Quote Originally Posted by O'Reilly Boy View Post
I've come around to us winning tonight. I feel sorry for Newman missing, but also see that he has been out of position the past couple of weeks, and that the structure needs to be looked after. Towers has earnt his position, and with J. McVeigh in such good form, there's no room on the HB flank for Newman. Who would have thought that our back seven would look so settled after the shambles of earlier in the year? I'm looking forward to seeing Tippett take on the game tonight. He should be tapering nicely for the finals with a few games under his belt. It's also interesting that all the talk about how slow the Swans are has disappeared. Our spread is really good, which is giving us good transitions along the edges, which in turn opens up the corridor for the runners and 45 kicks from the half back flank later in quarters. Very excited for tonight. Swans by 12.
I think Newman was left out more as a precaution. They'd play him at a pinch but not before. The use of Newman, Lloyd, Jones & Macca to all run from the flanks and then through the mids has proved very hard for opposition teams to stop. The fact they all deliver pretty well makes it even more dangerous. I wonder just what the make up of a finals team would be. So far Harry is nowhere near ready. does towers come out? Id Hayward ready for the rough and tumble of an AFL finals campaign?