Originally Posted by
liz
I know that the official "bests" lists sometimes bemuse those of us who watched a reserves game, but I truly have no idea where they pulled that list from. I'll come back to that shortly.
This was one of the least fluent and skilled performances I have witnessed from our NEAFL side in a long while. On the plus side, their work rate and willingness to apply pressure were generally pretty good, and that's what kept them in the game for as long as they were against a much slicker, more skilled (and taller) Lions outfit. I am not entirely surprised. The Lions have lots of very talented young players and, without the long injury list they had last year, they were always going to field a strong NEAFL side.
The Lions did take half the first quarter to get going, and in that period, the Swans were able to scrounge the ball forward and kick three goals while the Lions' heads were still in the dressing room. Apart from a brief period in the middle of the third quarter, the Lions then controlled the play for the rest of the game. When the Swans did manage to create a scoring chance, it was generally through some individual good play by a forward, rather than fluent, creative team football.
Back to that "bests" list. I had Jack down as one of the most disappointing players out there, given he is also somewhat of a NEAFL veteran. I don't recall him doing more than throwing the ball on his boot, with no apparent design on target or even direction. He did seem to play mostly in defence (with some stints on a wing) and the ball spent a lot of time in the Lions' forward arc, often surrounded by 3/4 of the players on the ground. So maybe tackled like a maniac and I just didn't see. Maybe.
I also thought Maibaum was "only OK". The trio of tall defenders (Maibaum, Melican and Talia) played like they'd never played a game together (or trained together). To be fair, the former is probably true. They often all went up for the same spoil. Sometimes they contested marks against each other (and no Lions). They were all guilty of some ordinary turnovers coming out of defence, which gifted the Lions easy goals. With so much crowded play in the Lions' forward zone and without the benefit of a screen to see replays, I no doubt missed many of the smaller details. Maybe Maibaum was the pick of the trio. But, to me, it wasn't a game that suggested he is yet AFL ready.
COR was another that I thought had an ordinary game, by his standards. He did a few nice things, but was beaten by his opponent more often than not, and (I think it was he) was guilty of giving away a 50m penalty that took the Lions player to the goal square after gobbing off at an umpire for a HTB free kick against him. In COR's defence, it was an awful call by the umpire (more of that later) but it was still undisciplined to mouth off. It happened on the far side of the ground from the grandstand but even from there, you could tell from COR's body language that he was talking back to the umpire. (Let's hope I've got that one right - that it was actually COR). Quite separately, something happened very late in the game where Matt Eagles said something to COR, who reacted very angrily, putting his hand around Eagles' throat.
Towers looked like a man whose confidence is shot. He's often been a dominant player at NEAFL level (as you'd expect him to be) but most of what he touched yesterday turned to dust. He had one moment yesterday of which Derikckzxk (and Ludwig) would have been proud. Some good pressure from one of the Swans caused a Lion to kick OOBOTF. Towers was the closest player to the boundary so got to take the free kick, just outside the Swans' attacking 50m arc. Rather than try to find a player in the corridor, or even kick to the top of the square, he tried one of those dinky little kicks into the near forward pocket. One of those kicks that, even if it hits a man, results in a shot at goal that it almost impossible to convert. In this case, I don't think there was even a likely marking target in the vicinity, let alone on a lead. But none of that really mattered because it evaded all players from both sides and cleared the boundary line on the full. Free kick to the Lions.
There were some positives, and some players who looked more AFL-likely than the rest.
Edwards started with a lot of energy. He chased everyone, tackled those he got to (sometimes legally) and was generally making a nuisance of himself to the Lions. He wasn't able to maintain quite that level of energy, but during the short periods of the game when the Swans were briefly on top, Edwards was prominent. It can be hard to assess players' individual attributes when their team as a whole isn't playing fluent footy. Edwards is possibly a player who'd look better in a stronger team. Certainly I'd have him ahead of someone like Towers on work rate, willingness to chase and tackle, and apparent desire to get picked in the senior team.
Rose was lively for most of the game but his possessions were often scrappy. He had an absolute purple patch in the third quarter, however, that briefly suggested the Swans could mount a comeback. His first goal was kicked from the goal line. He took a good contested park deep in a pocket and was crunched by a Lion arriving late in the contest. He was awarded a 50m penalty. The second was a regulation snap - I don't remember the details. His third was the most eye catching, right out of the Heeney playbook. He attempted, and nearly completed, a spekky 50m out from goal. When it spilled, he was the first to recover (with that Heeney catlike agility), cleanly picked the ball up from the deck, put it on his boot and it sailed through, the goals, long and straight.
Dawson definitely has some skills that will translate to senior AFL. Two of his goals were beautiful kicks from 50m out. My notes are bit sketchy but certainly the final one came after a strong contested mark. I think the first was on the run but I can't exactly recall. However, apart from his goals, I don't recall noticing him influence play much. He's another who will probably benefit from playing in a stronger team, but I'd like to see him expend a bit more energy (ala Edwards) and get stuck into more contests.
Finally to the battle for Kurt's spot in the team to play Collingwood. It will be a tight call, I imagine. Both made themselves dangerous targets up forward and both converted a couple of goals, though Cameron's contested marking was more eye-catching than Sinclair's. I should have paid more attention to which was taking the Swan share of the ruckwork, but I didn't. Neither caught my eye with any especially good ruck work, or even around the ground contributions. It may just come down to whether Longmire wants to push on with fielding the least experienced team he can, or whether he'd prefer to turn to someone with at least some senior experience. Brodie Grundy has been one of the few positives for Collingwood in the opening rounds. He's in great form. Naismith will be the number one key to quelling his influence but Cameron's relative lack of ruck experience might count against him. On the other hand, if Longmire is more interested in a second ruck who can be a genuine presence up forward, Cameron may get his shot.
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