Yep, Switkowski is one of the 3 express paced guys along with Frederick and Collier. Saad has the pace to go with any of them, but it'll be a challenge for Newman and the Doc. It's pretty easy to see how we might come unstuck in this one.
What we can't do is what Essendon did. Their midfield gave up chasing after half time, turning a game that was in the balance halfway through the 3rd quarter into a cakewalk. Parrish has been highlighted for one passage of play in particular where he was prepared to run when Essendon had the ball on the wing only to drop to a slow jog while an opponent ran out of the contest towards F50. We have some form in this regard and there were a few similar clips shown of our defensive efforts last year.
Unless we pressure their mids as they come forward, we'll suffer the same fate as Essendon. Taberner is like a forward version of Weitering. He doesn't do much that's flashy, but he's very good at doing the basic things. He leads well and is comfortable taking marks on the run with his arms straight out towards the ball. Being 198cm, that makes spoiling him very difficult. Weitering is smart enough to stop him from getting the simple leads he did against Laverde, but if their mids are given enough latitude to wait until Taberner gets free and our mids don't drop back to fill the holes, Weitering will have a hard day at the office. He has improved his kicking out of sight and kicked 7 straight. That flatters him a bit as he got 2 from free kicks, including one around the point post when Parrish was penalised for having a crack at the umpire in the centre of the ground. But he kicked 2 from basically the boundary line using the Stevie J, including 1 on his opposite foot. Lobb is also very happy to take marks on the lead as well as being a handful if the ball comes in long.
What we can't do is what Essendon did. Their midfield gave up chasing after half time, turning a game that was in the balance halfway through the 3rd quarter into a cakewalk. Parrish has been highlighted for one passage of play in particular where he was prepared to run when Essendon had the ball on the wing only to drop to a slow jog while an opponent ran out of the contest towards F50. We have some form in this regard and there were a few similar clips shown of our defensive efforts last year.
Unless we pressure their mids as they come forward, we'll suffer the same fate as Essendon. Taberner is like a forward version of Weitering. He doesn't do much that's flashy, but he's very good at doing the basic things. He leads well and is comfortable taking marks on the run with his arms straight out towards the ball. Being 198cm, that makes spoiling him very difficult. Weitering is smart enough to stop him from getting the simple leads he did against Laverde, but if their mids are given enough latitude to wait until Taberner gets free and our mids don't drop back to fill the holes, Weitering will have a hard day at the office. He has improved his kicking out of sight and kicked 7 straight. That flatters him a bit as he got 2 from free kicks, including one around the point post when Parrish was penalised for having a crack at the umpire in the centre of the ground. But he kicked 2 from basically the boundary line using the Stevie J, including 1 on his opposite foot. Lobb is also very happy to take marks on the lead as well as being a handful if the ball comes in long.