2020 NEAFL discussion thread

**barracuda** · 30th June 2020, 03:38 PM

Originally Posted by MattW

Thanks barracuda - I'm always keenly anticipate your posts and this was a particularly helpful one. Basically hit all the points I was interested in re O'Connor and Taylor. Pretty exciting in both cases.

Any thoughts on Ling and Stoddart?

Ling did not play. Stoddart played off the half back as usual. He was ok, got some ball and was pretty clean. Not AFL standard at the moment however but a solid contributor.

**aguy** · 30th June 2020, 03:57 PM

I look at clubs like west coast with Ryan and Rioli and Melbourne with Pickett this year. They are bringing their young indigenous players straight in because they know they are stars and will find their feet developing much quicker in the senior team. I wish we would do the same with our young stars.

**Ludwig** · 30th June 2020, 04:26 PM

Thanks Barra for that great report. Any comments on Rowles and Melican?

I wonder why Ling didn't play. I see his photo pop up sometimes on the training gallery..

**barracuda** · 30th June 2020, 05:08 PM

Originally Posted by Ludwig

Thanks Barra for that great report. Any comments on Rowles and Melican?

I wonder why Ling didn't play. I see his photo pop up sometimes on the training gallery..

Rowles was a bit quiet, got a few touches though. Melican was ok but struggled a bit with their forwards. I guess it is worth noting the swans were beaten comprehensively. As a result the mids like Warner and Gray got the most opportunity to get the ball. They got the biggest wraps from the coaches for this but were beaten. For the forwards and backs they tended to suffer as a consequence of the mids losses. So guys like Rowles and Melican had it tough.

**rb4x** · 30th June 2020, 05:33 PM

Thanks for that barracuda. Greatly appreciated. Disappointed that Stephens did not do better as if I am correct he is the only one of the top nine draftees yet to debut. Not good either to hear Gould described as slow. Bell and Stoddart should be bashing the door down by now.

**Mark26** · 30th June 2020, 05:49 PM

Originally Posted by barracuda

I watched the game on Friday. Swans got beaten convincingly again. It is worth remembering that the GWS have a squad firmly in the premiership window. Their reserves have guys like caldwell, sam jacobs and kennedy running around and very few first or second year players. The swans have lots of first and second year players. So teams at very different points in the cycle.

Best players for me were Gray, Connor, Foote and Warner. Mids for the game were connor/armatey ruck, gray, clarke, thurlow, warner, stephens and bell. Overall the mids were beaten by the GWS who were just more skilled and stronger. Gray has a knack of finding the ball in the mids. He is however let down in terms of gut running and defensive work. Never the less he was the best player on the day. Clarke and Thurlow were serviceable without being outstanding. Warner was strong in the first half but faded a bit. Bell was quiet. Stephens was good but is not quite at AFL level yet. He will be though. He makes a few mistakes that cost goals, but they will iron out once he gains some experience. Connor and Armatey were beaten in ruck by Jacobs.

The backline worked hard however the sheer speed of some of the GWS entries, especially bobby hill, left them struggling. O'Reidon did not deserve a special mention in the swans report as he wasn't much of a standout. Gould is yet to find his feet. He is good at linking up to clear the ball but was often left flat footed by older, bigger and faster opponents.

The forwards had a tough day. They had to contend with the likes of kennedy, caldwell and buntine, all of whom would comfortably sit in most AFL sides. The delivery into the forward line was under enormous pressure given the midfield struggled. And there were long periods where it didn't go past halfway. Having said that it is clear that Elijah has the talent to be a top forward in the AFL. He is one of those classic indigenous players who looks laconic, but gets in the best spots and then does magical things with the ball. I think the swans will be very excited about what he is starting to show. He also took some decent pack marks against bigger opponents.

The two most exciting players for the future were definitely elijah and connor. Connor in particular is looking very promising. For a big guy he is genuinely quick, Much quicker than Gould, O'Reidon, Maibaum. He also has very clean hands. A couple of times he accelerated past GWS players took the ball cleanly, lifted his eyes and moved it off well. He also took a stint in the forwards kicking one of the swans few goals. I am going out on a limb to say he will play seniors this year.

Overall the game was one fo the higher standard neafl type games. GWS is packed with AFL ready guns and so the speed and skills were high. Neither side made too many errors, it was just that the swans struggled to keep up with GWS at times, and were punished badly for it.

Thanks for the insight barracuda!

**Scottee** · 30th June 2020, 08:42 PM

Originally Posted by barracuda

I watched the game on Friday. Swans got beaten convincingly again. It is worth remembering that the GWS have a squad firmly in the premiership window. Their reserves have guys like caldwell, sam jacobs and kennedy running around and very few first or second year players. The swans have lots of first and second year players. So teams at very different points in the cycle.

Best players for me were Gray, Connor, Foote and Warner. Mids for the game were connor/armatey ruck, gray, clarke, thurlow, warner, stephens and bell. Overall the mids were beaten by the GWS who were just more skilled and stronger. Gray has a knack of finding the ball in the mids. He is however let down in terms of gut running and defensive work. Never the less he was the best player on the day. Clarke and Thurlow were serviceable without being outstanding. Warner was strong in the first half but faded a bit. Bell was quiet. Stephens was good but is not quite at AFL level yet. He will be though. He makes a few mistakes that cost goals, but they will iron out once he gains some experience. Connor and Armatey were beaten in ruck by Jacobs.

The backline worked hard however the sheer speed of some of the GWS entries, especially bobby hill, left them struggling. O'Reidon did not deserve a special mention in the swans report as he wasn't much of a standout. Gould is yet to find his feet. He is good at linking up to clear the ball but was often left flat footed by older, bigger and faster opponents.

The forwards had a tough day. They had to contend with the likes of kennedy, caldwell and buntine, all of whom would comfortably sit in most AFL sides. The delivery into the forward line was under enormous pressure given the midfield struggled. And there were long periods where it didn't go past halfway. Having said that it is clear that Elijah has the talent to be a top forward in the AFL. He is one of those classic indigenous players who looks laconic, but gets in the best spots and then does magical things with the ball. I think the swans will be very excited about what he is starting to show. He also took some decent pack marks against bigger opponents.

The two most exciting players for the future were definitely elijah and connor. Connor in particular is looking very promising. For a big guy he is genuinely quick, Much quicker than Gould, O'Reidon, Maibaum. He also has very clean hands. A couple of times he accelerated past GWS players took the ball cleanly, lifted his eyes and moved it off well. He also took a stint in the forwards kicking one of the swans few goals. I am going out on a limb to say he will play seniors this year.

Overall the game was one fo the higher standard neafl type games. GWS is packed with AFL ready guns and so the speed and skills were high. Neither side made too many errors, it was just that the swans struggled to keep up with GWS at times, and were punished badly for it.

Thanks Barracuda, this is gold for information starved ressies watchers.

Sent from my SM-T805Y using Tapatalk

**dejavoodoo44** · 30th June 2020, 09:27 PM

Pleased to hear that O'Connor had another strong performance. Though a bit surprised that he was in the ruck, as he's listed as 193cm. Though that's probably an indication of our current ruck problems.

While checking on his height, I noticed this recent Irish Times article on him.

Barry O’Connor primed for AFL success with Sydney Swans

**bloodspirit** · 30th June 2020, 09:43 PM

Thanks for sharing that, deja. The most interesting part for mine was when he was talking about having to curb his GAA tendency to play on after marking which might be ok for an attacker but is not so good for a defender, which is what he is training to be.

**MattW** · 30th June 2020, 09:45 PM

Originally Posted by dejavoodoo44

Pleased to hear that O'Connor had another strong performance. Though a bit surprised that he was in the ruck, as he's listed as 193cm. Though that's probably an indication of our current ruck problems.

While checking on his height, I noticed this recent Irish Times article on him.

Barry O’Connor primed for AFL success with Sydney Swans

So these games against GWS were his first against opposition. Very impressive to be among the best players already.