2019 Club Champion

[AnnieH]

I'm soooooooo happy I got a ticket this year.

Predictions??

I'm tipping Aliir.

[Captain]

I'm off to the B&F tonight as well. Should be a cracker!

Rampe is my tip. Can't see anyone getting near him.

[Plugger46]

I think Rampe will win.

1. Rampe
2. Parker
3. Heeney
4. Hewett
5. Lloyd
6. Papley
7. Aliir
8. Kennedy
9. Reid
10. Jones

[Captain]

My 10 would be:

1. Rampe
2. Heeney
3. Lloyd
4. Dawson
5. Parker
6. Aliir
7. Papley
8. Mills
9. Kennedy
10. Hewett

[Sandrevan]

Rampe for mine

[Blood Fever]

Rampe for mine

Rampe
Mills
Hewitt
Parker

[Go Swannies]

I'm off to the event tonight and look forward to seeing a few others from here there.

[liz]

I reckon it will be neck and neck between Rampe and Parker for the top award. I'd like Rampe to win it, but the coaches - in recent seasons at least - have been a bit stingy with their recognition of the defenders, even though it's been our best and most consistently performed section of the ground.

So to be contrary to other predictions, I'll go Parker to win, with Rampe as runner up.

Lloyd will probably come 3rd. I don't rate him as the 3rd most important player to the side, but the coaches love his contributions, and he was ultra-consistent again this year. I can't think of anyone else who will top him.

Papley to come 4th. He had a great season, providing lots of energy and leading the goal scoring.

After that, I reckon you can through a blanket over a group of players who played most games (since the voting system rewards those who didn't miss many games) and are generally still youngish and developing - most of our players are still young and developing. They each played some excellent games, and some not so excellent games. The rest of the top 10 to comprise: Heeney, Mills, Hewett, Aliir, Florent, Dawson - in approximately that order. JPK could just sneak in there. He missed three games and had a few other quiet ones by his standards, but might just get enough recognition to push out one of the young'uns.

Most improved - you could make a case for Aliir or Florent, but I'm going to plump for Papley. If he's told the club he wants out, on the other hand, I'll nominate Florent.

Best young player - every year I fail to remember whether the Swans apply the same age criteria to their RS player as the AFL does, or whether it's purely a <10 games qualification. If there is no age limit, Dawson was the stand-out contributor who had played fewer than 10 games at the start of the season. On the other hand, Blakey did wonderfully well for a first year player. If there's no age limit, I'm going to stick my neck out and predict that they'll award it jointly to both Dawson and Blakey. If there is an age limit, clearly it has to be Blakey.

Players' player - Rampe. Even if the coaches downgrade his contributions (for being a defender) I don't think the players will. He'll get their nod.

[Mel_C]

Looking forward to reading everyone's descriptions of the night.

There have been no announcements of delistings or trade requests yet so I wonder if there will be any mention tonight.

[Melbourne_Blood]

Rampe to win - Dawson most improved surely


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[gazza]

is anyone getting the live feed

[liz]

is anyone getting the live feed

I have been. I think they are on a break at the moment (serving and eating food), which is why nothing is streaming right now.

[S.S. Bleeder]

I'll go for;
1. Rampe.
2. Lloyd.
3. Parker

[rb4x]

Dane Rampe – 581 votes
George Hewett – 461 votes
Luke Parker – 458 votes
Tom Papley – 457 votes
Callum Mills – 429 votes
Isaac Heeney – 420 votes
Jake Lloyd – 408 votes
Aliir Aliir – 388 votes
Jordan Dawson – 383 votes
Josh Kennedy – 351 votes

[rb4x]

Sam Reid played the full season and did not make top ten nor did any of the kids, Blakey, McCartin or Rowbottom.

[stellation]

Well deserved by Dane, he was outstanding (again) this season. A wonderful career so far- I wonder if the young man who moved back to Sydney after a few years in the VFL would believe you if you told him he'd go on over the coming years to not only get on a list and debut, but be an All-Australian, a captain and a best and fairest winner.

[MattW]

Well deserved by Dane, he was outstanding (again) this season. A wonderful career so far- I wonder if the young man who moved back to Sydney after a few years in the VFL would believe you if you told him he'd go on over the coming years to not only get on a list and debut, but be an All-Australian, a captain and a best and fairest winner.

Yes, and a rallying heart-and-soul speech. Torch carrier for the Bloods culture.

I thought the night lacked the warmth and punch of previous years without Adam Spencer as host. Does anyone know where he was?

[jono2707]

Well done Dane and well deserved. Good to see a Backman winning a B&F - maybe Spud Frawley would have had something to say about that....

Also nice to see Dawson make the top 10 - bodes well for the next couple of years for him.

[AnnieH]

What a great night. Ted Richards interviewing the retiring players was just hilarious. Smooch saying, wow, I played 250 games just to get roasted by Teddy... bought the house down. (Unfortunately, no Reg - he had just had a back operation.)
As usual, the paying punters were turfed to the back of the room. At least we could ask the bar staff to go and get us a mixed drink! I know it's probably hard feeding 900 people (quite a few empty tables), but the food this year was mediocre at best. My leather shoes were more tender than the meat they served up!!
Saw Ramps during the last break and gave him a congratulatory hug, telling him I'm doing it now, cause I'm not going to get a look in later on. The compare (who happened to be there) said, hang on, there are still four rounds to go... I looked at Ramps and said... ok, I'll just have another hug because there's no way anyone else is going to catch up!
Tearing up during his speech.... omg!!!

[aardvark]

So who won the best finals player?........oops:redface:

[rickmat]

I note Jones didn't make the top 10!!! Was he there? No mention anywhere.

[AnnieH]

I note Jones didn't make the top 10!!! Was he there? No mention anywhere.

Yes, he was. I spoke with him for a bit.
Maybe it's just me, but I don't think he'll be with us next year.
He didn't seem his usual, happy self.
It was the vibe.

[Melbourne_Blood]

Horse spotted just now in a bakery in Hampton , bayside Melbourne , eating a Pie ( not sure what flavour or whether there was sauce involved ) and talking to an older man in a suit . Courtesy of my accountant friend who was also getting a pie. Wonder what he’s upto ...


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[KTigers]

Horse spotted just now in a bakery in Hampton , bayside Melbourne , eating a Pie ( not sure what flavour or whether there was sauce involved ) and talking to an older man in a suit . Courtesy of my accountant friend who was also getting a pie. Wonder what he’s upto ...


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He's probably just getting lunch. And apparently the coffee is great there too....

There you have it.... 1,000 posts !

And not one of them about Tippo.

[liz]

I note Jones didn't make the top 10!!! Was he there? No mention anywhere.

The way the voting system works -rewarding consistency as much as brilliance - makes it very hard to make the top 10 if you miss more than a couple of games. JPK snuck into 10th spot after playing 19 out of 22 games. Dawson (9th) played 20.

Rampe missed one game, while I believe the rest of the top 10 (Hewett, Parker, Papley, Mills, Heeney, Lloyd, Aliir) played all 22 games. In comparison, Jones played just 17 games. He was in the top 10 (at 10th) in the penultimate leader board (ie about 3/4 of the way through the season).

Reid's absence from the top 10 is more notable, given he also played every game for the season, as well as being a seasoned, senior player.

[Ludwig]

Reid's absence from the top 10 is more notable, given he also played every game for the season, as well as being a seasoned, senior player.Reid should have polled better, especially with Buddy out half the year. Maybe a little into the interest in Daniher as a replacement key forward. I don't mind Reid as either a forward of a defender. He's a good player, but not elite, and having an elite key forward is an important part of success.

[Melbourne_Blood]

He's probably just getting lunch. And apparently the coffee is great there too....

There you have it.... 1,000 posts !

And not one of them about Tippo.

He’s in town for one reason or another , perhaps to interview a potential draftee or draftees. I’ve heard we’re quite keen on a boy from the sandy dragons but his name escapes me ( from a lady Who works for a supplier of mine and is close with the Florent family ) .

The man was probably a friend or a Melbourne based recruiter.

Congrats on the milestone KT, I’ll shout you a coffee next time you’re in town ;)


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PS I apologise , I meant to put the original post in the general footy thread ..

[dimelb]

I thought Craig Willis did a good job as MC.

The staff waited until people were going to their table before handing out the drinks. Did the old way (handing around while we waited to go in) produce problems? Perhaps a bit of mummying?

We galloped through the replays before the points tally, probably because there were extra awards. I like to see more of the players in action.

Teddy's farewell interview was a hoot. Horse's speech was pithy and a little briefer than usual I thought - still impressive and continuing to do a great job. I was impressed with Rampe's acceptance speech - a bit long and rambling but obviously heartfelt. He had to pause and gather his feelings a couple of times, but we filled in the gaps with applause. I think he got the point, namely that he is a much loved member of the club. No-one mentioned goalposts. And a great speech from Kirky.

The food varied from horrid (pork belly yuk!) to good on drinks and dessert. Mrs d and I sat next to Go Swannies - always nice to put a face to a fellow R&W contributor.

[liz]

He’s in town for one reason or another

Danny Frawley's funeral was today. I imagine that was (at least part of) the reason for Longmire's visit.

[Melbourne_Blood]

Danny Frawley's funeral was today. I imagine that was (at least part of) the reason for Longmire's visit.

Yes , i did just think of that while watching the news .


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[Go Swannies]

I thought Craig Willis did a good job as MC.

The staff waited until people were going to their table before handing out the drinks. Did the old way (handing around while we waited to go in) produce problems? Perhaps a bit of mummying?

We galloped through the replays before the points tally, probably because there were extra awards. I like to see more of the players in action.

Teddy's farewell interview was a hoot. Horse's speech was pithy and a little briefer than usual I thought - still impressive and continuing to do a great job. I was impressed with Rampe's acceptance speech - a bit long and rambling but obviously heartfelt. He had to pause and gather his feelings a couple of times, but we filled in the gaps with applause. I think he got the point, namely that he is a much loved member of the club. No-one mentioned goalposts. And a great speech from Kirky.

The food varied from horrid (pork belly yuk!) to good on drinks and dessert. Mrs d and I sat next to Go Swannies - always nice to put a face to a fellow R&W contributor.

I thought Craig was a good MC too - made it seem a bit effortless.

And so nice to be seated next to Mr and Mrs dimelb! Lots of talking about the remarkable Adam Goodes - who appeared by video.

I went looking for Tom Papley after but couldn't find him - probably tired of 900 people asking if he'd be with us next year. But did get to thank Smooch for being so reliable for so long.

[Kafka's Ghost]

Horse spotted just now in a bakery in Hampton , bayside Melbourne , eating a Pie ( not sure what flavour or whether there was sauce involved ) and talking to an older man in a suit . Courtesy of my accountant friend who was also getting a pie. Wonder what he’s upto ...


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He went to Danny Frawley’s funeral.

[bloodspirit]

Just noticed a curiosity in the voting: the club website is doing a countdown of the year's 10 best individual performances based on the votes players got used for the B&F count. Rampe was voted as having the equal best performance of the year for his performance against Essendon (ironically the game which was so controversial because he climbed the post) despite having unspectacular stats. What's interesting is that, although the 5 coaches gave Rampe 44/50 votes (which was more than any other Swan on the ground) for the B&F count, he only attracted 2 votes in the AFLCA voting - behind Parker (who got 10 votes), Hewett and Sinclair.

The AFLCA votes went like this:

10 Luke Parker (SYD)
8 Orazio Fantasia (ESS)
5 George Hewett (SYD)
3 Callum Sinclair (SYD)
2 Dane Rampe (SYD)
1 Zach Merrett (ESS)
1 Dyson Heppell (ESS)

Looking at that breakdown of votes: Rampe got 2 votes from one coach. Parker got 5 votes from both coaches, Fantasia got 4 votes from both coaches and most likely we gave 3 to Hewett, 2 to Rampe and 1 to an Essendon player. The alternative is that we didn't give Rampe any votes and only Woosha did.

To me it seems odd that there is such a difference between the way our coaches voted collectively in the B&F and the votes in AFLCA, however they are arrived at. I imagined there would be some collaboration for AFLCA purposes but maybe Horse does it on his own and he rated Rampe's performance less. Another possibility is that the two sets of voting are done at different times, one with the benefit of more time to reflect than the other and the review changed the perception. I would have thought the B&F vote would be the more considered, after having time to fully review the game. Perhaps Rampe's contribution was less obvious and required this closer scrutiny, rather than just stats. Then again if a lot of the value of Rampe's performance came from him marshalling the defence and keeping everyone organised, wouldn't this have been at least as apparent on the day? Perhaps not.

Another theory is that we deliberately obfuscate in the AFLCA voting because we don't want to give away to opposition what we value. But this seems less likely to me because it is a meaningful award that I would assume is taken seriously and approached with integrity.

Can anyone illuminate this discussion in any useful way?