Originally Posted by
Ludwig
A lot of the criticism of individual players is valid, but consideration has to be given to the limited preparation and the ongoing training restrictions. These will have a greater impact on a young team trying to gel. I will make one specific comment on a player, Harry Cunningham, who has been way off his game, especially his kicking. I think this is indicative of the effect this COVID season has had on some in the playing group. I'm not saying that Harry is a bad player, only that he's off his game at the moment. There are many in the same boat.
I liked Sam Naismith from a long way back, and thought he would be our main ruckman for a decade, but his body has never been up to the task. It's sad. It happens. We have to face the fact that his career is over.
This season is the season that never was. We can just forget about it. It's a long drawn out training session. We were never going to compete for the COVID Cup anyway, so let's not have a boilover about it and focus on the future. We have a lot of shuffling to do and we can use the next 13 games to try things out and get some development into the group.
We don't have a ruckman and shouldn't even bother about getting one. We will have to fashion our game around a group of forward-rucks. As of now, that looks to be Sinclair, Aliir and Amartey. We might be able to add Reid to the list, during those rare times when he's not injured. We will see if we can add to the list at the season's end. Perhaps Joe Daniher is back on the table to play as our main ruckman. In any case, we should plan on being a no ruckman team. That albatross around our neck has flown away. I don't think McLean will make it, but I haven't given up on him either. And it's not worth thinking too much about Knoll.
The other big problem facing the Swans is that we don't have a forward line. We have a lot of backmen, so it may be time to try Aliir up forward again. Maybe he's really our #1 ruckman and we just forget about Sinclair.
I've always wanted to play Mills in the midfield, so let's do it now. Hayward down back is an idea worth pursuing. He hasn't done much up forward. He has talent. It will take some time.
Maybe a lineup something like this could be a go. There will be a lot of experimentation this season.
B: Gould, Melican, Rampe
HB: Ling, Blakey, Hayward
C: Florent, Parker, Hewett
HF: Lloyd, Heeney, Dawson
FF: Papley, McCartin, Stoddart
Foll: Mills, Aliir, Kennedy
IC: COR, Stephens, Rowbottom, Mcinerney
We should finish low enough on the ladder to pick up a key forward with our first pick in the draft, then take Campbell and Gulden.
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