Swans Reserves 2008 Season Thread

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I'm going to make a prediction.

The Swans' three year unbeaten record will come to an end this weekend.

They were lucky to squeeze a win last week and Queanbeyan are one of the stronger teams in the competition (as, to be fair, are Belconnen who they beat last week).

With such a long injury list there will be a lot of top ups playing, and the more there are, the less cohesive the team will be. Plus the rookies we've picked up this year look, at this stage, less polished than the likes of Phillips, Rowe and Simpkin. And with the senior team and the reserves team playing in different states, they may be one or two more players down as emergencies travel with the senior team. (Though I think this game is on Sunday, so they might fly them down on Sunday morning to play with the reserves.)
 
Huge call liz. The Tigers have had a few of their senior players having off season surgery so also may not be as strong as at the end of last year. It should be a terrific game and I totally agree a lot will depend on who and how many top ups are used.
Can't wait though, its been a long time since our last game.
 
Yeah, I guess I didn't give any consideration to how strong Queanbeyan's line-up will be.

One thing I do remember about them from the tail end of last season is that, for a second (third?) tier competition, they have a lot of tall strong forwards. They caused the Sydney defence a bit of trouble even when we had Rowe and Grundy in the team. At the moment, the only really tall, strong defender the Swans have is probably White (he played FB last week and did a great job in the GF as a key defender too). Faulks is coming along OK but is still skinny, while Murphy is still ultra-raw.
 
At the moment, the only really tall, strong defender the Swans have is probably White (he played FB last week and did a great job in the GF as a key defender too). Faulks is coming along OK but is still skinny, while Murphy is still ultra-raw.

Be interesting to see how Faulks comes on this year. I read a bit about him when he was drafted and apparently he is ultra athletic and tested very well at the draft camp.

He got to good spots in the NAB cup game but was pushed around way too easily but after a solid 18 months in the weights room who knows where he will be?
 
I'll take a bit of persuading yet that Faulks is a likely AFL footballer. Putting on some bulk is just one of his challenges. Watching him last year he played like a low intensity version of Jason Saddington. (He runs very similarly and carries himself in the same way too, so the comparisons are inevitable.)

He may become more intense as he gets bigger. Or he might just learn how to become more physical. It just doesn't look instinctive to him (as it does, for example, to White and Murphy).

And there are plenty of skinny players who still instinctively relish the physical contact. Look at young NSW lad Addison, making his way with the Dogs, for instance. He's still a rake but he loves the contact.
 
Well the reserves finally lost a game.......

QUEANBEYAN 17.10-112
SYDNEY SWANS 14.10-94

Goal Kickers: N. DAVIS 5, P. Veszpremi 2, A. BRUCE, M. Beckmans, N. Barb, S. Grozinger, J. WHITE, S. Gilchrist, S. Coate
Best Players: L. BRENNAN, N. DAVIS, D. Terlich, B. MATHEWS, M. O''DWYER, A. BRUCE

http://sportingpulse.com.au/round_info.cgi?a=MATCH&fixture=25700566&c=1-1051-0-65344-0&pool=-1

Maybe the ACTAFL quality has improved this season, because thats our first loss in that comp since we got beaten in the 2004 ACTAFL Finals Series.
 

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I'm not sure any rules have kicked in yet to make a difference. The Swans' injury list is pretty long at the moment. I think they fielded every fit player they had - except possibly Orreal. I am not sure what the go is with him. Maybe they don't think he's ready yet.

I didn't see today's game, but while Belconnen took it to the Swans last weekend, I didn't think they looked brilliant. It's just that the Swans weren't playing with any of the cohesiveness we've seen in recent years. And bear in mind that out of the team that has dominated, they've lost Rowe, Grundy, Vogels, Simpkin, Phillips, Jack, Moore, Schmidt, Bird, Laidlaw and Thornton. Those players have all had their turn at absolutely dominating.

Who have they added? Davis, Matthews - neither of whom is likely to find it easy to adapt to the lower skill level; Ves who is class class class but probably lacking a yard of fitness; Murphy, who is exciting but very raw; Currie, also raw. Beckmans played a lot with them last year, while Bruce and Terlich are currently not up to the level of the previous years' crops. It's hardly a surprise that they've been beaten by one of the more competitive teams in the league.
 
The Swans are only allowed 13 listed players on the field at any one time, down from 15 last year. Plus the top-up players are now sourced from:
- Sydney clubs when the game is in Sydney
- the other Canberra clubs when the game is in Canberra.

Now I'm not exactly sure what status these players are but I get the suspicion they are not as good as the under 18 rep players playing in the previous years.
 
With 13 AFL listed/rookie players on the field and a further 3 on the bench (today) to rotate on I am sure we have enough to cover local country sides (plus 1 Swans scholarship player and a NSWACT U18 RAMs player). Well done Queanbeyan. We need to be better. No excuses.
 
Tigers got over the Swannies Ressies yesterday through hard graft and a bit more experience. As liz stated the change in personal was always going to make it difficult with the guys coming in, not having anywhere near the body size and perhaps skill level.
All started in the centre square where IMO Currie and White were completely outclassed. Tigers ruckman got their hands on more tap outs and gave their small men first use of the footy. Not sure if Currie picked up an injury but he was hardly sighted in the second half. Did a few good things around the ground but has a long way to go before he will dominate. White played up forward and then in the ruck and tried hard all day.
Matthews worked really well and picked up a lot of possies in the back half of the ground.
Daviis played up forward in the first half and was held to about 4 kicks (3 of which were thumping goals), moved on ball in second half and was targeted every time he got the ball, nothing unfair but put inder pressure with every possession.
Brennan was very good at CHB for most of the day but was under pressure with the amount of ball coming into the area.
Veszpremi looked a long way short of top fitness and didn't really move out of the forward line for most of the day.
Brabazon must have got an injury as he started well and was another hardly sighted after half time.
O'Dwyer showed he will be a player of the future. His use of the ball was excellent and he ran to support all day.
Murphy is very raw and would have learnt a lot playing on two of the best forwards in this league. He looks to run out of trouble and was chased down because of his trouble in bouncing the ball (which isn't easy) but his efforts couldn't be faulted.
Bruce and Beckmans were OK but a lot more will be expected from them as they are now the go to players rather than the top up's.
None of the top up's did much and it showed that maybe they aren't up to senior standard (just yet).
Overall, superior strength and possibly skill, got the Tigers home.
I know the senior injury list is long but the pressure is always on the "pros" when they are playing the semi pros and yesterday the boys from the bush looked like they wanted it a bit more.
The core leadership group for the swans is still looking to establish themselves but if the club wants tough hard games for their next rung of players and guys coming back from injury, it now has it.
 
Thanks for the report One4. Much appreciated.

Do you recall if Nick Smith played? His naming as an emergency for the senior team this week suggests he's next cab off the rank if they want to give another youngster some senior game time. And I've been impressed with what I've seen from him in two games this year. How did he go this week?
 
I'm going to make a prediction.

The Swans' three year unbeaten record will come to an end this weekend.


They were lucky to squeeze a win last week and Queanbeyan are one of the stronger teams in the competition (as, to be fair, are Belconnen who they beat last week).

With such a long injury list there will be a lot of top ups playing, and the more there are, the less cohesive the team will be. Plus the rookies we've picked up this year look, at this stage, less polished than the likes of Phillips, Rowe and Simpkin. And with the senior team and the reserves team playing in different states, they may be one or two more players down as emergencies travel with the senior team. (Though I think this game is on Sunday, so they might fly them down on Sunday morning to play with the reserves.)

Liz, you truly are a guru. Your insight is quite amazing. No wonder you are so respected with your posts.:thumbsu::)
 
I'll take a bit of persuading yet that Faulks is a likely AFL footballer. Putting on some bulk is just one of his challenges. Watching him last year he played like a low intensity version of Jason Saddington. (He runs very similarly and carries himself in the same way too, so the comparisons are inevitable.)

He also looks an awful lot like a blonde saddington. Couldnt put my finger on who it was until you mentioned him Liz
 
Liz, you truly are a guru. Your insight is quite amazing. No wonder you are so respected with your posts.:thumbsu::)

:eek:

As predictions go, that one was not particularly "out there" to anyone who watched the reserves play last weekend. And as with all predictions, we remember the ones that are correct and let the others fade into oblivion.

It does need to be stressed that this is a new era as far as the reserves are concerned. I expect them to be competitive. I expect them to get better as the year progresses (and as some players return from injury). But I doubt we'll be seeing many cricket scores this year.

It's a new challenge for Allison and hopefully it's a good one. If nothing else, it sounds like White, Currie, Faulks and Murphy - our 4 talls - are going to get some competitive workouts. That has to be a good thing.
 
just visited the swans website,it had a brief report onthe match.
it mainly focused on vezpremi and brennan,what they have done in the past not much on the game.
it gave the best and goalkickers,no mention of nick smith.
one4 gave a much better report than the website (funny about that)gave a good report on o'dwyer who i would have thought would have been next in line,before smith
 

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