Player Watch #36 Joel Amartey

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Joel Amartey
Joel Amartey has shown strong form in the ruck and as a key-position player at both ends of the ground since being drafted to the Sydney Swans as a rookie ahead of season 2018. The Ghanaian-Australian produced arguably his best performance of the 2019 season against Sydney University in Round 6, which saw him collect 42 hit-outs and a goal. In season 2020, he made his AFL debut against Brisbane Lions in Round 17 after producing some strong individual performances in scrimmage matches, and impressed with eight hit-outs and two inside 50.

Joel Amartey
DOB: 02 September 1999
DEBUT: 2020
DRAFT: #28, 2017 Rookie Elevation
RECRUITED FROM: Beaumaris (Vic)/Mentone Gram (Vic)/Sandringham U18

www.sydneyswans.com.au

Joel Amartey | AFL

Follow Joel Amartey's progress through AFL
www.sydneyswans.com.au www.sydneyswans.com.au
 
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Olian said:
It’s a forum by definition we are allowed different opinions.

Credit to Amartey he’s stayed fit and healthy (for 13 games) and repaid the faith of the Swans list management.
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It is but the point still stands. Just because someone disagrees with you doesn't make them ignorant.
 
Nuggetz said:
The most impressive aspect of Amartey's season has been his consistent contested marks. He also looks to have bulked up a bit? it could be helping helping with his marking ability
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I wouldn't have said he's any bigger but his timing has improved. Works his defender smarter too. All part of learning and maturing.
He might play just as well this week against Sam Taylor and kick one goal. 🤷
 

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Looking at the Amartey stats and the notable progression is in:
1. Offensive 1v1 win % up from 14.3% to 27.3%
2. Scoring accuracy up from 50% to 66%
3. Marks i50 up from 1.9 to 2.4 a game

Good thing about Amartey is he is definitely impacting in front of goal but he can also improve alot of his around the ground game as his Disposal per clanger and disposal per turnover got worse this year so if he can lift that he will definitely be a consistent top 10 forward in the league.
 
Nuggetz said:
We like Amartey...
We like, we like Amartey

The Sydney Swans are coming
And everybody's jumping
From Sydney to South Melbourne

CBF changing the entire lyrics to Amartey/Swans...I'll do it if he kicks 10 ;)
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Well now I know what I'll be listening to for the rest of the day.
 
Ticky009 said:
It is but the point still stands. Just because someone disagrees with you doesn't make them ignorant.
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I don't disagree with anyone on this. The whole footy world knows Amartey is a genuinely good forward.

Let's say those who wrote Amartey off were mistaken. That's kinder. Most of those have changed their view at some point along the way and realised they were mistaken to write off a young forward just 28 games into his career. He'd never had a full preseason or played a full season of games. That he lacked a tank was clear, but that's to be expected after a torrid run with injuries.

Some of Amartey's most critical posters were more disappointed that he wasn't reaching what they saw as his potential.
In understand that. I misjudged a young Jake LLoyd (was he ever young?) but I'm happy he proved me wrong.

Even so, I don't believe in dissing a player. If they make an AFL list they deserve respect. They've outdone anyone on this board as far as footy goes. It takes bloody hard work and it's safe to assume they are still working bloody hard.

Most people have the balls to admit it when they misjudge a player.

Almost everyone who underestimated Amartey have said so and hopped on the train, glad to be proved wrong.
 
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One thing our Swans boys can all be proud of is Amartey doesn't work alone. Damn, if I'd kicked nine I'd have had to wear a lead-lined bag over my head to stop my grin nuking the back rows of seats. The way Joel spread the cred to his teammates made me proud. Like Chad, Heens, Errol, Grundy and going way back, even Buddy. The Swans talk and play the team game.

I laughed when McDonald pretty much apologised for not giving Joel a shot at his tenth. Hayward was over the moon to leave the party to Amartey on his 150th. Does it matter who brings the tunes to a dance? Our forward line is deadly because our talls, mids and smalls work in concert, all in it for each other, for the team. If Amartey kicks 100, McLean kicks 40 and McDonald kicks 60. They've kicked 200 goals. That's what matters to this team, not who kicked them.

Sam Mitchell or any young coach can instruct their charges. "Look at the way the Swans work as a team". No-one's looking at how the Pies mad wave works, not after so many teams have crashed it on the rocks. You can bet every team is looking at how the Swans work together and trying to build something similar. Trouble is, Horse has the jump. He was building this team from the ground up even as his last generation of stars began to fade, back around 2019.

When folks say Buddy needed to bring us a premiership during his tenure to make his recruitment worthwhile, they didn't realise it would be through the three young talls who did their apprenticeship under the guidance of Buddy (and Reid) as their mentors. How many premierships will these guys win for us?

Swans are a generational team, not a one hit wonder.
 
RubbaDuck said:
One thing our Swans boys can all be proud of is Amartey doesn't work alone. Damn, if I'd kicked nine I'd have had to wear a lead-lined bag over my head to stop my grin nuking the back rows of seats. The way Joel spread the cred to his teammates made me proud. Like Chad, Heens, Errol, Grundy and going way back, even Buddy. The Swans talk and play the team game.

I laughed when McDonald pretty much apologised for not giving Joel a shot at his tenth. Hayward was over the moon to leave the party to Amartey on his 150th. Does it matter who brings the tunes to a dance? Our forward line is deadly because our talls, mids and smalls work in concert, all in it for each other, for the team. If Amartey kicks 100, McLean kicks 40 and McDonald kicks 60. They've kicked 200 goals. That's what matters to this team, not who kicked them.

Sam Mitchell or any young coach can instruct their charges. "Look at the way the Swans work as a team". No-one's looking at how the Pies mad wave works, not after so many teams have crashed it on the rocks. You can bet every team is looking at how the Swans work together and trying to build something similar. Trouble is, Horse has the jump. He was building this team from the ground up even as his last generation of stars began to fade, back around 2019.

When folks say Buddy needed to bring us a premiership during his tenure to make his recruitment worthwhile, they didn't realise it would be through the three young talls who did their apprenticeship under the guidance of Buddy (and Reid) as their mentors. How many premierships will these guys win for us?

Swans are a generational team, not a one hit wonder.
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this has been my belief since those early games of gulden/warner/mcdonald ... i thought paddy mccartin was a key element
and while we generally all loved what hickey brought, grundy's arrival has shown just what a genuine top-class ruck can do, but with the added effect of hastening the evolution of the heeney/warner/gulden/rowbottom-led midfield ...

obviously, the team now needs to put that first premiership in the books, but i now believe the vindication of self-belief that first one would deliver could really be the foundation of a history-making period for this group of players (and also hopefully motivates them to put financial satisfaction aside, to a degree, in order to stay together and dominate the competition for several years)
 
the hypnotoad said:
this has been my belief since those early games of gulden/warner/mcdonald ... i thought paddy mccartin was a key element
and while we generally all loved what hickey brought, grundy's arrival has shown just what a genuine top-class ruck can do, but with the added effect of hastening the evolution of the heeney/warner/gulden/rowbottom-led midfield ...
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Just as Bud will have played his role if (when) this group wins the flag, despite not winning one himself in our colours, so will Hickey have contributed. Certainly Grundy is a step up from Hickey but in part that's because we're comparing him with Hickey's final year with us when his body was shot.

I do think Grundy this year has been an advance on Hickey's first year with us, but not by such a big margin. Back then we were reveling in having a competitive (albeit not dominant) ruck after the seasons of Sinclair's lion-hearted but limited efforts. It was the greater competitiveness in the ruck back in 2021 that enabled the very young versions of Errol and Chad (and others) to show us what they had.
 

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This week is a big test for Joel, often see a let down by a developing player after a massive game. GWS will focus on him, if he kicks a few this week it will be yet another tick for the consistency and ability to play under pressure.
 
The King! said:
This week is a big test for Joel, often see a let down by a developing player after a massive game. GWS will focus on him, if he kicks a few this week it will be yet another tick for the consistency and ability to play under pressure.
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I've been really happy to see him improve and get a steady run of games. As long as he stays involved, he's been so much better at halving contests and his tackle count and pressure last week was great. If he can keep those things up, the occasional bag of goals will be a bonus.
 
liz said:
Just as Bud will have played his role if (when) this group wins the flag, despite not winning one himself in our colours, so will Hickey have contributed. Certainly Grundy is a step up from Hickey but in part that's because we're comparing him with Hickey's final year with us when his body was shot.

I do think Grundy this year has been an advance on Hickey's first year with us, but not by such a big margin. Back then we were reveling in having a competitive (albeit not dominant) ruck after the seasons of Sinclair's lion-hearted but limited efforts. It was the greater competitiveness in the ruck back in 2021 that enabled the very young versions of Errol and Chad (and others) to show us what they had.
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hickey was a heart-and-soul player for us, and you're right about his role in the early development of gulden, warner et al
 
liz said:
Just as Bud will have played his role if (when) this group wins the flag, despite not winning one himself in our colours, so will Hickey have contributed. Certainly Grundy is a step up from Hickey but in part that's because we're comparing him with Hickey's final year with us when his body was shot.

I do think Grundy this year has been an advance on Hickey's first year with us, but not by such a big margin. Back then we were reveling in having a competitive (albeit not dominant) ruck after the seasons of Sinclair's lion-hearted but limited efforts. It was the greater competitiveness in the ruck back in 2021 that enabled the very young versions of Errol and Chad (and others) to show us what they had.
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Had that exact same thought. He had a significant role in getting us to the GF and was a mentor to all the kids.
In a way he prepared us to be able to make best use of Grundy in every sense.
 
The King! said:
This week is a big test for Joel, often see a let down by a developing player after a massive game. GWS will focus on him, if he kicks a few this week it will be yet another tick for the consistency and ability to play under pressure.
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As long as he doesn’t think he has to kick 9 this week and just plays his part it will be fine. However, if he could kick a bag that’s also acceptable.
 
The King! said:
This week is a big test for Joel, often see a let down by a developing player after a massive game. GWS will focus on him, if he kicks a few this week it will be yet another tick for the consistency and ability to play under pressure.
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If he competes like he has and kicks 2-3 job done
 
Olian said:
As long as he doesn’t think he has to kick 9 this week and just plays his part it will be fine. However, if he could kick a bag that’s also acceptable.
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Absolutely, not suggesting we need a bag, just don't go invisible
 
Kiama Chris said:
I don't think he did a lot more last week than the previous few weeks except stay a bit closer to goal and get his timing better. As you say, he could play that well and get 2. I imagine he'll draw Buckley who is very physical.
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I think we will probably see the same again tomorrow. The Crows didn't have any star KPDs so would have had to rely on team defence and another player coming across to intercept. Amartey in the square and Logan leading up the ground gave them good separation which allowed Joel his one-on-one contests.

I think that with Taylor and Haynes out for GWS we may try to replicate tomorrow.
 
RubbaDuck said:
Gee it's good to see Amartey proving his critics to be short-sighted and ignorant, heaping shit on a 28-gamer (pre-2024) who has never played a full season.

To those who saw the talent and believed. Cheers. You'll find your First Class seats at the front of the Amartey train. Toot toot.
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I never wrote him off as he was always clearly physically gifted, but I don't think it was unfair for people to be questioning why he was still only impacting games for a quarter here or there and spending huge amounts of time on the bench at the age of 24 (interrupted preseasons or not).

Sure, if people are going into personal attacks or criticism etc (see Dylan Stephens thread on the North board for reference) they deserve to be called out, but I didn't see much in here to justify this kind of response.
 

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Player Watch #36 Joel Amartey

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