First preseason game v Giants in Albury

[Nico]

When the AFL comes to the country, and 2 top sides, I doubt people give a continental if it costs them a few $$$ to drink cans with their mates.

[Nico]

Forgot about old mate Robbie Fox. How did he go?

[Bexl]

You are free to ignore posts/conversations that you consider 'off topic'.....but I won't call you stupid. Yet.

You are a course right those little arguments going on between fellow posters can just be ignored but it is a bit tedious to sift through them. by the way I like your comment yet. give it time you might change your mind.🤪😊

[MattW]

A few thoughts about this scratch game last night watched from the boundary fence about 15m from the Swans bench.
Firstly I am hoping Papley's hammie isn't too bad ,as he came to the benches (after a couple of @@@@@@@s) he indicated it was high up on the leg and appearances are it was more a ping than a decent rip. They didnt bother with much investigation ,straight to the rooms and apply ice. Looks more precautionary than anything. Something missed by most was towards the end of "quarter" 1 Hickey had a knee stability assessment done on his right knee ,seemed to be a patella issue but went straight back out and played strongly.

Early on Heeney played on ball and was quite useful ,combines well with Warner ,but the price is our forward line looks messy and too predictable without him and especially so when Ladhams goes into the ruck. Make no mistake though ........ Warner is an absolute gun. JPK started on a hbf but moved more and more on ball as the game went on. Paddie Mc looks decent down back but got caught in no mans land a couple of times ,he will improve as we go on but already looks to be in front of what Melican has offered so far. Ladhams looks quite useful up forward and is definitely a good 2nd ruck. I was impressed by Gulden and Campbell although the latter got caught out a couple of times defensively.
Ronke got a lot of game time and showed again he really isnt good enough for the level. Taylor and Clarke also failed to impress even against the VFL players. Reid looked slow and uncertain. Gould didnt get much of a crack at it so reserve judgement on him.
Angus Sheldrick looks a good player (already a decent body size with tree trunk legs ,reminds me of a Lachie Neal type of shape) with a couple of goals but more impressive was his use of strength to extract the ball from the contest. Roberts showed a bit as well.

Last 2 "quarters" were more like opposed training drills so cant really get a lot out of it although I got a smile out of Kirky ,Pike ,Coxy and Mummy "running" a boundary. Mummy is still a good bloke and shared a good with us while an injured player was attended to on the far side of the field.

Thanks for this.

Did you happen to follow McDonald's movement at all? Seemed to get a lot of ball up the ground.

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Wicks played well. Plenty of pressure, plenty of disposals, caused numerous turnovers, and has added a significant contested ground ball ability. Kicked two nice goals which unfortunately didn't count.

I thought he looked improved; sharper.

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I'd agree with this. I do feel that both HMac and Amartey are slightly ahead of LMac at present. Both are stronger targets and have a higher work rate although LMac would appear to have a higher ceiling.

I disagree, particularly regarding Amartey who is competing for a different spot (Ladhams'). The work rate call seems harsh, and I think Logan has to play.

[Mr Magoo]

I don't have an issue with it to be honest - storm in a tea cup, and bored AFL Journos desperate for a story. Sort of get it if it was a game at like Lakeside Oval or Tom Willis Oval and we charged people to come and stand around and watch. But it was more like a proper pre-season match in the country compared to the Carlton game in question.

I don't know what the official attendance figure was - but I'm sure they said they thought about 7,000 people on commentary?

I'd be suprised if we got anything from food/beverages, but might have got a bit through merchandise. Sure its not much cash, but it probably offset costs associated with having the fixture down there (Rather then just at a Sydney venue) and that's about it (for instance ground hire was probably around 5K.

More broadly, I doubt it discouraged a whole lot of people from attending that would have otherwise - but that is solely conjecture of course.

Its probably the Albury tigers who benefitted from the money the most. Good way to support your local club while watching top class footy. I doubt the swans or giants would have taken much.

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Did Anderson get a run ? Anyone notice

[AnsweredPrayers]

Just watched the replay. The surprise packet for me was Lachlan Rankin. He seemed really agile. He looked confident, strong hands and seemed accurate by foot. Sheldrick looked just ok. He was pick 18, barely first round, so my expectations weren't super high.

[liz]

Just watched the replay. The surprise packet for me was Lachlan Rankin. He seemed really agile. He looked confident, strong hands and seemed accurate by foot.

I think 'accurate by foot' doesn't quite capture his skill set. Based on a couple of things he did on Friday, plus some of what I've seen of him at training, I think he has the ability to spot and pull off high difficulty, punchy kicks. In future years we may find ourselves drooling over his kicking highlight reel and arguing whether he, Campbell or Gulden is the best kick in the team.

[stevoswan]

You are a course right those little arguments going on between fellow posters can just be ignored but it is a bit tedious to sift through them. by the way I like your comment yet. give it time you might change your mind.🤪😊

[Ralph Dawg]

Thanks for this.

Did you happen to follow McDonald's movement at all? Seemed to get a lot of ball up the ground.

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I thought he looked improved; sharper.

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I disagree, particularly regarding Amartey who is competing for a different spot (Ladhams'). The work rate call seems harsh, and I think Logan has to play.

I feel that because he doesn't ruck, he needs to show more to his game then just be a target in F50. I'd like to see him push up onto a wing and be used as an outlet out of defence. He's a really nice kick and a Logan - Buddy combination would be nice to see.

[vicswan]

Its probably the Albury tigers who benefitted from the money the most. Good way to support your local club while watching top class footy. I doubt the swans or giants would have taken much.

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Did Anderson get a run ? Anyone notice

yes he did
played the last 2 quarters, did some nice things

big body midfielder
played midfield ....strong and skilful

[Aprilbr]

I just read on the AFL site that Papley is set to miss 4-6 weeks with his hamstring strain from this game. Very disappointing news, especially given that both him and Mills may both be missing for our tough opener against the Giants.

[stevoswan]

I just read on the AFL site that Papley is set to miss 4-6 weeks with his hamstring strain from this game. Very disappointing news, especially given that both him and Mills may both be missing for our tough opener against the Giants.

Based on Fridays game and this news, we might just mark round one down as a loss. It was much more fun going into last season with limited expectations.