Changes Round 16 - vs Geelong

[Scottee]

I can't see why Hannebery can't get back to his best. He's still only 27 and he hasn't suffered a career ending injury. He's just in a deep slump, probably due to a lack of pre-season preparation.

My question is why he's carrying his problems to the senior side instead of getting his body right working with the rehab professionals and through the NEAFL. Once he's shown that he's back in form, then he can can straight back in the senior side. He's embarrassing himself and hurting the team by playing senior football in his current condition.

I was driving home from work tonight and heard Gerard Healy talking about Hanners. He said that Hanners had been offered surgery earlier this year to fix the problem. It would have meant missing for the rest of the year and obviously he refused. But it sounds as though it's still on the cards. He also went on to say that often op is misdiagnosed as the problem when in fact it is a hernia.Fingers crossed for him because I actually love what he has given to the club. He is a legend and has a heart as big as a whale.

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[Mark26]

I also don't know why we are persisting with Robbo. Surely NN, Dawson or COR.

[Hotpotato]

It that’s the case, he’s playing hampered and as a passenger.
You have to be superbly conditioned and full of confidence and stamina and talented to play this game.
It doesn’t make any sense to me but they have a substantial football department that know a lot more than I do.

[longmile]

Whys Papley still out?? Will he play NEAFL this week?

[ugg]

Already ruled out earlier in the week. They were afraid he would exacerbate his hip injury. So no he will not play NEAFL.

[Flying South]

There's no arguing that Hanners has been one of the very best midfielders in the AFL for a half dozen years and I said in my previous post that I expect, like you do, to get back to his best in due course. But that doesn't change the fact that he's been awful this year. You can see it just watching the game. Everyone sees it. Just read the comments from RWO members on the match threads. It's been written up and commented upon by numerous journos. There's no comparison between what Hanners is doing this year and off-their-Brownlow best of Dangerfield and Martin.

Lauding his past doesn't change the current situation. Like everyone else, I'm waiting every week to see Hanners jump back to his usual self. Maybe it will happen this week. Who knows?

Based on his recent games there are several NEAFL players IMO that could make a better contribution than Hanners on recent form, including Fox, Newman, Towers and perhaps Robinson and Dawson as well. O'Riordan has also been playing good consistent football.

I really don’t think Dan has been that bad in recent weeks. Against WC he had 24 disposals (4th highest for swans), 12 contested possesions (4th), 3 clearances (3rd) and 13 pressure acts (8th). Against Richmond 20 disposals (4th), 5 tackles (6th), 9 CP’s (4th), 3 clearances (4th) and 20 PA’s (7th). So that puts him up in our top4 players as far as stats go. Unfortunately his kicking was poor during these games. Not that that has been a particularly strong point over the years. But in terms of numbers which most on RWO point to, he was one of our better contributors.

Now I will put something to you. If any of those neafl players you suggested come in this weekend and get those numbers, I bet you and other posters would be saying that they played well. But when Hannebery puts them up he is playing poorly, embarrassing himself and letting the team down.

The players you are talking about, have playing consistent football in the neafl. And I agree they should be rewarded when their chance comes up. But not at the expense of an elite player like Hannebery. Robinson has had 19 games with a career high of 20 disposals (coincidentally against Geelong earlier). Fox has played 7 games, with a career high of 15 disposals. Newman has had 3 games this year for a high of 19 disposals. I agree Dawson could be interesting if had more games fitness under his belt. But essentially these players are producing the sort of numbers that your saying isn’t good enough for Hannebery. So I can’t see the point in dropping a champion swan’s player, who we know has a high ceiling, in order to bring in a player who in all likely-hood will not match or better his output.

FWIW, in round 8 or 9, I called for Hannebery to be given an extended break (10-12 weeks) to rest the OP I believe he is playing with. Bring him back in around 18 or 19 and build for the finals. The experts in the club, believed that wasn’t required and he could be nursed through it. That’s good enough for me. Horse has indicated that he believes he has turned the corner and is happy with his recent output. Rampe has given his tick from a player’s perspective as well. Again, good enough for me.

[S.S. Bleeder]

Kieren has been a lot worse than Hanners and that's saying something!

I agree. Jack seems to be flying under the radar; probably because a few of his colleagues are playing so poorly too. Jack hasn't been anywhere near his best for at least a couple of years now. I'd go as far as saying that the team has been carrying him for that period. He no longer has any pace or evasive skills, maybe it's his age. I don't think that he will ever be of value to the team again, especially when we have better options playing in the NEAFL. The really sad thing is that he has another year on his contract. Who on earth agreed to that?

[mcs]

I really don’t think Dan has been that bad in recent weeks. Against WC he had 24 disposals (4th highest for swans), 12 contested possesions (4th), 3 clearances (3rd) and 13 pressure acts (8th). Against Richmond 20 disposals (4th), 5 tackles (6th), 9 CP’s (4th), 3 clearances (4th) and 20 PA’s (7th). So that puts him up in our top4 players as far as stats go. Unfortunately his kicking was poor during these games. Not that that has been a particularly strong point over the years. But in terms of numbers which most on RWO point to, he was one of our better contributors.

Now I will put something to you. If any of those neafl players you suggested come in this weekend and get those numbers, I bet you and other posters would be saying that they played well. But when Hannebery puts them up he is playing poorly, embarrassing himself and letting the team down.

The players you are talking about, have playing consistent football in the neafl. And I agree they should be rewarded when their chance comes up. But not at the expense of an elite player like Hannebery. Robinson has had 19 games with a career high of 20 disposals (coincidentally against Geelong earlier). Fox has played 7 games, with a career high of 15 disposals. Newman has had 3 games this year for a high of 19 disposals. I agree Dawson could be interesting if had more games fitness under his belt. But essentially these players are producing the sort of numbers that your saying isn’t good enough for Hannebery. So I can’t see the point in dropping a champion swan’s player, who we know has a high ceiling, in order to bring in a player who in all likely-hood will not match or better his output.

FWIW, in round 8 or 9, I called for Hannebery to be given an extended break (10-12 weeks) to rest the OP I believe he is playing with. Bring him back in around 18 or 19 and build for the finals. The experts in the club, believed that wasn’t required and he could be nursed through it. That’s good enough for me. Horse has indicated that he believes he has turned the corner and is happy with his recent output. Rampe has given his tick from a player’s perspective as well. Again, good enough for me.

Raw numbers don't tell the full story though with Hanners - its not his ability to still get reasonable amounts of the pill. Its his inability to use it, and obvious distress around the ground (compared to what we are used to seeing with him) that has lots of us worried about him.

[stevoswan]

I really don’t think Dan has been that bad in recent weeks. Against WC he had 24 disposals (4th highest for swans), 12 contested possesions (4th), 3 clearances (3rd) and 13 pressure acts (8th). Against Richmond 20 disposals (4th), 5 tackles (6th), 9 CP’s (4th), 3 clearances (4th) and 20 PA’s (7th). So that puts him up in our top4 players as far as stats go. Unfortunately his kicking was poor during these games. Not that that has been a particularly strong point over the years. But in terms of numbers which most on RWO point to, he was one of our better contributors.

Now I will put something to you. If any of those neafl players you suggested come in this weekend and get those numbers, I bet you and other posters would be saying that they played well. But when Hannebery puts them up he is playing poorly, embarrassing himself and letting the team down.

The trouble is, most of Hanners possessions are handballs and most of those and his kicks go to the oppositions advantage. He's at 14% efficiency for the season! If a player up from the two's was doing that, we'd be saying 'back to the two's'..... Hanners is a club legend who deserves better than to be tarnishing that legacy in the seniors.....at the moment.....but he is in the team and his numbers have been improving week by week, so we can just hope his skills and speed and gut running improve as well. They have to.....

[AnnieH]

I really don’t think Dan has been that bad in recent weeks. Against WC he had 24 disposals (4th highest for swans), 12 contested possesions (4th), 3 clearances (3rd) and 13 pressure acts (8th). Against Richmond 20 disposals (4th), 5 tackles (6th), 9 CP’s (4th), 3 clearances (4th) and 20 PA’s (7th). So that puts him up in our top4 players as far as stats go. Unfortunately his kicking was poor during these games. Not that that has been a particularly strong point over the years. But in terms of numbers which most on RWO point to, he was one of our better contributors.

Now I will put something to you. If any of those neafl players you suggested come in this weekend and get those numbers, I bet you and other posters would be saying that they played well. But when Hannebery puts them up he is playing poorly, embarrassing himself and letting the team down.

The players you are talking about, have playing consistent football in the neafl. And I agree they should be rewarded when their chance comes up. But not at the expense of an elite player like Hannebery. Robinson has had 19 games with a career high of 20 disposals (coincidentally against Geelong earlier). Fox has played 7 games, with a career high of 15 disposals. Newman has had 3 games this year for a high of 19 disposals. I agree Dawson could be interesting if had more games fitness under his belt. But essentially these players are producing the sort of numbers that your saying isn’t good enough for Hannebery. So I can’t see the point in dropping a champion swan’s player, who we know has a high ceiling, in order to bring in a player who in all likely-hood will not match or better his output.

FWIW, in round 8 or 9, I called for Hannebery to be given an extended break (10-12 weeks) to rest the OP I believe he is playing with. Bring him back in around 18 or 19 and build for the finals. The experts in the club, believed that wasn’t required and he could be nursed through it. That’s good enough for me. Horse has indicated that he believes he has turned the corner and is happy with his recent output. Rampe has given his tick from a player’s perspective as well. Again, good enough for me.

Effective disposals is one of favourite stats to look at.
No point in getting the ball if disposal efficiency is well below par.

- - - Updated - - -

Anyhews, I like this weeks changes, although they didn't specifically mention ruthless. We're gunna need him.
I'm as nervous as.

[O'Reilly Boy]

I don't mind Robinson in. There are players now at the heart of the team—Lloyd, Cunningham, Towers (before the eye-poke) Florent, Hayward, even Hewitt come to mind—who benefited from long periods of getting senior games even when they were not lighting it up. Robinson I think would similarly benefit from putting a string of games together—12 or 15—rather than the two weeks in, three weeks out yo-yo.
That's not to say that Dawson and CO'R should not feel hard done by. I've been looking forward to seeing Dawson in particular for ages.

[KTigers]

Re Hanners ; basically he is part of the old guard (JPK, Parker, Jack, Grundy, Smith, McVeigh, the 2012 premiership players) all who have been extremely good
players for a long time. These guys are all really smart players and leaders on the field and they need to be there. If you were a 19 or 20 year old player starting
out you couldn't learn from a better set of experienced players than these guys. This is a big part of the reason we are still playing in September every year despite having only one top ten draft pick in the last decade. It's not an accident. Do you think that if Melican (pick 52 in the rookie draft) or Rampe (pick 37 in the rookie draft) or Hewett (a pick 32) went to Carlton or St Kilda they would be the potential 200 game players they are today? The club, the coaching staff and the senior players have made these guys into what they are today. I just think there is a wider picture sometimes than jumping on an out-and-out champ like Dan just cause his stat count isn't what it was. Sure, he sprays a few, but they all do. Hanners still could have five years left in him if he can get his body right. Hopefully he can.