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Looking at the reserves stats from today, great response by 3 of the 4 players dropped from the league team with Riggio, Boekhurst and Jukes all racking up the touches. I noticed that Adam Faulkner only had 5 possessions, assume he must have been injured? If that is the case, I hope it isn't too bad. As well as these guys, Travis Casserley had a good game and would be pushing for selection next week as well as Rudy Riddoch who kicked 3-4. Ethan Hughes was best on ground according to the WAFL website and he was touted as a future league player when he moved from Peel earlier in the year.

Given that the players given a chance in Bunbury such as Burnham, Broad, Smirk and Manton appeared to all acquit themselves OK and assuming that Ames and Geappan will return this week, the match committee will have a pleasantly difficult task to sort out the best team for the crucial game V South Fremantle next Saturday.

I didn't get to Bunbury on Saturday so I would be interested in any views on how the new guys ( Smirk etc) coped with the pressure. It appears that we may be developing some good depth and of course the colts give us great hope for future seasons

mikeh wrote: Looking at the reserves stats from today, great response by 3 of the 4 players dropped from the league team with Riggio, Boekhurst and Jukes all racking up the touches. I noticed that Adam Faulkner only had 5 possessions, assume he must have been injured? If that is the case, I hope it isn't too bad. As well as these guys, Travis Casserley had a good game and would be pushing for selection next week as well as Rudy Riddoch who kicked 3-4. Ethan Hughes was best on ground according to the WAFL website and he was touted as a future league player when he moved from Peel earlier in the year.

Given that the players given a chance in Bunbury such as Burnham, Broad, Smirk and Manton appeared to all acquit themselves OK and assuming that Ames and Geappan will return this week, the match committee will have a pleasantly difficult task to sort out the best team for the crucial game V South Fremantle next Saturday.

I didn't get to Bunbury on Saturday so I would be interested in any views on how the new guys ( Smirk etc) coped with the pressure. It appears that we may be developing some good depth and of course the colts give us great hope for future seasons

Cass's disposal was good to see; Riddoch played a very good game; Faulkner was injured - not sure exactly what the injury was, but he came off after a clsh in the middle holding a towel to his face; Jukes learned his lesson from the previous week and Riggio and Boekhurst were pretty solid.

I would expect Manton to play league again; it will be interesting to see what other changes other than the obvious two Harding will make this week. Cass depending on how he pulled up would have made a pretty solid case to be in the league this week particularly as he was extremely effective with his disposal; something which seems to be lacking from some of our players in recent times.

swan42 wrote:

mikeh wrote: Looking at the reserves stats from today, great response by 3 of the 4 players dropped from the league team with Riggio, Boekhurst and Jukes all racking up the touches. I noticed that Adam Faulkner only had 5 possessions, assume he must have been injured? If that is the case, I hope it isn't too bad. As well as these guys, Travis Casserley had a good game and would be pushing for selection next week as well as Rudy Riddoch who kicked 3-4. Ethan Hughes was best on ground according to the WAFL website and he was touted as a future league player when he moved from Peel earlier in the year.

Given that the players given a chance in Bunbury such as Burnham, Broad, Smirk and Manton appeared to all acquit themselves OK and assuming that Ames and Geappan will return this week, the match committee will have a pleasantly difficult task to sort out the best team for the crucial game V South Fremantle next Saturday.


I didn't get to Bunbury on Saturday so I would be interested in any views on how the new guys ( Smirk etc) coped with the pressure. It appears that we may be developing some good depth and of course the colts give us great hope for future seasons

Cass's disposal was good to see; Riddoch played a very good game; Faulkner was injured - not sure exactly what the injury was, but he came off after a clsh in the middle holding a towel to his face; Jukes learned his lesson from the previous week and Riggio and Boekhurst were pretty solid.


I would expect Manton to play league again; it will be interesting to see what other changes other than the obvious two Harding will make this week. Cass depending on how he pulled up would have made a pretty solid case to be in the league this week particularly as he was extremely effective with his disposal; something which seems to be lacking from some of our players in recent times.

Thanks for that Swan42, what was your assessment of Ethan Hughes game? Do you think he may come into calculations for a league spot?

Some big guns are back this week. Ames Geappan Riggio etc. Ethan Hughes named in the squad,interesting to see if he makes the final 22. Souths will be tough to beat and have been in great form lately. The carrot for Swans is that victory will just about guarantee a home first semi final.

Vastly different looking Swans squad this week & given that the side last week put up a pretty fine effort , I got a feeling they might be fired up for this one

Good freshening up move by the Black Birds just before the Finals stuff comes around last weekend is what I see

This is the game that Swans really need to stand up and be counted. They have played some very poor football in the last month, although from what people have said, last week was an improvement on the West Perth game ( couldn't get much worse than that though).

The Bulldogs are on a bit of a high and funnily enough they have played much better since Haselby announced his decision. They had much the better of us last time everywhere but the scoreboard. Swans cannot afford to take them lightly.

If Swans cannot win a home game at full strength against a team not playing finals, they cannot expect to beat the Lions, Sharks and Eagles in September. That is why a convincing win in this game is so important.

mikeh wrote: This is the game that Swans really need to stand up and be counted. They have played some very poor football in the last month, although from what people have said, last week was an improvement on the West Perth game ( couldn't get much worse than that though).

The Bulldogs are on a bit of a high and funnily enough they have played much better since Haselby announced his decision. They had much the better of us last time everywhere but the scoreboard. Swans cannot afford to take them lightly.

If Swans cannot win a home game at full strength against a team not playing finals, they cannot expect to beat the Lions, Sharks and Eagles in September. That is why a convincing win in this game is so important.

We are getting closer to full strength. However, I would think that Cass would be our best 22.

mikeh wrote: This is the game that Swans really need to stand up and be counted. They have played some very poor football in the last month, although from what people have said, last week was an improvement on the West Perth game ( couldn't get much worse than that though).

The Bulldogs are on a bit of a high and funnily enough they have played much better since Haselby announced his decision. They had much the better of us last time everywhere but the scoreboard. Swans cannot afford to take them lightly.

If Swans cannot win a home game at full strength against a team not playing finals, they cannot expect to beat the Lions, Sharks and Eagles in September. That is why a convincing win in this game is so important.

Spot on Mike think today's effort/ result says a lot about SD
That said South were very very good ps: who was playing on Hams...?

Well done Souths. They were far too good all day. Too fast, too big and too desperate. As for the Swans players they are out of confidence, relying too much on individuals and playing like a team who have hit the wall and cannot wait for the end of the season. I am struggling to see how Harding can turn this around. They have probably blown their chances of a home final unless they can somehow beat the Sharks next week. Credit to Davis and a few other individuals who busted their guts for the team today, but that is the root of the problem in that there are too many passengers and not enough guys who really want to have a go.

Where was the passion, the hunger, the desire and the readiness of last week?
Much like the west perth game the boys simply did not show up ready to play and their efforts overall were poor. Poor kicking, poor decision making, just plain poor footy.

Taking absolutely nothing from South today. They played hard, determined, confident football today. They wanted it more and deserved the win, well done to them.

The only saving grace today was watching the colts play.

Having not missed a game all year I'll be down watching the boys next week hoping that they really show up ready to play with passion and pride.
As a supporter I by no means am giving up and hope the team can get it together.
But it is truly baffling how this team seems to have regressed from the start of the season rather than build upon the momentum of such great play.

I think it will be very interesting who takes the field next week.

Here's hoping for the best next week!!! I'd love to see the boys back at home for the finals and rather not have to make the trip down to east freo twice.