Originally Posted by
Ludwig
The idea around having an Aliir/Amartey type ruck option is that we take a different approach to the stoppages. We opt for having another mobile player at stoppages, but recognise that we will be losing most hitouts. If you know this in advance, the team trains for this and turns it into an advantage.
Amartey, although undersized for a ruckman, is actually pretty good at his ruck craft and is not a liability around the ground. He's had some very good NEAFL games, but hasn't quite convinced that he is AFL ready. Hopefully this is just a matter of time and further development.
It's true that Aliir has started the season poorly in defence (he's not the only one). He's not a great one on one defender, but plays much better when we have a real fullback in the lineup. We are quite well stocked in the the key defender position with Brand, Melican, Maibaum, O'Connor and Gould all training with the defender group. Moving Aliir out of this group should improve list balance. Aliir hasn't been great when starting as a forward, but he should work his way into the position now that he has more experience. He's still only a 54 gamer and has a lot of development left before he reaches his peak.
Although we haven't been all that effective moving the ball forward, it's mainly due to poor execution. We can see that the game plan is to move the ball with speed. Nearly every player drafted in recent years is quick. The Swans didn't bid on Tom Green, because we don't need another slow midfielder. We already have JPK, Parker, Hewett and Mills. We are not going to be a stoppage dominant team, but rather an outside running team. So players like Stephens, McInerney, Ling, Stoddart and Blakey are more in line with this playing style. Rowbottom, Florent and Warner, who can play on ball and spread from the contest with speed, are more suitable to this playing style than someone like Tom Greene.
Regardless of how we might classify a player, inside or outside, slow or quick, every player has to be hard at the contest and play a solid defensive game. Not all the players are up to the task atm, but I feel the willingness is there. It's just the application. Just taking Hayward as an example, I find that he's a very willing tackler and is not at all a soft player. He just goes missing too much. Ronke has always been willing at the contest, but poor in his execution. He has improved in this area of his game and hopefully it continues. He was involved in some of good play against the Dogs and was one of our better players overall, although I wouldn't say he played well (the 'bests' list was pretty short).
It's easy to confuse poor execution with poor form in a season with a compromised training schedule and limited match practice. The polish is missing at the Swans, but could return quickly.
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