Pressure.Originally Posted by Ralph Dawg
Pressure.
People need to relax and give him space and time to develop. Ryan O'Keefe and McVeigh never would have played 20 games if people here were selectors.
If Ling's natural game is dashing and using the footy, using his early and formative games to learn how to defend is crucial in his development. If he can be a reliable 1 on 1 defender, then when it's time to unleash him in a more natural role, he'll be accountable and not a weak link.
Kieran Jack started in a back pocket.
Its hard too when we also have Lloyd and Dawson already in that role (Though I still think Dawson should player further up the field or in midfield) - you aren't necessarily going to kick one of them out at this point for Ling. Get 8 or 9 games into Ling and a good run without injury for the rest of this season and watch him attack next pre-season really hard and come on in leaps and bounds.
"You get the feeling that like Monty Python's Black Knight, the Swans would regard amputation as merely a flesh wound."
Absolutely agree. I wasn't a massive fan of them dropping Stephens for that reason, although happy to defer to the coaching staff re their judgement on whether continued selection was good for him given his inexperience and lack of size.
But I don't think that applies to Ling; at this stage of his development, I think we just need to get games into him.
He has enough skill and just needs time. Like a lots of the new batch of kids. They all need to play and learn together to become a team!
Dawson to have time in the center as I feel he could be very good and hard to tackle given his size... (at least while we have a couple of mid MIA)
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