Not only got 10,000 worded, got 10,000 worded on the Swans alone
Melican - Really solid. As with McCartin that's a negative for SC purposes.
Lloyd - Preseason game. Biggest concern was absolutely the Dawson kick-ins, at Lloyd's price a 5% or 10% change is enormous and that factor is legit, Dawson is a much bigger and better kick and if he's there full time it's certainly going to present a challenge to Horse of whether he lets Lloyd keep racking it up at the cost of the team or lets Dawson do his thing and risk being attacking, I can just see him struggling with which one of those bad coaching choices he likes more... Otherwise he looked fine, didn't look any worse for wear for whatever the reason he missed the intra-club game.
Gulden - I wanted to save the best for last because, again, do we have a fap smiley! The comparison I hate more than any is the Cyril comparison for any small forward but... yeah I'm going there on this one. In the wet he looked like the only guy playing with a dry ball, he had multiple triple and quadruple tackle attempt/pressure plays, his decision making is absurd for a kid playing his first practice game at AFL level and he's got the pretty left foot as well. I'm not expecting Cyril numbers who was playing in a flag winning side compared to what is still probably a bottom 4 group with a coach who doesn't like scoring but he played a HF role, pushed through the middle of the ground and pretty much everything he did was good in this game. The only forwards who were on his level for us were Heeney and Papley, two AA level players, and, honestly, I thought he was better than either in this one, don't quote me on it but I think he set up all but one of our scoring shots in the 3rd, most with genuine class. Role says he's not an on-field rookie but I'm not sold on that at all based on this game. Very excited to see him in the next hitout to see what he can do but I might kill Horse myself if he's not in the team round 1. Just lock him in. If it sounds over the top, just consider that what I'm saying isn't even close to as gushing as Rampe was about him for the entire 3rd quarter in the commentary box, like he basically didn't talk about anything but how good Gulden is.
GWS - Their team seemed really young and like I'd have a disclaimer but when I go through the list the only guys missing were Davis, Whitfield, Preuss and Hogan, of whom two are KP players with no structural impact, one is the ruck and out long term and the other is genuinely important. Still probably a very good indicator of where the best 22 lies and that some of the names are relevant.
Hopper - Really solid. He's got noticeably more time in the contest than Coniglio and Taranto seem to. Just doesn't feel rushed. Still doesn't appear to be able to kick it consistently though. Isolated I'd like him as a pick to perhaps push to mid 100s but don't think he does this year because, we'll get to the reason...
Coniglio - Good role, played alright, looked fit. Definitely can score premium numbers and given I don't think anyone has basically thought about him compared to everyone else in their midfield, watch him be the answer to the GWS question but happy to miss him.
Greene - Deep forward, same as Heeney basically. If I felt a bit better about GWS I'd like him but too many durability/discipline concerns for not enough upside as a forward. Kind of guy who even if he averages 95 will probably cost the same or less than he does now. No midfield time indicators to me.
Bruhn - 158k mid probably puts him out of play but he did some really nice things. Phil Davis said that he's a strong game next week from a round 1 birth but it's hard to squeeze him in and I didn't see enough scoring potential in a lesser role to justify that premium in a good rookie group. Basically the guys with the premium are better and so are the cheaper guys mostly it seems. Worth watching and could be a solid downgrade option if he isn't there early.
Ash - Really solid but not spectacular. No kick-ins from what I saw, had a few periods where he waxed but reckon he probably had about 70 DT/SC and it felt like a decent game. Need to see a fair bit more next game.
Ward - Looks a lot fitter, actually rucked for a 10m period in the 4th quarter and was solid and Davis did talk of it being a genuine option in the real stuff. Seemed to be more of a wing role for him though, so not impacting some of the other names. I still think he's a chance to float across half back this year.
Green - My god he's good. He's like a mutant combination of Josh Kennedy and Clayton Oliver. He's the reason I couldn't pick Hopper, he's just a genuine class above their other guys in the clearances already, I have no idea how good his tank is but he looks noticeably fitter/better shaped this season. He went head to head with Kennedy/Parker/Mills and managed to beat them far more often than a 2nd year kid should and those 3 are contested bulls so it's saying something, there's only a handful of midfielders in the league of their size and strength in the clearance and he more than matched them. I don't know if he does enough cheap stuff to go premium this year, that's the knock, he'd be going down the pure contested animal path and that generally falls a bit short but he's a special player, definitely got Brownlow potential if he continues to develop.
Cumming - He took almost every kick-in, a couple where other players gave it to him instead of just going themselves. He was actually good in general. Such an awkward price but he looked to be the main rebounder for the Giants. No Whitfield the big spanner in the works obviously but he was the pick of them. Interestingly Davis mentioned that Buntine, Cumming and Idun are battling for 2 spots and the way he spoke on Buntine it definitely felt like he was in the lead. Cumming was considerably better than either on attacking contributions. I have no idea if that implies Ash is ahead or behind them, fwiw. I saw enough that in a no rookie situation he's at least in play.
Taranto - He looked like 2019 Taranto. Midfield and resting forward, he was prolific, at a guess he would have been about 110 DT and probably about 95SC, honestly think he had two sideways backwards kicks and a soccer as his only kicks that went to teammates, really hard to judge in the wet but saw nothing to suggest the kicking has improved and yet I come away from the game with a big tick for anyone considering him. He looked really fit and he did exactly what you'd want outside his kicking which you already know about. Lot to like about his game though and I think anyone who was already liking him would have come away more certain about their choice. His role was good and unimpacted by Green, if anything it was Kelly who was pushed outside more often, of course that could also be preseason and change in the real stuff.
Haynes - If you were looking for something from him it could only be "don't pick me". Was watching as he's a guy who has a lot of value potential if he's the intercept and rebound guy, structurally there really wasn't any intercept so very hard to judge that but he clearly wasn't the rebound guy, he's one of the guys who gave up multiple kick-ins to Cummings for example.
Buntine - As mentioned above, sounds like he's leading the race over two fantasy relevant players though it's hard to see why from the game. He's pretty much their version of what Fox is for Sydney, as a fan you'd rather the kids who have potential over the boring team man but coaches tend to love those guys.
Kelly - As mentioned, he seemed to be very outside, mostly wing. He did some really nice things, was noticeably cleaner than most and was basically Kelly as you'd expect. Probably the most important thing in the game came from the commentary where it was highlighted a couple of times that he's had the best preseason of his career and it has been flawless which given his only real issue is durability and the strong relationship between the two is a very strong sign.
De Boer - Played almost entirely forward from what I could see and they did talk about him in that role and how he was decent in it at Freo. Pretty uncommon for there to be a tag in preseason so hard to read much out of it but if he is playing that role it could be another negative for Lloyd as Sydney face GWS in round 5 so if he did tag him that could be perfect timing. Impossible to plan for that though. Also means he obviously didn't impact that fragile midfield balance in this game.
Flynn - Was excellent, couple of beautiful hitouts and very good followup work. He showed nothing to me to suggest they should be playing Mumford for anything but injury. Perhaps even more reassuring was that Davis mentioned that they'd probably bring in Briggs to help out as a genuine 2nd ruck if they did need to do anything. He was rock solid and to me looks a very strong on-field rookie option that will, admittedly, need a solid exit plan for Preuss' return if we get an accurate window on that.
Buckley - Shame about his price, he looked really solid and gave a good contest but at 225k he offers nothing for SC, imo as can't see the job security or scoring potential to justify that premium, quite possibly would make no cash. Probably also goes out for Whitfield.
