Preview Round 21 Swans vs Port Adelaide

[Bloods86]

Saints wasn't great, but we should have won, they weren't disasters until the Dogs game

Any loss to the Saints is awful. Same effort issues as with the Dogs, the Dogs just had more talent to hurt us with.

 

[The King!]

Any loss to the Saints is awful. Same effort issues as with the Dogs, the Dogs just had more talent to hurt us with.

Ok 2 bad losses


Still

 

[Heeney2Franklin]

On another note, I think we should just back in the midfield that had us firing just over a month ago.

We don't need to go searching for answers, we saw the answer earlier this year. If they find their feet again, we win the flag.

Let's see how we go with Rowy back this week. It will help Heeney big time and the flow-on effect is that will help Chad and Errol.

Sure, rotate Parker and Adams through there (think Mills is best off just being given one role for the time being), but the 4 aforementioned have runs on the board this year and should be backed in.

The wings are a little trickier with McInerney being missed so dearly. I wouldn't mind seeing Blakey get a crack there with Mills taking his spot in defence this week. Mills also plays with more accountability than Blakey which will help Florent and Roberts.

Yep you just have to back them in its still roughly 85% of the same team that went through one of the most dominate 15 rounds of any season.

If indeed they cant produce it anymore then thats different and you look elsewhere at replacements.

 

[RilesMacca]

Port to win by two points with a Jed McEntee game saving falcon. Que to Kenny on the bench:

 

[Troystenvic]

Im back in Vic... heck it's cold (I wear shorts 363 days a year)

The air is different here...

Id think our run at the 2024 flag starts this Saturday night.

It's the perfect game to go and win. Away game against a potential top 4 side in form.

Players starting to come back after that

Saturday night is MASSIVE and not just for us.

 

[McRobie]

Resting players is common practice to ensure they are peaking come finals. Hawks are in a different space to us. They're fighting the odds just to scrape into the 8. We can afford to rest players, they certainly can't. The finals begin as a whole new competition. The winners often come down to how banged up or otherwise their team is.

In fact, if we were to lose against Port we'd still remain two points plus % clear on top. If we also lost the one after we'd still remain at least 4th on %. In factm if we win only one more H&A game we should still most likely finish 4th. If we win two more H&A we should likely finish 2nd.

I covered this about 5 times this week.

 

[giantsully]

Port to win by two points with a Jed McEntee game saving falcon. Que to Kenny on the bench:

View attachment 2064855

I don't quite know how to feel about this - on one hand, I thought Kenny was more graceful than this; on the other hand, he has some hellishly good moves.

 

[bedford]

Oh, I just love the irony. Mind you I believe they are looking to rest Grundy. The only thing is when? He got a knock to the calf last week early. Might be a little sore. So, it might be this week.



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Horse said he will tell him if he needs a rest

 

[Bloods86]

Horse said he will tell him if he needs a rest

I'm not sure why coaches rely on players telling them they need a rest. Some might, others will have pride get in the way, others will be afraid they don't get their spot back (though not in Grundy's case).

 

[bedford]

I'm not sure why coaches rely on players telling them they need a rest. Some might, others will have pride get in the way, others will be afraid they don't get their spot back (though not in Grundy's case).

Grundy has many years experience and knows his body and i trust our fitness guru

 

[LukeParkerno1]

Oh please. Our depth might not be the best, but the reality is you can't simply replace players like Rampe, Papley, Rowbottom and McInerney (all arguably in our top 10 most important players) with reserves. Heck you can probably throw Mills in that list because of how well below his best he still currently is.

The same would go for ANY team in the competition.

Our depth could be better, but our problem is that we're missing irreplaceable players and then several of our other best players are playing sore or dreadfully out of form.

It's a very even competition and most of the other best sides (Brisbane, Carlton, GWS) have faced the exact same issue at times this year.

Lets not forget how poor Brisbane were 8 weeks ago, they actually remind me of us a few years ago spending all this petrol getting to the finals. Lets see if they have anything left when then, ditto Bulldogs, they haven't even made it yet. Meanwhile us and Carlton have been playing half you know what for a month because lets be real we aren't missing top 2.

Get Rampe, Jmac back in the next couple, Paps 2 weeks after. All of a sudden it looks a stack better. Get Mills 2-3 more full games too.

 

[Bloods86]

Grundy has many years experience and knows his body and i trust our fitness guru

So did Sam Reid in 2022.

Players, most people really in any work or team situation, will have a natural bias in wanting to push on, not let the team down in the short term.

It should be up to coaches, fitness staff as you say, to also recognise when someone is struggling against past performances, or who might need management because they haven't played a full season in a while, have had injury history etc.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

So did Sam Reid in 2022.

Players, most people really in any work or team situation, will have a natural bias in wanting to push on, not let the team down in the short term.

It should be up to coaches, fitness staff as you say, to also recognise when someone is struggling against past performances, or who might need management because they haven't played a full season in a while, have had injury history etc.

Grundy is one of the few that I do trust, he would know his body and unlike Reid he hasn't had a 100 soft tissue injuries. We probably schedule a rest against say Essendon anyway, a side with an average at best ruck division, we sure aint doing it this week against Port or against Collingwood.

 

[Bloods86]

Lets not forget how poor Brisbane were 8 weeks ago, they actually remind me of us a few years ago spending all this petrol getting to the finals. Lets see if they have anything left when then, ditto Bulldogs, they haven't even made it yet. Meanwhile us and Carlton have been playing half you know what for a month because lets be real we aren't missing top 2.

Get Rampe, Jmac back in the next couple, Paps 2 weeks after. All of a sudden it looks a stack better. Get Mills 2-3 more full games too.

Yep, season isn't over even if we lose Saturday. We have to put up a good showing, but if we do and carry that forward, I'd be fairly confident we win 2 of our next 3 and finish at least Top 2. The clubs right below us will probably all drop 1 before finals.

 

[bedford]

So did Sam Reid in 2022.

Players, most people really in any work or team situation, will have a natural bias in wanting to push on, not let the team down in the short term.

It should be up to coaches, fitness staff as you say, to also recognise when someone is struggling against past performances, or who might need management because they haven't played a full season in a while, have had injury history etc.

Rubbish , different person at the helm , Reid was Horses fault

 

[LukeParkerno1]

Yep, season isn't over even if we lose Saturday. We have to put up a good showing, but if we do and carry that forward, I'd be fairly confident we win 2 of our next 3 and finish at least Top 2. The clubs right below us will probably all drop 1 before finals.

Carlton will drop more than 1 too, honestly they have a hard run in. Watch us win this week, the side has been bagged all week, and it's a good thing we needed a kick up the behind. Even if we lose this week (we won't) our next two are VERY winnable.

 

[Bloods86]

Grundy is one of the few that I do trust, he would know his body and unlike Reid he hasn't had a 100 soft tissue injuries. We probably schedule a rest against say Essendon anyway, a side with an average at best ruck division, we sure aint doing it this week against Port or against Collingwood.

Except he's been down for a while and he's still playing, so why hasn't he said anything?

I'd actually have the Bombers as the best ruck division out of those 3. Draper, Wright, potentially Goldstein back over Sweet/Dixon, or Cameron/Cox. Maybe not as strong with hitouts (without Goldy) but will get you around the ground more.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

Except he's been down for a while and he's still playing, so why hasn't he said anything?

I'd actually have the Bombers as the best ruck division out of those 3. Draper, Wright, potentially Goldstein back over Sweet/Dixon, or Cameron/Cox. Maybe not as strong with hitouts (without Goldy) but will get you around the ground more.

Only a week ago he was the one keeping us in the match against Brisbane without him we lose by 50 that game. He had a poor game last week, though I did watch it again and he was better than I thought on replay.

Goldstein is cooked, and Draper is no better than Ladhams in fact Pete is better.

 

[Bloods86]

Only a week ago he was the one keeping us in the match against Brisbane without him we lose by 50 that game. He had a poor game last week, though I did watch it again and he was better than I thought on replay.

Goldstein is cooked, and Draper is no better than Ladhams in fact Pete is better.

That's not the point. He's important to us yes, but if the coach is entertaining the discussion, that means there's something to it.

We'll just disagree over the strength of oppo rucks.

For me, it's just the best week to manage him of the remaining. Travelling, Ladhams just put in a good performance (strike while it lasts) and Grundy then gets 3 weeks in a row before another break.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

That's not the point. He's important to us yes, but if the coach is entertaining the discussion, that means there's something to it.

We'll just disagree over the strength of oppo rucks.

For me, it's just the best week to manage him of the remaining. Travelling, Ladhams just put in a good performance (strike while it lasts) and Grundy then gets 3 weeks in a row before another break.

The Essendon game is perfect schedule wise against a side we should be belting. Port away and the Pies at home I'm not taking risks. Also an option would be playing two rucks, and potentially subbing Grundy in the 4th, that's another option.

 

[Bloods86]

The Essendon game is perfect schedule wise against a side we should be belting. Port away and the Pies at home I'm not taking risks. Also an option would be playing two rucks, and potentially subbing Grundy in the 4th, that's another option.

I don't see how week off, game, week off, game, potentially another week off, is ideal.

Again, making plans around subbing particular players off prior to the game is beyond comprehension. I don't know why anyone entertains it.

If you don't want a player playing a whole game, don't play them.

If the idea is to rest Grundy forward (not ideal), manage minutes ok, but expect him to play all game.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

I don't see how week off, game, week off, game, potentially another week off, is ideal.

Again, making plans around subbing particular players off prior to the game is beyond comprehension. I don't know why anyone entertains it.

If you don't want a player playing a whole game, don't play them.

If the idea is to rest Grundy forward (not ideal), manage minutes ok, but expect him to play all game.

Don't see a big deal with the Essendon game as a rest, play the next one, then another freshen up, it's perfect schedule wise. If the Port game was at home I'd entertain it, not away from home.

 

[sr20]

Grundy 15 disposals, 4 Marks, 6 Tackles, 43 Hitouts, 5 Clearances
English 14 disposals, 7 Marks, 3 Tackles, 21 Hitouts, 3 Clearances

Grundy 13 Disposals, 3 Marks, 1 Tackle 29 Hitouts, 6 Clearances
McInerney 22 Disposals, 5 Marks, 3 Tackles, 27 Hitouts, 9 Clearances

Grundy 20 Disposals, 4 Marks, 6 Tackles, 35 Hitouts, 3 Clearances
Xerri 18 Disposals, 3 Marks, 5 Tackles, 20 Hitouts, 6 Clearances

Stats maybe don't tell a full story, but I thought he beat English and Xerri pretty comfortably. Had his colours lowed by McInerney, who is arguably a top 5 Ruckman this year (Gawn, Grundy, Marshall, McInerney, English).

The Dogs and North game might not have the stat line of the GWS, Adelaide and Geelong games but those three games were as good as it can get from a Ruckman, better than a high level. If we are holding him to that level, we are going to be disappointed.

He has shouldered a heavy load, but I think he's a bit of a victim of how elite he was in that period as to how he is judged

 

[JackHiscoxWasFast]

Francis in defence.
Blakey on the wing.

Simples really.

 

[RedBloodBlackSwan]

Yeah midfield is flying no need to mix things up .

Heeney is the best forward in that current available side is all and with Paps out etc and Hayward limited we need someone who can turn our shit entries into something.

Heeney also can't get any space , so
even if it's just a bit more forward time for one week it may freshen him up and shake tags.

The skipper could you know do some midfield work.


The other option is just use two of our best kicks for goal forward Jake Lloyd and Callum Mills

Horse likes plonking players forward , Mills actually reads the play quite well and plays tall, put him forward then , I know most will says that's dumb, but bet he can kick a few

I’d prefer Mills forward than on a wing. Still think it is strange we have brought him back that way…