2019 NEAFL discussion thread

[Ludwig]

I agree with you, deja, that the Lions look a bit too strong for us, but the Swans academy kids haven't been too bad this year, so we should be competitive. I'm happy to see Thorne is getting another game. I think he's one of the better chances to get drafted. I also see that the Swans continue to take a look at Josh Rayner, who was probably our highest rated academy player last year, but generally hasn't been too impressive this year. McKellar has put in a solid year and should be in the frame for the draft if can finish the year well.

I'm hoping to see better performances from Thurlow and Menzel. They really should be dominating at this level. I didn't know what to expect from Menzel, and still don't, but I thought Thurlow would be good enough to play senior footy. His decision making has been suspect and his kicking accuracy not quite there. Both are no certainties of being retained next year.

[dejavoodoo44]

Definitely a tough game for the swans. I think the tipping point for being competitive is 16+ listed players. That is not a knock on the toppies who are awesome, but they are unlisted juniors, whereas the listed players are pro athletes and should deliver far more. I think the swans are at 14 listed players which is light on. Further I imagine naismith will be on limited minutes, and some players will be lost to emergency for the seniors. (Brisbane doesn't have that issue as their seniors play on saturday).

Regardless of the score I think this is the best game for gauging our listed players. If they can perform in a heavy loss against mature listed players then that is a positive.

Yes, even if we do get beaten soundly, it's usually interesting to see which of younger players stand up. Though sometimes the game result is a pleasant surprise. There was an earlier game this year, where on paper, it looked like we would get easily beaten, by a much more experienced Gold Coast side. Instead, our reserves won well, in possibly their best performance of the season.

[dejavoodoo44]

I agree with you, deja, that the Lions look a bit too strong for us, but the Swans academy kids haven't been too bad this year, so we should be competitive. I'm happy to see Thorne is getting another game. I think he's one of the better chances to get drafted. I also see that the Swans continue to take a look at Josh Rayner, who was probably our highest rated academy player last year, but generally hasn't been too impressive this year. McKellar has put in a solid year and should be in the frame for the draft if can finish the year well.

I'm hoping to see better performances from Thurlow and Menzel. They really should be dominating at this level. I didn't know what to expect from Menzel, and still don't, but I thought Thurlow would be good enough to play senior footy. His decision making has been suspect and his kicking accuracy not quite there. Both are no certainties of being retained next year.

Yes, I'm looking forward to seeing Thorne again. He did well last week, so hopefully he can keep on putting in strong performances. Somebody else that could also be worth watching is Luke Parks. He's played some good games at academy level and might also be a chance to be taken late in the draft, or rookie listed. In one of the rep games, I thought that he was the best defender on the field. Possibly it was against Vic Metro?

And I've also been pleased with the form of Kyle McKellar. As the season's progressed, he's looked increasingly comfortable at NEAFL level. Though I don't really know if he's done enough to be listed, or if he'll be another one of our academy products, who ends up strengthening the Sydney Uni list.

[barracuda]

I agree with you, deja, that the Lions look a bit too strong for us, but the Swans academy kids haven't been too bad this year, so we should be competitive. I'm happy to see Thorne is getting another game. I think he's one of the better chances to get drafted. I also see that the Swans continue to take a look at Josh Rayner, who was probably our highest rated academy player last year, but generally hasn't been too impressive this year. McKellar has put in a solid year and should be in the frame for the draft if can finish the year well.

I'm hoping to see better performances from Thurlow and Menzel. They really should be dominating at this level. I didn't know what to expect from Menzel, and still don't, but I thought Thurlow would be good enough to play senior footy. His decision making has been suspect and his kicking accuracy not quite there. Both are no certainties of being retained next year.

I think what makes it tough for the toppies is that the Brisbane NEAFL side has a significant number of mature afl bodies. Our young boys have been going great against sides like gold coast who have a young neafl list, however brisbane has the likes of matt eagles and others who in the last couple of years have utterly physically dominated not only our toppies but also half our listed guys. I admire our young top ups, they are courageous and give eveything they have, however it is a big ask to play on a 25 year old who has been in the afl system for 5 years and has the size to match.

Have a look through the team and see the level of afl experience!

B: 35. R Lester 41. M Eagles 42. J Madden
HB: 19. J Allison 40. J Payne 18. N Robertson
C: 28. L Taylor 8. E Smith 34. T Wooller
HF: 39. C Lyons 47. T Fullarton 45. C McFadyen
F: 38. C Ballenden 13. T Berry 20. C Cox
R: 21. S Skinner 36. R Mathieson 4. R Bastinac
Int: 51. K Coleman 54. N Cumberland 50. T Griffiths 32. T Joyce 37. B Starcevich
Emg: 52. T Matthews

Regardless I will be at Blacktown cheering the boys on!

[liz]

The physical size of the Lions has caused problems for our NEAFL side over a few years, even when there was less of an imbalance in listed vs top up players, and in senior experience. The Lions seem to have had a focus on drafting tall players for a decade or more, and even though most have fallen by the wayside (as many drafted players do), at NEAFL level they've always been that extra challenge against our, usually, much smaller teams.

Add in the fact that the Lions are having a very good run injury wise, and it's not hard to see why they are absolutely dominating the NEAFL this year.

Regardless of how much effort and grit our team brings to this game, it's hard to see them getting within 50 points of so of the Lions. Anything under that margin would be a very good effort. However, as others have observed, it's as much about watching to see which players step up to the challenge, maintain their effort levels all game, and show they can execute their skills under the pressure of a fitter and bigger team.

[Ludwig]

Regardless I will be at Blacktown cheering the boys on!

Keep an eye on Sam Skinner. Coming back from his 3rd ACL reco and out of contract this year. I think he's very talented, but the injury record is a big worry. I'm not sure what Brisbane's plans are regarding his retention on their list.

Looking at their lineup for the game shows they have a pretty deep list. Tom Cutler is still out with injury, another player I think the Swans should have a look at recruiting after the season end.

[ugg]

11 Academy players have been named to play on Sunday, including 3 who were named as emergencies last night - Ellem, Geddes, and Maguire.

Given it's a match against a fellow AFL side, we are allowed to have 23 players for this game which means 12 listed players are expected to play.

14 have been named:

1 Rose
2 Menzel
6 Thurlow
15 Jack
16 Foot
25 Ronke
27 McInerney
32 Bell
35 Naismith
45 Wicks
46 Amartey
47 Pink
48 Knoll
49 Hirst


You would expect one of the 4 AFL emergencies in Rose, Menzel, Jack, or Ronke to sit this game out, so the second out remains a mystery. Maybe another senior player is in doubt, or maybe McInerney hasn't fully recovered from whatever caused him to miss the last game, or something else.

[MattW]

11 Academy players have been named to play on Sunday, including 3 who were named as emergencies last night - Ellem, Geddes, and Maguire.

Given it's a match against a fellow AFL side, we are allowed to have 23 players for this game which means 12 listed players are expected to play.

14 have been named:

1 Rose
2 Menzel
6 Thurlow
15 Jack
16 Foot
25 Ronke
27 McInerney
32 Bell
35 Naismith
45 Wicks
46 Amartey
47 Pink
48 Knoll
49 Hirst


You would expect one of the 4 AFL emergencies in Rose, Menzel, Jack, or Ronke to sit this game out, so the second out remains a mystery. Maybe another senior player is in doubt, or maybe McInerney hasn't fully recovered from whatever caused him to miss the last game, or something else.

A bit short of ball-winners.

[rb4x]

Rose has not played for 2 weeks so don't think he will sit this out.

[ugg]

Jack and Rose won’t be playing in this game.

[dejavoodoo44]

Jack and Rose won’t be playing in this game.

That seems to make our inside mids for the game: Wicks, Thorne, Ronke and possibly Bell. Of those, Ronke has the biggest body. Perhaps the instruction to our ruckmen, should be to whack it the outside as much as possible?

[ugg]

Keays our for Brisbane too