Toast 10 Years on.....

[balldman]

2002 was by all accounts a lowlight in the 20 years since South Melbourne flew North to become the Sydney Swans.The coach we started the season with,Rodney Eade,departed after a 2pt Round 12 loss,handing the reins to then assistant,Paul Roos.
As we all know,Roos led them to a 11th place finish,beginning his coaching career with a respectable 6-4 win/loss ratio.All the meanwhile the jungle drums beat loudly that his tenure would be short lived,with Tery Wallace the favourite to succeed him & lead the Swans into the 2003 season.
The rest is history,a Roos led brigade,made a Prelim in 2003, & in the ensuing season went on to establish a level of success at the Swans not seen for decades before handing the reins to his deputy,John Longmire.
2002 also saw the end of several star studded careers.Skippers,Paul Kelly & Andrew Dunkley called stumps on their prolfic careers & earlier the curtain came down on the careers of champions of the game ,Tony Lockett & Wayne Scwass.
As horrible a year that was to endure, it is as certain it became a defining moment in the Club's evolution to what we have now before us.
Wow,I shudder to think what may have been if the choice went the other way.

 

[Gongswan]

Sorry I thought this was a Les Zeppelin thread

 

[Ed_Gein]

That puts it into perspective as to why people had us tipped for bottom 4 in 2003 i guess. lol. A fair amount of talent retired and we'd had a poor season.

I guess if we can thank the Daily Telegraph for 1 thing, it's the campaign they ran to get Roos instated as coach instead of Wallace. I know for sure you could write off the 2005 flag, and i wonder where we'd be even today. Due to the 'Butterfly effect' i don't think we'd even be celebrating 2012.

 

[The King!]

That puts it into perspective as to why people had us tipped for bottom 4 in 2003 i guess. lol. A fair amount of talent retired and we'd had a poor season.

I guess if we can thank the Daily Telegraph for 1 thing, it's the campaign they ran to get Roos instated as coach instead of Wallace. I know for sure you could write off the 2005 flag, and i wonder where we'd be even today. Due to the 'Butterfly effect' i don't think we'd even be celebrating 2012.

That movie wasnt too bad

But wallace yuck, did we end up paying him?

 

[SM]

God if we had Wallace.. I wouldn't be a Swans fan, that's for sure. Would never have fallen in love with the team, and you'd all be immeasurably worse off. Vonn would never have met the LOHL for one.

 

[Ed_Gein]

Yeah i'm pretty sure Wallace was on our payroll for a while i think.

 

[robbieando]

It brought as the culture we badly needed to win first the long awaited Premiership in 05 and then back it up for a second this year.

Culture, we have and St Kilda don't sums up the difference between the two clubs

So does - 1909, 1918, 1933, 2005 and 2012 vs 1966 plus 2005 and 2012 vs 1966

Feels good

 

[Tuco]

I wrote to the club to voice anger at the Wallace option. I was in my sixth year as a member and actually considered not having a seventh. First time I ever felt so passionately about the clubs direction that I needed to put it all on the line. Would I really not have resigned? Debatable. Considering I've been a member now for 16 straight years. But I'm not sure if people in Victoria realise what a massive event that appointment was in the club's recent history.

The club's response was interesting...they were inundated with similar correspondence from supporters and reassured me no rash decisions would be made. Turns out not only was I not alone...the supporter base was mobilizing en masse!

 

[CAS79]

I wrote to the club to voice anger at the Wallace option. I was in my sixth year as a member and actually considered not having a seventh. First time I ever felt so passionately about the clubs direction that I needed to put it all on the line. Would I really not have resigned? Debatable. Considering I've been a member now for 16 straight years. But I'm not sure if people in Victoria realise what a massive event that appointment was in the club's recent history.

The club's response was interesting...they were inundated with similar correspondence from supporters and reassured me no rash decisions would be made. Turns out not only was I not alone...the supporter base was mobilizing en masse!

The victorian swans membership does. My old man was one who wrote a letter to the club in protest at a possible Terry W appointment.

 

[Tuco]

The victorian swans membership does. My old man was one who wrote a letter to the club in protest at a possible Terry W appointment.

Sorry... I should have been clear I meant non swans fans. I used to read nonsense about how our club was a basketcase that let supporters dictate hiring policy...massive Wallace fans in the media were scathing. But the mood was electric up here. I had the impression we were supposed to be fair weather supporters who only turned up when we won and had no knowledge or investment in the club as a whole

 

[legend166]

I was a Swans member in 2002, but I wasn't exactly a knowledgeable fan (I was only 14). Obviously in hindsight the Roos appointment was the right decision (greatest understatement of all time), but why, exactly, did everyone hate Terry Wallace in 2002? Up until that point he'd had relative success with the Doggies, and hadn't shown himself to be pretty crappy at developing a list like he would do at the Tigers.

 

[The King!]

I was a Swans member in 2002, but I wasn't exactly a knowledgeable fan (I was only 14). Obviously in hindsight the Roos appointment was the right decision (greatest understatement of all time), but why, exactly, did everyone hate Terry Wallace in 2002? Up until that point he'd had relative success with the Doggies, and hadn't shown himself to be pretty crappy at developing a list like he would do at the Tigers.

I would of supported the club either way personally, when roos did such a good job in 2002 it seemed silly not to keep him. Wallace was ok at the dogs, but north worth chasing so much IMHO

 

[nicky1995]

I remember it all so very well, I too was not happy at all about Wallace coming and was on the Roos bandwagon v early. I loved him as a player, very fair, intelligent and a real general in defence. He seemed to be everywhere on the field as he read the play so very well. This does not mean that he could have been a great coach, but it did lead one to think he would be more empowering with the players. As was the case in 2002 when he became the Caretaker Coach. I have been a member of the club since the early 90's and was so excited about Roos that I thought the club was bloody silly to even consider Terry Wallace. I could tell Rodney Eade was a reactionary coach (dragging players that made a mistake, giving Kirk his notice and do not even go there with Adam Goodes ) Anyway it all turned out for the best and the rest is history. Stuart Maxfield is just a gem and I hope when he does leave they give him the all the plaudits he deserves. For what it is worth I too protested loudly to the club about the appt of Wallace, seems I was not alone.

 

[Bonz]

This thread reminds me of this... Absolutely brilliant

 

[The King!]

An insiders book on the bloods culture developing would be good, if not unlikely.

I like stewie wish he got to play in the premiership.

I think sometimes eade gets a bum rap, he lost it at the end by his own admission but he was a good coach for sydney

 

[TRAWP]

I remember quite clearly being very disappointed with Swans considering Wallace, and never particularly like Eade to begin with. When Roos took over the role I was indeed happy, you just knew he has the knowledge and was a person the boys would get around and embrace. We owe a lot to Roosey.

 

[Tuco]

I was a Swans member in 2002, but I wasn't exactly a knowledgeable fan (I was only 14). Obviously in hindsight the Roos appointment was the right decision (greatest understatement of all time), but why, exactly, did everyone hate Terry Wallace in 2002? Up until that point he'd had relative success with the Doggies, and hadn't shown himself to be pretty crappy at developing a list like he would do at the Tigers.

In hindsight it was probably just the fact that so much pent up emotion and frustration was released when Eade left, that the fans weren't ready for another disappointment in losing Roos who was starting to look like a white knight. Also Wallace was seen as a bad guy by the way he left the Dogs (a black knight perhaps? )

But the Roos appointment was not based on a "vibe". He'd already begun to extract results in 2002. Players like Goodes and Kirk - who were both on the verge of seeking trades or in Kirk's case being cut again - responded with an amazing run of form under Roos late in 2002.

Players too afraid to take a chance under the combative style of Eade (I'm looking at you Fossie) suddenly came out their shells. And fans responded.

The fear was that all this positivity could come to an end with a Wallace signing. We all felt we'd turned a corner, and were suddenly thinking all the good work might end up being for nothing.

Truthfully, Wallace could have been fine. But his style at the time was pretty similar to Eade's, so I'm not so sure he would have. Happily we'll never know.

 

[nicky1995]

An insiders book on the bloods culture developing would be good, if not unlikely.

I like stewie wish he got to play in the premiership.

I think sometimes eade gets a bum rap, he lost it at the end by his own admission but he was a good coach for sydney

I liked Rodney Eade for awhile and he indeed took us to a Grand Final in 96 a wonderful achievement in his first year at the Swans. I do not dislike the man himself and some of the players from that time still get on with him very well. It was as coach in his latter years that bugged the life out of me, he is not an innovative coach but then not many are. The likes of Goodes and Kirk rising to the challenge after Eades poor assessment of them that makes me shiver, to think we may have lost them. All good, Rodney Eade by all accounts is a very nice bloke, most comment on the coaching in the his last years, but he was indeed v good for the Swans early on.

 

[nicky1995]

This thread reminds me of this... Absolutely brilliant

I have never seen that before you are right it is brilliant and funnily enough is very apt for the years since!

 

[The King!]

I have never seen that before you are right it is brilliant and funnily enough is very apt for the years since!

The media learnt a lesson and never wrote us off again

 

[Bonz]

The media learnt a lesson and never wrote us off again

AHAHAHA I get jokes

 

[tonk]

92 was worse (93 was hell)

 

[Tuco]

92 was worse (93 was hell)

Yes...26 game losing streaks...we have come a looooooooong way.

 

[nicky1995]

I thank one R.D. Barrasi for his help back then, he was the innovator of what it is to be a club from the best player down to the bootstappers. All were to be treated with respect and all to know a role and how important it is. Do not underestimate the great mans influence on this club. He was a winner too and the Swans had to learn how to win.

 

[Tuco]

I thank one R.D. Barrasi for his help back then, he was the innovator of what it is to be a club from the best player down to the bootstappers. All were to be treated with respect and all to know a role and how important it is. Do not underestimate the great mans influence on this club. He was a winner too and the Swans had to learn how to win.

Kudos, Nicky, for remembering that little detail.

I vaguely remember stories about Barassi standing the volunteers in front of the players and telling the players these people were what the club was all about. To him, the players were just blow-ins and if they wanted to be part of the club, they had to ditch any sense of self entilement at the door.

Kind of sounds a little bit like a pre-evolved version of the no dickheads policy doesn't it?

Barassi had as much or more influence on the club still being in existence as anyone.