Development Coach Jeremy Laidler is impressed with his Swans’ reserves sides’ ability to adapt and grow as not only a squad, but individually - as some of our young guns look to mount a case for senior selection.

After a solid hit-out with Melbourne, here’s what Jeremy had to say about some of the Sydney Swans players that took part in the match.

Elijah Taylor
"Elijah’s been really good. He’s getting used to playing in a professional environment, and meeting the standards we set for him. He’s been great at adapting to different conditions, working closely with Brett Kirk about setting strong preparation routines. Each week his minutes have increased until he’s playing full minutes. Elijah’s development on his work rate have been huge, his GPS numbers are really good. He’s always doing extras, adjusting his body - building out. He kicked 4 goals on the weekend, so it’s paying off for him. 

Zac Foot
“Zac has had a really impressive last few weeks, I've worked closely with him since he got here, and he's always wanting to improve. He’s a really solid runner, so he’s working on getting his running patterns more effective, whilst his hardness has also been key recently. He’s got a great footy IQ - incredibly diligent with working on his craft, always doing extras, seeking knowledge from coaches and putting it into practice."

Lewis Taylor
“His attitude been spot on since playing in the reserve side, having that leadership has been a great influence - the boys learn a lot from how hard he works contest to contest. He always puts his best foot forward, and has been dominating in the midfield - he’s a great presence to have in the side." 

Matt Ling
“With some injury setbacks, Matt’s resilience has been exceptional. The main focus for him is to keep him out playing games and getting as much footy into him as we can. He’s been playing on some good quality small forwards, and always reviews his game well - he did some work Nick Smith in the pre-season so to learn from one of the best has been really valuable for his development." 

Sam Reid
"Reidy played limited minutes on the weekend, but was very effective during that time. He’ll continue to ramp up training and in doing so will increase his game time."   

Sam Wicks
“As a pressure forward rotating into the midfielder, a big key for Sam has been focusing on consistency - hurrying opponents, providing those 2nd and 3rd efforts. He watches a fair bit of Papley’s vision, as well as Ben Ronke - how they hurry their opponents." 

Will Gould
"Working on a variety of opponents, Gould has been incredibly versatile for us down back. He’s developing how to adapt to multiple opponents throughout the duration of the game, whether it’s small or tall opponents, using his smarts. He’s been working closely with Callum Mills on positioning, being that intercept where required - he’s young but has a senior head on him." 

Whilst Laidler was impressed with his side, he also expressed his gratitude to Melbourne for providing a great contest for his boys to put their skills into practice.