Swans fans will travel to Leederville this week with plenty of optimism and it should be a bumper crowd. Fine conditions and both local AFL teams out of town so I’d be expecting in excess of 3k.
A tougher test awaits this week with the Royals also having a dominant win first up. Schumacher might not play due to suspension but Brayshaw should return.
Swans got through seemingly unscathed and there’s experience waiting in the wings. Erceg will be close but not sure about Odonaghue, Ireland And G-M, anyone got word?
With no reserves footy last week Pruyn will be tempted to give a couple a run on managed minutes in the twos and it wouldn’t be ideal having more than 1 or 2 of them first up in what will be a taxing game.
The big key in this game will be the ruck. Jones is a mountain and he was the difference in the early game last year giving their quality mids first use. Can Blakely and Smith negate his influence or does GM come in as the bigger body?
Jones has been a consistent stumbling block for us when we have played East Perth over the last 2 years and his ability to dominate the centre bounce down will be a major headache for Swans
I thought young Smith showed a bit against the Eagles big guys but they might go for the more mature body of Germs to support Doc this week.
Really looking forward to this game as it will be a test to see how far we have improved since last year.
Erceg is back which strengthens an already strong defence. It will be interesting to see how he performs this year as in recent seasons there has been a real emphasis to have him as the spare behind the ball. With a more attacking style this year he will, in all likliehood, have more 1v1 contests and less help. Ehlers and Taylor the omissions it seems.
There reserves have named a strong line up with Odonaghue and G-M both named to play their first games of the season. The eastern states recruits in Pannucio and Roche also named and not sure we will see much of Roche in the League line up. A few others playing their first game in the Black and White. Stack is missing from the named squad and I hope I’m wrong but I have a gut feel he may get a league gig or maybe he’s already spat it at not getting a game last week. No Jared Cameron either after playing each week of the practice matches and still no Ireland.
Plenty of depth at the club it seems and yeah it’s early but I’ll go as far to say if we win this week then we will be playing finals this year!
Brayshaw back for East Perth as well as Robertson and 3 others. They look very strong across all lines and we will have to be at our very best to have a chance of winning this game.
Germs has been named in the ressies so I would assume they have decided to go with the ruck combination of last week to go up against the man mountain, fair enough, Blakely and Smith were both good last week. Great to have Erceg back. He adds more experience to an already tight defence. They are going to need all the experience they can get if Jones gives the East Perth mids regular first use out of the middle.
Really looking forward to this encounter. Feels like the real opening round. Last week just seemed like another pre-season game which Swans were always going to win. This game is a true test of how much Swans have improved in the off season and with the rivalry between the two teams always high this promises to be a great battle.
Fine weather always makes Leederville a wonderful place to watch footy.
The Royals have pipped us at the post in the last 2 years at Leederville so maybe its our turn perhaps?
A reality check from a very good side. There were some good patches from the team but Swans were too indirect when they were on top. We now have some really good forwards so why not move the ball quickly and back them in one on one contests. Swans were too intent on chipping the ball around particularly in the 3rd quarter when they wasted a host of goal kicking opportunities. The two new boys and Jesse Turner worked their guts out but they need more support from the other mids. As per usual Jones absolutely dominated the big man contests and overall East Perth ended up rolling us quite easily in the last quarter.
Medhat ran our defence around all day and we conceded some very soft goals during the game which was pretty unusual. Not the end of the world because I reckon East Perth are one of the elite teams in the competition, but now Swans know the standard they need to aspire to
Is there anyone at Swans that actually rates ruckmen, we got into another game against East Perth with undersized Doc and and 18 year old backup.
Surprise surprise we get run over.
[quote=“mikeh post=234600 userid=926”]A reality check from a very good side. There were some good patches from the team but Swans were too indirect when they were on top. We now have some really good forwards so why not move the ball quickly and back them in one on one contests. Swans were too intent on chipping the ball around particularly in the 3rd quarter when they wasted a host of goal kicking opportunities. The two new boys and Jesse Turner worked their guts out but they need more support from the other mids. As per usual Jones absolutely dominated the big man contests and overall East Perth ended up rolling us quite easily in the last quarter.
Medhat ran our defence around all day and we conceded some very soft goals during the game which was pretty unusual. Not the end of the world because I reckon East Perth are one of the elite teams in the competition, but now Swans know the standard they need to aspire to
Swans were very good for much of the afternoon and dominated much of the second and third quarters.
Their ability to pick out a teammate and also have an extra player at most contests meant they should’ve enjoyed a useful lead at three-quarter-time.
However, East Perth’s three goals just before half-time after being 15 points down, Swans missing some reasonably straightforward opportunities in the third quarter, and the Royals kicking a couple of late goals meant that the visitors’ mid-game dominance wasn’t reflected on the scoreboard.
To the Royals’ credit, we were able to convert a couple of early opportunities in the final term, and that knocked the stuffing out of Swans on such an energy-sapping day.
Jess Turner got his usual mountain of possessions for Swans, while Jye Chalcraft and Nik Rokahr look like both are great pick-ups.
From a Royals’ perspective, and given how close games against Swans at Leederville usually are, I’m very relieved to get the four points.
A good match until three quarter time. Swans scoring the 6 minors in the the third term was telling, whilst the Home team had 3 less scoring shots adding 2 goals 1 minor to the scoreboard. Then in the final term Swans being over run with only 2 goals as opposed to 6. Swans stats are impressive, although that is not much use without the score to go with it.
The margin even though comfortable at the end doesn’t reflect the struggle the royals had to overcome a spirited Swans team.
I think we would have been in trouble if Swans had of taken their chances in front of goals before three quarter time .Swans looked good moving the ball I did we contributed with sloppy kicking and handballs which rightly got turned over for goals.
That last five minutes of the second quarter was the turning point with Swans having so many scoring shots and not converting and then we kicked three quick goals before half time to take the lead. Swans look like they have some good talent but in the end quality shone out and having Jones and a few seasoned midfielders helps and Medhat and Teddy were the difference in the forward line.
We were clearly outmuscled today by Jones and Co. If Glass- Mccasker got through the ressies game today, he will come under consideration for next week. Germs would be another option. I am not discouraged because I saw a lot of promising signs from todays performance against a very good team.
IMO East Perth, East Fremantle and probably Peel are at the top level of performers with the rest other than West Coast competing for finals spots. Not sure what happened with Claremont today , but I consider them, West Perth, South Freo, Swans, Perth and Subi as having enough good players to make a run for the finals given a reasonable season with injuries. West Perth have had a good start with victories over 2 of those other 5 teams.
The Swans v Perth game next week is very significant for both clubs with a chance for either to go 2-1
A little bit to digest. As with Mikeh am disappointed about the result but not discouraged.
It was danger signs early as East Perth scored easy goals and a dominant Jones gave his mids first use. Swans were staying in the contest but each time we converted the Royals replied instantly. With such a quick game and if that flow of game continued we were never going to be a real chance of winning because they were too efficient and Jones wasn’t getting any shorter. He also covers the ground really well!
I thought Erceg struggled early, as predicted, and it may take him a week or 2 to settle into a different role/system, too often caught trying to zone off. The strength of our back 6 could actually be our biggest weakness. I much prefer Ehlers and even Stephens down there as lock down defenders. Both may get a run next week as Pasini was moved fwd with a suspect hammy and Collins looked sore in a knee. In any case having Medhat and Tedesco kick bags should be a wake up call to that back 6 although more pressure on the ball will help.
Which brings me to my next point.
Playing a more up tempo and direct game is great but at times, especially early, it was too quick and we need to find a happy medium. 35 tackles simply isn’t enough against a contest team and especially needs a lift from Hewitt, Cartwright, Edwards and Kohlman who had 1 tackle between them. It will then allow our mids and backs to catch a breath and set up defensively.
The ruck issue is going to be a constant this year. We all love Doc but he’s not up to WAFL standard and neither is young Smith. It will be a real shame if our quality mids have to go at it all year on the back foot. I watched Germs yesterday and he simply hasn’t developed as we’d have hoped and it’s more about his footy iq. GM played fwd/ruck in the 2’s and looked rusty, personally I think he’s a better key defender and played better in that role last season after rucking early on. That being said though I think there needs to be a call made and we play both Germs and GM in place of Doc and Smith with GM the fwd/ruck option.
Odonaghue played a full game of reserves yesterday and looked a class above however he did look prolly on a leg late in the game, hopefully just a corky When he is ready to go he has to come straight in! His aggressive approach will help with our tackle pressure and if he can do a run with role each week then I’d like to see Clarke and Chalcraft rotated fwd for periods.
All games are important but a massive game coming up at Lathlain with both teams looking to rebound. Need to be heading into the first bye ahead of the ledger and with a super tough game to follow against EF.
