Quick Toughts - Swans vs Crows
General - Really good game, Crows brought the heat early, Swans handled it well, ultimately better goal kicking was the main difference between the two teams. Was good to see a physical contest after so many utterly bruise free games this year.
Swans - The kids go alright. For all the talk about Buddy he was an afterthought in this one and had no real influence on the outcome. Ball movement was excellent but pressure was also great. Mostly though it's the kids doing the work.
Kennedy - Same old for him, good solid game.
Parker - Another junktime performance by him as he ran out the game strong and scored alright.
Campbell - What a stud. Won the ball on the intercept, that left foot and growing with confidence as it went on, demanding the ball and even managed to get a few kick-ins off Lloyd. Stud!
Gulden - Some idiot benched him, again... Kid is glorious, just finds all the dangerous places and uses the ball so well, his decision making is just absurd already. Scary that he's probably only the 3rd best kid the Swans took.
Dawson - Solid game across half back, reckon this is pretty much where he's at this year.
Lloyd - That ratio is just absurd, he had the worst couple of plays by a Swan all day but he just did a good job of SC pimping obviously to get there, to his credit did have several spoils which are always hidden stats but I thought he was one of our worst which obviously isn't reflected by the SC! Still think those not starting wouldn't be afraid right now with Dawson and Campbell definitely harming him.
Mills - Solid game, not great but kept it ticking over and gets out with an acceptable score.
Heeney - Another strong scoring effort from a bad role, basically the only time he wasn't forward today was the time he got stuck rucking. Played well but the role is an issue, looking forward to next week's game to see how he handles a strong opponent.
Warner - Was great, mopped up all of Rowbottom's midfield minutes and made the most of it. Looks a really good one.
McCartin - One of those amazing "great games" where your man kicks 6. To be fair most of Tex's goals were other players getting caught holding the ball by him. He looks very comfortable down back.
McDonald - Faded in the 2nd half but was the best Swans forward when the game was hot. He's a scary good prospect.
Cunningham - Poor guy, his job was basically to get the ball out of the bucket for Lloyd all day, amount of times Lloyd seagulled the kick-in off him today was actually insane. Was good to see Dawson and Campbell both tell Lloyd to "politely" go away given how much better they are than him with the ball.
Hickey - Started big but faded as the game got more open the longer it went. Still a solid game against a decent opponent.
Franklin - Looked good all things considered but was managed a fair bit on minutes and definitely staying at home mostly.
Crows - A really strong loss for them, goal kicking a MAJOR issue for them but other than that they hung with the Swans, brought good pressure and mostly used it pretty well. Walker up forward a real bonus.
Walker - Looked great, his defensive work was existent for what feels like the first time since his knee injury and was strong on the lead, burned a few chances and probably should have kicked 10. Definitely an interesting trade target this week. I still have no idea if the Crows are good, Brisbane have been so bad and the Cats squeaked past them that the Crows may be awful also and the Swans not much better
Laird - Workmanlike, just kept grinding away at the stoppages. Just a great "bad" game for him.
Sloane - Solid again, went forward for extended stints once the game was over, seemed management related. Played well though.
Berry - Big fade out again in the 2nd half but god he goes hard. If he can build the engine and finish out games he can push 90s pretty consistently with his defensive work. Should have kicked 3.1 instead of 0.4 today as well, needs to work on the goal kicking because a D grade amateur would be pretty dirty on his misses.
Smith - Glad I avoided this trap, though probably averages 105 from here to prove me wrong
Sholl - Lot more grounded performance today, couldn't find the space well today and the ball almost moved too fast for the wingers.
O'Brien - Rule changes are definitely hurting him, he relies on the contest and slower ball movement, both are lacking and he just can't find a way to score right now. The ruck changes are definitely something, looking forward to seeing Gawn and if he can overcome, Grundy looks the anomaly right now.
Murray - Good solid game, did nothing wrong. Probably can score a bit better but that's about right for him. Backs himself in the air which is good.
Rowe - Rough ratio, not even sure what he did wrong in the first quarter to be -2, didn't get near it in the 2nd unfortunately and then got nothing for his stats after that, had a leading mark into goal assist that netted a whole 2 points because game was over, that rough one where his good stuff was junk. If course I fielded him instead of Gulden because rookies...
Butts - Same as Murray to be honest, was solid but just didn't score for SC.