TOPIC:

Footy is back at Basso!!! A fine and sunny afternoon ahead so we should see a plethora of Swans supporters who haven’t ventured away for the Easter break in attendance. 

Unfortunate for all involved that we’ve drawn WC in round 1 as with no colts and reserves games and the likely presence of very few opposition supporters the crowd will not reach the heights it could’ve if we were matched against a traditional team.

On a side note… the oval looks in very poor condition!!! Far too much traffic on the ground with women’s teams, futures and the men’s teams giving little time for required maintence. 

Selectionn will be interesting as our first 2 pre season hit outs were impressive and there seems to be no long term injuries. There are some like Erceg, Glass-Mckasker who have had a limited pre season and then there is Stack who is clearly under done. Being a hot day against an AFL hardened squad at this stage of the season we can ill afford to carry any player not ready to go the distance. I’d be playing GM and making sure Erceg  had another week of conditioning. Stack needs about 6-8 weeks of condition and commitment.

Another interesting selection will be the ruck option. Is it Blakely, is it Germs? They won’t play both and for mine Ireland needs to be the fwd/ruck option. We can’t have a midfield of Rokhar, Chalcraft, Turner, Clarke, McGlaughlin, Odonahughe, Pina on the wing etc and not give them first use. 

Backs look strong with Notte, Stephens, Howard, Erceg, Collins, Pasini and I’m keen to see Ehlers develop. 

And with a more attacking style our fwds should have more opportunities. Kohlman is no star but gives us a target. Ireland needs to step up and Edwards is always lively. The resting mids will be dangerous and hopefully we see young Cartwright step up.

It’s only round 1 but I think this game will tell us a lot about what we can expect this year. We can ill afford to lose to WC early in the season because there is every chance it will be a free hit as the season progresses. 

Agree Danger. Swans need to bank as many wins as they can early in the season to avoid getting into the situation we did last year when the season was all over by the end of May. I honestly think this team can make the finals this year given the quality of the new players and the depth we have now as opposed to previous seasons. However, to achieve this goal, Swans need to beat the likes of West Coast which won't be as easy this year.
Lets hope for a convincing performance by the boys this Saturday

Love your assessment and comments about the fitness of one Sydney Stack Danger. Will watch with interest to see if he is made to adhere to the standards required by every other player, or he gets special treatment.

I know your club has a strict policy that players must either be employed, studying or combination of both or they won't be considered for selection. Is he still doing a diesel mechanic apprenticeship? I believe Perth might have assisted with that.

DD wrote:

Love your assessment and comments about the fitness of one Sydney Stack Danger. Will watch with interest to see if he is made to adhere to the standards required by every other player, or he gets special treatment.

I know your club has a strict policy that players must either be employed, studying or combination of both or they won't be considered for selection. Is he still doing a diesel mechanic apprenticeship? I believe Perth might have assisted with that.

Cant comment on his personal situation and my opinion on fitness is only from the eye. My original post was somewhat referring to picking a side fit enough to compete with an AFL pre seasoned squad who would be 3-4 weeks more advanced than us and having a couple of others off limited prep. 

Hes definitely fitter than when playing in the South West last year and so he should but still has a way to go. Ideally we will be contending for a finals berth and he will stay the course to be the cream on top come the business end. I did see one or two things he did on Saturday that reminded me good he is, just deft little touches here and there and some lateral movements that others can’t do.

 Alternatively I don’t think anyone will be surprised if he’s not around in 6 weeks time if he’s made to earn it even though it’s clearly in his best interests. 
 

Will be tough for Swans against at least 12 listed full timers but from what I saw in the scratchy v Subi you will certainly have every chance of grabbing the points if you can get an early lead. Would expect they will finish well given their superior fitness levels. If WCE have a reasonable run with injuries I expect WCER will be every bit as strong as Peelmantle usually are.

The more I think about this game the more it worries me that Swans may be ambushed. The Eagles list is far healthier than it has been for the last 2 years which means we are going to be playing against more AFL players who will be fitter due to a more intense pre season and they have a better coach now. Kyal Horsley is used to success and will not tolerate poor performance.
The Swans boys need to be switched on from the opening bounce on Saturday

It's never good to draw WCER first up because that is usually when their list is at it's healthiest. History shows that if WCER or Peel have 10 - 15 AFL players, they will be very competitive. If they avoid further injuries, they will get stronger over the next few weeks as guys like Ryan, Sheed and Culley come back. 

No Erceg which is understandable. Glass-Mckasker, Stephens, Ireland and Odonaghue all missing and must not be ready. Would be good if we could get a bit more info from the club about the male program. 

Yes the downside of playing West Coast first up is there are no ressies so if these guys are fit, they will have to wait another week for some match practice.

I had a look at the round 23 team from last year that played Peel and the following players are not in the extended list of 26 for Saturdays game
O'Donohue ( coming back from injury)
Bain ( gone to Bunbury)- 
Riley (?)
Fisher(left)
Ireland 
Jones(left)
Kemp(left)
Bright(?)
Glass-Mccasker (Injury)
Stephens (? - he played in 2 of the practice matches so may have picked up an injury)
Humphries (AFL draft)

So half of that team is missing from this saturdays list

The ins to the squad are
Collins (back from injury)
Howard ( welcome back Howie!)
Pasini 
Watson 
Reidy
Cartwright
Kohlmann 
Hewett
Blakely
Rokahr
Chalcraft
Ehlers
Evan Smith
Tom Smith
Tester

This is quite a turnover in the off season and the team seems to me to be a good mix of experience, youth and some handy recruits, with some good players to come back. We seem to have a bit of depth this year and I think overall the team is an improvement on the 2023 model.

As for West Coast, their AFL team is playing on Sunday, so they will be taking over a few emergencies to Melbourne, one of whom is Gaff so they won't be as strong as I had thought but we can't take them lightly

UPDATE; The Eagles are only taking one emergency to Melbourne so it looks like we may see Gaff at Bassendean tomorrow after all

Swans will win by 19 points and continue the dominance of your head to head with them:)