Player Ratings: vs Western Bulldogs Round 2, 2017

It's times like these, after years of being a passionate supporter, it's easy to be cheesed off and blame the umpires. But lets not take the easy out, lets look at the performance of the players.

Lineup

B:       Nick Smith, Heath Grundy, Zak Jones
HB:    Aliir Aliir, Harrison Marsh, Callum Mills
C:       Kieren Jack, Josh Kennedy,  Jake Lloyd
HF:    Oliver Florent, Kurt Tippet, George Hewett
F:       Sam Reid, Lance Franklin, Will Hayward
FOL:  Sam Naismith, Luke Parker, Dan Hannebery
I/C:     Harry Cunningham, Jeremy Laidler, Nic Newman, Robbie Fox

	40: Nick Smith	6 He was OK during the game, but disposal under pressure wasn't effective. Finished with just 2 tackles and 12 disposals
	39: Heath Grundy	6 Didn't have a good game and his first half was particularly poor. Out bodied by Cloke and consistently beaten in the air. Had a better 2nd half.
	10: Zak Jones	6.5 Involved from the get-go, set up Reid for his first, then set up Cloke with a big hit. Faded in the 2nd half after a strong opening half. Finished with 20 disposals, but gave away 3 free kicks and didn't lay a single tackle
	36: Aliir Aliir	4.5 Mixed some brilliant Aliir Aliir moments with some pretty big mistakes. Gave away far too many frees to Cloke and Boyd, giving away too many shots on goal. Fitness is an issue and lack of pre-season was clear.
	36: Harrison Marsh	5 Improvement on last week, but was still poor. Gave away frees, didn't lay tackles and didn't do anything with the ball. Defensively poor throughout.
	14: Callum Mills	5.5 Didn't have a good game, but wasn't alone. Finished with 15 disposals and 4 tackles, but was often caught out under pressure, and put other players under pressure. Disappointingly beaten in the air.
	15: Kieren Jack	4.5 Clearly lacks match fitness and should be out of the side for Foote next week. While he finished with 19 disposals, he was particularly ineffective in the first three quarters. Just not good enough from a leader of the club.
	12: Josh Kennedy	7 Had a quiet first half with just 10 disposals, but lead the tackles for the Swans with 5. He was immense in the last quarter and at one point was threatening to drag the Swans over the line along with Franklin. Finished as the Swans leading tackler.
	44: Jake Lloyd	7.5 Solid throughout, quiet first half but stepped up in the 2nd half providing valuable drive and dash in the last quarter. Worked him bollocks off and was the leading Swans disposal getter with 10 more than next best Kennedy.
	13: Oliver Florent	6.5 The young player started the game well, with a brilliant case down tackle on the primadonna, but faded in the 2nd half. 9 disposals in the 1st half, but finished with just 13. Several important chases and pressure acts.
	8: Kurt Tippet	N/A Wasn't on long enough to rate, injured his ankle in the first 5-8 minutes, didn't return after rolling it again.
	29: George Hewett	6.5 Fantastic opening half, arguably the best Swan on the ground at the time with 13 at half-time and 4 tackles. Faded after half-time and finished with just 17 disposals and 6 tackles.
	10: SamReid	8 Fantastic game from the big fella, 2nd game since he blew out his hammy in 2015 and finished with 6 goals. Hands were like glue and even played back. The best game he's ever played by some margin and finished with career best goals. Should get a brownlow vote.
	23: Lance Franklin	8.5 Amazing performance from the enigmatic forward. Heavily involved throughout the game, but just couldn't hit the scoreboard until late in the 3rd, with 3 points up to that point. Almost singlehandedly won the game for the Swans, kicked 4 goals in 10 minutes, with 3 ridiculous long goals. Should pick up the 3 brownlow votes.
	9: Will Hayward	6.5 Promising debut from the young forward. Laid 6 tackles, finished with 16 disposals, but was unable to kick a goal. Excellent debut game and looking forward to more of the same.
	35: Sam Naismith	5.5 Not a great game from the big man. 10 disposals with 5 clangers, 25 hit outs but comfortably beaten in the ruck, and beaten across the ground by the Dogs' rucks. Still finished with 5 clearances and 5 tackles.
	26: Luke Parker	6 Uncharacteristically poor game from the All Australian midfielder. Virtually unsighted in the first half, he finished the game strongly in the last quarter, but was too little too late. While he 21 disposals, he went at just over 50% DE and was particularly poor at the contests. Still laid 6 tackles.
	4: Dan Hannebery	6 Like Parker, was well, well down on his usual output. He was quiet in the first half with just 9, but went missing in the 3rd. When the game was there to be won, he stepped up, but faded heavily in the last quarter. Doesn't look fit.
	7: Harry Cunningham	5 Not good enough. Had a chance to stop the Dogs' run of goals in the last and refused to put his body on the line. At least 3 more instances of playing it soft throughout the game. Did almost nothing with the ball and his DE% hurt the Swans, just constantly hacking the ball and applying bugger all pressure.
	11: Jeremy Laidler	5 Not good enough and it's really just a coin toss between him and Marsh when the defence is back to full strength. Got himself a goal, but was very poor defensively and did almost nothing. Finished with 16 disposals, 12 of them uncontested, but watching Lin Jong out mark him was like being kicked in the balls.
	28: Nic Newman	7 Will find himself hard done by if he lands on the scrap heap next game. Was superb in the first and held the rickety midfield together with help from Hewett. Laid a lot of tackles, 16 disposals with 12 uncontested and got himself a goal.
	42: Robbie Fox	6.5 Promoted from the Rookie list during the week, his debut game was solid, getting involved with pressure acts, laid 3 tackles and had 13 disposals, 9 contested. Will be better for the game and far from the worst

Bonus rating: 1/10 umpiring performance, another steaming pile of cow dung once again. Dogs getting at least 7 goals (set shots) directly from dubious free kicks. Tired of this.

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