Past Matthew Ling - delisted 2021

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Matthew Ling

Matt Ling is lightning-quick and has a pinpoint left-foot kick. The problem is a torrid injury run prevented him from hitting his best over his first two seasons at the Sydney Swans. Serious toe and Achilles injuries limited the club’s top 2017 AFL Draft selection to just 16 NEAFL games across the 2018 and 2019 seasons. Season 2020 is his time to shine.

Matthew Ling
DOB: 21 April 1999
DRAFT: 2017
RECRUITED FROM: St Mary's (Vic)/Geelong U18

www.sydneyswans.com.au

Matthew Ling | AFL

Follow Matthew Ling's progress through AFL
www.sydneyswans.com.au www.sydneyswans.com.au
 
Artygunner said:
I just want to see the bloke get out on the park and kick a footy. It’s not his or the swans fault he has broken down. No one here has seen any of his skill set for over 2 years so we can’t really judge whether he is capable of turning into the player we hope. I’d love to see him get a game off the half back line if he is up to it so we can move a player or two up the ground.

unfortunately no one here knows if he is capable of playing AFL footy yet. It worries me that he wasnt even given a half of footy in the marsh series. Would have been a perfect opportunity for him seeing as though he is now “fit”
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In my opinion there's two very different types of "fit" - fit as in fit enough to participate in training and FIT as in fit enough to physically play the game.
I would suggest (and truly have no idea) that his selection as an emergency to play pre-season was as much an encouragement for him as any thing else and the most reasonable suggestion as to him not actually playing is the coaching and fitness staff need to build his core fitness up to a higher level, and as he was a first round pick and therefore a lot riding on him, they are taking a softly, softly approach.

This site makes me laugh out loud, so many on here go on and on and on about how we rush players back far to early from injury and now that we are taking the cautious route, there's cries of "he was a first round pick so we need to get him on the park" and "what a howler of a pick" he was!
 
Jewelsbon said:
In my opinion there's two very different types of "fit" - fit as in fit enough to participate in training and FIT as in fit enough to physically play the game.
I would suggest (and truly have no idea) that his selection as an emergency to play pre-season was as much an encouragement for him as any thing else and the most reasonable suggestion as to him not actually playing is the coaching and fitness staff need to build his core fitness up to a higher level, and as he was a first round pick and therefore a lot riding on him, they are taking a softly, softly approach.

This site makes me laugh out loud, so many on here go on and on and on about how we rush players back far to early from injury and now that we are taking the cautious route, there's cries of "he was a first round pick so we need to get him on the park" and "what a howler of a pick" he was!
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Agree, one thing to be injury free (i.e. fit) and another to be match fit. Who knows what his fitness levels are like if his preseason was interrupted. Hopefully he can string together some games in the NEAFL that warrant senior selection.
 
There is a difference between being fit enough to participate in team based training drills and being ready to play a full contact competitive afl match.

Ling will benefit just from being able to train with his teammates and play a stretch of NEAFL matches. Rather than being stuck in rehab. Longer term it won't seem as important that he missed a preseason match.
 

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Was going well in first season and impressed to be given an extension of an additional year. Which is lucky in hindsight as he had his toe/foot injury. Then last season when all is looking good, snapped his achilles, occurred when of all things, he bent down to pick up a football. Season 2 done and dusted.
Which brings us to 2020, here’s hoping that he is over all his injuries and gets a good run at it.
 
Ling's only 20, picked up at the end of 2017. He isn't a big kid so he'd have likely played a handful of games in 2018 and a few more in 2019 at best. It's injury not lack of talent that's held him back. Let's say he gets some solid NEAFL under his belt and starts to find form, so maybe we play him after the bye. He's really only 20 games or so behind where he might have been and once he gets up and going as a senior he'll probably add those missing games to the end of his career. The pressure's on Ling to make the seniors this year as his contract runs out end of year.
 
As long as he can win his own ball.

Classy outside players who don't have ball winning ability can often be fool's gold imo.
 
Bonz said:
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Our recruiting in recent years has been pretty good.

I'm personally not too worried about him being an emergency in the Marsh series games, he has only very recently returned to full fitness and I doubt the club will be wanting to rush him.

When he was drafted he was known for his elite disposal and taking speed off the backline (this is definitely something we could use in our team at the moment), there is also very very little record of him getting injured at TAC level.

Our recruiters were unlikely to know he was going to break down in constant injury (otherwise they wouldn't of drafted him). His draft range was anywhere from pick 12 to pick 25, so we didn't actually reach for him that much as well.

People need to calm down around here, it's not our recruiters fault that a player has been a bust for the last few seasons and anyone can say we should have taken this player or that player in hindsight.
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Our recruiting of first round draft picks has been poor at best for a long time. Also in terms of hindsight many of us were not happy with the Ling selection the moment it happened.
 
RUNVS said:
Our recruiting of first round draft picks has been poor at best for a long time. Also in terms of hindsight many of us were not happy with the Ling selection the moment it happened.
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2013 - Zac Jones (wouldn't call this a failure, more than handy player).
2014 - Heeney - Academy
2015 - Mills - Academy
2016 - Florent (Win in my book)
2017 - Ling (Not recruitments fault he has been injured)
2018 - Blakey - Academy
2019 - Stephens - Too early to call


For a while now majority of our first round picks have been academy selections, but those who haven't I wouldn't call failures (especially for selections down at the end of the first round).

Also we need to really calm down on draft days and not call a selection a bust before it happens, Ling was around our selection and filled a need at the time so it was a logical choice. (Also he had no real injury history before the draft I might add).
 

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RUNVS said:
Our recruiting of first round draft picks has been poor at best for a long time. Also in terms of hindsight many of us were not happy with the Ling selection the moment it happened.
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Should we have given up our first pick last year then for Daniher? Because I seem to recall you and a few others being adamant that we hold on to it at all costs and it was so vital that we take an elite kid instead. If we're so poor at recruiting first round draft picks, maybe we should just for-go them in favour of trades in the future?
 
Bonz said:
2013 - Zac Jones (wouldn't call this a failure, more than handy player).
2014 - Heeney - Academy
2015 - Mills - Academy
2016 - Florent (Win in my book)
2017 - Ling (Not recruitments fault he has been injured)
2018 - Blakey - Academy
2019 - Stephens - Too early to call


For a while now majority of our first round picks have been academy selections, but those who haven't I wouldn't call failures (especially for selections down at the end of the first round).

Also we need to really calm down on draft days and not call a selection a bust before it happens, Ling was around our selection and filled a need at the time so it was a logical choice. (Also he had no real injury history before the draft I might add).
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Could throw Hayward into that equation as well.
 
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