Preview Swans v Blues Friday Night Lights 26th May 7:50pm

[SSwans2011]

Other than a couple of months last year, the Blues exposed form over the last 2 years really isn't that great.

I wouldn't be freaking out and rushing key defenders back. If we can get one of McCartin and Melican in that'd be nice, but I wouldn't risk both of them. I actually thought our key defenders did alright on Saturday. I'd put Gould on McKay, as McKay's not particularly quick. Not really sure for Curnow. Whoever it is, we have to double-team him.

I disagree with those suggesting the players don't care. The elation after the final siren on Saturday suggested otherwise. It's a confidence issue IMO. IF we can get the goalkicking sorted and get a run-on, that will sort itself out. It will be tough, but we can win this.

 

[Jeffers]

I want more forward pressure. It was our strength last year with Reid and Errol. It’s kind of robbing Peter to pay Paul with Errol not there.
We up the forward pressure intensity, the team lifts

 

[Dubai Quacker]

Worth manning up tight on Cripps I would have thought, perfect for Rowy

The sight of Rowy carrying a step ladder will be quite amusing.

 

[Punts]

I want more forward pressure. It was our strength last year with Reid and Errol. It’s kind of robbing Peter to pay Paul with Errol not there.
We up the forward pressure intensity, the team lifts

Wouldn’t be surprised if wicks plays

 

[Punts]

Hope they don’t bring hicky in for ladhams and sit him forward.

Would rafter a wicks in amd have McLean 2nd ruck

 

[ShireSwan]

Other than a couple of months last year, the Blues exposed form over the last 2 years really isn't that great.

I wouldn't be freaking out and rushing key defenders back. If we can get one of McCartin and Melican in that'd be nice, but I wouldn't risk both of them. I actually thought our key defenders did alright on Saturday. I'd put Gould on McKay, as McKay's not particularly quick. Not really sure for Curnow. Whoever it is, we have to double-team him.

I disagree with those suggesting the players don't care. The elation after the final siren on Saturday suggested otherwise. It's a confidence issue IMO. IF we can get the goalkicking sorted and get a run-on, that will sort itself out. It will be tough, but we can win this.

OMG Gould on McKay would be.....a massacre. Gould undersized and looks to have a short arm span. Please. No.

Fox on Curnow the way to go IMO. His speed and punch will counter him on leads effectively. If he's back in a wrestle then Francis is capable of spoiling.

 

[ShireSwan]

Who is projected to go 4th in the next draft anyways?

 

[Grand Uncle Horace]

Hope they don’t bring hicky in for ladhams and sit him forward.

Would rafter a wicks in amd have McLean 2nd ruck

Agreed.

Hickey really needs at least one run in the Ressies to find some form before being considered for selection.

I don’t like it but expect Melican to play.

 

[Tedeski]

OMG Gould on McKay would be.....a massacre. Gould undersized and looks to have a short arm span. Please. No.

Fox on Curnow the way to go IMO. His speed and punch will counter him on leads effectively. If he's back in a wrestle then Francis is capable of spoiling.

Fox is the new Rampe.

 

[S120]

Yeh I'm expecting Wicks to be promoted maybe in place of Clarke with Hickey in for Ladhams if he can't play. If Hickey is available, I doubt they'd want to play McAndrew/McLean as the ruck duo because that leaves only Franklin as a genuine tall forward. We're so bereft of options that we basically need McLean up front for the bulk of the game and if we need him later in the day, like against North because clearances were going so poorly without Ladhams and with the debutant in, we might just have to chuck him in later. We're definitely in a bad way with our clearances currently though so I get the urge to keep McLean in there.

 

[caesar88]

I hope Rowbottom tags Hewett so caesar88 can have his dream of those two guys just hugging it out

It wouldn't all be bad.

If it were to go like the rest of Rowbottom's attempts at run-with roles, Hewett would have a blinder, and he is always great to watch at full flight.

Unfortunately that would be bad for the Swans, so I'll pass!

 

[Grand Uncle Horace]

It wouldn't all be bad.

If it were to go like the rest of Rowbottom's attempts at run-with roles, Hewett would have a blinder, and he is always great to watch at full flight.

Unfortunately that would be bad for the Swans, so I'll pass!

lol.. However I am convinced George has bad back problems at the moment. He seems to avoid kicking the ball and is slow. It is awful to watch.

 

[Donza]

lol.. However I am convinced George has bad back problems at the moment. He seems to avoid kicking the ball and is slow. It is awful to watch.

He's toast imo

 

[caesar88]

lol.. However I am convinced George has bad back problems at the moment. He seems to avoid kicking the ball and is slow. It is awful to watch.

Lower leg injury I believe

 

[Grand Uncle Horace]

Lower leg injury I believe

better that than his back

 

[caesar88]

better that than his back

Also had a hand injury earlier in the year which might explain his handballing being uncharacteristically sloppy as of late.

In any case he's not Carlton's problem. Their midfield is geared around a group of hacks who are hopeless under pressure. If we bring our heat, Cripps, Walsh, Cerra and Kennedy could get 30 touches each and we'd still get on top.

Unfortunately Swans and 'heat' are two concepts that haven't gone hand in hand this year.

 

[Punts]

Hewett is cooked unfortunately

 

[Heeney2Franklin]

Also had a hand injury earlier in the year which might explain his handballing being uncharacteristically sloppy as of late.

In any case he's not Carlton's problem. Their midfield is geared around a group of hacks who are hopeless under pressure. If we bring our heat, Cripps, Walsh, Cerra and Kennedy could get 30 touches each and we'd still get on top.

Unfortunately Swans and 'heat' are two concepts that haven't gone hand in hand this year.

If they get clean and fast clearances through the middle it will be over very quickly

They have significantly underperformed so far but no mistake if their midfield clicks and the linkup between Cripps Walsh along with Cerra on the outside its everybit a top 4 combination.

 

[Wolftone]

Sydney v Carlton
SCG
Friday night
Weather: Fresh

This will be the 233rd clash between these two teams. An opponent the Swans have faced the most since 1897.

Our fist clash ended in a Swans win in round 2 1897 (that included 2 scoreless quarters), some thing’s never change.

Moving through the history books we haven’t beaten the Blues at the MCG since 1909. Fortunately we are at the SCG where we hold an 18-10 record.

Our biggest comeback win after a half time deficit (we trailed by 45 points) was against Carlton back in 1990.

Our biggest upset win was round 8 1995 when we belted the Blues by 72 points. They would go on to win the premiership.

Moving into the 21st century and the Blues have stocked up their kitchen utensils.

Now to the present.

Blues

Forwards are led by two Coleman medalists. Curnow kicked 9 against an undersized Eagles line up, while Harry McKay

10

Harry Mckay

Age

27

Ht

200cm

Wt

106kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

9.9

3star

K

7.5

3star

HB

2.4

2star

M

5.5

5star

T

1.6

4star

G

1.4

5star

D

6.6

1star

K

4.6

2star

HB

2.0

1star

M

3.6

4star

T

1.4

2star

G

1.4

5star

D

8.8

3star

K

6.8

3star

HB

2.0

2star

M

4.4

4star

T

0.8

3star

G

2.0

5star

looks better in Norths defence than as a Carlton forward.

Midfield is led by the very tall Patrick Cripps

9

Patrick Cripps

Age

29

Ht

195cm

Wt

93kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

25.9

5star

K

9.8

4star

HB

16.1

5star

M

3.4

3star

T

5.8

5star

CL

7.4

5star

D

21.0

5star

K

10.1

4star

HB

10.9

5star

M

2.5

3star

T

3.8

4star

CL

6.3

5star

D

12.6

4star

K

4.8

2star

HB

7.8

5star

M

2.0

3star

T

3.2

5star

CL

1.4

4star

(Brownlow to boot), Sam Walsh

18

Sam Walsh

Age

24

Ht

184cm

Wt

84kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

25.1

5star

K

13.5

5star

HB

11.6

5star

M

5.1

5star

T

3.2

5star

CL

3.4

5star

No current season stats available

D

26.2

5star

K

15.4

5star

HB

10.8

5star

M

6.0

5star

T

3.2

5star

CL

4.8

5star

, and a stack of players traded in.

Backs is probably their weakness, with some decent players but no stars. Adam Saad

42

Adam Saad

Age

30

Ht

178cm

Wt

79kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

17.5

4star

K

10.0

4star

HB

7.5

5star

M

3.0

3star

T

2.7

4star

MG

349.1

5star

D

20.7

5star

K

12.0

5star

HB

8.7

4star

M

3.3

3star

T

2.4

3star

MG

388.3

5star

D

17.6

5star

K

10.4

4star

HB

7.2

5star

M

4.2

4star

T

1.2

3star

gives them run and dash but if you tag him they don’t have a lot else. Zak Williams ACL has hurt them this year.

Swans

You can see the correlation of our ever increasing injury list with our descent of the AFL ladder.

Forwards, Papley is leading the goal kicking charge but other than the Richmond game he’s been fairly quiet. McDonald is second but out for months. Hayward is third and could be leading the goal kicking if he could convert his a set shot. Heeney and Franklin wrap up the top 5 and they have been missing in action this year.

Midfield has been spared injuries other than our key rucks take turns in missing games. Gulden has had a good month and Parker never stops trying. Warner and Rowbottom not that influential this year.

Defence is missing too many to count.

Form guide.

Thanks to North tanking and failing to add up we pinched an unlikely win. This counters losses to Port and the Giants where we blew decent leads in the last.

The North game sums up our season. We kicked 2.5 before North registered a score. Last year that would have been 5.2. We don’t make the most of our opportunities.

Expectations on the Blues are high this year. After being in the top 8 until the last minute of the home and away season last year. They have beaten teams you would expect them to but looked flat against the Lions and Bulldogs. As o write this they look off the pace against the Pies.

Both teams have played Collingwood recently. The Swans led at halftime on the back of fast ball movement. It couldn’t be sustained and were overrun. Carlton get enough off the ball that they should be more than competitive. However, they are slow at moving the ball.

Changes
Outs : Ladhams ankle didn’t look crash hot. Sheldrick as the sub.

Ins: Hickey / T McCartin if either are fit.
Not a lot of options in the reserves.

Prediction

There will be a game where it all clicks together as the Swans play with the fluidity that helped them make last years final. This may be the week.

Swans by 6.

We need to stop using injuries as excuses and start finding solutions. Use the players we have got and design a way to win. If players, they all go to training, they all buy into the game plan, can execute we can win. They just need to be confident in their role. If you keep blaming injuries every week you are telling the players you do have on the park that thry are not good enough.

Year's ago there was a coach who came to the Plympton Football Club. His name was Wayne Borbridge, he played HB for Port. When he came Plympton did not have a great team nor the talent of Edwardstone, Camden, Brighton or Blackwood. But he instilled one thing, BELIEF. There were a few stars like Scotty & Brent Salisbury but not many. Borbridge got injured in the second game and his ducky knee was gone. We had a few other injuries as well. Borbridge always believed it was not the players on the park but the belief in the players on the park. We won the Premiership that year. Runners up Div 2 and Premiers Div 3.

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[Wolftone]

Curnow will flog us I think , umps love him plus he is just a gun.

If they smash in middle like most weeks I can’t see how we keep the 2 big guys down.

I bet they bring in tdk to try and stretch us even more.

I think it will be a good contest though , blues are not much this season so a chance is there.

I am hoping the coaches let Rowie play his natural game. If he does we win the clearances.

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[LukeParkerno1]

It wouldn't all be bad.

If it were to go like the rest of Rowbottom's attempts at run-with roles, Hewett would have a blinder, and he is always great to watch at full flight.

Unfortunately that would be bad for the Swans, so I'll pass!

Wasn't Hewett dropped last game for the Blues? I didn't watch much of that game as I was at the movies seeing Fast N Furious.

 

[Wolftone]

Wicks in for Stephens

Hicky for ladhams I’m betting

Not sure we play mcandrew

We play Stretch

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[Wolftone]

mccartin back?

Should be. He should be right after 2 weeks off.

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[Grand Uncle Horace]

Wasn't Hewett dropped last game for the Blues? I didn't watch much of that game as I was at the movies seeing Fast N Furious.

was the Sub.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

Nuts to drop Ladhams, we looked good in the ruck and have done all year with him as an extra mid.