Round 15: Swans v Demons @ Cazaly's

[Markwebbos]

Wasn't criticising Rowbottom, he was solid I thought. I was pointing out that he, along with Florent, might've found themselves knocked down the proverbial totem pole as the year has progressed, with Clarke's renewed form, Blakey showing his midfield credentials, and Kennedy's return. Earlier on in the year our best midfield set up might've been Kennedy, Parker, Florent and Rowbottom. That's possibly not the case now as the season has gone on. Onus is now on those two to take back that mantle. Interesting times ahead .

It may be that the best outcome for the team as a whole is to play Florent on the wing, rotating forward, rather than attending centre bounces. This could partly be a reflection of the fact that Blakey has only been able to get any possession when he's played in the midfield. Florent might well be a better onballer than Blakey (in the short term), but the sum of the parts is greater the other way round.

I did have a look down the stats after the game, and there weren't a lot of standouts number wise. Only 4 players got more than 20 disposals (the usual suspects and Clarke). But we won the game reasonably comfortably against a top 8 side who - despite being called Melbourne - had previously accounted for St Kilda and won four of the previous five. (admittedly two were against Adelaide and North).

They might also have decided to share the load across this compressed block of games rather than rest players, play them forward.

[TheBloods]

It may be that the best outcome for the team as a whole is to play Florent on the wing, rotating forward, rather than attending centre bounces. This could partly be a reflection of the fact that Blakey has only been able to get any possession when he's played in the midfield. Florent might well be a better onballer than Blakey (in the short term), but the sum of the parts is greater the other way round.

I did have a look down the stats after the game, and there weren't a lot of standouts number wise. Only 4 players got more than 20 disposals (the usual suspects and Clarke). But we won the game reasonably comfortably against a top 8 side who - despite being called Melbourne - had previously accounted for St Kilda and won four of the previous five. (admittedly two were against Adelaide and North).

They might also have decided to share the load across this compressed block of games rather than rest players, play them forward.

Perhaps you're right, but could it be indicative of something more that that was our midfield's best performance all year, and we had minimal contributions from Florent and Rowbottom? Time will tell, but I'm certain JL would've taken note of that.

[Markwebbos]

Perhaps you're right, but could it be indicative of something more that that was our midfield's best performance all year, and we had minimal contributions from Florent and Rowbottom? Time will tell, but I'm certain JL would've taken note of that.

I think most likely a bit of everything. It's taken until that game for JPK to get his mojo back, which helps Parker, but comes at Rowbottom's expense. Blakey got his highest number of clearances ever. There was an unusual spread of players winning clearances in the midfield including Sinkers 4. Dawson 3, even Lloyd 3.

Clarke seems to have worked on his disposal and looks worth persisting with (something I would not have said a few weeks ago).

All of a sudden it feels like there are a lot of players able to make a contribution through the midfield. And they are mostly young (Papley 24, Dawson 23, Florent 22, Clarke 23, Blakey 20, Rowbum still only 19). And you've got Stephens (19), Warner (19), Heeney (24), Mills (23), Hewett (24) injured or playing "scrimmages" who could also contribute.

I think its a very positive development.

[liz]

Florent form has not been great in the second half of the season - not sure what is going on there.

And yet his form in the first half of the season was very good. He was probably our most damaging midfielder in the first half a dozen or so games.

What's going on? It's possible he's carrying a niggle (something that has a huge impact on form and supporters tend to dismiss unless it's obvious), maybe it's just a natural part of a development curve, maybe his role is changing, maybe he's getting a little more opposition attention.

He's still pretty young in the overall scheme of things. A couple of years before what we should expect to be the start of his peak years. He's shown he has ability to be a solid player (at worst). I don't think it's reasonably to bemoan him not suddenly becoming a superstar (especially at his still young age).

[TheBloods]

I think most likely a bit of everything. It's taken until that game for JPK to get his mojo back, which helps Parker, but comes at Rowbottom's expense. Blakey got his highest number of clearances ever. There was an unusual spread of players winning clearances in the midfield including Sinkers 4. Dawson 3, even Lloyd 3.

Clarke seems to have worked on his disposal and looks worth persisting with (something I would not have said a few weeks ago).

All of a sudden it feels like there are a lot of players able to make a contribution through the midfield. And they are mostly young (Papley 24, Dawson 23, Florent 22, Clarke 23, Blakey 20, Rowbum still only 19). And you've got Stephens (19), Warner (19), Heeney (24), Mills (23), Hewett (24) injured or playing "scrimmages" who could also contribute.

I think its a very positive development.

I concur, it's a good thing for our team. Not so much for Florent and Rowbottom.

[Markwebbos]

Florent's numbers are definitely down. But I think its a sign of progress that we can win comfortably if he (and to a lesser extent Rowbottom) aren't having standout games. I also don't think it means either of them have suddenly become poor players.

I'll be interested to see how the team sets up against Carlton.

[Melbourne_Blood]

And yet his form in the first half of the season was very good. He was probably our most damaging midfielder in the first half a dozen or so games.

What's going on? It's possible he's carrying a niggle (something that has a huge impact on form and supporters tend to dismiss unless it's obvious), maybe it's just a natural part of a development curve, maybe his role is changing, maybe he's getting a little more opposition attention.

He's still pretty young in the overall scheme of things. A couple of years before what we should expect to be the start of his peak years. He's shown he has ability to be a solid player (at worst). I don't think it's reasonably to bemoan him not suddenly becoming a superstar (especially at his still young age).

Certainly still young but into his fourth season now. He started off the year so well, after a great finish to his 2019 season, maybe it’s a bit much to expect those sort of performances week in week out from a young guy. I do agree with MCS that it’s been quite a stark drop off in form though, and you would expect or hope for a little more consistency from him by now.


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[Auntie.Gerald]

agree
Florent sometimes has played run with roles of late which unless one watches a replay is hard to pick or diminishes his stats

Im still confident re Ollie being a very useful player for us...........confident that he is showing enough to improve and be more dominant when he is given more dominant roles

[Kumarangk]

Great win and it's going to be a great ride watching the youth ( with the inclusion of 3 more at the draft ) develop over the next 3 to 4 years. The club is a well run machine. Would be tearing my hair out if i was a Demons supporter. How many very simple shots missed by 800k a year players . Yes running dead to get draft picks will surely erode any semblance of what a club's DNA is. Some get used to losses.

[Markwebbos]

Apologies for leaving off the link before. It's worth reading what Titus O'Reilly says about the living hell that is being a Melbourne supporter and being reminded how lucky we are that we follow the Swans!

AFL Mad Scramble Two: Day Nine - Titus O'Reily | Don’t have faith in yourself

"A victory against Melbourne is one of the most attainable things in the world, right up there with my friend Geoff. Like Geoff, a heady mixture of self-doubt, laziness and giving up when things are hard, lie at the heart of Melbourne.

Losing games like this are the closest thing Melbourne has to a brand.

And now Melbourne will call for their fans to stick fat and support the boys. Well, the fans aren’t the problem, the fact there are still fans is one of the great miracles of history. This club doesn’t deserve the fans it has, we’ve given it everything, very few within the club can honestly say the same thing."

[Sandridge]

Apologies for leaving off the link before. It's worth reading what Titus O'Reilly says about the living hell that is being a Melbourne supporter and being reminded how lucky we are that we follow the Swans!

AFL Mad Scramble Two: Day Nine - Titus O'Reily | Don’t have faith in yourself

"A victory against Melbourne is one of the most attainable things in the world, right up there with my friend Geoff. Like Geoff, a heady mixture of self-doubt, laziness and giving up when things are hard, lie at the heart of Melbourne.

Losing games like this are the closest thing Melbourne has to a brand.

And now Melbourne will call for their fans to stick fat and support the boys. Well, the fans aren’t the problem, the fact there are still fans is one of the great miracles of history. This club doesn’t deserve the fans it has, we’ve given it everything, very few within the club can honestly say the same thing."

Fully understand Titus' blast for the Demons. On paper, his team should have prevailed yesterday but they were beaten by a team that made up for its lack of experience by playing with passion and pride.

[SwanSand]

Is this not the plan from Longmire this season... Trying different things and finding what the kids have in terms of skills, power, endurance and positional play. However, I think Florent has been prepared over the last few seasons to take the leap into the midfield and the one season when Hewett is injured he finds shafted to the forward line... That is certainly a problem in my eye.
Florent needs to work on his disposal efficiency and quick entry rather than waiting for one perfect entry. I think his position is in more doubt than anyone ... He is not considered a lock for the inside mid role, his disposals to Inside 50 are not great, his kicking on the run for goal is down. The only thing may be that he has developed a decent tank over the last 4 years.
Though happy with the win, I think the fact that Melbourne had so many possessions in the center square on the run tells me that our mids are attacking well but probably not very defensive minded as much as Horse would like them to. There were many occasions where Melbourne mids got a possession in the middle of the ground but couldnt take advantage due to poor forward structure or hacked kicks. Some other sides would have buried us with that.
Wonder who would go out once Heeney, Mills, Rampe, Hewett and Buddy come back..... I think it would have to be Lewis Taylor, Clarke, Sam Wicks and Hayden McLean. Who would be the 5th player out ... ?Florent based on form or McInerney