Preview Gold Coast Swans vs Sydney Swans 7PM AEDT 18 Mar 23 @ Heritage Bank Stadium

[The King!]

Buddy was shocking in September, but not sure why he is being written off by many as some decoy or old crippled option.

I think he will be fine this year as he was last year

 

[Tedeski]

Also imo buddy and McLean shouldn’t be in the same side up front

Ball will walk out

Just Buddy out & another small in makes our forward line harder to defend.
McLean is the best contested mark we have up forward.
Buddy is now only brilliant by name only.

 

[Tedeski]

Thought Francis would have played allowing rampe to play foxes role

Must not impressed enough which isn’t surprising

Geelong win the flag & add ready to go round 1 senior players.
We add Francis who may come good but not ready to go round 1.

 

[Tedeski]

Ladhams, you have a point to prove son.

His career will be littered with brain fades.
He can play but I don't trust him.

 

[Membling]

His career will be littered with brain fades.
He can play but I don't trust him.

Could also be a maturity issue.

Hopefully as he gets older it gets less and less

 

[Dubai Quacker]

*2nd best KPF
*3rd or 4th best forward

I know Reid has been a traditional whipping boy, but it’s easy to forget how good he was last year.

Our best tall marking target (both in attack and exiting the back 50) & a decent chop-out in the ruck.

We were a much better side with a fit Reid - albeit I acknowledge I rate him more than most here.

 

[melbournehammer]

I know Reid has been a traditional whipping boy, but it’s easy to forget how good he was last year.

Our best tall marking target (both in attack and exiting the back 50) & a decent chop-out in the ruck.

We were a much better side with a fit Reid - albeit I acknowledge I rate him more than most here.

I said at one point last year that reid had just about become our most important player - he was regularly winning in the ruck, playing as a good extra midfielder and routinely playing well in front of the ball.

I stand by that.

McLean of 2022 wasnt a patch on reid. Its just the simple truth. You dont have to rate him more than most to have seen that for 2022 reid was a critical cog and as evidenced by the decision making into the gf arguably the critical cog.

Lets see how 2023 pans out.

 

[Bloods86]

I know Reid has been a traditional whipping boy, but it’s easy to forget how good he was last year.

Our best tall marking target (both in attack and exiting the back 50) & a decent chop-out in the ruck.

We were a much better side with a fit Reid - albeit I acknowledge I rate him more than most here.

A fit Reid is great, absolutely correct on best marking target, outlet target, preferred backup ruck.

 

[Bloods86]

Geelong win the flag & add ready to go round 1 senior players.
We add Francis who may come good but not ready to go round 1.

Are you suggesting the rort that was Bowes/Pick 7 was just Geelong being better than us off-field?

Geelong are good at what they do, but to suggest we somehow fail in comparison, as if we're on a level playing field, is pretty superficial. That includes Henry and Bruhn (only in due to injuries).

 

[hairy biker]

Heeney in an interview talking about the game;

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/harry-cunningham-to-move-forward-in-sydney-evolution/news-story/d48c7d73b745a4e1f0e97f0551c8fa2e

“I think they always know it’s a big game against us, so they seem to bring the heat most times they play us,” he said.
“They try to chip the ball, and they’ve certainly had some success in the past just chipping the ball around us and keeping the ball off us, so that’s something we’ve got to nullify.
“It’s going to be hot early, it could be scrappy being the first game of the year. We’ve got to bring the heat, bring the pressure and hopefully convert.”

PS Isaac now a 'Foxtel Ambassador' for 2023, so at least one of our players gets a few dollars from the media.

PPS As per the article's headline Heeney also gives a shout out to Harry;
“He’s going to give us that defensive side up forward but also his speed and his skills are really good."

 

[momentbymoment]

Buddy was shocking in September, but not sure why he is being written off by many as some decoy or old crippled option.

I think he will be fine this year as he was last year

It’s not just that age has a habit of catching up …
Even when he was in his prime he dominated the forward line which made us a little one dimensional.

 

[Bloods86]

It’s not just that age has a habit of catching up …
Even when he was in his prime he dominated the forward line which made us a little one dimensional.

We can use Buddy differently and use other targets, that's down to coaching and the other players.

Where it's odd are people suggesting that Buddy is somehow unique in not performing in some finals last year, even among tall forwards. That there's better options KPF vs KPF.

We take Buddy out of the team, the best KPD (or KPDs at times) roll over to Reid (when fit), McLean, Logan etc, they become objectively worse and lack impact. Yeah we've seen a couple of games where he's been out injured, but the claims that the other forwards gel and perform better are overplayed. We can talk about a small sample size, but people are making explicit claims that our forward line would be better, which you just can't make. We'll certainly see more of that this year, and we'll be forced to in 2024 and beyond, but Buddy is clearly our best KPF still and deserves his place in the team over any other KPF currently.

 

[caesar88]

Buddy was shocking in September, but not sure why he is being written off by many as some decoy or old crippled option.

I think he will be fine this year as he was last year

I think the main reason why is because he's losing/lost a lot of his physical attributes that made him a freak of nature, like his dynamic speed and power to break tackles. Even his boot isn't as powerful as it used to be. He tries to take tacklers on and gets caught more often than not. He tries for a shot from outside 50 and it doesn't even make the distance more often than not.

What is Buddy without those things?

I think it's a fair question to ask. It's unreasonable to expect him to adapt and become a standard lead-up, marking forward in his 19th season when he's never been that. He can still find the goals easily enough, just not in the Buddy ways that we're used to, so I think it's valid to be considering other ways we can use him to our advantage.

 

[The King!]

It’s not just that age has a habit of catching up …
Even when he was in his prime he dominated the forward line which made us a little one dimensional.

we won a lot of football games

 

[Bloods86]

I think the main reason why is because he's losing/lost a lot of his physical attributes that made him a freak of nature, like his dynamic speed and power to break tackles. Even his boot isn't as powerful as it used to be. He tries to take tacklers on and gets caught more often than not. He tries for a shot from outside 50 and it doesn't even make the distance more often than not.

What is Buddy without those things?

I think it's a fair question to ask. It's unreasonable to expect him to adapt and become a standard lead-up, marking forward in his 19th season when he's never been that. He can still find the goals easily enough, just not in the Buddy ways that we're used to, so I think it's valid to be considering other ways we can use him to our advantage.

I'll grant the one criticism I have of him is the ego getting in the way of decision making, where he still tries to take tacklers on. He's not alone, Parker does this quite a bit too (arguably never had the speed or ability to evade anyway), but something they should improve. Just give it off, or get the ball as far forward as possible.

 

[The King!]

I think the main reason why is because he's losing/lost a lot of his physical attributes that made him a freak of nature, like his dynamic speed and power to break tackles. Even his boot isn't as powerful as it used to be. He tries to take tacklers on and gets caught more often than not. He tries for a shot from outside 50 and it doesn't even make the distance more often than not.

What is Buddy without those things?

I think it's a fair question to ask. It's unreasonable to expect him to adapt and become a standard lead-up, marking forward in his 19th season when he's never been that. He can still find the goals easily enough, just not in the Buddy ways that we're used to, so I think it's valid to be considering other ways we can use him to our advantage.

It's a fair question to ask absolutely.

His role should evolve , but that's not really a decoy as such , some idea that he will just run around and draw attention more than participate in our success.

He is still our best forward option right now, he is not what he was but he is still worth his spot, until he shows otherwise.

Just seems a few have him pensioned off already

I know you didn't , just spoke about evolving his role further

 

[The King!]

Without buddy we wouldn't have gotten into the top 4 last year that's all I will say

 

[caesar88]

It's a fair question to ask absolutely.

His role should evolve , but that's not really a decoy as such , some idea that he will just run around and draw attention more than participate in our success.

He is still our best forward option right now, he is not what he was but he is still worth his spot, until he shows otherwise.

Just seems a few have him pensioned off already

I know you didn't , just spoke about evolving his role further

I agree he's still worth his spot, but I think there's merit to the idea that he's no longer so superhuman that he's above playing a lesser, more selfless role for the team if we need him to. There's no point Buddy still being the star if the forward line is flailing. The whole needs to be greater than the sum of its parts.

 

[caesar88]

I'll grant the one criticism I have of him is the ego getting in the way of decision making, where he still tries to take tacklers on. He's not alone, Parker does this quite a bit too (arguably never had the speed or ability to evade anyway), but something they should improve. Just give it off, or get the ball as far forward as possible.

Hard to break habits I guess. How do you stop doing something that's been working for you for nearly two decades?

 

[Dubai Quacker]

Without buddy we wouldn't have gotten into the top 4 last year that's all I will say

That might be true.

But father time (they/them) catches up with everyone.

 

[Bloods86]

That might be true.

But father time (they/them) catches up with everyone.

That might be true, but there's nothing to suggest that anyone else in the team has caught up to Buddy yet.

 

[Dubai Quacker]

That might be true, but there's nothing to suggest that anyone else in the team has caught up to Buddy yet.

I have a different view.

Buddy remained the focus on most of our attack last year.

Given the same level of opportunity, I believe Reid & perhaps Logan or McLean would now be just as effective. Maybe more so.

If you had no idea about Buddy's history of greatness & simply watched him for the first time - I suspect you'd be unlikely to view him as our best forward.

No argument with him being in the R1 side. But this year, he has to justify a spot based on performance.

 

[The King!]

That might be true.

But father time (they/them) catches up with everyone.

Sure and maybe he will look it these next few weeks

 

[Bloods86]

I have a different view.

Buddy remained the focus on most of our attack last year.

Given the same level of opportunity, I believe Reid & perhaps Logan or McLean would now be just as effective. Maybe more so.

If you had no idea about Buddy's history of greatness & simply watched him for the first time - I suspect you'd be unlikely to view him as our best forward.

No argument with him being in the R1 side. But this year, he has to justify a spot based on performance.

Best KPF. I'd argue Heeney and an in form Papley are up there nowadays. Though I know who opposition teams still care about the most, with good reason.

Reid in form and fit has a huge impact, but that's not something that happens consistently. It's a stretch to say he'd be as effective, given he's gotten more than 30 goals once, even in full seasons. He kicked 18 from 18 last year, and has displayed some pretty shaky goalkicking in the past, although seemed to improve last year.

I also look at Logan and McLean in VFL, where they are the focal points, although Amartey outperformed them both there last year so not sure why he's not in the conversation. They have some games they dominate, and plenty where they don't. You put Buddy in as the focal point at VFL level and I challenge anyone to say he wouldn't outperform thoroughly.

Anyway, my 2 points remain:

• Buddy is still clearly our best KPF (up to and including this pre-season)
• The KPFs that are talked about as replacements or challenging the throne, just haven't performed to the same level, so it's an odd conversation to be having

 

[kelpie_X]

Are you suggesting the rort that was Bowes/Pick 7 was just Geelong being better than us off-field?

Geelong are good at what they do, but to suggest we somehow fail in comparison, as if we're on a level playing field, is pretty superficial. That includes Henry and Bruhn (only in due to injuries).

I'm suggesting, Yes. Unless proven otherwise, it is. Every club has their "draw" power. Every club is bound by the same Salary Cap rules. If one club can win a Premiership AND add to their strength in the off season, that's a trump card.