POBT
Brownlow Medallist
Date: Sunday 5 May
Time: 1.10pm AEST
Venue: SCG
Tickets: http://premier.ticketek.com.au/shows/show.aspx?sh=SWANS0613
Media: FoxFooty (7mate into Sydney, Brisbane etc)
Weather: Min 14 Max 25 Possible morning shower.
Preview by Caiphus
I have to admit that, last year, I was wrong.
http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/rd-15-sydney-v-brisbane-lions.959587/
We all know how the season finished for the Swans; congratulations to them on that effort.
The Sydney Swans as a club has a mythical aura around them for many pundits in the footy media. There are clichés that exist in a paradigm entirely of their own:
I fell into the trap of under-rating their list, and I’m not the only one. McVeigh, O’Keefe, Kennedy, Jack and Bolton are as good as any first-string midfielders in the competition as a group, and have a lot of goals in them as well.
Their rucks are very good, and quite versatile. Canadian rugby convert Pike is continually improving and is in better form than Mumford at the moment. Their physical presence combined with the Swans extractors means they are a tough proposition at a stoppage. They also cause problems for defenders when they rest forward.
Everyone knows how good Sydney’s defence is. Richards and Grundy are a great key back pairing with few weaknesses. Nick Smith and Marty Mattner are both very good shut down defenders as well against small-medium opponents. With Rhys Shaw injured, Malceski has been the main attacking threat from the backline, but the Swans strong midfield have been able to get back and help out a fair bit so although their defensive 6 is more on the dour side, they are still able to transition well into attack.
Sydney’s forward line scoring ability is probably their main weakness. Sam Reid is undoubtedly talented as a KPF, but he is still too young and inconsistent to be leading the line. Adam Goodes has been a champion for years but unfortunately is no longer as influential as he was in his prime and is obviously on the decline. We don’t have to worry about star recruit Kurt Tippett yet as he is still a few weeks away from pulling on his Swans jumper.
Ben McGlynn is a goal a game small forward with great defensive pressure. The forward line is generally filled with a resting ruck and rotating mids. Whoever goes forward though is generally good for a tackle and chase meaning Sydney are quite adept at locking the ball into their attacking 50 until a score is registered. Sydney’s leading scorer last year was Lewis Jetta but he is really out of form at the moment. Young second tier mids such as Hannebery and Parker are also a threat.
Last time we played:
There were positive signs in the first quarter as Brisbane got off to a reasonable start. Skill errors suddenly killed our momentum and let Sydney get on top. We fought well until half-time but it always looked like we were struggling against the tide until the Swans tore us apart in the 3rd quarter. McVeigh got the 3 votes and Sam Reid kicked 6.
Looking ahead:
Sydney are arguably out of form at the moment, but are still winning. The premiership hangover is going to have to end at some point and with our record at the SCG over the years it will most likely be against us.
The Lions pre-season success has meant other teams have set up to neutralise our game-plan instead of just expecting their own to win and we have not adjusted well. Man-to-man marking has taken away our ability to switch the play and run through the corridor, and we have panicked and bombed the ball forward instead of having the composure to keep possession and wait for an option to present itself.
Key players have been injured and out of form, and at times we have looked sluggish and disinterested.
Against Melbourne there were some positive signs that we might be on the way to returning to our best – and we will need to against Sydney. We need to win the contested ball and use it well to have any chance. Our tackles have to stick and against a well-drilled outfit we can’t afford any passengers.
Whoever is in our forward line we have to kick to their advantage. Mayes is one of the few available players we have at the moment who I am confident of doing this, He kicks it to space and forces players to move to it. Hanley is the other and he should return after his suspension and hopefully play as well as he did against Sydney last time.
Brown will have a tough time against either of Richards or Grundy if we don’t give him every chance to mark the ball, and we need to get crumbers to either side of the contest and shepherd for them.
Merrett and Patfull seem to be getting back to form now, at least, so I am pretty confident that we will be able to neutralize the Swans pure forwards, this will require our midfield has to be there to support and then run hard the other way to give options coming out of defence.
It’s a small ground so we shouldn’t be afraid of running both ways as much as possible, and we need options to present so that we can get uncontested possessions.
Ultimately I believe that Sydney’s midfield will prove too strong and that we would do well to be within 3 goals at the final siren.
Hopefully this year I am wrong again though and we smash them.
Time: 1.10pm AEST
Venue: SCG
Tickets: http://premier.ticketek.com.au/shows/show.aspx?sh=SWANS0613
Media: FoxFooty (7mate into Sydney, Brisbane etc)
Weather: Min 14 Max 25 Possible morning shower.
Preview by Caiphus
I have to admit that, last year, I was wrong.
http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/rd-15-sydney-v-brisbane-lions.959587/
We all know how the season finished for the Swans; congratulations to them on that effort.
The Sydney Swans as a club has a mythical aura around them for many pundits in the footy media. There are clichés that exist in a paradigm entirely of their own:
- The “Bloods” culture
- They recruit under-performing players from other teams and help them reach their potential
- Their list contains very few “elite” players compared to other top teams.
I fell into the trap of under-rating their list, and I’m not the only one. McVeigh, O’Keefe, Kennedy, Jack and Bolton are as good as any first-string midfielders in the competition as a group, and have a lot of goals in them as well.
Their rucks are very good, and quite versatile. Canadian rugby convert Pike is continually improving and is in better form than Mumford at the moment. Their physical presence combined with the Swans extractors means they are a tough proposition at a stoppage. They also cause problems for defenders when they rest forward.
Everyone knows how good Sydney’s defence is. Richards and Grundy are a great key back pairing with few weaknesses. Nick Smith and Marty Mattner are both very good shut down defenders as well against small-medium opponents. With Rhys Shaw injured, Malceski has been the main attacking threat from the backline, but the Swans strong midfield have been able to get back and help out a fair bit so although their defensive 6 is more on the dour side, they are still able to transition well into attack.
Sydney’s forward line scoring ability is probably their main weakness. Sam Reid is undoubtedly talented as a KPF, but he is still too young and inconsistent to be leading the line. Adam Goodes has been a champion for years but unfortunately is no longer as influential as he was in his prime and is obviously on the decline. We don’t have to worry about star recruit Kurt Tippett yet as he is still a few weeks away from pulling on his Swans jumper.
Ben McGlynn is a goal a game small forward with great defensive pressure. The forward line is generally filled with a resting ruck and rotating mids. Whoever goes forward though is generally good for a tackle and chase meaning Sydney are quite adept at locking the ball into their attacking 50 until a score is registered. Sydney’s leading scorer last year was Lewis Jetta but he is really out of form at the moment. Young second tier mids such as Hannebery and Parker are also a threat.
Last time we played:
There were positive signs in the first quarter as Brisbane got off to a reasonable start. Skill errors suddenly killed our momentum and let Sydney get on top. We fought well until half-time but it always looked like we were struggling against the tide until the Swans tore us apart in the 3rd quarter. McVeigh got the 3 votes and Sam Reid kicked 6.
Looking ahead:
Sydney are arguably out of form at the moment, but are still winning. The premiership hangover is going to have to end at some point and with our record at the SCG over the years it will most likely be against us.
The Lions pre-season success has meant other teams have set up to neutralise our game-plan instead of just expecting their own to win and we have not adjusted well. Man-to-man marking has taken away our ability to switch the play and run through the corridor, and we have panicked and bombed the ball forward instead of having the composure to keep possession and wait for an option to present itself.
Key players have been injured and out of form, and at times we have looked sluggish and disinterested.
Against Melbourne there were some positive signs that we might be on the way to returning to our best – and we will need to against Sydney. We need to win the contested ball and use it well to have any chance. Our tackles have to stick and against a well-drilled outfit we can’t afford any passengers.
Whoever is in our forward line we have to kick to their advantage. Mayes is one of the few available players we have at the moment who I am confident of doing this, He kicks it to space and forces players to move to it. Hanley is the other and he should return after his suspension and hopefully play as well as he did against Sydney last time.
Brown will have a tough time against either of Richards or Grundy if we don’t give him every chance to mark the ball, and we need to get crumbers to either side of the contest and shepherd for them.
Merrett and Patfull seem to be getting back to form now, at least, so I am pretty confident that we will be able to neutralize the Swans pure forwards, this will require our midfield has to be there to support and then run hard the other way to give options coming out of defence.
It’s a small ground so we shouldn’t be afraid of running both ways as much as possible, and we need options to present so that we can get uncontested possessions.
Ultimately I believe that Sydney’s midfield will prove too strong and that we would do well to be within 3 goals at the final siren.
Hopefully this year I am wrong again though and we smash them.
