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Thread: Practice Match: UWS Giants v Sydney Swans Reserves

  1. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by ugg View Post
    No one really out up their hand today I thought. Derickx also has a concussion to deal with but at least he has two weeks to recover
    Yep, pretty flabby performance all around. Started decently enough, with a young defender wearing 34 making a few lively forays up the ground. He looked great, before collapsing in a heap in a marking contest and being helped from the ground. For the rest of the first half the Swans looked slow, disinterested and without much structure. Their intensity improved slightly after half time, but they were still a long way short of what we've seen in recent years.

    Robinson was maybe the best of a mediocre midfield group but I've seen him play much better. Lloyd was pretty quiet in the first half but did get significantly better as things went on. Jack started well but seemed to stop around the same time as Alex Johnson. Harsh? Probably, but he'll need to get much better to force his way into the senior team (which is saying something, given how they went tonight).

    I've not really seen anything from Lockyer or Marsh yet that says "AFL senior player in the making" and nothing changed today. Membrey looked slow and unfit. Perris wasn't moving well at all - wouldn't be surprised if he's carrying some groin soreness of some description.

    Alir was far from the worst. He was at least energetic, made some nice spoils, and tried to provide a bit of run from defence. X was playing on Boyd, I think, for much of the game, and struggled to combat his height. Dick wasn't the worst.

    Biggs wasn't too bad for someone who's had a bit of an interrupted pre-season. Hewett looked very young and could have passed for one of the top-ups. He was OK, maybe a bit tentative. But given he's had practically no pre-season it's got to be a wait and watch for him.

    Zak Jones was reasonable. He didn't play onball, per se, but seemed to drift between half-forward and half-back. He turned the ball over at times but at least he showed good intensity.

    For a mature player, I thought Derickx was very disappointing. Had a chance to take a few marks up forward but everything went right through his fingers. Nankervis wasn't much better, but at least has the excuse of youth. Mitchell looked completely at sea, but that's to be expected. He has at least learned how to tackle. Sammy did a few nice things but nothing to suggest he's ready to move up to the big time anytime soon.

    Some of the top-ups provided many of the highlights. Ressies stalwart Doug Haddin (sp?) had claims to being BOG. He got plenty of the ball, did turn it over a few times, but produced a couple of great run downs and tackles. Number 50 showed a fair array of skill too. I heard him being called Jack but not sure of his surname - was it Jack Hiscox maybe? Number 52 was reasonably lively too, while 53 kicked the first two goals and looked very composed in doing so. He drifted out of the game after that but not a bad first outing - I am pretty sure I've not seen him play for the side before.

    If any of these guys (and I mean our listed players, rather than the toppies) do have designs on playing much senior football, they'd do well to dig out a few tapes from nearly a decade ago when they likes of McVeigh and Malceski were trying to break into the senior team (I'm thinking 2005ish). They would run themselves ragged, linking up several times in the same play to move the ball from defence to the forward line. I reckon Jones was the only listed player out there today who showed anything like the required level of intensity. We know several of the rest can do this, because they did last year. Let's hope they find their mojo soon.
    Last edited by liz; 15th March 2014 at 11:46 PM. Reason: typo

  2. #26
    Go Swannies! Site Admin Meg's Avatar
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    Well thanks a million Liz, after our gloominess about the seniors match you've just cheered us no end!

    I need another drink now.

  3. #27
    Can you feel it? Site Admin ugg's Avatar
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    Did you think 49 was Hadden. I liked his game a lot but I'm not completely sure it was him. Only toppie I recognised was 51 Wray

  4. #28
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    Quote Originally Posted by ugg View Post
    Did you think 49 was Hadden. I liked his game a lot but I'm not completely sure it was him. Only toppie I recognised was 51 Wray
    Yep, it was definitely him - not just from sight, but I could hear the players calling him Doug.

  5. #29
    Can you feel it? Site Admin ugg's Avatar
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    Fair enough. Jack could have been Jack Hiscox or Jack Codd-Miller

  6. #30
    Veterans List Ludwig's Avatar
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    Jeez Liz! Too big a realty check for me.

    How is it possible to start in the morning thinking that your team has so much depth that it will hard to retain all your stars, to the evening where it's hard to see us finishing above the Saints.

  7. #31
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    Thank you, Liz, for that considered report. It's particularly disappointing to hear that people who were banging on the firsts door last season appear to have gone backwards - I'm thinking especially Membrey and Brandon Jack. Perhaps Xav too, although Boyd is the kind and size of player he needs to cut his teeth on, while we can cut some slack for Biggs under his circumstances.
    It sounds as if Crouch has his work cut out.
    He reminds him of the guys, close-set, slow, and never rattled, who were play-makers on the team. (John Updike, seeing Josh Kennedy in a crystal ball)

  8. #32
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ludwig View Post
    Jeez Liz! Too big a realty check for me.

    How is it possible to start in the morning thinking that your team has so much depth that it will hard to retain all your stars, to the evening where it's hard to see us finishing above the Saints.
    You're positive. The season is finished, the world is ending and Buddy has head lice in his beard.
    Nothing like a good light bulb moment.

  9. #33
    Can you feel it? Site Admin ugg's Avatar
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    I missed the first 8 minutes of the game due to Gate A attendants not having their mobile ticket scanners and they forced me to walk back to Gate D and then another half lap of the stadium to get to my designated seat, which them seemed really intent on policing even though there were only a few hundred people in the ground. Anyway I digress, the score at that point was Swans leading 2 goals to 1 and were apparently playing pretty well which was frustrating to me from what I saw from that point onwards they were poor. We have to note that GWS had a really strong team out there, I don't think they had many top ups (if at all?) which we had at least 5.

    The height in their team is just amazing and I think caused us to mess around our structures. There were numerous occasions when a Swans runner would have the ball in the midfield, only to look up and see nothing but space in front of him. Unsure whether this was due to bad positioning by the forwards or an actual ploy by the coaches, but the Swans actually managed to kick 2 of their 6 goals by kicking into the space. One by Robinson bounced through and the other Marsh won the race (he's another speedy Harry) to soccer it home.

    Even though we had 3 ruckmen on the field most of the time in Derickx, Nankervis and Naismith (plus Patty Mitchell when he appeared later on), one of them would have to follow one of their resting ruckman into our back half just to give a contest. I was interested in how the Swans would utilise the 3 rucks, and from my vantage point it appeared Derickx played more as a forward with short spells in the ruck, probably in an effort to simulate the role he would get in the team with Pyke available. He didn't impress that much in that position, but to be fair he didn't have quality ball coming his way and the young Giants talls in Jaksch, Corr and McCarthy mopped up well. He was involved in a heavy collision with Whiley that left him on the ground for a few moments. He did eventually get to his feet and managed to walk to the bench but took no further part in the game. Nankervis moves well for a tall lad and contributed around the ground. Naismith seems to grow a few centimetres taller every time I see him, he's also quite mobile but can appear clumsy with some of his physical work. Felt like the Giants' ruck division of Downie, Phillips and Lobb were the better unit on the day.

    Towers being the other senior emergency was the other player I was hoping would impress but he was also very quiet playing up forward. I didn't even notice him until the end of the first quarter. The one time that Towers did manage to get on a lead and mark inside 50 he missed the subsequent set shot. He was taken off at half time to protect him for the seniors required. The other player with senior claims BJ was also quiet although I note in liz's post that he was lively early. In last year's reserves game, if he wasn't contributing directly on the scoreboard, he would have been active in the goal assists column but had no impact on either front yesterday.

    Membrey was comprehensively beaten by Plowman yesterday. He started with a roaming role pushing out from the forward 50, but Plowman's superior fitness and skills saw him win the majority of their contests which hurt us on the rebound too. Later on in the game Membrey was stationed close to goal but found no joy there either. The one positive for Membrey was his strong mark on the lead and accurate conversion in the 3rd quarter.

    Lloyd was probably expected to lead our midfield but he couldn't impose himself on the game. He did have the company of last year's #2 pick for most of the day. Robinson, as liz said, was the best of the onballers - wasn't a star but at least his endeavour and tackling were constants throughout the game. Marsh doesn't look like he has the skill set to succeed as a midfielder, at least not yet. He may be quick on his feet, but doesn't look to be quick in the (footy) mind when it comes to congestion in close. Perris assumed a more outside role today and had probably his quietest reserves outing, in his first official game as a listed Swans player.

    The one real positive for me was Aliir. He took no chances, preferring to punch when in doubt (always a good idea in my book) and also showed some unexpected composure with the ball in hand. It possibly could have been due to Aliir being unaware of the incoming danger, but I prefer to give him the benefit of the doubt. Really looking forward to his improvement during the upcoming NEAFL season.

    Richards stuck with Boyd for most of the day (except for a strange period where topup #60 went to Boyd and Xav when to Liam Sumner who is all of 5 foot nothing) and wasn't disgraced. Lockyer coped well on the unending rotation of UWS tall forwards such as Tomlinson, Stewart and Downie/Phillips.

    Final Swans mention of the day goes to Patty Mitchell (possibly playing his first ever game of AFL?). He came onto the ground, picked up the nearest tall who happened to be Tomlinson. Quickly arranged a swap and went forward where old pro Stevie Gilham wasn't very welcoming to our newest overseas recruit. He got to a few contests late, which is to be expected given his newness to the game, and also took a few ruck contests after Derickx had gone off. In this role, he found himself rucking against Boyd when there were throw-ups in the Giants forward line, a match-up I'm sure neither player would have been expecting 12 months ago. I'm sure a lot of comparisons will be made to Pyke given their North American backgrounds but whereas Pyke was thrown straight into the ruck when he first arrived at the Swans, Mitchell won't be given the same role given the 3 other ruckmen ahead of him.

    I'm sure some here will be keen to hear on how young Lamb went. He was playing as a half-forward, probably emulating the Giants' desired role for him in their seniors. Biggs kept him quiet for the first half and Lamb had no impact on the scoreboard. Biggs was taken off some time in the 2nd half (a pre-planned move I'm sure) and Lamb started influencing the game more. In the 3rd quarter, he was marked by regular toppie Stephen Wray and he took two great contested marks inside 50, one sticking his posterior out to neutralise Wray's reach and protecting the fall of the ball; and the second a strong grab from behind. He missed with one of those set shots and passed off the other to Nathan Wilson (who missed). He also played on after marking inside 50 with no Swan around him and hit the post from about 35m out.

    The last quarter saw him matched up against Jones and it was a great contest with both players having their moments. Lamb outmanoeuvred Jones a few times with his trademark pivot and swivel but when he beat Jones a second time, Zak came back with a tremendous second effort to tackle Lamb before he had disposed of the ball. Lamb finally got on the scoreboard when he positioned himself at the right spot while the big men flew for the mark (a desperate Mitchell spoil from the side clashing with Nankervis who had dropped back into the whole), scooped the loose ball and stabbed it home from a tight angle.

    UWS 4.5 8.6 10.7 12.12 (84)
    Swans 3.1 3.8 4.8 6.10 (46)

    UWS Goals: Boyd 4 Hoskin-Elliott 2, Lamb, Wilson, Buntine, Stewart, Barrett, Downie
    Swans Goals: #53 2 Membrey Robinson Marsh Lloyd
    Last edited by ugg; 16th March 2014 at 01:10 PM.

  10. #34
    pr. dim-melb; m not f
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    Thanks ugg, well done.
    He reminds him of the guys, close-set, slow, and never rattled, who were play-makers on the team. (John Updike, seeing Josh Kennedy in a crystal ball)

  11. #35
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    Quote Originally Posted by ugg View Post
    Swans Goals: Membrey Robinson Marsh Lloyd #53 and I missed one.
    The other goal was also by #53. He kicked the Swans' first two.

  12. #36
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    Thanks liz, updated.

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