAM4533 quarters of game time last week in the midfield.
11Jed LAMB6818(Senior emergency) Topped the disposal count last week, unlucky not to earn a senior recall.
19Tony ARMSTRONG402(Senior emergency) First mention in the best list last week.
23Jordan LOCKYER910Has some big Suns forwards to cover this week: Bock, Hall or Gorringe.
27Daniel ROBINSON893Much needed return to bolster a depleted midfield.
28Matthew DICK500Been hampered by injury, has missed the last 3 reserves games.
31Harrison MARSH850Another tagging job awaits, presumably on a Brennan or Horsley.
36Alex BROWN9312With White going to Adelaide, will most likely be the relief ruckman/resting forward.
42Xavier RICHARDS8010In good form but will be tested by the Suns' arsenal of tall forwards.
44Jake LLOYD9717Crunched in the Belco game early and wasn't as prominent as usual.
46Shane BIGGS9010Named best on ground last week for his defensive and rebounding work.
Changes
In: Robinson, Dick
Out: Jesse WHITE (seniors), Dean TOWERS (senior emergency), Brandon JACK (seniors)

Down to the bare bones, just 12 listed players have been named and three (Cunningham, Robinson and Dick) are returning from injury. The side also seems a little unbalanced with many defender type players, so Crouch will have shift a few players around to cover the gaps. Height and size could be an issue too with no recognised ruckman in this list, it means one of the topups will take primary ruck duties.

With 5 of the top 6 goalkickers for the year not in this week's side (Morton, White, Walsh, Jack, Everitt) the bulk of the scoring load will fall on Membrey, Lamb and Lloyd.

Academy Players/Topups
#NameGamesGoalsVotesNotes
47Stephen WRAY720 
48Jack McKINLAY000 
49Yarran JAFFER-WILLIAMS320 
50Brad PLUG000 
51James DUNN210 
52Tom GREEN000 
53Erol SERTBAS510 
58Wills BRASSIL100 
59Hayden WASHINGTON000From Manly
60Jordan WEIR851 

In: Brassil, Green, McKinlay, Plug, Washington
Out: Doug HADDEN, Ben HODGSON, Lachlan KILPATRICK, Levi SANDS

Brassil played as the side's leading ruckman the last time White was out of the side. He competed well although he lost the hitouts stat convincingly. Green, McKinlay and Plug have played as topups in the past, and Plug in particular was one of the better topups in the run
to the NEAFL finals last year.

Weir has shown an ability to kick goals since being moved forward, mainly in open play even though he usually plays as a tall target.

Reserves leading goalkickers
  • Mitch Morton 26 (5)
  • Jesse White 22 (8)
  • Tommy Walsh 21 (6)

For full list: 2013 Goalkickers - RWOwiki

Reserves leading votegetters
  • Tommy Walsh 19 (6)
  • Jesse White 19 (8)
  • Jed Lamb 18 (6)

For full list: 2013 Best Votes - RWOwiki

Gold Coast Suns Reserves
    
B:21. Jeremy TAYLOR48. Seb TAPE31. Jackson ALLEN
HB:27. Clay CAMERON20. Henry SCHADE36. Greg BROUGHTON
C:4. Maverick WELLER7. Karmichael HUNT40. Andrew BOSTON
HF:28. Jack MARTIN17. Steven MAY6. Alex SEXTON
F:13. Jacob GILLBEE44. Nathan BOCK46. Josh HALL
Foll:15. Daniel GORRINGE42. Kyal HORSLEY3. Jared BRENNAN
Int:41. Leigh OSBORNE57. Jermaine WARDLE59. Angus WATTS
 58. Shane VITAKANGIS47. Stephen MILLS45. Dylan MUTU

In: Brennan, Broughton, Gorringe, Horsley, Hunt, Mills, Mutu, Vitakangis, Wardle, Watts,
Out: Cameron DUFFY, Jack GOODALL, Caleb HAY, Jack HUTCHINS, Tom MICHAEL, Liam PATRICK, Jack TAYLOR, Jak WILLIAMS

We missed out seeing what the hype over Jack Martin was in Round 3, but the excitement machine is in good form and will dominate the midfield if his influence is not curbed. The trouble for the Swans is if they tag him, that leaves players such as Horsley, Brennan and Hunt open who are just as good in the clearances as Martin is. Weller is the designated tagger in this side and you would imagine his sights will be trained on Lamb from the first bounce.

Nathan Bock played only limited minutes in his comeback match last week, but still managed a impressive 4 goals 2 behinds return, against a strong opposition in the Brisbane Lions Reserves. He will likely start forward again and his size alone will prove a problem for the Swans who in past games this year have tended to throw Walsh back when bigger forwards appeared on the horizon but alas they do not have that luxury today. Former high jumper Josh Hall played in the ruck last week and still managed a 5 goal haul, but with Gorringe back this week he will spend more time as a permanent forward.