He was shocking and incredibly soft in the contest.
This is not to say he won't make it, just he needs to learn to play Swans footy in the reserves before being gifted more senior games.
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LOL - agree with both your comments
On the fence about ET. There was certainly 1 or 2 highballs where he seemed to shirk the contest. There was also a goal he set up in the last qtr through his second and third efforts on the deck.
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Aliir has lost his confidence and strength again. He may regain it but perhaps Mclean can replace to help Sinclair against Mumford / Jacobs. I don't mind trying Gould and let Ling to consolidate his experience through practise /scratch match.
He's finding his way. Let's keep him going.
He reminds him of the guys, close-set, slow, and never rattled, who were play-makers on the team. (John Updike, seeing Josh Kennedy in a crystal ball)
What sticks with me is when he was on the bench during the last quarter, head down, with kirk trying to console him. I think he is quite a fragile character who easily loses confidence. Yes he will be very good, but getting him there is a careful process. On any analysis he is avoiding any body contact, he shirks collisions, and his tackles are soft. In my view playing him again would destroy his confidence even further and drive him away. Other than Kirk who has made Taylor his special project, the other coaches are pretty brutal and he no doubt would have got a very blunt review. The best thing for his long term development would be to run out the year in the twos focusing on the basics like body work and tackling. Then next year build him back to seniors after a solid pre-season adding extra bulk and speed. There is nothing to be gained continuing to play him in seniors with a "sink or swim" approach. Given his nature there is a very high probability he will sink.
I should add that we are seeing some of the concerns about Elijah pre draft, that he may struggle with resilience. This was the issue not a couple of beers.
And he is mickey o in the making but needs a modern nurturing approach.
I don’t think it’s gifting games. We have a bit of a rotation policy it seems with some of our young guys and so it would make sense to give them an opportunity to show their wares in front of family. This also builds culture. Looking after people is a good thing and can pay dividends later when people are choosing to stay or ask to be traded.
I stand by giving Warner and ET a game in Perth.
I have no problem with what you are saying. Warner could easily cycle into the rotation as you describe as he is playing in the scratchies as well as anyone. I just think there are other issues with Elijah that are more important for his development that indicate he should not play. If he played, and performed as he has been, he will cop more criticism from coaches and players. Apparently Papley was pretty frank during last weeks game. This can't be good for him or his confidence.
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