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July 28, 2005
Round 18 Team Selections vs Adelaide
The teams are in for this weeks match against the Crows and the Swans have made two quite un-expected changes for the match bringing in Jarrad Moore and Luke Vogels in place of McVeigh and Malceski. I gather the Swans wanted to go with a bit of extra height with Vogels but with Moore I don't see how having him help other than to spell Schneider as a forward pocket. Still at least the changes are cosmedic rather than forced. For the Crows they made the one change with Johncock replacing the injured Torney in defence, which isn't that big a deal for us (sadly). Still here are the teams that go into battle on Saturday Night.
SYDNEY
B: Dempster, Barry, C.Bolton
HB: Mathews, Roberts-Thomson, Kennelly
C: Buchanan, Ablett, Crouch
HF: O’Keefe, Hall, J.Bolton
F: Davis, O’Loughlin, Goodes
R: Jolly, Kirk, Williams
Int: Ball, Moore, Schneider, Vogels
Emg: Bevan, McVeigh, Saddington
In's: Moore, Vogels
Out's: McVeigh, Malceski
ADELAIDE
B: Johncock, Rutten, Bassett
HB: Hart, Bock, Mattner
C: van Berlo, Thompson, Burton
HF: Ricciuto, McGregor, Goodwin
F: McLeod, Welsh, Hentschel
R: Hudson, Shirley, Edwards
Int: Doughty, Perrie, Reilly, Biglands
Emg: Skipworth, Knights, S.Stevens
In: Johncock
Out: Torney (back soreness)
Posted by robbieando at 10:16 PM | Comments (0)
July 25, 2005
Swans Injury List After Round 17
Well here is the injury list for this week pretty early and without Leo on it after he sat out most of the last quarter. So no doubt that means he'll miss this week then
Not much change from last week except for Fosdike being the player closest to senior selection named on it. Plus as I pointed out last week an injury to Jolly or Ball would really fuck us up, with all our ruckmen not in the senior team on the injury list. Oh well, we got to a Prelim Final with just Goodes and LRT in 03.
Nic Fosdike (Quad) Test
Tim Schmidt (Hamstring) Test
Earl Shaw (Hamstring) 1-2 weeks
Matthew Nicks (Knee) 1-2 weeks
David Spriggs (Knee) 1-2 weeks
Mark Powell (Buttock) 1-2 weeks
Andrew Ericksen (Thumb/ Wrist) 3-5 weeks
Stuart Maxfield (Knee) Indefinite
Stephen Doyle (Ankle) Season
Posted by robbieando at 08:01 PM | Comments (0)
We're Back On The Road Again
That's right, "It Never Rains, but it pours" is firing up the old Virgin Blue plane to make the trip from God's own Country into the pits of Hell (or for those who don't understand I'm travelling from Melbourne to Adelaide) for the match against the Crows at AAMI Stadium on Saturday Night. No doubt if I make it back in one piece (and after the match against the Tigers that isn't a sure thing anymore) I'll have a first hand match report and some pics that I find funny (though the rest of you think are pure crap).
Still if your going to be at the match pop into BAY 119 and say hi (or throw sharpe objects) and hopefully we can make it back across the border with 4 points and our sanity in tact.
Posted by robbieando at 07:48 PM | Comments (0)
July 24, 2005
Swans Finally Deliver Notice To The Football World
Well while many expected that the size of the SCG would get to the Eagles, by beating the Eagles with a full 4 quarter effort the Swans did more than anyone expected by braking down the Eagles and exposing their weakness in a manner that only Collingwood before us has managed to do this season.
It also managed to add some life to the competition that had been lacking over the past few weeks and more than wrapped up the Swans 3rd finals series in a row under Paul Roos and making a Top 4 spot seem more likely than not. Now just a small matter of a trip West to AAMI Stadium and a match against the 2nd placed Crows.
Still nothing can take away from the performance put together by the Swans against this seasons yardstick team. From the outset it was clear that the Swans were out for blood knowing the importance of the result.
An early goal to Jolly from a free kick was cancelled out by an Eagles goal to Lynch and followed by a few near misses as the Eagles tried to get away early, but a neat snap from Buchanan put the Swans back in front and soon after put the ball on the chest of Magic who goaled and the Swans were away to a handy lead at quarter time.
Cousins put the Eagles second on the board to start the second quarter before Barry Hall took on the Eagles defence single handed to boot his first goal of the match. From there it was the Dean Cox show as he put the Swans to the sword by booting 4 goals for the Eagles which were matched by a sole goal in reply from Luke Ablett from the 50 and things at half time looked grim, with the Swans looking worn out and the Eagles on top of everything.
But like so offen this season the Swans came out after half time and won themselves a match. An early goal to Magic and miss of the season to Judd within the first two minutes of the half and it was clear the game had swung. Soon after a captains goal to Captain Jude from the boundary line and the Swans were back in front. Even a goal to Fletcher couldn't stop the Swans from making their move as Schneider wound back the clock with a 2003-like running goal to lift the side further and then a goal to Davis resulting from good teamwork from an advantage decision from a ruck contest. Going into the last term the Swans had the game under control and a 10 point lead.
Knowing the Eagles would make a charge the Swans put the foot on the gas and got two quick goals to Magic and Schneider who clearly was proving here was back to his confident best. From there Hall and Jolly iced the match with two goals from marks and the Swans withstood a late Eagles 2 goal charge to run out easy 21 point winners.
Now onto the Crows
SYDNEY 13.10 (88)
WEST COAST 9.13 (67)
Goals: M O'Loughlin 3 B Hall, D Jolly, A Schneider 2 L Ablett, J Bolton, A Buchanan, N Davis 1.
Best Swan On Ground: Brett Kirk/Jude Bolton tie (Even I can't split them)
Posted by robbieando at 06:47 PM | Comments (0)
The Magoos Do It On The Bit Again
No shock upset this week as the Magoo's keep up their season long unbeaten run by beating Eastlake. The only shock being Eastlake managing to keep the final margin to under 100 points for a change. Anyway here are the scores and goalkickers.
Swans 20.16 (136)
Eastlake 8.9 (57)
Goals: Vogels, Fixter 5 Saddington 4 Schauble 3 Bevan, Grundy, James 1.
Best: Fixter Vogels Saddington Moore Schauble Potter Campbell.
Posted by robbieando at 06:38 PM | Comments (0)
July 22, 2005
Final Team Selections for Round 17 vs West Coast
As promised I'm back to give you the final team selections for this Sunday match against West Coast. The Swans have made no changes as expected to last weekend's side, while the Eagles have made two changes bringing Ashley Sampi in for the suspenened Gardiner while giving a first game to Matt Rosa who comes in for Damien Adkins.
Anyway here are the final benches and emergencies for the game:
SYDNEY
Int: Ball, Fosdike, Malceski, Schneider
Emg: Saddington, Moore, McVeigh
No Change
WEST COAST
Int: Butler, Nicoski, Rosa, Selwood
Emg: Jones, Morton, Graham
In's: Sampi, Rosa
Out's: Gardiner (susp), Adkins
NEW: Matt Rosa (North Ballarat)
Posted by robbieando at 09:06 PM | Comments (0)
QBE Extend Swans Partnership Into 21st Year
If the news of a near sell out for a match is good news, then the news that the Club's Major Sponsor in QBE Insurance has extended their sponsorship of the club into a 21st year is the best news this club could get short of winning a premiership.
The QBE-Sydney Swans partnership extended article on the Swans Official Site is music to the ears of the club off field team. According to Swans Club CEO Myles Baron-Hay,
“It was a clear demonstration of what a wonderful partner we have in QBE and how supportive they really are. They have certainly been with us through thick and thin and their support of the Club has never faltered.”
and
“When you talk about partnerships they don’t come any better than this. 21 continuous years – QBE’s ongoing support of the Club has been steadfast and quite remarkable.
You can only nod and agree with such statements. Since becoming the club's major sponsor at the end of the 1987 season, QBE has become the second longest serving major club sponsor in the AFL behind Ford's long term committment to Geelong. They also were willing to tip money into the club in October 1992 when our spot in the League was not assured and they have helped not only the club in its role as a major sponsor, but other areas such as funding the club Cheer Squad.
This is just another further sign (if one was ever needed) that the Swans as a team have come a long, long, long, long way since the dark day's of the early 90's.
Posted by robbieando at 07:30 PM | Comments (0)
Sunday's Match Almost a Sell Out
According to this article as of 10am this morning only 3960 tickets were available for sale to the general public for this Sunday's blockbuster against West Coast.
Not a bad effort indeed and hopefully with news of more sales since 10am making the amount of tickets available even less, we should be battling it out with West Coast in front of a 35,000 plus crowd with it hopefully pushing over the 40,000 mark for the first time since 1999 at the SCG if most of the SCG Trust Members show up.
Hopefully they do and team does the business on the field for the large crowd.
Posted by robbieando at 06:34 PM | Comments (0)
July 21, 2005
Round 17 Team Selections vs West Coast
Only the early 25 man squad but from the looks of things we will be heading into this weeks team with pretty much the same line up as last week. Schauble misses yet again and LRT plays yet again.
Anyway here are the early teams for this round:
SYDNEY
B: Dempster, Barry, C.Bolton
HB: Mathews, Roberts-Thomson, Kennelly
C: Buchanan, Ablett, Crouch
HF: O’Keefe, Hall, J.Bolton
F: Davis, O’Loughlin, Goodes
R: Jolly, Kirk, Williams
Int from: Ball, Fosdike, Malceski, Schneider, Moore, Saddington, McVeigh
In's: McVeigh, Moore, Saddington
Out's: None So far
WEST COAST
B: Wirrpunda, Glass, B.Jones
HB: Chick, Staker, Banfield
C: Stenglein, Cousins, Braun
HF: Sampi, McDougall, Kerr
F: Matera, Lynch, Seaby
R: Cox, Judd, Fletcher
Int from: Butler, Graham, R.Jones, Morton, Nicoski, Rosa, Selwood
In's: Sampi, Graham, R.Jones, Morton, Rosa
Out's: Gardiner (susp), Adkins
Full team selections tomorrow night when I can be arsed.
Posted by robbieando at 09:31 PM | Comments (0)
July 20, 2005
Giving Amon His Due
Many of you will remember back to the last time we played the Eagles and how I wanted Roosy to drop Amon Buchanan because of poor form, well since then I have been put in my place on that front. After being dropped for the Essendon match before getting a late call up thanks to the knee injury to Stuart Maxfield, Amon has gone on to become a much more important player and a far more consisant ball winner in midfield, with only his goal kicking letting him down.
In today's "The Australian", Amon finally gets a bit of acknowledgement from the football media and the game at large for his efforts in the past few weeks in an article called Now Amon's punching above his weight.
I think this article goes to show how important Amon has been over the past fortnight with his attack on the ball leading to a fair few goal assists. I liken his play to that of an NFL Running Back who gets the ball and chargers through a large tight pack to push the ball (and therefore the game) forward and every so offen leads to a goal as a result. That's how I liken him, Assistant coach Ross Lyon reckons Buchanan is
in the best form of his career and is fast developing into an Aaron Hamill-type defensive forward.
Not a bad wrap at all and certainly not a bad wrap for a player many had given up on after Adam Schneider became the hot new small forward the Swans had been looking for and was in fact training with Carlton after being delisted by the Swans in the hope of having some sort of AFL future. But lucky for the Swans and Amon himself the Swans had a change of heart and re-drafted him in a Troy Luff style move and last season saw him gain valuable senior gametime, showed his promise as a midfielder and kept the form going into this year where he has more than moved past Schneider according to club great Paul Kelly.
"Last year he was probably up against Adam Schneider for a spot in the team and now he's moved in front of him."
So hopefully Amon can keep up with this form and he becomes an even more valable asset to this club. Not bad for a play I wrote off 10 weeks ago.
Posted by robbieando at 09:53 PM | Comments (0)
Jude Bolton - The Swans Next Captain
As if this wasn't already known but since Goodes has had his two weeks as captain of the Swans, the time has come for the 6th and final captain to get his 2 weeks as the club's on field leader and that is Jude Bolton for the matches against the teams that currently sit 1st and 2nd in West Coast and Adelaide.
Jude has always been my long term pick to one day lead the Swans and while the next two weeks isn't on a full time basis, I'm sure Jude will give a good account of himself over the next fortnight and give the coaching staff a hard time to select next year's captain out of the already impressive field of Hall, Goodes and Kirk.
Anyway here are some article's on Jude's shot at the captaincy.
Bolton primed for Eagles challenge - Official AFL Site
"I am really looking forward to the opportunity to captain the boys at the SCG in front of a big crowd against a top team," Bolton said. "It is an amazing honour, its something you always look up to as a kid so it's just a fantastic thing to get the opportunity for two weeks. "Hopefully I can lead by example and set the tone out on the ground."
Well good luck to Jude, because he and the team sure will need it over the next few weeks.
Posted by robbieando at 12:49 PM | Comments (0)
July 19, 2005
Injury List After Round 16
Well the injury list this week has grown from what it was last week and besides Shaw and Ericksen being added to the list not much impact will be felt from this list, unless we have another run of injuries to our ruck group like we did early in the season. But I'm sure we'll cope if we do. We did last time and Goodes and LRT can ruck well enough to win us a final (did in 03).
Anyway here is the list for this week
Heath James (Ankle) Test
Earl Shaw (Hamstring) 2 weeks
Mark Powell (Buttock) 2 weeks
Matthew Nicks (Knee) 2 weeks
David Spriggs (Knee) 2-3 weeks
Andrew Ericksen (Thumb) 4-6 weeks
Stuart Maxfield (Knee) Indefinite
Stephen Doyle (Ankle) Season
Posted by robbieando at 03:51 PM | Comments (0)
July 18, 2005
Hall Leads Swans To Best Win Yet!
After months of winning ugly and slowly but surely moving up the ladder the Swans in back to back weeks have turned popular belief on its head and beaten two teams above them on the ladder for the first time all season, played near all out attacking football and moved into a prime position to claim a spot in the Top 4 and the Double Chance that goes with it.
After last weeks massive win over a injury hit Geelong outfit the Swans came up against the free falling Demons at Telstra Dome and went in believing that they could do away with the team that flatters to descive on a yearly basis.
All night the Swans had the match under control, kicking out to handy leads early in quarters, withstanding a late charge back from the Demons before kicking a handy late goal to put the Demons back on the back foot going into the games three brakes. The Swans started the game with a 6 goal quarter which showed that the player were swiched on in particular Barry Hall kicking two goals and clearly having no trouble with his man - Ryan Ferguson. But thanks to David Neitz and his fantastic diving show (should of been in Montreal for the Diving World Champs - better chance of winning something) the Demons managed to go into quarter time 11 points down.
The second quarter was the complete opposite to the first quarter with the game slowing down from its somewhat fast begining. Nick Davis and Ben Mathews managed to kick two goals in the first 15 minutes of the quarter and again the Swans were out to a handy 25 point lead. Thats where things went black for me (had a seizure therefore couldn't see what was going on). But as I was out of it, David Neitz shocked the football world by kicking a goal without the help of an umpire and as I was in the Rest Room he kicked yet another by fair means (I know shock horror), that meant the Swans went into Half Time only up by 10 points and looking like a match was about to brake out.
Alas I was wrong, a match didn't brake out, but a trashing did as the Swans put the Demons to the sword with another 6 goal quarter, sparked by two quick early goals from Barry Hall on his way to a four goal quarter, the first after a brilliant effort from Buchanan, re-established a four-goal break.
Then came the funny moment of the match when Phil Read was paid a free just outside the Demons forward 50 when ridden to the ground, but instead of getting up and taking his kick he decided to slap around his tackler Amon Buchanan around the head right in front of the umpire - cue the free kick being reversed and from that play the Swans got the ball forward to Magic who passed to Captain Kirk for a goal and what effectively was a 12-point play. Two more goals to Hall and one to Nick Davis saw the Swans charge out to a 31 point Three Quarter Time lead.
The Last Quarter saw the Demons put in a late effort to get something from the match first with a brilliant goal from Aaron Davey, followed by two two goals from Neitz with the later from yet another free kick that should NOT of been paid. All of a sudden the Swans were stuggling and the Demons were within two goals. For the next ten minutes the Swans slowed down the match and made sure that it would be them who would get the next goal so to brake the Demon spirit.
Step forward Barry Hall to claim his 7th goal for the night and soon after Amon Buchanan topping off his night's fine work with a goal and the Swans had the match all wrapped up and that was all she wrote as the game ended with the Swans winning by 26 points.
On to West Coast with confidence.
SYDNEY: 16.8 (104)
MELBOURNE: 11.12 (78)
Goals: Hall 7 Davis 2 O'Loughlin, Goodes, Mathews, O'Keefe, Jolly, Kirk, Buchanan 1.
Best Swan On Ground: A Tie - Adam Goodes for his work around the ground and Barry Hall for finishing the good work off.
Posted by robbieando at 06:48 PM | Comments (0)
July 17, 2005
I Don't Want to Shock You, But.............
The Magoos won a game of football at the weekend. Shocking news I know and I'm sure many of you will need to lie down for a while after reading this news, but in any case here is the details for the weekends match.
Needless to say most of the team played well
Sydney 26.12.168
Tuggeranong 6.5.41
Goals: Schauble 6 Saddinton 5 Fixter 4 Sunqvist, Jack, Bevan 2 Potter, Bennet, Quade, James, Schmidt 1.
Best: McVeigh, Schauble, Sundqvist, Fixter, Bevan, Saddington.
Posted by robbieando at 05:09 PM | Comments (0)
July 14, 2005
Round 16 Team Selections vs Demons
Well the Swans have made two changes to the side that ripped apart the Cats last weekend and brought in Malceski after his 40 plus touches in Canberra and Schnieder to act as the much needed small forward. Making way for them in like for like moves, were McVeigh who I feel was unfairly treated again and Moore who is wasted as a small forward and isn't getting much gametime as a midfielder that he will become. Again no place in the side for Schauble who clearly has run over Roosy family Cat and LRT keeps his place when form dictates that he should of been dropped months ago.
Anyway here are the teams for this week:
SYDNEY
B: Dempster, Barry, C.Bolton
HB: Mathews, Roberts-Thomson, Kennelly
C: Buchanan, Ablett, Crouch
HF: O’Keefe, Hall, J.Bolton
F: Davis, O'Loughlin, Goodes
R: Jolly, Kirk, Williams
Int: Ball, Fosdike, Malceski, Schneider
Emg: McVeigh, Moore, Saddington
In's: Malceski, Schneider
Out's: McVeigh, Moore
MELBOURNE
B: Whelan, Ferguson, Yze
HB: Bizzell, Rivers, Wheatley
C: Greene, Johnstone, Moloney
HF: Sylvia, Holland, Davey
F: Read, Neitz, Robertson
R: White, Bruce, McDonald
Int: Ward, Williams, Brown, Carroll
Emg: Johnson, Armstrong, Rigoni
In's: Holland, Ferguson, Carroll, Williams
Out's: Miller (hamstring), Nicholson (back strain), Heffernan, Jamar
Posted by robbieando at 08:58 PM | Comments (4)
July 12, 2005
Support The "Lake Oval Grandstand Rescue"
As most of you know the Swans haven't always been a team based out of Sydney, spending the first 107 seasons of exsistence based in the Melbourne suburb of South Melbourne. For most of that time the Swans played out of the Lake Oval at Albert Park. But after the move to Sydney the ground was allowed to fall apart, until most of the ground was turned into the home of the South Melbourne Hallas Soccer Club, with only the old Members Stand kept in tact, but still left to fall apart.
This is where Tony Morwood, Hall of Fame members and current General Manager of the Swans Melbourne Office come in. He is heading a team to try and have the Grandstand saved and turned into the Melbourne Home of the Swans (which as most will know has never really been one set place for more than a year or two).
It Never Rain's, but it Pours is proud to support to effort to save a part of this club's Melbourne hertiage and I erge all those interested to go across to the website set up to support this fight and lend your support. Hopefully the last true piece of the South Melbourne Swans can be saved for future generations of Swans fans.
Posted by robbieando at 05:58 PM | Comments (2)
Jude Bolton Accepts $2400 Fine for Ump Bump
According to the last paragraph in this article on the Swans Official Site, Jude Bolton accepted a small fine for a bump on an umpire during Saturday Night's game.
Meanwhile, midfielder Jude Bolton has accepted an early plea of a $2,400 fine for making negligent contact with umpire Shaun Ryan at the SCG on Saturday night.
Not earth shattering news I agree, but just think what would of happened to J-Bolt if this had happened 3 or 4 years ago. Thank god the AFL tribunal saw sense and stopped suspending player for minor bumps on umpires.
Posted by robbieando at 05:52 PM | Comments (0)
July 11, 2005
Swans Injury List After Round 15
As our injury list get's smaller and smaller our team is pretty much set for the rest of the season, with the likes of Schauble, Saddington and Malceski looking like pushing for a place in the senior side.
Josh Willoughby (Groin) Test
David Spriggs (Knee) 1-2 weeks
Matthew Nicks (Knee) 3-4 weeks
Stuart Maxfield (Knee) Indefinite
Stephen Doyle (Ankle) Season
Posted by robbieando at 03:58 PM | Comments (0)
July 09, 2005
Swans Tear Apart Injury Hit Cats
Well things finally clicked for the Swans tonight as we ran away with a comfortable 54 point victory over a Cats side that was hit by injuries before, during and after the match, leaving them unable to even match the Swans across the park. That being said the Swans did manage to run away with what must go down as the Swan’s best win of the season so far.
A cagey start to the match from the Swans must have had people thinking we failed to turn up for the second week running. But thanks to Geelong’s piss poor set shots at goal the Swans managed to stay within 3 points at quarter time despite only kicking the one Nick Davis goal for the quarter, but that wasn’t for a lack of trying. Despite the low scores the match was played at a fast pace with the game going end to end with the defense of both sides holding up very well to the extreme pressure placed upon them. Looking at the scoreboard one wouldn’t be blamed for thinking the Swans had gone the flood.
Having said all that, it was a matter of time before one side’s defense fell apart and it was no surprise to see the Cats just fall right away in the opening first 15 minutes of the second quarter. What was the surprise is that the Swans for once took full advantage of this and kicked 7 quick goals started off by two majors from O’Keefe in the first minute of the quarter followed quickly by goals from Crouch, Kirk, Goodes and Hall who ended up kicking 4 goals in the 9 goal second quarter romp. Most of this good play was set up by the hard and often inspiring work from Amon Buchanan (who has become quite the handy rover in the past two months), Adam Goodes getting back to his Brownlow winning form and Luke Ablett who was playing it both ways to great effect. Even two quick goals from the helping hands of the umps could spoil the quarter and at half time the Swans had the match all wrapped up.
But the Swans being the Swans couldn’t help but try and allow the Cats a chance to play their way back into the match and gave up three quick goals to have the Cats back within 22 points and on the charge. But no sooner had the third goal gone though the Swans swung back into action and kicked a steadying goal to Barry Hall and a quick goal from Kirk had the Swans back on level pegging for the quarter before Luke Ablett took advantage of the lack of Cats in the goal square to bomb though a goal right on 3 quarter time and gave the Swans a 41 point lead going into the last brake.
The Fourth quarter was used just to add icing to the cake and allow the Swans to gain some valuable percentage points, which we did thanks to early goals from Magic, Davis and a third for O’Keefe to see the Swans run out quite easy 54 point winners.
Sure the Cats were injury hit and that had a huge impact on the outcome of the match, but at the end of the day you can only beat what’s out there and do so in a manner that doesn’t make you look worse off than the losers. We did that tonight thanks to outstanding matches from Hall, Buchanan, Goodes in his 150th match, Barry, Davis, Kirk and Jude Bolton. We are hitting form and we are coming into a tough few weeks, but if we can keep on winning by playing the way we did tonight we should be able to put up a huge fight in the race for the Top 4 and beating for the first time a team that was above us on the ladder and doing so in a manner that would beat ANY side sends the message that we are the real deal if we can hit our straps in the coming weeks.
Sydney 16.9 (105)
Geelong 7.9 (51)
Goals: B Hall 5 R O'Keefe 3 N Davis, B Kirk 2 A Goodes, L Ablett, M O'Loughlin, J Crouch 1.
Best Swan On Ground: Amon Buchanan (Most will say other's on the team played better tonight, but Amon was the REASON why we kicked away with the 9 goal second quarter)
You are the weakest link GOODBYE: In a first for "It's Never Rains, But It Pours" I have to say that after his game tonight, LRT has finally earnt his return ticket to the Magoo's.
Posted by robbieando at 11:46 PM | Comments (2)
Magoos in Big Win Shocker
Just shocking that the Magoos could get away with such a big win (again). Still it seems as though the form of Malceski, Schmidt and Sundqvist tonight was hearting, as was the effort from Schauble who should really be brought into the side for next week to quell Neitz.
Anyway here are the detail's from tonights match
Swans 26.15 (171)
Queanbeyan 5.10 (40)
Goals: Schneider 5 Malceski 4 Saddington, Bevan, Sundqvist 3 Vogels, James, Schmidt 2 Potter, Schauble 1.
Magoo BOG: From all reports Malceski played one of the best matches seen by some RWO regular Magoo watchers, with 40 plus touches and 4 goals. He'll be pushing for senior selection this week as well it seems.
Posted by robbieando at 08:52 PM | Comments (0)
July 07, 2005
Round 15 Team Selections vs Geelong
Here are the teams for this weeks match. The only change is Moore in for Saddo, with it clear that Roosy wants to try and add more grunt to our midfield, with Geelong missing a few of its talls.
SYDNEY
B: Dempster, Barry, C.Bolton
HB: Mathews, Roberts-Thomson, Kennelly
C: McVeigh, Ablett, Crouch
HF: O’Keefe, Hall, J.Bolton
F: Davis, O’Loughlin, Goodes
R: Jolly, Kirk, Williams
Int: Ball, Buchanan, Fosdike, Moore
Emg: Malceski, Saddington, Schneider
In: Moore
Out: Saddington
GEELONG
B: Egan, Scarlett, Milburn
HB: Sanderson, Mooney, Hunt
C: Riccardi, Bartel, Kelly
HF: Ablett, Gardiner, Rooke
F: Byrnes, Kingsley, Chapman
R: King, Corey, Ling
Int: Haynes, Tenace, Koulouriotis, Chambers
Emg: Rahilly, Blake, Thurley
In: Haynes
Out: McCarthy
Posted by robbieando at 09:50 PM | Comments (0)
July 06, 2005
Sydney AFL - Why Throwing Money At the Problem Isn't Working
Over the past week and a half the issue of the lack of impact the AFL is making in Sydney with kids has become a hot topic. While things are much better than they were a decade ago, things aren't where they were expected to be after years of throwing money to help develop the code in metro Sydney. Last week the AFL floated a plan where each club could select a junior from Metro Sydney to train who they could then select in a way simular to a Father Son Selection.
Under the proposed apprenticeship plan, clubs would identify players in their mid-teenage years and list them separately to their senior and rookie players. The footballers would remain in Sydney but be nurtured and developed by their sponsor club.
This is finally acknowledgement from the AFL that more needs to be done in metro Sydney, while the Swans continue to be light years away from a premiership. At the moment, while Auskick numbers continue to be riseing, kids lack the pathway to senior level that kids interstate have. Few school have an Aussie Rules team, let alone Aussie Rules program and the AFL is finally getting message on that front.
Winning Sydney an elusive formula is an interesting article from Caroline Wilson (I know, I know its a first) on the issue. Its shows the difference two cousins (one in Melbourne and one in Sydney) took in their Aussie Rules life and how the one in Sydney is now playing Union for his school because his school doesn't play Aussie Rules in any form.
Just shows you how much work the AFL has to do in Sydney to get regualar AFL players coming from the state.
Posted by robbieando at 07:57 PM | Comments (0)
Injury List After Round 14
Well since I last did an injury list things weren't looking too good, but save for the Maxfield and Doyle long term injuries we already knew about, things look much better going into the last 8 matches of the season. Only real worry is Leo Barry and Andrew Schauble, but it seems both should be available for selection this week (Leo, the seniors and Schaubs, the Magoos).
Anyway here is the list:
Sydney
Leo Barry (knee) TEST
Ben Fixter (quad) TEST
Andrew Schauble (calf) TEST
David Spriggs (knee) 2-3 Weeks
Stuart Maxfield (knee) Indefinite
Stephen Doyle (ankle) Season
Posted by robbieando at 07:30 PM | Comments (0)
Not Happy Jan
Apology to Swans, Saints - Swans Official Site
The Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICAA) has issued a public apology to AFL clubs St Kilda and Sydney for stating incorrectly in their 2005 report into the financial state of the league's 16 clubs that the financial future of both clubs was uncertain.The ICAA apologised to the Saints and the Swans on their official website www.icaa.org.au for stating that both clubs received qualified audit opinions "because there was significant uncertainty that each club would be able to continue as a going concern."
That's a huge mistake to make and one has to wonder how that news went down at Swans headquarters yesterday. I know I wouldn't be happy. But then again when you consider the role the ICAA had in the downfall of "One Tel" and "HIH", is this really that surprising????
Still at least its only a mistake and not factual, otherwise one would have to wonder about how this club is run.
Posted by robbieando at 07:23 PM | Comments (0)
July 05, 2005
And the Next Captain Is.................
Adam Goodes
"Goodes Ready To Lead" - Swans Official Site
Goodes's number is up for Swans - Sydney Morning Herald
So after two weeks of Ben Mathews we have come to our second last captain under the rotation captaincy system and for the next fortnight we see Goodes put forward his case for the job full time when the club names its captain for 2006 in late November, early December.
Out of the six players used under this policy, Goodes is one of the favoured long term options in the eyes of many. For me so far only Kirk and Hall did themselves a long term benefit and I believe that Goodes and Jude Bolton (who will take over the captaincy for the matches against West Coast and Adelaide) will join them in the final showdown when the decision is finally made.
I stand by my choice of Jude Bolton, but of the captains so far Barry Hall is the clear favourite at the minute.
Posted by robbieando at 07:06 PM | Comments (0)
July 04, 2005
Missing Swans Turn Up Too Late To Win
An astounding thing happened on the weekend, the Sydney Swans football team missed their flight and did not arrive for the game against Richmond until three quarter time, forcing look-alikes plucked from the ground to play in their place.
At least, I assume that’s what happened
The boys looked thoroughly disinterested until late in the third quarter, when they realized that if they wanted any chance of four points out of this game, they’d better get their skates on.
The last quarter was all Swans – Richmond couldn’t get a hand on the ball, and the question must be asked – why didn’t this happen earlier The end result is, regardless of their spirited last quarter, the Swans fly back without the points, the late charge falling agonizingly short in the end. Much the same way Collingwood’s last quarter charge did last week.
Had the Swans actually managed to pull off the shock comeback, it would have been a very undeserved victory – plus I think there is some kind of AFL rule that only allows a team to come back from the dead once in a season, and we already used ours against the Lions earlier this year.
So hopefully next week – and for the remainder of the season – the Swans will have learned their lesson, and play four quarters of quality football. It’s high time we pumped a team, I can’t remember the last 100 point win we had.
And against a top 4 aspirant would be the perfect way to do it.
A man can dream can’t he?
Posted by ert at 07:38 PM | Comments (0)
Match Report vs Richmond
The Match Report itself this week has been written by It Never Rains, But It Pours new writer, Dan or as most of you will know him off RWO and Big Footy as "Ert".
My views on the match are that we were lucky to comeback like we did, but the result was fair in the end. We didn't earn a victory and a loss is what we got. Anyway here are the scores and goalkickers and my Swan's BOG.
RICHMOND 12.13 (85)
SYDNEY 12.12 (84)
Goals: N Fosdike 3 M O'Loughlin 3, A Buchanan J Crouch N Davis A Goodes J McVeigh P Williams 1.
Best Swan On Ground: Nic Fosdike (Welcome Back indeed)
Posted by robbieando at 06:59 PM | Comments (0)
July 01, 2005
Team Selections vs Richmond for Round 14
Well changes have been made with Jude Bolton making his expected return from injury and we also get to see for the first time this year Nic Fosdike, who is fighting to keep his play at the club for next season and has been hit with a few injuries this season. Will add some dash and I think for the first time this season the outs were the right ones to go out for the ones coming in.
Anyway here are the teams
SYDNEY
B: Dempster, Barry, C.Bolton
HB: Mathews, Roberts-Thomson, Kennelly
C: McVeigh, Ablett, Crouch
HF: O’Keefe, Goodes, J.Bolton
F: Davis, Hall O’Loughlin
R: Jolly, Kirk, Williams
Int: Ball, Buchanan, Fosdike, Saddington
Em: Malceski, Moore, Nicks
In: J.Bolton, Fosdike
Out: Bevan, Malceski
RICHMOND
B: Newman, Gaspar, Kellaway
HB: Bowden, Hall, Chaffey
C: Hartigan, Coughlan, Tivendale
HF: Pettifer, Simmonds, Deledio
F: Krakouer, Richardson, Campbell
R: Knobel, Tuck, Johnson
Int: Raines, Graham, Thursfield, Hyde
Em: Hilton, Tambling, Morrison
In: Hall, Thursfield, Hartigan
Out: Morrison, Jackson, Stafford
Posted by robbieando at 02:36 PM | Comments (0)