Good example of marsh pushed up the ground
3 on 1 quick hands straight to Florent on his left hand .......Florent goals
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Good example of marsh pushed up the ground
3 on 1 quick hands straight to Florent on his left hand .......Florent goals
Subscriptions - M.afl.com.au
Our backline is still uncertain, for sure. I would like to see Talia come into the picture, which would allow both Aliir and Rampe a bit more freedom.
Newman has a good turn of speed and is also one of our best endurance athletes. That's one of the things that goes unnoticed about him. He can look slow and lazy, but he is not. He's always looking to take some part in the action, whether offensively or defensively.
One of the little things I've noticed is that when the opposition have the ball and running toward the goal and Newman is on the 'wrong' side of the play, he will run hard to force the ball carrier to dispose of the ball, then he follows up on the next opposition player with the ball, so he makes a strong offensive move by the opposition more difficult to execute. He also does a lot of body work on the opposition, helping to free up our players with the ball.
He often has that dejected look on his face which makes you feel that things are not going well. (Compare to smiley Buddy).
Newman has never played a senior game, so it's hard to say if he will make the grade. He's a good kick. He's been doing it well for a long time. There's every reason to think that he can kick just as well at AFL level as he did at lower levels. Every player stepping up to AFL level has to learn to deal with the increased speed and pressure if they want to succeed. The record shows that players with Newman's performance profile at NEAFL level usually make it at AFL level. But there's no guarantee.
What a nicely reasoned argument, AG & Ludwig! So nice to see a bit of sophistication on the boards! (And I'm not suggesting it's rare - just great to see.)
So Ludwig, are you saying Talia before Marsh (or Newman or Laidler or even Melican or COR)?
My first preference would be that AJ gets back.But leaving that aside for the time being I favour Marsh - in a close fought race. That is by no means set in stone and could change over the course of coming games. I think Marsh has earned his chance with a long period of development in the NEAFL and, although he is not flashy, he is pretty reliable and coming up to AFL speed and can both lock-down and rebound a little. That is predicated on my (current) favoured backline of:
Smith Grundy Rampe
Mills Aliir McVeigh
with Marsh being the 7th defender (starting on the bench) and Jones being able to interchange out of the midfield with Mills or Macca. What's important here is that Mills, Macca and Rampe are capable distributors of the ball by foot which diminishes the need for what Newman offers. However, if they're not there, the equation changes and maybe Newman's stocks rise. If McVeigh's form continues to languish or he is injured then Newman could be a replacement. If COR can continue to improve, especially his disposal and decision-making, then maybe he can overtake Newman by the time the opportunity comes along.
My preference for a back line is to have 3 tall defenders, if at least 2 of them are athletic. We now have 6 tall defenders on our list: Grundy, Talia, Aliir, AJ, Maibaum and Melican. All are athletic types except for Grundy. So we can play 3 of them without losing speed in the back line. Rampe has been fantastic playing on taller opponents like Jack Riewoldt and Tayler Walker, but I don't think that's the best role for him. I like him more as an attacking HBF.
Most teams play a system similar to us, with 2 tall forwards plus a resting 2nd ruckman, so it's good to have coverage for 3 talls. Someone like Rampe is handy when you play against a team like Adelaide when you have cover Walker, Jenkins, Lynch and McGovern. With GWS you have to cover monsters like Patton, Cameron and Lobb, so 3 tall defenders makes sense in most cases, if they are mobile. If we had to play against ourselves we would need 3 talls to cover Franklin, Reid and Tippett, and a speedy tallish defender to cover Rohan (which would probably be Rampe in our case).
I have already foreshadowed both Mills and Jones playing in the midfield, even though I expect both to see time in defense this year. If we play 3 talls plus the usual fixtures of Rampe and Smith, then we have 2 spots open in a 7 man defensive setup. We have lots of options with Lloyd almost certain to take one of the spots. McVeigh would be the obvious selection for the other. Newman, Laidler, Marsh, COR, Edwards and Cunningham are key players looking for one of the last spots in the starting side. Let's see how the rest of the pre-season plays out before making a call.
I think Marsh has the talent, but find that he is a slow learner. It doesn't mean he won't make it. It just means it will take patience to see him to make the right decisions without costing us goals. I thought Cunningham played a good game. It's an important year for him. He has the skills and speed. He should make a dangerous half forward if he can apply forward pressure.
Very harsh Ludwig.Originally Posted by Ludwig
I doubt Reg would agree with you.
I don't think he'll be there round 1 but I would not be surprised to see Maibaum have a senior spot locked by the end of the season.
Marsh looks like he has come back in tip top shape physically and I suspect he is very coachable and they clearly rate his resilience. I think he will be a 100 gamer in time but I think he'll be a late bloomer. As long as he keeps learning and developing, 10 senior games this year would be a good season for him building on a debut year in 2016.
Not sure how I view Edwards from two hitouts. He seems quite a Busy player but I don't see him anywhere near our best 22 at this stage but there's definitely something to work on there. I like the look of Fox, and not only because he has the same stylist as Dane Rampe. He's impressed in both games so far and if he continues to hold his current form line he could well be a round 1 bolter. As I think I mentioned before, I'd have him and COR as my senior list LTIL upgrades at this stage.
Feeling this could be a breakout year for Jones this year, really hope we can get him tied up to a new deal asap but fear if he has a breakout year we may struggle to keep him....
I agree with the first part of that sentence, but not the second. When did the Swans last lose a top player they didn't want to lose? Jones is just coming into his own, has spoken glowingly of the club recently, and I bet his brother (a one club player) is advising him to stay. He's a priority signing and we'll get it done.
No offence meant to Reg. I think he's a great defender. I think Reg might agree with me that he's a different kind of defender than Aliir. Every time needs a defender like Reg.
The 2013 draft was really good for us with Jones, Hewett, Nanka and Aliir. All four picks were winners. I'm liking Jones more every time I see him play. I don't see him leaving the Swans.
All of my posts about this past draft crop have been very upbeat. Again, I think all 4 of our ND picks will make it. Our rookies are quite good as well. The little bits I saw of Sam Fisher were encouraging. He's a clever player with an accurate kick and will be the surprise package of the rookie crop.
It's hard to say who our tall defenders will be by season's end, especially with AJ on the mend. But I do agree that Maibaum looks to have the makings of a good defender. Melican wasn't bad either. I'm glad we stuck with him and hope he can get through the season injury free.
We really have a good balance of experienced and developing players in all areas of the ground. I feel this is the best list the Swans have ever had. I hope it's good enough to match GWS.
When I saw Fox I was thinking 70s porn star! With that kind of look it's good that he seems to have footy ability.
Liking the well thought through discussions on here but I still think our depth is very shaky with most comments relying on several fringe players rising to the challenge.
Just no comparison between our last 5-6 chosen and the last 5-6 for GWS. Using the universally accepted Champion Data ratings, GWS last 5-6 players in their 22 are Kelly, Hopper, Tomlinson, Whitfield, Buntine & Patton PLUS six first rounders after that - scary what the AFL has created!
Whilst we obviously didn't want to pay him as much as what was on offer from the Hawks, I think we can pretty safely call Tom Mitchell a top player
MattW (and Ludwig), I completely agree. Jones won't go and we won't let him. Now that we've done Heeney and JPK, Jones and Reid are our two other key signings. We'll get them done but Reid may be the trickier one.
I agree with you Ludwig, that our list is in awesome shape. Sure, it doesn't compare with GWS's list, but whose does? GWS has a list like no other and they will not be able to hold on to all their talent even with the prospect of endless consecutive premierships dangling in front of them. While we don't yet know which of our fringe players and those outside the 22 will be the ones that blossom and take hold, there are enough with promise for me to feel confident it's going to work out well. I only hope we can be among those to profit from the GWS surplus but perhaps we won't because we won't have salary cap space to lure anyone big outside our list.
MP, think you are on the right track nominating Fox and COR as LTIL upgrades but I think it is too soon to decide on them ahead of Edwards. Let's see out the rest of the JLT series first. It will also depend on which type of player we may have a need for. We may well hold off upgrading anyone unless a need arises.
I'll be surprised but not staggered if Maibaum becomes best 22 this year. He's got a lot of competition, is young and looks to be a long term potential replacement for Reg so his chances will be better when Reg is gone.
Just thinking aloud here and would be interested in hearing others thoughts.
But currently I believe Reid is the biggest money sink on our list. Reportedly on 500K p.a. Buddys worth the money and Tippett you could argue both ways, depending on his early 2016 form against his late 2016 form. However Reid has only shown glimpses of potential and occasional stand out quarters. How important is he to resign? Is it such a big deal if we let him go? Who would we replace him with?
I know Horse highly rates him and that everyone is probably waiting to see how he performs in the early half of this year before any kind of contract talks.
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