Sydney Swans Reserves vs. Belconnen Magpies 26th March

[ugg]

Lakeside Oval
26th March
2pm this time, probably to cater for the Magpies travelling up from Canberra.

The Reserves might get Tadhg and/or LRT and/or Spangher back but they'll probably lose 2 or 3 players as travelling emergencies for the game in Melbourne. Coach Maxfield will also probably be in Melbourne as is a runner for the seniors, leaving Henry and Crouchy with the reins.

One thing that I haven't seen confirmed or denied is whether the substitute rule will apply in the NEAFL this year, or even whether they're going to continue with the 6 man extended bench and the 13 on the field restrictions. Does anyone know?

[ugg]

Weather forecast for tomorrow:

18-23
Cloudy. The chance of showers, mostly in the east. Winds south to southwesterly averaging up to 30 km/h increasing to up to 40 km/h around dawn.

Sounds like another wet one.

Possible teams:
LRT apparently in.
Not sure what's going on with Bird.
Longmire said Sumner needed another solid 4 quarter run so he might play in this one.
White, Reid out with TDL, Meredith possibly joining them.

I'll be at the game, tweeting but I'm not sure whether I'll be there from the start.

[BSA5]

I'm in Sydney over the weekend and might rock up.

[ugg]

No Tahs or NRL games that I can see on that day, so traffic and parking should be alright.

[Primmy]

Two of us will be there with our chairs, water bottles, binoculars and umbrellas. We plan tobe there during rain, but not during monsoon. Generally speaking we shelter in the shelters with chairs and lean on the fence during game, about halfway down. Look out for no longer lithe female with short natural platinum hair and attitude.

[ugg]

7. Meredith?
8. Dennis-Lane?
10. Currie
11. Lamb?
14. Bird?
23. Johnston
26. Parker
28. McNeil
30. Roberts-Thomson
34. Johnson
36. McKaigue
38. Pyke
43. Kruger
44. Otten
45. Gordon
46. Haren

1 or 2 of Meredith, Bird or Lamb will be a travelling emergency. Not sure on TDL's status

[liz]

Not great news out of today's game. Might well have lost two players (possibly three) to injury of yet-to-be-determined severity.

Firstly (and most significantly) LRT sat out most of the second half and at the end of the game was limping and had a big ice pack stuffed down his sock.

Secondly, Currie was also on the sidelines for a large part of the game, though I can't remember when I noticed he wasn't out there. He seemed to be still standng in one piece and not visibly limping after the game, so no idea what the problem might be.

And thirdly, unless they have found an anti-dote to a severe case of leather poisoning, expect Parker to need intensive treatment this evening. He had the ball on a string today. I didn't count his possessions but I'd be surprised if they weren't significantly above the 40 or so mark, and he must have had easily double figures in centre clearances. He's a bit of a bull in a china shop, not a huge amount of finesse about him, but he keeps his feet in contests, is good off the deck and in the air, makes decisions quickly, and just can't help finding the ball.

He had very good support from young McNeil, who goes about things a bit differently but also found the ball at will.

Bird was the third of the triumverate who spent most of the game at centre bounces and he was also pretty effective, though maybe not as dominant as Parker and McNeil. His trade-mark sidestep and baulk were a feature of his game today. Am curious as to why he seems to have slipped down the pecking order for the senior team, given he has played all the pre-season senior games and didn't appear hampered by injury. Maybe his fitness isn't quite up to scratch at the moment if he's been on a modified training programme, or maybe they just wanted a slightly pacier team against the Dees.

Pyke absolutely dominated in the ruck and he is really far too good for this level. Having taken the risk he did to switch codes and having done all the hard work to develop his game to the point it is now at, it seems a real shame if he is to languish in the NEAFL for the bulk of the season. He was throwing his weight about all around the ground, even flying high for a "speccy" in front of goal, and in the second quarter, kicked two goals in the space of just a couple of minutes. He also laid a few tackles that will leave the Belconnen blokes really knowing they were tackled.

Up forward, Haren relished having the space he was denied last week by the presence of White and Reid. He is still very very raw but he moves well for his size, has a bit of pace about him, and when he timed his leads correctly, showed he has a very good pair of hands.

Johnson and Johnston played the much of the game together in defence (with LRT down there also for the first half). Johnson got a second half and moved forward. He, too, has good pace and he appears pretty confident. His disposal / decision making under pressure need a bit of work but at this early stage he looks to have the making of a senior player. Poor Lewis was left minding a largely empty and lonely defence for most of the game, though he did push forward on a few occasions and I am pretty sure he kicked at least one goal. There really wasn't enough of a challenge for him to be able to assess his game properly, but some of his kicking (in very tricky swirly windy conditions) was a sight to behold.

No sign of TDL anywhere, suggesting he picked up some kind of injury at training yesterday. Meredith was also absent - he must be down in Melbourne with the seniors, given that both Bird and Lamb played today.

Young Jed is a bit too unselfish for my liking, though no doubt the coaches are drilling this into him. He has no chance of being the next Steve Johnson if he keeps on looking to square the ball up for players in better positions to take a shot. The conditions today weren't exactly conduicive to pinpoint kicking, but he got his hands on the ball a fair bit and would have been reasonably happy with his outing today.

Of the rest, Nipper and Eugene were lively at times, but neither really looks AFL ready. Otten was a bit anonymous. McKaigue tried a bit of dash at times, but the defence wasn't under pressure for enough of the game for him to really have much of a challenge.

Some very solid contributions from Academy players. Not sure of many of their names but redhead (#21) kicked a couple of pearlers, #6 (Lynch) was reasonably lively and if it was Lynch, he has filled out nicely compared to last season. He's a very good size / build for the modern day tall atheletic running player. His confidence / intensity seemed to have improved from last year, but possibly still needs a bit of a lift. Potter was quite prominent early, but I don't remember seeing much of him late in the game. #15 had a good final quarter. No idea who he is but he moves quite similarly to the real owner of his guernsey and he's about the same size too. He kicked a ripper goal towards the end of the game.

All in all, it was a marginally more competitive game than last week, but not by much. Belconnen really took it up to the Swans in the first quarter, matched it around the midfield, and took reasonable advantage of the windy conditions favouring their end, kicking three goals to the Swans' two openers. The second quarter was an absolute clinic by the Swans. I really should have counted the goals - the lady next to me thought they'd kicked 8 but I suspect it might have been a couple more than that. In the second half, the Swans kept the ball out of the Belconnen forward line pretty consistently (at the scoring and non-scoring ends) but Belconnen knuckled down a little better in defence and the goals didn't flow quite as freely. No doubt I will find out what the final score was from the Swans website (or from Ugg or Primmy) but it would have been the Swans by plenty in very trying conditions.

[Primmy]

OK, watched the game, and enjoyed it. Not going to flog this but

1. MikePyke can now kick on the run, well, lope actually, but he can definitely motor and is reading the play WAY better. His rucking is beautiful.
2. We'll keep Ben Haren.
3. Really liked Otten too.
4. Apparently TDL rolled his ankle during the week.
5. Birdy was playing and did his best to prove he is a senior player.
6. LRT is obviously a senior player, except left at full time with an iced calf and I am fairly sure I am not pleased at seeing that.
7. Whoever Toppie 22 is, I wanna keep him. He is even smaller than Benny, but has the same attitude, and We loved him.
8. It was a stinker of a day in regards to wind. It did not stop. Make kicking difficult. Great long kick and it would go half way then fall down vertically.
9. We didn't mind Toppie 3 either.
10. Eugene is a good player. I have something else to say and may do so about half way through season propper, but not yet.
11. Chris McKaigue makes mistakes.
12. Jed Lamb is a keeper.
13. Luke Parker could play seniors this year. He is good, he is persistent and was organising things. His second and thirds were also evident.
14. I do like Dylan McNeil. Just something about him.
15. Redhead in 21 is a good player.

We won, and it was done with work, not a walk in the park.

We think that the quality of the toppies has increased massively over the last couple of years. If we can keep the core playing today, it will be in our favour.

[BSA5]

Alright, back home after a dominant display. I arrived just after quarter time. These are my thoughts from the last 2.75 quarters of footy:

Currie: Good with the taps, didn't do much else. May have picked up an injury in the second half.
Lamb: Would like to say he made a good combination with Currie (), but unfortunately I didn't notice them do much together. In any case, he's deceptively tall, very classy, and he did some very nice things. Could definitely play senior footy this year if the opportunity arose.
Bird: Pure class. Booted three goals from the midfield, won god knows how many clearances, just constantly found a way to get the ball to advantage when in close. Always seems to have that extra half-metre of space in the stoppaged.
Johnston: Liked him down back. Probably needs more time in terms of defensive body work, but he's not without potential in that area, and his rebounding efforts were great. Could do very well down there.
Parker: Part of an inside mid brigade that was simply irresistable. Looked very classy out there, won a bunch of clearances, burst through packs, not with raw acceleration, but by running at great angles (would probably make a decent union or league player), used the ball very well, had great vision, etc. Give him some development to the point where he'll be able to hold a full-time position in the senior midfield, and he'll step right in.
McNeil: Alonside Bird and Parker, simply dominated the clearances. Not big, but neither is he small, at least not anymore. Solid and nuggety. He's also very clever. Unlike some rookies seem to do, he hasn't dropped off in his second year, but has maintained and improved his performances. Seriously impressed.
LRT: Had very little to do. Assuming he's fit, he should slot straight back into the seniors next week. However, news about the icepack are concerning. Didn't see that. Damn.
Johnson: Rather impressed. Quite big, and smart too.
McKaigue: Not bad. Not fantastic, made some errors, but not bad.
Pyke: Liked his performance a lot. Found a fair bit of ball, more than he usually does, took some wonderful grabs up forward, his kicking was reasonably solid, his tapwork was very good, and he just looks overall a lot more comfortable. Keeps improving.
Kruger: Fast, tough, clever, and quite good reach. A very nice combination for a winger/flanker. He's very raw, however. Kicking lets him down, takes a bit of time to handle the ball and switch from carrying to kicking, etc, and will probably take some time before he's racking up the touches. Still, there's plenty to be excited about. His development could follow a similar path to Jack.
Max Otten: Wasn't impressed, to be honest. Just didn't seem particularly involved.
Nathan Gordon: Again, wasn't too impressed. Found a bit of it, certainly contributed, but there's just nothing about him that stands out as a potential AFL player. Unless he can make it as a brilliant tagger, I don't feel there's much hope for him.
Ben Haren: Had a quiet second quarter (don't know about his first), but came alive in the second half. Looked fantastic out there, with some brilliant grabs, strong leads, and even some good work at ground level and running with ball in hand (slotted a nice running goal from about 50 out near the boundary). Really stood out as a player with potential at senior level.

Toppies:

2: May have been Blake Guthrie (think heard him referred to as "Blake"). Looked fit, solid and comfortable out there. Good to see.
3: May have been Nathan Kenny (think heard him referred to as "Kenny"). Looked OK, did some good things.
4 - Jackson Potter: The most promising of the scholarship boys had a fairly good game. Probably not as involved as he would like to be in the year leading up to his potential selection or non-selection, but contributed. He's quite well built for a little guy.
6 - Jack Lynch: I've seen him before and was not particularly impressed, but I must say he looked quite good today. He has really filled out, and he looks like he could develop further. Played mostly forward, and led hard and well, brought the ball to ground, wasn't outmuscled at all, and did some clever things. Could earn himself a rookie spot over the course of the year, when it wasn't looking too likely last year.
8: Didn't do much.
15: No idea who he was, but he looked quite reasonable, did some very nice things including a very well executed run-down and tackle for HTB.
21: Red-head who I think played in the intraclub as well. Kicked two goals and was very handy.
22 - Kane Murphy: Interesting to see him line up for us again. Clearly being looked at for a spot on the rookie list next year, and you can see why. Very short, but he's strong, smart, brave and his skills are decent. If we rookie him, he could turn out to be our Jarryd Blair in 2012.

Not sure if I've missed anyone.

Probably the best, and most physically mature, group of toppies I've personally ever seen, and I think that went a long way to contributing to the result. As they say, it's not your best 6 that win you games, but your worst 6.

[Primmy]

Good for you B. 22 Kane Murphy. Of Course!!! Talk about me whooping it up on the sideline, I loved him.

I note that you two were not impressed with Otten? I thought he was involved, but has a way to go.

[ugg]

Only time for a quick post

21 I think is Mitch Thompson. Not sure on 15 but I have seen him before last year
Edit: had a look at last years records. Could be David Linsen think he plays for Wests in the SFL

[dimelb]

Thanks everyone,much appreciate your comments. I hope LRT comes up OK - my favourite Swan at the moment and we could use him. Not surprised at Pyke, seems to soak knowledge up like a sponge and he'll be back in firsts before the season's out. Even more so for Bird - if he's fit I have no idea he he was omitted, his space sense and fabulous hands make up for any lack of pace.
Funny - no-one mentioned the score!