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Grassy wrote: .....and yet,you guys scored 13 more Goals.If that wasn't coming from your forward line,you have an Enbarassment of riches.

That's a problem I'd love PERTH to have.Frequently!Some problem!

Very true but all I'm saying is we don't have a spearhead at this stage & I still think Dela is of more value on the ball. No x factor Yarran & the pressure from Deluca will be sorely missed...

clanger and stevo are still to come in and both can play up forward DG although I hear what you're saying

DG wrote:

Senior Seagull wrote: Good quality game for a scratchie in good conditions up at Basso. Strong breeze all day favouring the Guildford end. 1st qtr we kicked into the strong breeze, our first 10 mins was sublime fast precise footy that yielded 3 goals. Super clearance work out of the centre and the forwards were carving them up ..... then we seemed to lose the plot and Swans, like the good team they are came back into the game strongly and kicked the next 6 I think to lead at qtr time. They were a bit inaccurate and could have lead by more.

From the next two qtrs. it was good fast open footy with both teams showing good pre-season skills, Swans just a goal or so in front at the half after we ground out a few late goals. Third qtr was a good one for us as we held them pretty well with their second turn with the breeze, just a couple of goals in it at 3/4 time.

We finished with the breeze over the top of them as they started to fade a bit and their skills dropped off. Final score was a solid 4 goal margin.

Sokol bagged another 5 goals although tarnished by a report that looked pretty soft. Hopefully if found guilty it will be a reprimand. Solid even team effort not too many standouts but my best were Mahoney, Kitch, Sokol, Madut, Hancock & Lockyer. Others to show some form were Max Walters who got better as the day went on and better efforts from Mckenzie & Woodley. Young Dylan Clark showed a bit, his silky left foot skills were nice to watch. Phez was back and will be better for the run, took some time to get into the game.

Listening in at 1/4 time apparently we lost a player before the bounce, don't know who, so started 1 player down with 5 on the bench instead of 6, we then lost Broughts in the 2nd qtr to what I believe is a shoulder AC to be confirmed after scans, so could be anything from 2 - 6 weeks. That left us 2 down on the bench so a terrific effort to run over Swans at the end. I don't know enough about the Swans team list to know who was missing maybe the Swans blokes can let us know, but they looked pretty strong. Banfield and Elari were very active, Banfield will be a real handful if he stays fit. Cary gave young Jackson a lesson, was dominant early kicked a bag until Lockyer quietened him down a bit. Really mobile tall, great mark and pretty good kick when he decides he wants to make an impact.

Notable outs were Clanger, Horse, Robbo, Le Fanu & Kennedy. Stevo, Moore and Waters still on the injury list but word is Stevo will play first week, probably in the two's, Moore is a few weeks off and Waters is TBA.

Must note the poor condition of the surface at Basso for this time of year, lots of big sandy patches, not a good look, was there some concerts or other events that have damaged the ground? Sad to see the big scoreboard gone, just a small electronic board on the fence (even smaller than the old one at Leedo!! hope the new one is bigger).

After the two scratchies, it's clear to see we are a fair bit behind last years team and I expect it will take some time for the new guys, recruits and boys up from the 2's & colts to get up to speed, but two solid wins especially today against quality opposition.

A week off now before the season proper starts with the trek down to Centrelink stadium, should be a stern test but a lot will depend on who Fremantle decide to release to the Crabs, who we know are at Freo's beck and call.

Top job there senior! What do you think of Hay? Do you know if & how Shepheard went in the magoos?

Thanks DG, Hay was ok, good at times but made a few too many mistakes even for pre-season, but worth persisting with seeing we are short on talls. Spoke with Baz Fuller at 3/4 time and he said they have big wraps on Sheppard but he has a successful contracting business down south. They are trying to get him settled work wise up here and he's keen to give WAFL a go. Couldn't make it up this weekend due to work. Hard decision for the boy to make, work is long term and footy is not so he needs to make a full commitment to one or other.

Grassy wrote: Home and Away form is different from Scratch Match form.We all know that.

But I reckon with the descriptions given,Subi are going to be very tough to beat,yet again.You guys are going to have to have a deadset shocker or 2,to lose,let alone have your pants pulled down.

Haven't looked at your draw,but I reckon you could go 18 - 2 at least,before Finals start.

Grassy we've had 2 solid wins one against a very undermanned WP and one good hit out against a near full strength SD which is more of a positive indicator as Swans are a well drilled team. No where near the manpower quality of last year without the likes of Bollan, Yazz, Rumba, Worthington, Deluca & especially menagola. Great to have Cockie & Broughts back but Broughts did a shoulder AC so no idea how long he will be out. Young Jackson at FB is a work in progress but we saw him taken apart by a quality forward yesterday, he needs to spend some time talking to rumba about how to body up on these types of players.

That being said I agree if we can keep our a graders on the park we will be in the flag mix again.

Reading the ST this morning it's interesting to read how in the first round Wart & Fart are expected to be loaded with some real AFL quality, not just the leftovers. We have Fart down at Fart Park and without Cockie & Broughton that will be a real indicator of where we are placed.

DG wrote:

Grassy wrote: Home and Away form is different from Scratch Match form.We all know that.

But I reckon with the descriptions given,Subi are going to be very tough to beat,yet again.You guys are going to have to have a deadset shocker or 2,to lose,let alone have your pants pulled down.

Haven't looked at your draw,but I reckon you could go 18 - 2 at least,before Finals start.

Maybe. I still think our forwards are a bit suspect at this stage. Apart from Sokol I think the others were beaten yesterday for the most part

DG hwen the delivery was reasonable I thought our forwards were ok. yes we don't yet have an identifiable spearhead but Sokol is producing as are Halligan and the new smalls looked better at the game went on. Once we get the mids at full strength with Robbo, Horse & Cockie back in plus Clanger in the ruck forward rotation with Dela & Madut I think we can produce enough goals. My concern yesterday was with what should be and has been our real strength and that is the backline. They were very loose especially in the first half and were caught out with Swans pace & rebound too many times. Just wondering without Rumba down there "captaining" the backs they currently don't have that same discipline. Look to Lockyer to step into that role along with Twoemy who should be left as the sweeper rather than a wingman, something he's elite at.

Just a note on Dave Madut, that was close to his best game I have seen, his tapwork at times was terrific, he's reading the game better and he's taking more marks, lets hope he can stay fit and release Clang and Dela to do more key forward work.

Hopefully they can sort his work then Senior. I agree with you re. Hay, he has a crack & creates space but doesn't get it enough & seems to be rushed. Yes I was also surprised with our backs, I think we will need to use Clanger a lot down there

our backs were very good against the jerkers last week and think they'll be ok. also agree that big mudhut seems to have taken his game to a new level which is encouraging. I said in an earlier that I think our forwards might be the problem this year but also believe that our Rolls Royce mids will get enough into our front half to kick winning scores. Grimley getting poached by the drug cheats could be the difference between winning a flag and struggling to kick big enough scores.

Last time Swans played Subi last year it was a 1point win for Swans.Wet day with a second quater hail storm.Against the breeze the ducks got the win in the last qtr.Remember Tim Geappen fantastic last qtr.Gave Subi a good run in Saturdays practise match also.We can challenge Subi in 2016.

gtrxuone wrote: Last time Swans played Subi last year it was a 1point win for Swans.Wet day with a second quater hail storm.Against the breeze the ducks got the win in the last qtr.Remember Tim Geappen fantastic last qtr.Gave Subi a good run in Saturdays practise match also.We can challenge Subi in 2016.

Was at that game GTR, rippa game apart from the result. You guys were all over us till half time then Schoey move Wheeler into the Ruck and he began to dominate and we got right back into the game but Swans hung on strongly against the breeze while we proceeded to butcher several scoring opportunities and fell 1pt short. Great game of WAFL footy.

Senior Seagull wrote:

gtrxuone wrote: Last time Swans played Subi last year it was a 1point win for Swans.Wet day with a second quater hail storm.Against the breeze the ducks got the win in the last qtr.Remember Tim Geappen fantastic last qtr.Gave Subi a good run in Saturdays practise match also.We can challenge Subi in 2016.

Was at that game GTR, rippa game apart from the result. You guys were all over us till half time then Schoey move Wheeler into the Ruck and he began to dominate and we got right back into the game but Swans hung on strongly against the breeze while we proceeded to butcher several scoring opportunities and fell 1pt short. Great game of WAFL footy.

Yes, I had the pleasure to be at that. Bloody cold. That was the game Swans Mr Pres appeared nice and imbibed and spent the last quarter hanging shit on the Subi players at the interchange - most notably Robinson and Twomey - no surprise. Some interesting banter between he and some Subi faithful. Very entertaining day. Almost got knocked out by a flying mullet when the siren went..