It doesn’t happen a lot anymore, not like the ‘good old days’, but the seniors and reserves travelled away together for this week’s game. We travelled together on the plane up to the Gold Coast, but then to keep our routine as ‘normal’ as possible, we set off on our own bus to the ground for goal-kicking practice and then back to our own hotel.
Some people call them superstitions, while others call them routines, but there are things that players always do before a match. One thing we as development coaches do is spend time with the younger players to help them develop their pre-game routine. Playing football is all about preparation from getting your recovery early in the week and watching vision of the last week’s match with the coaches, to training hard during the week and preparing for the upcoming opposition. For home games, players generally find something that works for them the night before which could include watching a watch a movie, the footy or eating a meal that has been discussed with the dietitian, followed by a good night sleep in their own bed. Away trips can throw up some challenges because you have to eat with the team, so while meals are healthy, it could be something different to what you’d eat at home. But, the biggest difference is always the beds. While it’s hard to change a mattress, it is common to see the boys with their own pillows. We have all no doubt experienced sleepless nights in a foreign bed, so anything you can do to help with a solid night’s sleep the night before you play is definitely important.
Looking back on this week’s game, I do question if our preparation was the best it could have been. We played the Gold Coast, who on paper have not had the best season, mainly due to their long injury list. Like us last year, they have regularly had to play with more than ten unlisted players, which meant ten-plus players who don’t train together regularly and who don’t fully understand the game plan.
The challenge for us, with a full list to pick from, was not to look at this game as top versus bottom. Unfortunately for us, this didn’t happen at the start due to a combination of fantastic pressure from the Gold Coast and laziness from our boys, both in work rate and in our ball use. The Suns kept us goalless in the first quarter and we could only manage six behinds for the term. It shouldn’t take a spray from the coach, but we felt it necessary and slowly, albeit spasmodically, the boys started to play a little better. We started to see a better work rate and we slowly fought our way back into the game. But even when we did hit the front, we were never able to fully pull away from the dogged Suns who kept themselves in the game. We won the game in the end, but there will be plenty of learning experiences from the match. We will spend the week examining every part of what we do before, during and after the match to make sure that every week the boys play four quarters of good football.
Player Focus:
Each week, the Sydney Swans development coaches, Josh Francou, Jared Crouch and Nick Davis will highlight the performances of some of the Swans’ NEAFL players.
These players are those who contributed well on game day, made improvements or played a significant role for the Swans.
NEAFL Player of the Week – Tim Membrey
Tim was the standout player in the Swans reserves this week. His game continues to improve with each outing and he is now one of our most consistent players. He looks sharp on his feet, communicates well with the forwards to help set up structures and is consistently hitting the scoreboard having eight scoring shots again this week. Tim also has been spending time in the midfield where he doesn’t look out of place.
Key Stats: 15 kicks, seven handballs, nine marks, three goals
Ryan O’Keefe
Pebbles played on ball and spent some time forward this week. He battled hard all day and was again a solid contributor. He worked hard inside and was able to give our runners some good supply. It was pleasing to see Ryan finish off well in front of goals with two majors.
Key Stats: eight kicks, 13 handballs, four marks, two goals
Mike Pyke
Saturday’s game was Mike’s first game back following a four-week lay-off with a hamstring strain. He was the dominant ruckman on the ground getting his hand to the ball at stoppages and using it well to advantage by giving our on-ballers first look. He did spend some time forward, where he was able to mark strongly and generate two scoring opportunities.
Key Stats: Five kicks, seven handballs, five marks, 47 hit-outs
Brandon Jack
BJ played the first three quarters on the weekend then was rested as the emergency for the seniors. He has spent more time on ball over the last two weeks and has not looked out of place. Although he did have a few wayward kicks, Brandon was able to find plenty of the ball and looked sharp around the contest.
Key Stats: 11 kicks, 16 handballs, four marks
George Hewett
George had a solid game this week. His form has been progressing steadily and he has been spending more time forward and on the wing as he learns new roles within the team structure. There are a few areas of George’s game we are working on and it has been pleasing to see him trying to implement those things on game day.
Key Stats: 13 kicks, 10 handballs, four marks, two goals
Zak Jones
Zak played in defence for the majority of the game but also spent some time on-ball where he was able to find the footy. At times he did over use by hand but had a solid game and is improving each and every week.
Key Stats: 13 kicks, 17 handballs, four marks
