Match Day Thread Rnd 23. Sydney

[liz]

Definitely number 10.

[dejavoodoo44]

Easily his best goal. Ball landed many rows back in the crowd. Off one step, split the middle and travelled over 50 metres. Unreal!

Yes, I did like the role reversal of Buddy roving off Willy the Kid. But possibly what I enjoyed most about his goals, was the sound that was being made when boot struck ball. It was a real space filling thump, that suggested that the ball could not have been struck any better. The subsequent flight of the ball also suggested that.
Actually, the force with which he was striking the ball, made me wonder; if you burst the ball, do you get to retake your kick? Or is it just bad luck?

[ugg]

10 was the best because I went from cursing Towers for not kicking to Buddy's advantage to jumping out of my seat the next moment

[Ludwig]

I did have a wry smile last night when, after this forum spent much of the week pouring scorn on the idea of worrying about in-game injuries to ruckmen, that both our ruckmen should go down injured and blues should come back into it as a consequence.

Many people were sucked in by the commentary about both our ruckmen being down. But let's examine what actually happened (times are time remaining on the clock in 2nd quarter):

• 13:31 With Tippett already off with injury and the score 35-6, Sinclair rolls ankle in ruck contest in of defensive 50, Kreuzer left open and kicks a goal. Score 35-12
• 12:15 Towers rucking and kicks to Reid for shot on goal that falls short. 35-13
• 11:18 Curnow kicks a goal from general play. No ruck contests involved. 35-19
• 11:15 Towers wins hitout and clearance.
• 9:45 Boekhurst kicks goal after 50 mtr penalty against Franklin. 35-25
• 9:01 Towers wins ball at centre bounce, clearance and nearly kicks a goal. 36-25
• 6:07 Casboult kicks goal after penalty in marking contest outside 50 to Weitering and good kick to leading Casboult. 36-31
• 6:07 Tippett returns
• 4:40 Sinclair returns

None of the goals by Carlton came as a result of a ruck contest, except the 1st one, when Sinclair was not able to cover Kreuzer due to being injured in the play.

Carlton kicked 4 goals in about 7 minute of clock time due mainly to high kicking efficiency and Swans turnovers and penalties.

By admitting that we need to play 2 ruckmen because of the likelihood that one of our ruckmen will be injured is a concession that we will play with a squad of 21 plus an injury substitute versus a 22 man opposition squad. Maybe we need to play 3 ruckmen to be reasonably certain that one can get through the game? Why are we playing anyone in a final series who is likely to be injured during the game. Haven't we learned from last year's final? More than anything, regardless of positional needs, we need to play fit players. Injured players only put a dent in the ice budget.

[Hotpotato]

"Injured players only put a dent in the ice budget."
I'm going to be very careful how I process that one .

[MattW]

Jones provided the assist for 3 of Buddy's 10. He was pilloried earlier in the thread, I take it for a couple of misdirected short kicks, but I thought he was among our best. He used his acceleration to great effect from defence and kicked very well long. He seems to kick better long than short. He'll improve that, as he has other parts of his game.

[Blood Fever]

Jones provided the assist for 3 of Buddy's 10. He was pilloried earlier in the thread, I take it for a couple of misdirected short kicks, but I thought he was among our best. He used his acceleration to great effect from defence and kicked very well long. He seems to kick better long than short. He'll improve that, as he has other parts of his game.

Young gun who also lifted late in the game v Adelaide

[Billericay]

Jones provided the assist for 3 of Buddy's 10. He was pilloried earlier in the thread, I take it for a couple of misdirected short kicks, but I thought he was among our best. He used his acceleration to great effect from defence and kicked very well long. He seems to kick better long than short. He'll improve that, as he has other parts of his game.

He's frustrating to watch because he'll break the lines, run past a number of opponents and then commit an appalling skill error by foot. He did that a couple of times against Carlton, but also set up a number of Buddy's goals. Hopefully he'll become less error prone as his game develops.

[liz]

Jones is a great complement to our other midfielders. His top speed is good enough, but his acceleration is even more valuable, and he has some nice hip movements too that help him evade would-be tacklers.

Last year our midfield was essentially JPK, Hanners, Parker and a few around the edges. (OK, maybe some, like Jack, were a little more than that, but the team very much relied on all three of our big midfield guns playing well.) None of those three has had as good a season in 2017 as they did in 2016 but our midfield feels a little more robust because of the others who not only rotate through there but, on their day, can be really important contributors around the ball.

[Blood Fever]

Jones is a great complement to our other midfielders. His top speed is good enough, but his acceleration is even more valuable, and he has some nice hip movements too that help him evade would-be tacklers.

Last year our midfield was essentially JPK, Hanners, Parker and a few around the edges. (OK, maybe some, like Jack, were a little more than that, but the team very much relied on all three of our big midfield guns playing well.) None of those three has had as good a season in 2017 as they did in 2016 but our midfield feels a little more robust because of the others who not only rotate through there but, on their day, can be really important contributors around the ball.

Selling Tom Mitchell a bit short there Liz

[liz]

Selling Tom Mitchell a bit short there Liz

Who?


(Fair call. I literally had forgotten Tom played for us last year.)

[annew]

In the make up of the swans mids I rate Jones much more important than Mitchell as he has more speed and breaks the lines.