Analysis 2019 List, Game Plan and Best 22?

Feb 28, 2007
51,375
66,864
Sydney
AFL Club
Sydney
I wanted to discuss this but couldn't decide if it fit into the drafting and trading thread. I decided it might be best to create a new thread entirely about the current state of the Swans list and what changes you think should happen to the list and/or gameplan in 2019.

For me this was our team today

B: Rampe, Grundy, Lloyd
HB: Newman, Aliir, McVeigh
C: Cunningham, Kennedy, Heeney
HF: Florent, McCartin, Hewett
F: Parker, Franklin, Hayward
FOLL: Sinclair, Jack, Hannebery
I/C: Jones, Papley, Robinson, Ronke

and I think of those players, the only players who are guaranteed a spot are

B: Rampe, ???????, Lloyd
HB: ??????, Aliir, McVeigh
C: Cunningham, ???????, Heeney
HF: Florent, ??????, Hewett
F: Parker, Franklin, Hayward
FOLL: Sinclair, ??????, ??????
I/C: Jones, Papley, ???????, Ronke

Now it is too early for a best 22, especially with us likely having a busy trade period but I feel like there are some things that need to happen in 2019.

- Mills and Heeney both need to be full time midfielders
- Sinclair needs to be a forward
- Papley, Ronke and Hayward need to be used as forwards

so even though I said it was too early for a best 22 I am going to do one anyway, and I am assuming Lloyd, Newman and Hannebery are leaving

B: Rampe, Grundy, Smith
HB: Stoddart, Aliir, McVeigh
C: Cunningham, Kennedy, Heeney
HF: Florent, Sinclair, Hewett
F: Parker, Franklin, Hayward
FOLL: Naismith, Dawson, Mills
I/C: Jones, Papley, Blakey, Ronke

I would also like to see Blakey used as a big bodied midfielder. He is too lightweight to be a forward at the moment but I feel like it is big enough to be a good in and under midfielder as he has shown an ability in that area.

Also if it were up to me I would be heavily targeting Pruest from North Melbourne and Miles from Richmond. If we got both of them I think our best 22 would look more balanced and more healthy

B: Rampe, Grundy, Smith
HB: Stoddart, Aliir, McVeigh
C: Cunningham, Kennedy, Heeney
HF: Florent, Sinclair, Hewett
F: Parker, Franklin, Hayward
FOLL: Pruest, Miles, Mills
I/C: Jones, Papley, Blakey, Ronke

as Presut and Miles would both help a lot in our very poor clearance figures.

So our midfield in 2017 was

Kennedy
Parker
Hannebery
Jack
Heeney

and I think in 2018 it should be

Miles
Mills
Heeney
Kennedy
Blakey
Parker

Which is a much younger group and I feel a more dynamic one, especially if we got Pruest who is realistically a much better ruckman than Sinclair. I also think it would be a good starting point for a midfield transition period, moving from the old guard to the new one.

What do you generally think?
 
I posted several months ago about how watching Swans games seemed to be arduous, stressful, cluttered and congested affairs. That our players never seemed to have the time and space to move freely and play instinctively. That's more true than ever after watching the Collingwood and West Coast final tonight. Even though it was an intense game, they just had so much more time and space to set up plays. I really think we are in trouble with the SCG.

Someone will inevitably reply with measurements saying the dimensions of the SCG aren't that much different to any other ground, that it's smaller size is over-rated etc. And that may be the case but the fact is we have no time and space on that ground. It becomes congested in a hot second and it's very difficult to have any sort of freedom in the way we play. I worry about what that means for the likes of Florent, Jones, Aliir, Ronke etc... They all have looked so much more dangerous on bigger grounds like the MCG where they can use their leg speed and be a little more daring and creative with how they move the ball and attack the contest. They just look so stifled at home.

It sucks.
 

bungee

Inside Mid
Aug 16, 2006
7,113
9,223
Sussex
AFL Club
Sydney
Other Teams
Sydney Swans
Getting our forward line right is key but we were genuinely unlucky with injuries this year. A fit Buddy (who can actually train) plus Reid and Sinclair playing forward will make a huge difference next year. McCartin can be used to fill gaps as well as some time in the NEAFL which would be a better pace for his development. He is going to be a beauty and getting smashed in this final will hopefully be the making of him. With Smith back Jones and/or Mills might go through the midfield more, giving Papley more time forward to help out our young small forwards like Ronke and Hayward. O'Riordan, Fox and Dawson plus Stoddart will play more senior time and there are a few more coming along nicely. Cameron should be getting more senior games. The problem is the hole in the middle where the trading ban stopped us from getting 100+ gamers in to fill the experience void. That's left us keeping guys like Jack maybe a year past their due by date purely for the experience. We should be recruiting a few reliable experienced players who can rotate through the midfield or provide us with some run. The Swans have always been good on recycling players and I think we should continue to look for the diamonds in the rough. How Blakey comes along will be interesting.
 

bungee

Inside Mid
Aug 16, 2006
7,113
9,223
Sussex
AFL Club
Sydney
Other Teams
Sydney Swans
I wanted to discuss this but couldn't decide if it fit into the drafting and trading thread. I decided it might be best to create a new thread entirely about the current state of the Swans list and what changes you think should happen to the list and/or gameplan in 2019.

For me this was our team today

B: Rampe, Grundy, Lloyd
HB: Newman, Aliir, McVeigh
C: Cunningham, Kennedy, Heeney
HF: Florent, McCartin, Hewett
F: Parker, Franklin, Hayward
FOLL: Sinclair, Jack, Hannebery
I/C: Jones, Papley, Robinson, Ronke

and I think of those players, the only players who are guaranteed a spot are

B: Rampe, ???????, Lloyd
HB: ??????, Aliir, McVeigh
C: Cunningham, ???????, Heeney
HF: Florent, ??????, Hewett
F: Parker, Franklin, Hayward
FOLL: Sinclair, ??????, ??????
I/C: Jones, Papley, ???????, Ronke

Now it is too early for a best 22, especially with us likely having a busy trade period but I feel like there are some things that need to happen in 2019.

- Mills and Heeney both need to be full time midfielders
- Sinclair needs to be a forward
- Papley, Ronke and Hayward need to be used as forwards

so even though I said it was too early for a best 22 I am going to do one anyway, and I am assuming Lloyd, Newman and Hannebery are leaving

B: Rampe, Grundy, Smith
HB: Stoddart, Aliir, McVeigh
C: Cunningham, Kennedy, Heeney
HF: Florent, Sinclair, Hewett
F: Parker, Franklin, Hayward
FOLL: Naismith, Dawson, Mills
I/C: Jones, Papley, Blakey, Ronke

I would also like to see Blakey used as a big bodied midfielder. He is too lightweight to be a forward at the moment but I feel like it is big enough to be a good in and under midfielder as he has shown an ability in that area.

Also if it were up to me I would be heavily targeting Pruest from North Melbourne and Miles from Richmond. If we got both of them I think our best 22 would look more balanced and more healthy

B: Rampe, Grundy, Smith
HB: Stoddart, Aliir, McVeigh
C: Cunningham, Kennedy, Heeney
HF: Florent, Sinclair, Hewett
F: Parker, Franklin, Hayward
FOLL: Pruest, Miles, Mills
I/C: Jones, Papley, Blakey, Ronke

as Presut and Miles would both help a lot in our very poor clearance figures.

So our midfield in 2017 was

Kennedy
Parker
Hannebery
Jack
Heeney

and I think in 2018 it should be

Miles
Mills
Heeney
Kennedy
Blakey
Parker

Which is a much younger group and I feel a more dynamic one, especially if we got Pruest who is realistically a much better ruckman than Sinclair. I also think it would be a good starting point for a midfield transition period, moving from the old guard to the new one.

What do you generally think?

Interesting thoughts. With Sinclair, Naismith and a more developed Cameron we will have a fair ruck division. I guess the issue is whether we think we should recruit to cover the risk of another long term ruck injury. Naismith and Sinclair are quite complementary as they both have their own strengths. What Sinkers lacks in tap work he makes up for in work around the ground. I don't know Preust particularly but if we do go after another ruck I'd like to see one who is versatile and can add more midfield and/or forward grunt as well as tap work.

Can Blakey go straight into the midfield ? Normally we've tended to give our mids time forward and/or back and easing them into the deep end. Cerataibnly I'd like to see more of Hewett in there. Perhaps Blakey can even start with a run with role.
 

6yearsold

Club Legend
Nov 23, 2016
2,337
1,779
AFL Club
Sydney
Other Teams
Crystal Palace
I wanted to discuss this but couldn't decide if it fit into the drafting and trading thread. I decided it might be best to create a new thread entirely about the current state of the Swans list and what changes you think should happen to the list and/or gameplan in 2019.

For me this was our team today

B: Rampe, Grundy, Lloyd
HB: Newman, Aliir, McVeigh
C: Cunningham, Kennedy, Heeney
HF: Florent, McCartin, Hewett
F: Parker, Franklin, Hayward
FOLL: Sinclair, Jack, Hannebery
I/C: Jones, Papley, Robinson, Ronke

and I think of those players, the only players who are guaranteed a spot are

B: Rampe, ???????, Lloyd
HB: ??????, Aliir, McVeigh
C: Cunningham, ???????, Heeney
HF: Florent, ??????, Hewett
F: Parker, Franklin, Hayward
FOLL: Sinclair, ??????, ??????
I/C: Jones, Papley, ???????, Ronke

Now it is too early for a best 22, especially with us likely having a busy trade period but I feel like there are some things that need to happen in 2019.

- Mills and Heeney both need to be full time midfielders
- Sinclair needs to be a forward
- Papley, Ronke and Hayward need to be used as forwards

so even though I said it was too early for a best 22 I am going to do one anyway, and I am assuming Lloyd, Newman and Hannebery are leaving

B: Rampe, Grundy, Smith
HB: Stoddart, Aliir, McVeigh
C: Cunningham, Kennedy, Heeney
HF: Florent, Sinclair, Hewett
F: Parker, Franklin, Hayward
FOLL: Naismith, Dawson, Mills
I/C: Jones, Papley, Blakey, Ronke

I would also like to see Blakey used as a big bodied midfielder. He is too lightweight to be a forward at the moment but I feel like it is big enough to be a good in and under midfielder as he has shown an ability in that area.

Also if it were up to me I would be heavily targeting Pruest from North Melbourne and Miles from Richmond. If we got both of them I think our best 22 would look more balanced and more healthy

B: Rampe, Grundy, Smith
HB: Stoddart, Aliir, McVeigh
C: Cunningham, Kennedy, Heeney
HF: Florent, Sinclair, Hewett
F: Parker, Franklin, Hayward
FOLL: Pruest, Miles, Mills
I/C: Jones, Papley, Blakey, Ronke

as Presut and Miles would both help a lot in our very poor clearance figures.

So our midfield in 2017 was

Kennedy
Parker
Hannebery
Jack
Heeney

and I think in 2018 it should be

Miles
Mills
Heeney
Kennedy
Blakey
Parker

Which is a much younger group and I feel a more dynamic one, especially if we got Pruest who is realistically a much better ruckman than Sinclair. I also think it would be a good starting point for a midfield transition period, moving from the old guard to the new one.

What do you generally think?

kennedy isn't guaranteed a spot?
 

6yearsold

Club Legend
Nov 23, 2016
2,337
1,779
AFL Club
Sydney
Other Teams
Crystal Palace
I wanted to discuss this but couldn't decide if it fit into the drafting and trading thread. I decided it might be best to create a new thread entirely about the current state of the Swans list and what changes you think should happen to the list and/or gameplan in 2019.

For me this was our team today

B: Rampe, Grundy, Lloyd
HB: Newman, Aliir, McVeigh
C: Cunningham, Kennedy, Heeney
HF: Florent, McCartin, Hewett
F: Parker, Franklin, Hayward
FOLL: Sinclair, Jack, Hannebery
I/C: Jones, Papley, Robinson, Ronke

and I think of those players, the only players who are guaranteed a spot are

B: Rampe, ???????, Lloyd
HB: ??????, Aliir, McVeigh
C: Cunningham, ???????, Heeney
HF: Florent, ??????, Hewett
F: Parker, Franklin, Hayward
FOLL: Sinclair, ??????, ??????
I/C: Jones, Papley, ???????, Ronke

Now it is too early for a best 22, especially with us likely having a busy trade period but I feel like there are some things that need to happen in 2019.

- Mills and Heeney both need to be full time midfielders
- Sinclair needs to be a forward
- Papley, Ronke and Hayward need to be used as forwards

so even though I said it was too early for a best 22 I am going to do one anyway, and I am assuming Lloyd, Newman and Hannebery are leaving

B: Rampe, Grundy, Smith
HB: Stoddart, Aliir, McVeigh
C: Cunningham, Kennedy, Heeney
HF: Florent, Sinclair, Hewett
F: Parker, Franklin, Hayward
FOLL: Naismith, Dawson, Mills
I/C: Jones, Papley, Blakey, Ronke

I would also like to see Blakey used as a big bodied midfielder. He is too lightweight to be a forward at the moment but I feel like it is big enough to be a good in and under midfielder as he has shown an ability in that area.

Also if it were up to me I would be heavily targeting Pruest from North Melbourne and Miles from Richmond. If we got both of them I think our best 22 would look more balanced and more healthy

B: Rampe, Grundy, Smith
HB: Stoddart, Aliir, McVeigh
C: Cunningham, Kennedy, Heeney
HF: Florent, Sinclair, Hewett
F: Parker, Franklin, Hayward
FOLL: Pruest, Miles, Mills
I/C: Jones, Papley, Blakey, Ronke

as Presut and Miles would both help a lot in our very poor clearance figures.

So our midfield in 2017 was

Kennedy
Parker
Hannebery
Jack
Heeney

and I think in 2018 it should be

Miles
Mills
Heeney
Kennedy
Blakey
Parker

Which is a much younger group and I feel a more dynamic one, especially if we got Pruest who is realistically a much better ruckman than Sinclair. I also think it would be a good starting point for a midfield transition period, moving from the old guard to the new one.

What do you generally think?

if we are seriously going to move on and not have a repeat of the last few years we have to realise the game has gone past grundy and smith. those positions need to go to the likes of maibaum and marsh.

definitely agree that mills has to move to the midfield. the only reason he won't be is because horse likes to spend the majority of our time in the back half. utter waste of the equivalent of a number two pick.
 

6yearsold

Club Legend
Nov 23, 2016
2,337
1,779
AFL Club
Sydney
Other Teams
Crystal Palace
After his drop in output in 2018 compared to 2017 I am not sure we can guarantee that Kennedy is going to be in our best 22 for all of 2019. I hope he is, but he isn't a lock anymore.

don't agree. think you've gone too far. still one of our best despite the drop off. we need to kill off hanners, jack, grundy and smith. anymore would be too much unless they just stop like rock did.
 
Jul 20, 2001
23,298
28,498
Sydney
AFL Club
Sydney
Other Teams
Sydney Swans
After his drop in output in 2018 compared to 2017 I am not sure we can guarantee that Kennedy is going to be in our best 22 for all of 2019. I hope he is, but he isn't a lock anymore.

He just needs more support on the inside and options in decent positions on the outside. The idea he won’t be in our best 22 in 2019 laughable.

He is absolutely a lock.
 

sr20

Club Legend
Sep 20, 2011
1,723
994
Geelong
AFL Club
Sydney
No Reid or Melican in either side. No Dawson in the second one.

Assuming all three of Hannebery, Lloyd and Newman leave

B: Aliir - Grundy - Smith
HB: Rampe - Melican - McVeigh
C: Florent - Kennedy - Jones
HF: Papley - Franklin - Hayward
F: Sinclair - Reid - Ronke
R: Naismith - Heeney - Parker
INT: Dawson - Mills - Hewett - Cunningham

That's without picking anyone up. Grundy and Melican take the best two forwards. Aliir can play the third man McGovern/Lever role. Rampe can finally play a dashing Half Back Role. McVeigh is still the best user. Smith is still the best lock down small.

Think we will be more dangerous with three genuine marking options. WCE proved that last night it's doable with Kennedy/Darling/Vardy. Especially given how much we bomb away. Reid and Sinclair play the deeper two options, Franklin plays further up the ground and gets most of his shots from around the 50 when he marks it or when he's running on to the ball. The other two are creating the contest and neither marking it or bringing the ball to ground for the likes of Papley and Ronke. Like to see Hayward be used in a sort of link up role like Adelaides Tom Lynch has played over the past few seasons.

Parker, Kennedy, Heeney, Hewett, Mills, Dawson are the 6 you run through the middle on a regular basis. Florent, Jones and Cunningham on the Wings.

Without picking anybody up, that side should be able to do some damage. If you're picking up players, there doing a role and obviously need to prove on who they are replacing.
 

Robwest

Team Captain
Apr 9, 2017
509
461
AFL Club
Sydney
Why does Mills need go to the mids?Looks very composed down back for mine . Jones is the one I'd like to see in the mid as Mills is much better in a one out contest .
 

6yearsold

Club Legend
Nov 23, 2016
2,337
1,779
AFL Club
Sydney
Other Teams
Crystal Palace
kennedy, parker, hewett, heeney, mills is enough cover for inside mids. why are we not asking about our system and how we set up around stoppages? we are constantly outnumbered because longmire is chained to playing a spare in defence. so many times during the last two years other teams just knock it back to an outnumber at the stoppage and get the clearance.
 

6yearsold

Club Legend
Nov 23, 2016
2,337
1,779
AFL Club
Sydney
Other Teams
Crystal Palace
Why does Mills need go to the mids?Looks very composed down back for mine . Jones is the one I'd like to see in the mid as Mills is much better in a one out contest .

longmire and the defensive coaches need to take responsibility for putting jones on greene. it was unfair on jones and i mentioned earlier last week we left ourselves without a match up on greene. given the team they picked allir should of played on greene but they played him on delicious who burned him further up the ground.
 

Robwest

Team Captain
Apr 9, 2017
509
461
AFL Club
Sydney
longmire and the defensive coaches need to take responsibility for putting jones on greene. it was unfair on jones and i mentioned earlier last week we left ourselves without a match up on greene. given the team they picked allir should of played on greene but they played him on delicious who burned him further up the ground.
I agree with all that ..
Was referring to 2019 thread .
 
don't agree. think you've gone too far. still one of our best despite the drop off. we need to kill off hanners, jack, grundy and smith. anymore would be too much unless they just stop like rock did.


Kennedys last game for the club was terrible
 
Jan 13, 2007
14,553
17,676
Melbourne
AFL Club
Sydney
I think we'll lose Lloyd (pick 21), Hannebery (let's say pick 22), Rohan (pick 50).

I'd be open to trading Sinclair. He's not our No.1. He's at the absolute top of his value. Darcy Cameron needs to be backed in for second ruck now. I think he's probably better. Probably another pick in the 20s or 30s. Whatever we can get for Newman.

I think the starting side next year will look something like:

Aliir Grundy Smith
Rampe Melican Mills
Blakey Kennedy Jones
Franklin Reid Hayward
Ronke McCartin Papley

Naismith Parker Heeney

Int: Dawson Florent McVeigh Hewett Cunningham Robinson Towers Jack

Ready to step up: Cameron, Ling, Maibaum, O'Riordan
 
For me I want some pace from the backline. Reg, McVeigh and Smith offer a lot, but none can run out of sight on a foggy moonless night. All three will retire at end 2019. COR must play there.

Our mids are bog ordinary. George is the only one who can dispose of the ball. Agree we need a decent tap ruckman.

Sinkers to be traded or play ruck forward when Reid is injured.

Trade Lloyd, Rohan and Hanners, plus other odd jobbers who might get a better deal.

Tell Jack he will be captain of the Ressies and won't get a game in the Seniors unless the the Black Plague hits the Club.

Delist Foote, Rose, Towers, Pink.

Drafting Strategy should be kids and one or two rough diamonds. Mids, a ruck and a lot should be priorities.

All must be able to kick the ball.

Outs from Saturday: Jack, Sinkers, Lloyd, Hannerbury, Newman, Robinson

Ins: Reid, Mills, Naismith, Melican, Blakey and a skilled mid.
 
Jun 19, 2011
11,085
15,831
Sydney
AFL Club
Sydney
Other Teams
Wallabies
I'm going to assume a few things here.
1. We recruit Darcy Moore
2. Hannebery, Newman and Rohan leave
3. We retain Jake Lloyd
4. We don't recruit any other ready made players (which I hope is the most unlikely of these assumptions)

Based on those, I was thinking about the following side with some pretty big adjustments based on our weaknesses in the midfield right now.

Smith - Melican - Aliir
Lloyd - Moore - McVeigh
Mills - Parker - Florent
Cunningham - Franklin - Hewett
Papley - Reid - Heeney
Sinclair - Kennedy - Rampe

I/C: Jones - O'Riordan - Hayward - Dawson

Rampe, Mills and Jones become primarily midfielders and wingmen. Moore shifts straight into Rampe's role with Melican as key defenders allowing Aliir to be the 3rd man/interceptor. O'Riordan comes in to provide more pace and athleticism from defence.

Our midfield rotation becomes Kennedy, Hewett, Parker, Mills, Rampe, Heeney with bits of Jones, Florent, Cunningham, Dawson on the wings and in the middle.

This allows Papley to stay forward from now on. McCartin and Ronke are unlucky to lose their spots but they have plenty of time to win them back. Their careers are just beginning.

Jack, Grundy are in the reserves under ROK rules, to be used when necessary, which will be likely with injuries being inevitable.

Naismith and Cameron have to battle it out to be Sinclair's understudy. Sinclair got beaten by Lobb on the weekend but people are overreacting to that saying he's not a number one. No, he just got beaten on the day. He has been fantastic this year and competed well with the very best in the league. He's our number one ruckman until we recruit someone better or one of the younger guys takes it from him.

Despite how abysmally the side played on the weekend and what I've posted not being perfect, the prospect of that side right there excites me.
 

Olian

Norm Smith Medallist
Jul 12, 2013
8,498
13,975
Between the Bridges
AFL Club
Sydney
I’d like to see some risk taking.
For instance Hawks and Cats were well beaten on the weekend but they would try kick ins straight up the middle.

All we do is head for the boundary line. Safe football but won’t help us score.
 
Back