Grand Final: Sydney Swans Reserves v Queanbeyan Tigers

[albrotha]

+2. Love your work and essential reading. You do a great job.

[Ratna]

Thank you Ugg for your contribution.....you are an outstanding member of RWO and I would like to congratulate you on your dedication and thoroughness....absolute pleasure to have followed the reserves through your efforts...plus others such as Liz...Cheers Ann-Louise

+1

[ScottH]

mark121 posted on BigFooty



Worth checking out.

Thanks.
Excellent goal.

[satchmopugdog]

Thank you Ugg for your contribution.....you are an outstanding member of RWO and I would like to congratulate you on your dedication and thoroughness....absolute pleasure to have followed the reserves through your efforts...plus others such as Liz...Cheers Ann-Louise

[Dosser]

mark121 posted on BigFooty



Worth checking out.

Wow - that kick was more than 60m.

[ugg]

mark121 posted on BigFooty

1hour 55 min 15 seconds in to see Cunningham's great running 3 bounce and 60m kick for the goal.

NEAFL 2012 Grand Final - Sydney Swans v Queanbeyan, Recorded on 16/09/12 jackmasters2011 on USTREAM. Other Sports

Worth checking out.

[mcs]

LOL. Biased, much? Great work from the Tigers to win the conference grand final, but I wouldn't have thought it was a David & Goliath type battle. With only a handful of players with any meaningful senior AFL experience (White, Spangher, Moore, Armstrong) and with half the team being young top ups...

And add in to that umpires that were very willing to let the game flow (i.e. barely any holding the ball calls, and plenty of tackles etc that may have been pulled up at the AFL level for being high etc) and you have a much more even playing field than that article would suggest. Queanbeayan certainly made use of their hardened bodies to physically intimidate where possible, especially the top ups, who on the whole are a skinny bunch to say the least!

[desredandwhite]

Hearts the size of Tigers lead to title

Heart, ticker, guts. Call it what you want - that's what it takes for a team of part-timers to not only beat but run a group of professional footballers off their legs.

LOL. Biased, much? Great work from the Tigers to win the conference grand final, but I wouldn't have thought it was a David & Goliath type battle. With only a handful of players with any meaningful senior AFL experience (White, Spangher, Moore, Armstrong) and with half the team being young top ups...

[dimelb]

Thanks ugg, for this finale, and for your work through the season. Absolutely outstanding and very much appreciated by this south-of-the-border fan with limited opportunities to see the games live.

[mcs]

?Harry Cunningham - The best attacking (half) game I have seen from Harry this year and I wish we had seen more of it during the year. If you didn't watch the game live or on the live stream do yourself a favour and watch his goal in the 3rd quarter where he took off from halfback, had 3 bounces whilst flying past many staionary Tigers and then had the poise and skill to finish from 50m was breathtaking. I understand the idea of him being used in defensive run-with roles during the year in order to aid his development but I felt that constrained his ability to utilise his greatest assets which are his pace and his raw power.


That goal was without doubt the standout moment of the match for the Swans. Superb piece of play, and if that is a sign of what he might one day do in the seniors, then bring it on. I thought he was very good yesterday Cunningham, considering our midfield was pretty well beaten int he end.

[ugg]

• Brett Meredith - when he had the ball he used it well and effectively but the problem was he didn't see much of it. When thrown into the midfield in the last quarter, he managed some telling clearances. He struggles under close physical attention and cannot extricate himself from these situations through either brute force or evasive skills.
• Trent Dennis-Lane - I wasn't as impressed by his game as other posters here. He did well for his goals but I'd expect Queanbeyan to be very happy with the way his opponent Jeremy Kirkwood contained him. In the last quarter the Swans cleared the entire forward 50 and he started to get on top but they adjusted dropping a spare man back (Spangher was our spare man) which allowed Kirkwood to maintain tight contact with TDL without having to worry about the ball clearing them and TDL getting free over the back.
• Jed Lamb - Started where he left off 2 weeks ago with his powerful attack on the ball and displayed wonderful vision in his distribution of the football. The hit on him in the 2nd quarter was to the midriff and I think he was winded rather than suffering any serious injury as he came back and still played an influential role in the 2nd half. Displayed some great hands with some strong grabs in the last quarter.
• Tommy Walsh - limped off in the first half and wasn't as effective after that. His contribution to the team over the past month has been his marking on the lead but he struggled to replicate that form today. He also struggled in the contested marking department and was usually slower to the loose ball than his opponent. Went off some time during the 3rd quarter but I only realised this after the game.
• Jesse White - Rucked basically the whole day (Nipper took one centre bounce in the last) and his tapwork was excellent as usual. Dropped a kick behind play to block the Queanbeyan forwards' space and was effective in this regard. Where he continues to frustrate me is his profligate use of the ball during open play where he will heave up rugby league style bombs which makes it very difficult for his forwards to mark the ball cleanly. He took a nice grab with strong hands in the last quarter but unfortunately couldn't convert what would have been a very handy goal.
• Tony Armstrong - Covered plenty of ground pushing back hard in defence and then providing run and carry when the Swans had the ball. His kicking was a standout and the team missed his work rate once he was removed from the action.
• Matthew Spangher - The spare parts man, up forward he did well to compete and bring the ball to ground but struggled to take the contested marks that we've become accustomed to. When Kavanagh and co. were threatening to tear apart the game in the 3rd quarter he was sent back to stem the flow but in the last he seemed to be playing as the "plus one" defender, covering the angles well to cut off attacks and launching long kicks to TDL and the open forward line.
• Dylan McNeil - Actually started at half forward which was an unusual role for him but soon saw his fair share of time in the midfield during the game. His formline coming into the game was outstanding but he was part of a midfield that was outmuscled and eventually outclassed today.
• Jarred Moore - Did his usual grunt work in the middle but his effectiveness was stifled by a pretty tight tag the whole day. His frustration was visible when he was harshly (IMO) penalised for going over the mark on the wing and almost gave away another 50 when he was baited by the Queanbeyan player in Daniel Campbell. Tried up forward very late in the piece but missed an inconsequential shot on goal
• Campbell Heath - Fantastic game, courageous, smart player who had an such a pivotal role with his partner-in-crime Lynch out of the team. He read the flight of the ball incredibly well and wasn't afraid to run off his man to help his teammates or fling his body in desperation in order to disrupt a marking attempt. He will be a very sore player this morning.
• Harry Cunningham - The best attacking (half) game I have seen from Harry this year and I wish we had seen more of it during the year. If you didn't watch the game live or on the live stream do yourself a favour and watch his goal in the 3rd quarter where he took off from halfback, had 3 bounces whilst flying past many staionary Tigers and then had the poise and skill to finish from 50m was breathtaking. I understand the idea of him being used in defensive run-with roles during the year in order to aid his development but I felt that constrained his ability to utilise his greatest assets which are his pace and his raw power.
• Nathan Gordon - I cannot fault his enthusiasm or his desire, and I wish that some other players would play with half the intensity that Nippa does but he tends to overdo it when the situation sometimes calls for a calmer head and a more measured approach. His faults included trying to bash and crash his way through multiple tacklers as well as overzealousness in his tackling. His role was primarily playing on a wing but using his running capabilities to help out at either end of the ground.
• Jackson Potter (#47) - His well-developed body was a much needed presence amongst some of the skinnier topups. He spent some time in the midfield as well as on the half-back flank. His chase, tackle and eventual strip of Fruend on the wing (right in front of me) in the last quarter was an amazing piece of play.
• Erol Sertbas (#51) - Has done well in each of his previous appearances and he started the game well again. Understands the flow of the game very well and links up well with his teammates around the half-forward area. Fell heavily to the ground after bravely going up for a mark in the helter-skelter madness of the last quarter and had to be helped off.
• David Lycakis (#52) - Kicked 3 goals and thoroughly deserved each one. Short but tenacious player who set up TDL for the first goal of the game and kicked the next one himself. A smart soccered goal resulted in his second and he was the lucky recipient of a kind bounce for his 3rd.
• Rory Pryor (#54) - Had the unenviable task on playing on Kavanagh despite only playing one reserves game throughout the year. He started okay but the mobility of Kavanagh troubled him and he couldn't keep up on many of his leads. Also had a touch of the fumbles when the Swans attempted to chip it around in defence, although that was probably more due to the inaccuracy of the kicker.
• Blake Guthrie (#56) - Experienced topup of past years who rotated through the midfield and gave a more physical contest than some of the other topups.
• Nathan Kenny (#57) - Surprisingly spent a lot of time on the bench given that he has had plenty of experience with the team last year.
• Jordan Weir (#58) - Did well on Ben Klemke who had troubled the Reserves in the semi final with 4 goals. Also a solid kick and wasn't afraid to pinpoint targets from our defensive 50.
• Jack McKinlay (#50), Tom Green (#53), Doug Hadden (#55), Beau Heeney (#59) - The least developed of the topups, relatively skinny kids who spent a lot of time on the bench or in forward pockets when they went onto the ground. Hadden was in the goalsquare on the end of a TDL handpass which allowed him to kick a simple goal.

[ScottH]

I watched the last qtr.
Cunningham showed a lot of promise. The above mentioned centre clearance was first class.
Meredith seemed to be the only one that got plenty of the ball, and was unlucky that his shot was touched on the line. Could have been a turning point, as the Tigers dominated from that point.
TDL seemed to be outsized. His opponent appeared taller and bigger. (although that is not hard with his tiny frame)
White seemed to do OK, but others have mentioned his lack of 1% above.
Spangher was good in defence, but was unable to hold off the full on attack.
Heath looked a lot like Ted on the stream, (his style of play). and was doing OK until he pulled up sore after a contest and wasn't as effective after that.
Moore seemed to have little impact in the critical last Q, and missed a captains goal when it was most needed, but maybe it was too late by then anyway.
McNeill worked hard.
Kenny was a bit soft at a few contests I thought he could win, or at least try harder.
Potter was amazing. His steal of the ball out of an opponents arms was very Kelly like.

They put in a concerted effort to draw back into the contest and get within 12 points, but I think the were spent by then and the bigger bodies prevailed.

Well done to Queanbeyan on a great last qtr to win.

[ugg]

Hearts the size of Tigers lead to title

[ugg]

I wasn't overly enthusiastic when I saw that Lynch had been left out of the team, against one of the better tall forward lines in the competition. For balance one of the runners in a Meredith, McNeil, Cunningham or Gordon should have been left out but they are all apparently closer to senior selection than Lynch and the fortunes of the senior team took precedence. But to be fair, Crouch devised a game plan to try and lessen the impact of Lynch's omission rather than throw his putative replacement Pryor in the firing line. White would contest the centre bounces but would drop back to cover the 'hole' in defence. Any boundary throw-ins in the forward half were contested by Walsh or Spangher. The idea was for White to provide assistance to our beleaguered defence by cutting off forward 50 entries by the Tigers and by and large it worked well in the first quarter, and Crouch mentioned this at the quarter time huddle.

Heath was magnificent all day, not just in covering his direct opponent but peeling off at the right times and there were numerous instances where he flew courageously forwards, backwards, sideways you name it putting his body on the line to prevent the Queanbeyan forwards from marking it. The fact that his opponent Quade only kicked one goal, and it took a very good flying mark for him to do so, was testament to Heath's defensive capabilities today. Where it all really fell apart was in the second quarter when the Tigers' tackling and physical aggression affected the Swans, particularly in the midfield where the main drivers were set upon quick and hard before they had time to dispose of the ball cleanly. The forward structure wasn't working particularly well either with TDL, Walsh and Spangher closely checked and well held by a tightly packed defensive unit.

It didn't help that Armstrong went off early in the 3rd quarter and Walsh not long after that. Armstrong looked to have no injury concerns when he headed down the race to have a shower and change into civvies. Walsh came off limping in the first quarter and did come back on, but he looked proppy and couldn't seem to jump properly at marking contests. Not sure if his withdrawal was due to injury or time considerations.

Crouch was calm and considered at the third quarter break, he was encouraging but definitely not angry. He told Spangher (who had dropped back to defence in the 3rd quarter) to start on the wing, the half-forwards to push up the ground and clear the space for TDL to work in. Right on cue, Cunningham ran onto the opening bounce of the fourth quarter and kicked it to TDL who juggled a contested mark.

It's late, more tomorrow...

[unconfuseme]

The rules are designed to make it very difficult for the Swans to win a comp down there.

Half the Swans are u/18's, and when their mature bodied opponents are just allowed to play that unchecked scragging and scrapping game by the umpires, it is even harder.

But watching the coverage, you know you are really in trouble when the one eyed commentators start patting the umpires on the back half way through the game!

Still they knew what was required, they knew the umpires would be intimidated, they carried out their plans, and didn't the bounce of the ball help them too!

Good luck to the Tigers - the best team in Canberra.

For what it's worth, the Swans v Brisbane game a month or so back probably proved who is the best team in the NEAFL though.